(Blogged by David Bailey and Caroline Chapain)

This week we launched our report into what has happened to the MG Rover workers who lost their jobs so suddenly back in 2005. The research was a joint effort by The Work Foundation and the Birmingham Business School and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Richard Burden, MP for Birmingham Northfield, kindly hosted the event in Westminster.

A short webcast summarising the research can be found here. (you need to scroll down and click on 'download swf file').
What we found was that three years on from the historic collapse of MG Rover in April 2005, 90% of workers who lost their jobs have found new employment, but most have taken deep pay cuts.

We interviewed over 200 workers out of the 6,300 workers ex-Rover workers who lost their jobs when the Longbridge plant closed, and found two thirds have suffered wage falls. Overall, on average wages had fallen by £5,640 per year in real terms. A third of the former workers reported an increase in their salaries. Those out of work the longest suffered the largest drops in income.

A report entitled 'The UK Pensions Crisis' published by the Taxpayers' Alliance and Terry Arthur, a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries has finally confirmed with facts and figures what many people already strongly believed namely that UK private sector pensions are in a mess. The $64,000 question is who is going to pull pensions out of the well; on past performance it is certainly not going to be the Government.

Gordon Brown has decimated every private sector pension and sounded the death knell of final salary schemes.

As America goes to the polls today, I am worried about how both candidates seem hopelessly out of touch with European issues. I mean - neither Obama nor the Other Guy have expressed an opinion on Russell Brand or Jonathan Ross.

At least Gordon Brown shows he is a man of the people. Even if he didn't hear the broadcast himself, he knows what will swing the voters of Fife.

One of the most fascinating things about working in media relations is trying to understand how and why news becomes news.

This last week there should have been two main stories: the US election and Gordon's last stand in a Scottish by-election. Instead we had almost blanket coverage of a prank phone call on a radio show. How did that happen?

It is, of course, wonderful that Lewis Hamilton has become the youngest Formula 1 World Champion Racing Driver and is all set, apparently, to become a multi-millionaire. Less wonderful is the fact that he will be living as a tax exile in Switzerland. But can you blame him if it means that he will keep a lot more of what he earns.

Wealthy potential immigrants to Switzerland can do a deal with the Swiss authorities that limits the amount of Swiss tax they pay. Our government on the other hand has, been busy attacking wealthy foreign nationals who are resident here by withdrawing the remittance basis of taxation once they have been here for seven years unless they pay a fixed annual tax levy of £30,000.

The Swiss have obviously realised that even if wealthy expats are not paying much Swiss tax they are spending money in that country.

If any further proof was needed that no Government in future will be able to squeeze the very wealthy until the "Pips Squeak" this is it. High earners won't stay here and pay what they regard as unacceptably high levels of taxation.

The time has come for politicians of all parties to realise that there is not a bottomless pit of money that they can dip into whenever they want to and leave us all to pick up the bill in the form of increased taxes. People will, like Lewis Hamilton, vote with their feet.

In November a group of us at the Birmingham Business School working with colleagues at The Work Foundation will report on the initial findings of our study of what happened to the ex MG Rover workers. We've just interviewed over 200 of them to find out how they have got on, what work they are now doing (if any), how much they are earning, what skills they use, whether they have retrained and so on. The project has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, and is throwing up some fascinating results. I hope to be able to blog about this in a few weeks' time.

Meanwhile another investigation of sorts has been on-going for three years. That's the DTI (now BERR) Inquiry into the MG Rover collapse.

Setting up the inquiry was absolutely the right thing to do. There were (and remain) some serious questions to be answered about what happened. The 6000+ workers and their families who lost their jobs at Longbridge (plus thousands more in the supply chain) deserve some answers.

OK, I admit I may have exaggerated slightly but there is (I hope) method in my hyperbole. Of course, if you read this after Halloween it might be too late - you or your kids may already have committed a crime or crimes.

Here's why: trick or treat involves kids demanding something (it tends to be money, chocolate or both round my neck of the woods) from their neighbours. If you don't provide the treat, then a "trick" might be played on you. It's the trick, or the threat of it, which might result in a crime or crimes being committed.

