Now is the winter of Britain’s discontent

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2 there is no pleasing some people.

Would you rather salaries remain low, people reliant on UC and food banks?

Those who oppose this Government have been constantly bemoaning the fact that many people in the U.K. are living in poverty. The way out of poverty is to increase wages.

Interest rates have been at record lows, they will in all probability increase.

More money circulating in the economy provides more jobs and opportunities.

Wow! You've been listening to Maizie :-)

GrannyGravy13

One thing I do agree with is that the U.K. should not be reliant on a low wage often described as low skilled labour force from abroad.

It is high time that ALL employers paid their employees a decent living wage and took some responsibility to train and up-skill their staff in-house (with a clause in employment contracts that if your employer pays for training then the employee has to remain with that company for a certain amount of time or pay back a percentage of the training fees. This would give the employers some protection from constant training up and then the staff leaving. There would have to be safeguards so that this could not be abused by either the employer or the employee)

You really have been voting for the wrong party, haven't you, GG13?

The tories would never do that because it interferes with The Market.

Kali2

Hécatombe - a good French word, that.

Apparently, it's originally Greek (no surprises there).

Of Greek origin - a massacre and sacrifice of 1000s of people and animals.

How apt!

Whitewavemark2 there is no pleasing some people.

Would you rather salaries remain low, people reliant on UC and food banks?

Those who oppose this Government have been constantly bemoaning the fact that many people in the U.K. are living in poverty. The way out of poverty is to increase wages.

Interest rates have been at record lows, they will in all probability increase.

More money circulating in the economy provides more jobs and opportunities.

GrannyGravy13

One thing I do agree with is that the U.K. should not be reliant on a low wage often described as low skilled labour force from abroad.

It is high time that ALL employers paid their employees a decent living wage and took some responsibility to train and up-skill their staff in-house (with a clause in employment contracts that if your employer pays for training then the employee has to remain with that company for a certain amount of time or pay back a percentage of the training fees. This would give the employers some protection from constant training up and then the staff leaving. There would have to be safeguards so that this could not be abused by either the employer or the employee)

I agree with you. Vocational training and in-service upskilling are a shambles. What has been done in the past to improve it? It should have been high on the agenda over the last five years since the referendum, never mind the years before that. What is happening now was predictable, but was dismissed as part of Project Fear.

PS. Johnson needs to think this through. Driving an HGV and care work aren't low-skilled, but there are low-skilled jobs which need doing. If everybody in the country becomes high-skilled (and pigs might fly), who is going to do the necessary low-skilled work? How is he going to manage the economy, so there isn't rampant inflation caused by wage growth?

Hécatombe - a good French word, that.

The only reason Marr 'talked over' Johnson, was to stop him what he always does, as in PM Question time in Commons- is to go off at a tangent and NOT answer the question.

The fact there are shortages of HGV drivers in the EU makes it even more unlikely any of them will come to the EU. Where conditions are worse, loads of red tape and delays, and on short-term contracts. If any of them do come- I'd like to know why they have not secured good, long-term contracts in the EU- nearer home and .... as said above!

I thought Tories are in favour of Free market!

Because he's a clever chap growstuff and can use words that we plebs don't know, that's what make him suitable to be World King.

Must be that because its certainly not his grasp of facts and ability to make the country a better place to live.

GrannyGravy13

One thing I do agree with is that the U.K. should not be reliant on a low wage often described as low skilled labour force from abroad.

It is high time that ALL employers paid their employees a decent living wage and took some responsibility to train and up-skill their staff in-house (with a clause in employment contracts that if your employer pays for training then the employee has to remain with that company for a certain amount of time or pay back a percentage of the training fees. This would give the employers some protection from constant training up and then the staff leaving. There would have to be safeguards so that this could not be abused by either the employer or the employee)

I agree that people should be paid a proper rate, but how do you deal with the resultant inflation that is already beginning to show its head?

Alegrias1

To look on the bright side, I learnt a new word.

Hecatomb

Snap! So did I! Pompous g*t! What's happening with pigs isn't a hetacomb - it's slaughter. Why couldn't have used a word the majority could understand?

No wonder we rarely see Johnson being held to account in interviews.

His affable veneer slips very quickly and his temper shows, his wives and work colleagues will recognise that look. A nasty piece of work.

