Redistribution of wealth in the UK

Above in reply to Dinahmo

I don’t believe that Putin will attack America in the way you suggest. I think Putin is adept at playing a good psychological and bizarre game and it’s best to ignore the gameplay.

Katie59

Most of the supermarket workers are indeed part time, some will be on benefits working their 16 hours allowed, many students, evenings, weekends and holidays and regular part time, some only do one day a week.

The attraction is the 20% discount I get on my shopping it easily adds £2 an hour to the wages.

The 16 hour rule is no longer relevant with UC.

Dinahmo then it hadn’t been worked out properly.
You would think that with the brain power available in the civil service ( if not in government) someone could come up with a solution?

Most of the supermarket workers are indeed part time, some will be on benefits working their 16 hours allowed, many students, evenings, weekends and holidays and regular part time, some only do one day a week.

The attraction is the 20% discount I get on my shopping it easily adds £2 an hour to the wages.

PamelaJ1

I don’t have the answers but I have thought for a long time that the benefit system is part of the problem.
No, I’m not suggesting it is abolished but it should be made easier for those on benefits to increase their income without losing the safety net of the system. That way they may be able to increase their employability and begin to get back to full employment gradually.
I had an employee once who didn’t want a pay rise. It would have taken her over some threshold or other so I do know that it used to happen. It may have changed.

Many of those who are employed and also receiving benefits work for the large supermarkets who realised that they could increase their profits and therefore their dividends by taking advantage of the benefit system. When WFTC were introduced it was in the belief that people could be encouraged back to work but it didn't quite work.

ronib

Are we not part of NATO? Does no one speak to each other? I don’t understand why we are so accepting of a prolonged war.

This is wrong on every level.

Of course NATO is discussing the war but when Ukraine is being invaded by a madman what are we to do?

One of Putin's recent ideas is to drop a nuclear bomb into the Yellowstone volcano in the belief that it will erupt. If it did so then North America would suffer from a nuclear winter but such an eruption could not be caused by a nuclear bomb.

Short of assassination there's very little that can be done to stop Putin, other than his generals turning against him or popular opinion in Russia wanting the war to end.

ronib

Dinahmo do you mean regime change with Labour or Lib Dems or Reform in power? Exactly how might the conversation go with President Putin to halt the Ukrainian war? Will President Putin be persuaded?

Labour of course

Growing the pot has been a failure of most UK governments since 1945 and I doubt any future government can really achieve it.

varian

Did anyone really think that Trump, Putin and Marine le Pen had the best interests of the UK at heart?

... coupled with those behind the Leave campaign - No.

Did anyone really think that Trump, Putin and Marine le Pen had the best interests of the UK at heart?

It's not surprising that most of the world thinks that Brexit was a pretty stupid move.

On the run up to the fraudulent referendum of 2016, the only foreign politicians who supported "Leave" were Donald Trump, the French fascist Marine le Pen and Vladimir Putin.

If I had, at that time, been even slightly tempted to vote leave that fact in itself would have sounded warning bells.

Perhaps it was not reported as it should have been by the Torygraph, The Express, The Daily Mail and The Sun.

The US is much more interested in the EU these days, the UKs credibility declined after Brexit, they think it was a pretty stupid move.

UK's International Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, has written to her US counterpart, complaining that America's green subsidies are protectionist.

www.ft.com/content/21fe9241-5e1b-409e-8d6e-98f2e4d06793

Apparently, Badenoch thinks the UK should get a special deal. The arrogance and self-delusion is astonishing.

OK! The UK has now managed to p*$$ off the EU and the US. Who's next?

Katie59

Yes larger debts than at present, that was announced at the last budget
Food and fuel prices will not return to pre Ukraine levels but they will be lower than current.
Don’t expect any change in trading relations with EU for maybe 5 yrs. Any “ Brexit Bonus” agreements will be very limited, due to continued Covid and Ukraine disruption.

I dont see any reason to expect a quick recovery, I hope the most vulnerable are protected, the rest of us just tough it out

Don’t expect any change in trading relations with EU for maybe 5 yrs. Any “ Brexit Bonus” agreements will be very limited, due to continued Covid and Ukraine disruption.

"Although UK exports to the EU have now recovered to pre-pandemic levels, analysis of trading data shows the number of relationships between buyers and sellers tumbled by a third after the introduction of the EU-UK trade deal in January 2021." (Peter Foster - FINANCIAL TIMES - APRIL 26 2022)

It may not matter to many - but to our small businesses, that were booming prior to Brexit - it matters a great deal. Increased paperwork, logistics and cost has forced quite a few out of the market altogether.

