Question Time

[Gingers Dad]

I fully agree with you on this. The tax payer is propping up the likes of Tesco who post billions in profits. All supermarkets undoubtedly pay the same. It’s a disgrace. “Work should pay”, but firms should “pay their workers”, let’s worry about that before we start running headlines about docking claimants.

They shouldn't be allowed to pay a dividend until they've paid the government back.

 

[Gingers Dad]

Minister without portfolio, woman without brain. She was my MP for several years. She is a talentless waster.

You really get the cream in Tatton

 

[blueinsa]

Can’t beat the weekly “outraged at QT” posts.

 

[East Level 2]

He does have false hair

Not sure. It looks like he's got real hair but makes it look false; a bit like a certain PJS.

 

[Koniec]

If the minimum wage is just over a tenner an hour, then 40 hours equals £400-450 a week.

So £1900 a month.

That is fine for a single person, cost of rent aside.

For a single parent, it’s probably not enough due to ridiculous child care costs etc.

Tesco full time is 36.5 hrs p/w. Same for Morrisons. And that wage is barely enough for a single person living in a city like Edinburgh or London.

 

[BrianW]

Levelling up was indeed a great idea. In principle. The truth is this is a deeply divided country and there was not the political will to tax rich southerners to invest in the north and Scotland/Wales. The social unity is completely lacking.

That this investment would ultimately pay for itself by making these regions more productive, and thus a richer source of government revenue, is neither here nor there. People simply don't look that far down the road. This is a short-term country that only thinks about this year's dividends.

Compare and contrast with how Germany spent billions bringing the former DDR up to standard.

 

[TinFoilHat]

Levelling up was indeed a great idea. In principle. The truth is this is a deeply divided country and there was not the political will to tax rich southerners to invest in the north and Scotland/Wales. The social unity is completely lacking.

That this investment would ultimately pay for itself by making these regions more productive, and thus a richer source of government revenue, is neither here nor there. People simply don't look that far down the road. This is a short-term country that only thinks about this year's dividends.

Compare and contrast with how Germany spent billions bringing the former DDR up to standard.

As well as creating a social democratic model of society where citizens are expected to be responsible and productive citizens.

 

[BayernMan]

It isn't straightforward, but generally, if you want to boost the economy quickly the best way is to give more money to the low-paid and benefit claimants. These people have what is called a high propensity to spend. That is they spend almost every penny they receive and that money goes to businesses and circulates in the economy. Some of it gets back to the state as tax. Yes, not least through duties on alcohol, tobacco and petrol.

Give money to the rich, especially the uber-rich, and they will spend little if any of it. Instead, they will 'invest' it, often in tax avoidance schemes. This means the government gets little back if anything at all. There might, ideally, be a long-term benefit to companies via increased investment but it is not guaranteed and is in any case long-term. In the long term, we are all dead.

But I’ve been told that the government needs to give more money to the “job creators” and eventually they will sprinkle some of their wealth to us lowly people….

 

[bluethrunthru]

Johnny launches a leadership bid? Why not everyone else is

 

[bluethrunthru]

If the minimum wage is just over a tenner an hour, then 40 hours equals £400-450 a week.

So £1900 a month.

That is fine for a single person, cost of rent aside.

For a single parent, it’s probably not enough due to ridiculous child care costs etc.

But thats not how it works I am afraid - modern day retail see the vast majority on 12 or 16 and sometimes 20hr contracts. There are sometimes extra shifts going depending on demand though that "overtime" is paid at standard rate - no time and a half here. An almost vanishingly small number of people who work in the major stores you go in will be doing 30hrs p/w never mind 40.

The reason? Cost although in reality its exploitation. You see someone who is contracted to 16 hrs a week gets paid holiday on the same pro-rata basis. e.g. if a standard contract is 32 hrs p/w with say 24 days p.a. paid holiday the employer is only on the hook for 12 days paid p.a. In the case of redundancy unless specified otherwise if say the entitlement is based on that same calculation of hrs worked and years then an employee is 50% cheaper to dispose of. So in reality you are looking at say £800 to £1k pm ( if you get extras ) such as my wife and daughter earn in retail on the same basis. That means Housing Benefits and UC are your avenues to get enough to scrimp by on - child care costs are irrelevant despite what they boast over 200 nurseries closed in the first 9 months of this year - highest number are in deprived areas.

Yet despite all that the Govt boasts of increasing wealth and restoring the economy and Tesco and the rest laugh all the way to the bank