Slashing waste and getting value for money for tax payers is key part of my own manifesto. What I’m not sure of though is when we the tax payers get money back from from the removal of 20% of government pen pushers? Do they in fact get a nice early retirement package and nice pension - VERS my girlfriend called it when she was calculating them? Are the aged over 50 Civil Servants actually rubbing their hands with glee at the governments news, when it’s more interest right now for the country to keep them working, both paying taxes and sharing their knowledge?
Maybe someone ought to ask these questions of the Tories, how much is the scheme actually costing the government and country in the short and medium term, when exactly does it actually free up any money for cost of living crisis?
Nb it won’t be 40%, that’s just government trying to capture Mail and Express front pages tomorrow before they publish dangerous partygate crowing like todays front pages.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
I have a lot of sympathy with the fact that governments - at the start - didn't know very much. And the fact that massive hospitals were being built in Wuhan and people were being welded inside their homes will have really weighed on politicians minds. (The bodies piling up in Milan and New York will have played a role too.)
But we did learn some things pretty quickly, that should have allowed a return to (somewhat) normal life.
The most obvious of which was that Covid didn't spread very easily outside. Sunlight and ventilation rapidly reduced concentrations to levels where infection was extremely unlikely.
Now, I get that stadiums might still have a concentration of people where it would have been a problem, but really - from very early on - we should have been allowing (even encouraging) people to get together and spend time outside.
Here in LA (and yes, I know the weather is better here) there were maybe six weeks through the pandemic when you couldn't go and sit outside at a restaurant or coffee shop with your friends. That made it massively less isolating, and probably had bugger all effect on spread.
A lot of people on here probably think of me as a lockdown hawk, because I take exception to people making crap innumerate arguments against trying to do anything to prevent the spread of a sufficiently deadly infectious virus, but I was one of those making the point that the government should have been positively encouraging social mixing outside as a better alternative to social mixing inside from an early stage.
I expect that the pro/anti lockdown arguments are going to continue indefinitely, and the less contentious things that were done wrong will receive much less attention, when the government could have done so much more on ventilation, filtering, meeting outside, blood oxygen monitoring, etc.
This is really important: if we'd done a better job of stratifying risk (and changing guidance) as new information came through, then we would probably have been able to do a better job at minimising people's loss of freedom.
But, as you say, we end up with a very polarised argument, with one either being forced to be in favour of massive lockdowns, or in favour of no restrictions whatsoever.
The smearing of people who were sceptical about the efficacy of lockdowns as "anti-vaxxers" was particularly egregious.
That would somewhat depend on the reasoning that was employed to make that sceptical point.
Not really, since it was possible to be anti-lockdown and pro-vaccine and there were people smearing all anti-lockdowners as anti-vax.
There were all kinds of crazy people: some thought Covid came from 5G, some thought vaccines were mind control, some thought that lockdowns had no impact on the spread of Covid, and some thought that Covid was a visitation from God for our sins.
So I'm not really sure what your point is.
Lockdown zealots used the existence of anti-vax anti-lockdowners to smear all anti-lockdowners as anti-vax so that their beloved tool of social control was spared critical examination.
And anti-lockdowners generally didn't believe "that lockdowns had no impact on the spread of Covid", but I guess you knew that already.
If they did, it was possibly due to the publicity of the Ur-Lockdown Sceptic and his widely read site. Toby Young became a keen antivaxxer and has relentlessly pushed HART Groups antivaxxer stories for a year and a half now.
At least two thirds of the Great Barrington Declaration three lead authors have swung to antivaxxery, and Toby and they were trying to push that dodgy study that lockdowns had near-zero effect.
I know several on the lockdown sceptic side that certainly are not antivax in the slightest, but that's the problem with the publicity hounds on any side - they steal the attention and focus.
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
It should be noted that drivers having second jobs can have severe consequences, both for their careers and the public. There are strict safety-based rules for drivers, based on the hours they work. They are meant to try to be rested before they come on-shift, and their working (on railway) hours are based on that. Any significant second job is hard to organise because of the shift patterns, and because of the rest required.
