The Labour Government

[stan bowles]

Well, sorry to disappoint you, but the experts are blaming it on the JLR cyber attack.

Good to know there won't be any more cyber attacks in the future that won't hit harder than this one, then.

 

[hampshireblue]

I assume you mean that full employment is usually seen to exist when the unemployment rate is around 4-5%, rather than employment itself.

And that inflation tends to rise when the unemployment rate falls below this level, rather than rises, as you state.

I suppose it’s a nice attempt to steer the conversation away from just how inept this government is. But if the natural rate of unemployment has indeed increased over the past year or so, then Reeves’ policies are likely to have driven it higher. Higher employment taxes, outsized increases in the minimum wage and concerns around the ruinous proposed change in employment rights are all likely to have increased structural unemployment.

Add that to the fact that the economy has flatlined since May, and it’s hardly a surprise that the unemployment rate keeps rising. It is what Labour Chancellors do, after all.

Yes, sorry I typed it quickly. An unemployment rate around 4-5% is seen as an economy operating at or close to capacity. And yes, inflation rises as the level of unemployment falls.

There are a myriad of reasons why unemployment has risen including the ones you have mentioned. It's interesting you only support employers and clearly believe the minimum wage is set too high as well as chooing to ignore my points on apprenticeships and the large number of vacancies.

The highest rate in modern times was nearly 4 years into Thatcher's regime. But that couldn't be blamed on Labour as it was way more than 18 months into her government. ;-)

 

[True_Blue69]

Still find it bewildering that employment figures keep coming out without specific mention of AI and its effects. People instead prefer squabbling over whom they think can/could do better, when there’s no discussion of the elephant in the room.

I'm not having that many jobs have fallen to AI. Yes it's a useful tool and can help drive efficiencies but I don't see many roles that can be replaced by it. The NI change is far more likely to be the cause, small businesses that employed 3 or 4 part time people to get round paying it will have had to let 1 go to keep the books balanced.

 

[Gabriel]

I'm not having that many jobs have fallen to AI. Yes it's a useful tool and can help drive efficiencies but I don't see many roles that can be replaced by it. The NI change is far more likely to be the cause, small businesses that employed 3 or 4 part time people to get round paying it will have had to let 1 go to keep the books balanced.

I wish that were the case, but the ages of many who are unemployed should be a warning sign. Companies no longer need as many entry-level employees, and precious few jobs are going to be safe from its effects.

 

[Gogootz]

I'm not having that many jobs have fallen to AI. Yes it's a useful tool and can help drive efficiencies but I don't see many roles that can be replaced by it. The NI change is far more likely to be the cause, small businesses that employed 3 or 4 part time people to get round paying it will have had to let 1 go to keep the books balanced.

I know of quite a few in mine and adjacent industries (tech/media/web/design) - I know the plural of anecdotal isn't data but it is happening.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

They think if they ignore it, it will go away. Disney have just got into bed with Sora, that’ll dump hundreds of artists etc in the scrap heap in America and that’s just the start, it will start happening here and get faster paced next year. A lot of people got a shock coming in next 5 years and I don’t know what any governments can do about it.

There is no sign of anyone in Government here getting a grip on what is coming. The impact on the NHS will be enormous. It will take entire out entire layers of staff including the non specialist doctors. Diagnosis and treatment management can be done better by AI tools than any humans for starters. The Government keeps parroting that we need more doctors but that assuumes we will keep the current 1950s "Carry on Matron" set up in place. We will not need most of the staff in the House of Commons or any part of the House of Lords either.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

I'm not having that many jobs have fallen to AI. Yes it's a useful tool and can help drive efficiencies but I don't see many roles that can be replaced by it. The NI change is far more likely to be the cause, small businesses that employed 3 or 4 part time people to get round paying it will have had to let 1 go to keep the books balanced.

AI will have a bigger impact than the industrial revolution and the digital tech revolution combined. Every single aspect of everyone's life will change. Some of it will be positive and a lot wlll be negative. The UK is aleady years behind places like China and the USA. Our politicians and our political process is too slow to react and is not fit for purpose.

 

[Gabriel]

There is no sign of anyone in Government here getting a grip on what is coming. The impact on the NHS will be enormous. It will take entire out entire layers of staff including the non specialist doctors. Diagnosis and treatment management can be done better by AI tools than any humans for starters. The Government keeps parroting that we need more doctors but that assuumes we will keep the current 1950s "Carry on Matron" set up in place. We will not need most of the staff in the House of Commons or any part of the House of Lords either.

People flapping about immigration and immigrants ‘taking jobs’ but blithely carrying on as if AI is just a glorified spellchecker. AI is going to make millions unemployed, yet many bury their head in the sand as if it’s nothing more.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

People flapping about immigration and immigrants ‘taking jobs’ but blithely carrying on as if AI is just a glorified spellchecker. AI is going to make millions unemployed, yet many bury their head in the sand as if it’s nothing more than a glorified spellchecker.

The Government needs to put itself on a war footing, possibly with an all-party Cabinet, and start the urgent transformation process which is required to futureproof the whole country for the AI revolution. All current legislation plans need to be halted so the entire focus is purely on harnessing this new technoloogy to drive the economy. At present they are fiddling while Rome burns. Absolutely every aspect of people's lives is going to change. The current political system will have to be reorganised or the UK will become a failed state. In fact we are currently seeing the start of this process with our crumbling institutions and infrastructure. Starmer is the worst possible person to be leading the country at this time...and it has nothing to do with his politics. He has no vision and no strategy. He is locked in the past and so are his political opponents. They are arguing about things that are irrelevant to the future.

 

[Gabriel]

The Government needs to put itself on a war footing, possibly with an all-party Cabinet, and start the urgent transformation process which is required to futureproof the whole country for the AI revolution. All current legislation plans need to be halted so the entire focus is purely on harnessing this new technoloogy to drive the economy. At present they are fiddling while Rome burns. Absolutely every aspect of people's lives is going to change. The current political system will have to be reorganised or the UK will become a failed state. In fact we are currently seeing the start of this process with our crumbling institutions and infrastructure. Starmer is the worst possible person to be leading the country at this time...and it has nothing to do with his politics. He has no vision and no strategy. He is locked in the past and so are his political opponents. They are arguing about things that are irrelevant to the future.

There was barely any mention of it in the 2024 manifestoes and a little in the recent budget, though nowhere near enough. I agree that it should be central to all discussions, but the overall ignorance about its power and influence is quite frankly terrifying, and it continues to be downplayed. At the very least, there should be an AI Minister, a full cabinet position, yet instead it is a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Online Safety in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Not exactly visionary.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

There was barely any mention of it in the 2024 manifestoes and a little in the recent budget, though nowhere near enough. I agree that it should be central to all discussions, but the overall ignorance about its power and influence is quite frankly terrifying, and it continues to be downplayed. At the very least, there should be an AI Minister, a full cabinet position, yet instead it is a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AI and Online Safety in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). Not exactly visionary.

Virtually every piece of legislation going through at present will have to be redrawn for starters. The politicians are behaving like idiots and seem to have no concept of what is happening. The other big change coming is the breakthroughs in genetics which will enable us to predict what illnesses a baby will have in later life. The health service will become a preventative service not a reactive one. We will not need GPs any more. How is this going to be managed?