Covid and Ukraine will naturally have an effect on trade - but, there is evidence that the long term effects of Brexit on EU trade is "worrying" especially as there is also evidence that future growth comes from those smaller companies.

Fortunately, Sunak has taken a more conciliatory approach to the EU - at least by comparison to Johnson and Truss.

TBH I think the "Brexit Bonus" is going to take a lot longer than 5 years to materialise, certainly for a lot of ordinary people.

As Rees-Mogg predicted in his usual languid fashion... "benefits of Brexit won't be apparent for 50 years".

And the largest pro-Brexit demographic (over 60s) will all be dead by then.

I don’t have the answers but I have thought for a long time that the benefit system is part of the problem.
No, I’m not suggesting it is abolished but it should be made easier for those on benefits to increase their income without losing the safety net of the system. That way they may be able to increase their employability and begin to get back to full employment gradually.
I had an employee once who didn’t want a pay rise. It would have taken her over some threshold or other so I do know that it used to happen. It may have changed.

ronib

Are we not part of NATO? Does no one speak to each other? I don’t understand why we are so accepting of a prolonged war.

This is wrong on every level.

ronib it’s not in our gift, or the gift of NATO to resolve this conflict through warfare. The UK is a bit player, we don’t have any say directly, other than through support to Ukraine through the methods we already do - which is what the other NATO countries are doing too, we aren’t in isolation.

Are we not part of NATO? Does no one speak to each other? I don’t understand why we are so accepting of a prolonged war.

This is wrong on every level.

ronib

Casdon of course the Ukrainian crisis does not need the entire concentration of the government. But the crisis needs resolution.

We are not in a position to resolve it. I can't understand why you should think we are.

Casdon of course the Ukrainian crisis does not need the entire concentration of the government. But the crisis needs resolution.

ronib

The most important problem to be faced is the war in Ukraine and that is more deserving of our time and emotional energy rather than continuous rumblings about a general election here. There will be a general election at some point. I don’t agree at all with the way the international community has been sucked in to the whole power politics of Russia against the rest of the world. I am sceptical that Kier Starmer will be able to do anything more than the present prime minister in resolving this issue.

I don’t agree ronib, the war in Ukraine needs our financial, political and practical support but as it stands we are not at war, and the conflict could rumble on for years. It doesn’t need the entire political concentration of the UK government. Labour in government would likely make no difference to the approach from the UK to the Ukraine situation, but it would make a huge and welcome change to domestic politics so an election is the way forward.

The most important problem to be faced is the war in Ukraine and that is more deserving of our time and emotional energy rather than continuous rumblings about a general election here. There will be a general election at some point. I don’t agree at all with the way the international community has been sucked in to the whole power politics of Russia against the rest of the world. I am sceptical that Kier Starmer will be able to do anything more than the present prime minister in resolving this issue.

Are you seriously suggesting that the UK could in any way influence Putin to halt the war in Ukraine, ronib. The UK has been happily discarding any international power we had. A regime change in the UK isn't going to make any difference.

I can't see Reform taking power at all. All they'll do is split the tory vote. At the moment, with the tories 25% points behind Labour in the latest opinion poll, there isn't a great deal of tory vote to split. I can't see Labour losing much of their lead while this stagnant tory government is in power.

Dinahmo do you mean regime change with Labour or Lib Dems or Reform in power? Exactly how might the conversation go with President Putin to halt the Ukrainian war? Will President Putin be persuaded?

ronib

MaizieD

I wasn't suggesting we do a Robin Hood style mugging of the rich, and remove every penny, laughing callously.

No, but I think that that was how your teacher was trying to present it

The Labour 'squeeze the rich' was a long time ago now. Apart from talking about wealth taxes, I haven't really heard much in the way of positive redistributive policies from them lately. But perhaps they'll be a bit braver once in office.

Even with a change of government, we still have
1. The economic effects of a pandemic which lasted two years
2. The war in Ukraine which shows little signs of a fast resolution
3. The subsequent energy shortage and price hikes
These problems remain for government of whichever persuasion. The policies might have a different set of faces fronting them but the solutions will still not be easy, and the civil servants will continue to be in place.
Rather than wish for regime change on an almost continuous basis, better to ask how to solve the crisis confronting us all.

Regime change is the only way. The present govt will not solve the problems.