There were fresh calls for the Government to scale back its austerity measures today after figures confirmed the UK had returned to recession.

Unions questioned official figures today showing an 8% gap in the average hourly pay of public and private sector workers, warning that the figures could now be "widely misused."

The number of dole claimants per job vacancy is more than twice as high in parts of the North than in the South, illustrating a “stark” regional divide, according to a new analysis of unemployment figures.

The Government today sparked a fierce debate over employment rights after calling for evidence on whether rules covering the dismissal of workers were too “complex” and should be changed.

The Government was accused today of being the most "female-unfriendly" in living memory following new research showing how difficult it is for women to find well-paid part-time work.

One in five new graduates is out of work, while many more are being forced to take jobs that do not require a degree, official figures show.

Trade unions have urged workers to avoid pension unlocking firms, which loan money secured against a pension or transfer pension cash into a high risk investment.

The proportion of people in a workplace pension has fallen below half for the first time in at least 15 years, prompting calls for confidence in schemes to be rebuilt.

Jonathan Stephenson was born into a family of English diplomats, but the causes he espoused were anything but establishment. He was a spokesman for the trade union movement at a time when the unions were in constant battle with the Thatcher government and, despite the threat of physical violence, went on to become a leading figure in Northern Irish politics, one of the few Englishmen to make such a political commitment.

The number of people being forced to take precarious part-time work has shot up to a record high as the economic slump deepens.

Workers could pay more than £2,300 to take an employer to an industrial tribunal under new measures that were last night condemned as a denial of justice for the lowest paid.

A Government minister said today there was a "very realistic possibility" of reaching a deal on public sector pensions despite the huge strike by workers and threats of more industrial action.

The gender pay gap has fallen below 10% for the first time after women's earnings increased faster than men's in the past year, according to official figures today.