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Blogged by David Bailey and John Clancy

You may have missed it, but while you and I stump up the cash for a taxpayers' bail out of the banks (and whilst their greedy execs still have their snouts in the trough for yet more fat-cat bonuses), the issue that first undermined public trust in the banks has continued to rumble on - namely unlawful, unfair Bank Charges.

Did you know, however, that even as the government places the first priority in getting the nation through the recession as being the test of 'fairness', the banks are using your money and mine (as taxpayers) to try to prove that, actually, they have a right to be unfair? Hmmm, yes it came as surprise to me as well.

The Bankers were rather hoping that the government and the rest of us had forgotten about that one, thank you, what with all the other awful stuff they've had to deal with in the last 6 months in particular (must be tough at the top for a banker, eh?)

As we write, the Banks we have bailed out are collectively spending millions of pounds on a court case fighting the Office of Fair Trading (the OFT) on the other side (also, of course, funded by you and me) to get the courts (also funded by you and me) to say that the bank charges they have been levying for the last 7 years are not subject to the test of 'fairness'.

More specifically they are spending our money to get the courts to rule that they can continue to charge what they like and that fairness need not enter, and need never to have entered, into it. "I'm alright Jack" seems the line as they collectively stick two fingers up at the taxpayer and the government.

(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.

My colleague over on Lifestyle (look to the right and scroll down), Jo Ind is having a bad week understanding the financial news.

Believe me Jo, you're not the only one. I read the newspaper three times yesterday and I still don't get this 'short selling' stuff. Thank goodness for children's tv.

News last week that house prices fell by 2.5% last month (and 5% in the West Midlands) was probably the moment the penny dropped for most people that the credit crunch really is serious.

Indeed, the sub-prime fuelled financial crisis engulfing the world is seen by many as the worst since the 1930s. The US Federal Reserve has had to organise a bail-out of one major US bank and the government there will later this year inject a $150 billion fiscal stimulus package into the economy in an attempt to get it moving (and let's leave aside the fact that the absurd Stability and Growth Pact would probably constrain most Eurozone governments from engineering such a fiscal boost).

Britain shares some of the worst features of the US economy (a house price bubble, some reckless bank lending and a consumption binge that has seen savings rates fall and the trade deficit widen), albeit perhaps in a less intense form.

I spend much of working life trying to keep track of two key strands to the industrial and financial life of this country.

Wearing my Birmingham Post automotive correspondent's hat I report on a manufacturing sector that, despite what the cynics and doom-mongers say, is still a vital element of the manufacturing base both of the West Midlands and the UK as a whole as well as the regional and national economy.

There are some out there who simply cannot understand why Britain is still making motor cars in the 21st century.

Yes, we have lost Longbridge, Ryton and Browns Lane as major carmaking sites. But Jaguar and Land Rover (albeit perhaps soon in Indian ownership) remain at the heart of the industry.