One thing I do agree with is that the U.K. should not be reliant on a low wage often described as low skilled labour force from abroad.

It is high time that ALL employers paid their employees a decent living wage and took some responsibility to train and up-skill their staff in-house (with a clause in employment contracts that if your employer pays for training then the employee has to remain with that company for a certain amount of time or pay back a percentage of the training fees. This would give the employers some protection from constant training up and then the staff leaving. There would have to be safeguards so that this could not be abused by either the employer or the employee)

I think the record has got stuck too MaizieD. Whatever happened to critical thinking and understanding that actions have consequences?

Exactly Whitewave.
If you take a supply chain that is already under pressure from a shortage of drivers, choose to become a third country which involves additional checks and delays at ports, make cabotage more problematic and create a hostile environment for workers coming from the EU, what can you expect?

To look on the bright side, I learnt a new word.

Hecatomb

Mamie

Think you missed the point of my post lemongrove. There are shortages of lorry drivers across Europe but there are no empty shelves or shortages of fuel. The difference is Brexit.
I think Andrew Marr just tried to explain this to Boris Johnson.

I think the record just got stuck, Mamie.

This canard has been repeated and debunked ad nauseum over the past week or so. but the faithful just echo their leader and burble on regardless.

No shortage of vets, or poultry processors or vegetable pickers or abattoir workers or butchers or care workers etc etc either.

It is Brexit that is causing it.

Think you missed the point of my post lemongrove. There are shortages of lorry drivers across Europe but there are no empty shelves or shortages of fuel. The difference is Brexit.
I think Andrew Marr just tried to explain this to Boris Johnson.

Casdon

You’re right PippaZ. I think it’s highly unlikely that they will even suggest means tested state pensions this parliament though, as they will alienate the majority of their voters if they do that.

I am not hoping for means-tested pensions. I was explaining what the Conservative Government said they would be doing. I would much rather have a basic income starting with pensioners. There would be a claw-back using tax from the highest incomes.

However, I am not looking at that at the moment.

By taking the third area out of the triple lock, there is one group that will set up not to benefit from "levelling-up". Levelling-up has now been defined by Johnson as making the whole of society a high-income society.

We can argue about whether we agree with that but one thing is sure, if you take the income-related part of the Tripple-lock out of the calculation State Pensions + any add-ons such as Serps, will drop further and further behind each year that the rise in incomes is above zero.

Why are the pensioners being left out? If the incomes do not go up, neither will the pensions so they are not going to be paying out money that they don't have (in Thatcher-speak). If incomes do go up then the tax take will go up.

What has he got against pensioners? That is all pensioners although my concern is for the very poorest. If he believes Pensioners are rich then tax those assets. Why punish the poorest?

growstuff

PippaZ

Whitewavemark2

lemongrove

I agreed with what Johnson said this morning on Marr ( when Marr let him get a word in edgewise.)
Left wing posters will disagree, naturally.

What bit did you agree with?

Marr was at his best this morning. No waffling allowed.

Johnson tried to talk over Marr.

Exactly. Rude man.

lemongrove

I agreed with all of it, at least the bits I could hear when Marr wasn’t trying to talk over him.I know it’s the Andrew Marr Show but he does tend to think he needn’t ( or we needn’t) properly hear the political guests he hosts if he doesn’t like them.It’s his way, he has always done it.
He did it to Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon on two memorable occasions.

So perhaps you could give us an idea about what he meant when he talked about the old tired economics?

I agreed with all of it, at least the bits I could hear when Marr wasn’t trying to talk over him.I know it’s the Andrew Marr Show but he does tend to think he needn’t ( or we needn’t) properly hear the political guests he hosts if he doesn’t like them.It’s his way, he has always done it.
He did it to Jeremy Corbyn and Nicola Sturgeon on two memorable occasions.

Kim19

Interesting..... I thought he was making mincemeat out of Andrew Marr.

It's that old parallel universe effect again

PippaZ

Whitewavemark2

lemongrove

I agreed with what Johnson said this morning on Marr ( when Marr let him get a word in edgewise.)
Left wing posters will disagree, naturally.

What bit did you agree with?

Marr was at his best this morning. No waffling allowed.

Johnson tried to talk over Marr.