undines
Anyone who really believes we shall see real, solid improvements in the NHS is, in my opinion, firmly in cloud cuckoo land. I'm sure it is quite easy to siphon money into government projects such as a clinic to 'treat' children who want (think they want) to change gender, and other, more expensive and wasteful projects that I have not memorised. Unemployment is sure to worsen because of the effect of the Budget on small businesses, the farmers are being penalised (but then, who needs real food when you are en route to a vegan/insect-eating dystopia??) And don't forget that stamp duty is going up sizeably in April. That will affect loads of people. This was not mentioned in the Budget, but Martin Lewis, has the details. Anyone who seriously thinks this is a government for the 'people' is - well - like I said, in cloud cuckoo land. Maybe that's the best place to be.
Absolutely!
£600m for social care is a mere drop in the ocean! Small companies doing Domiciliary Care will go to the wall as they won't be able to pay the NLW, they'll need to pay more NI for their employees who are actually leaving in droves ...
Several of my really excellent carers have had to leave because they can't live on the wages they get, there's a great deal of driving for which they do not get paid, they can't afford a really decent car so are throwing money at cars that have very high mileage and aren't really worth anything against a newer one. The carer I had this morning, drove 20 odd miles to get to a village 8 miles beyond me for 7am. She then had a half hour break. 3 clients in my town including myself, then back to the village for a lunch call. Then a 90 min break - not worth going home (goes to supermarket for something to eat and keeps the car running to keep warm), 2 clients near me, another 60 min break, then back to the village for a long call, then home. She will have been away from home for 12 hours but will have been paid for 6, so it works out at around £9 an hour for a 12 hr day and she has to pay for her fuel ... the company keeps on taking more & more clients from further away, and I am going to lose my favourite carer, the ONLY one that can do something with my hair too!