And the risk applies to kids and parents alike. Children over the age of 10 can be guilty of crimes (between 10 and 14, they have to know what they are doing was illegal); and parents or guardians (indeed anyone) can be guilty of aiding, abetting or inciting a crime if, for example, they encourage or persuade someone to commit a crime (even where none is committed). So here are three possible crimes to get you thinking:

Deliberately trick or treating a home or family who you know dislike Halloween (perhaps on religious grounds) could constitute harassment and a possible 6 month jail sentence.

Destroying or damaging someone else's property (admittedly a particularly nasty trick) can amount to criminal damage. In very serious cases - a really, really, nasty trick if you like - you can face imprisonment of up to 10 years, although 3 months and/or a fine of up to £2,500 is more common.

Heck - and I must admit to having missed this lecture at college - "wilfully and wantonly" disturbing someone by ringing their doorbell "without lawful excuse" is also a crime punishable by a fine. So don't ring the door of someone you know doesn't want to play ball.

And if you think that's all a bit extreme, the mind boggles at the possible offences when kids try to raise money for a Guy, bonfire and some fireworks...but that's another story.

A happy Halloween to one and all.

There is an old adage, which rings true in many situations, that 'he who pays the piper calls the tune'. Unfortunately in some situations the old adage does not come true and those who pay the piper definitely do not call the tune.

It gave me no pleasure to read in Jonathan Walker's front page article in Tuesday's Birmingham Post, confirmation of my fears that the Prime Minister will indeed be looking to fund his proposed spending spree from future tax revenue's. (See my previous blog)

The fundamental point made in Jonathan Walker's article is that the proposed 10 Eco Towns will be going ahead in spite of the big slow down.

The cost of building one of these new towns (Middle Quinton) alone will cost around £500m. Ministers have not revealed how much of the cost will be met by the public purse but it is expected to run into hundreds of millions of pounds across all ten towns.

The total bill for bailing out the banks and buying our way out of recession just seems to be going up and up. The problem is that eventually the piper will have to be paid.

Gordon Brown has confirmed that the cost will be met by Government borrowing with the money being repaid once the economy picks up and tax revenues rise.

The problem is that pre-recessionary tax revenues were barely sufficient to balance the books. Even if, therefore, they do revert back to those levels it will not give Gordon Brown any spare funds with which to repay the significant borrowings now being talked about.

What therefore is the bottom line on all this?
Significantly increased tax bills!

In an interview with the FT today, the "new, enthusiastic" transport secretary Geoff Hoon says he has ordered a review to find infrastructure projects within his brief that can help Gordon Brown stimulate demand with a spending spree on public works projects.

But, he says, he can't find enough that have existing planning permission.

"I'd like to play my part ... I wish I could get out my spade and start digging," Hoon tells the FT.

Why doesn't he pay a visit to Birmingham then? There is a project right on our doorstep that has been granted a Transport and Works Act Order (the equivalent of planning permission for these sorts of things).

One hot summer when I was a two-packs a day office worker and visited the local M&S every lunchtime for my prawns and BLT rations, I was given a free gift of a branded cool bag to take my sandwiches back to my desk.

This same cool bag it turned out was even better for carrying a single home-made sandwich into work, so it helped me break the lunchtime habit, loose weight and save money.

M&S on the other hand have lost several hundred pounds in lost revenue. It was perhaps not their brightest marketing idea.

Much has been said in the recent press about the need for the UK to bring its tax system in line with EU Law.

The UK is under pressure to ensure that dividends from companies in other EU states attract the same advantageous tax treatment as dividends between UK companies. At the same time, much is also being made of the number of UK companies who are departing these shores for Ireland, to benefit from Ireland's 12.5% Corporation Tax rate.

This is interesting given that it is anticipated that the EU Commission will bring forward a proposal for a common corporate tax rate in the second half of 2008 during the French EU Presidency.

France of course supports the concept of a "common corporation tax" but they are aware that a number of member states have reservations about the proposals.

Is this surprising, given the substantial benefit that Ireland is currently enjoying?