But as ever, it is interesting that the focus is on the drivers. There are about 20,000 train drivers in the UK, and 115,000 railway workers. And many of these have jobs just as critical as those of drivers.
I have a lot of sympathy with the fact that governments - at the start - didn't know very much. And the fact that massive hospitals were being built in Wuhan and people were being welded inside their homes will have really weighed on politicians minds. (The bodies piling up in Milan and New York will have played a role too.)
But we did learn some things pretty quickly, that should have allowed a return to (somewhat) normal life.
The most obvious of which was that Covid didn't spread very easily outside. Sunlight and ventilation rapidly reduced concentrations to levels where infection was extremely unlikely.
Now, I get that stadiums might still have a concentration of people where it would have been a problem, but really - from very early on - we should have been allowing (even encouraging) people to get together and spend time outside.
Here in LA (and yes, I know the weather is better here) there were maybe six weeks through the pandemic when you couldn't go and sit outside at a restaurant or coffee shop with your friends. That made it massively less isolating, and probably had bugger all effect on spread.
A lot of people on here probably think of me as a lockdown hawk, because I take exception to people making crap innumerate arguments against trying to do anything to prevent the spread of a sufficiently deadly infectious virus, but I was one of those making the point that the government should have been positively encouraging social mixing outside as a better alternative to social mixing inside from an early stage.
I expect that the pro/anti lockdown arguments are going to continue indefinitely, and the less contentious things that were done wrong will receive much less attention, when the government could have done so much more on ventilation, filtering, meeting outside, blood oxygen monitoring, etc.
This is really important: if we'd done a better job of stratifying risk (and changing guidance) as new information came through, then we would probably have been able to do a better job at minimising people's loss of freedom.
But, as you say, we end up with a very polarised argument, with one either being forced to be in favour of massive lockdowns, or in favour of no restrictions whatsoever.
Totally agree with this. I was banging on until I was blue in the face (and probably bored everyone to tears) about finding "the low hanging fruit" on restrictions. The ones with least impact on people and most impact on viral spread.
The best information I've found indicates that banning large gatherings had by far the largest effect. Banning meeting a couple of people outside - negligible to zero.
The stay-at-home order looks to have had a small but still significant effect. Which points to it only being of use to get over the final hurdle when you're close to R=1. (Because, of course, R a fraction over 1 = exponential growth; R a fraction under 1 = decay. Albeit that if you're almost exactly R=1 and maybe a hair under, you may well need extra downwards pressure if you let it grow too high to begin with: 3,000 admissions per day and R=0.99 is unsustainable; 300 admissions per day and R=0.99 isn't a problem)
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
What do you see as a 'fair and reasonable' offer? Why is the current offer not 'fair and reasonable' ?
A serious post (for once) on the strikes and railways:
Drivers get paid too much. I knew a railway worker - one of the grunts on the ground who had to go out in all weathers to keep the railways working, often doing hard physical labour - who was fed up with the way the railway unions concentrated on the public-facing roles such as drivers or guards, over the people who actually kept the system running. And whose failures could cause as many delays or deaths as drivers - if not more.
In fact, there was a certain amount of condescension from drivers towards trackworkers.
This proposed strike is also about safeguarding 2,500 people who are ‘grunts on the ground’ who are threatened with losing their jobs with the potentially devastating impact this could have on safety.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
Even Cabinet Ministers only get about £150,000 a year and are already banned from outside earnings
Not a great Yougov for the Tories certainly, 31% would be back to 2001 levels and barely above their 1997 voteshare.
Techne a bit better for them at 35%
No Tory poll leads for 5 months and 14 days...
There was a period of over two years during the 2010-15 Parliament where no Conservative leads were recorded - and much good that ended up doing EdM.
IMHO the main point to be taken away from the polling at present is that Labour shows no signs of getting away from what is, by most reasonable measures, a pretty hopeless Government. Tony Blair typically held leads of anything between fifteen and thirty points for years on end prior to the '97 election.
No one's ever had poll leads over a sustained period like Blair. So that's hardly the comparison to judge by.
That's a fair point. Still think it's reasonable to conclude that the Opposition should be doing better though.
That's a difficult metric though. How a Party "ought" to be doing is merely an opinion. Doesn't help for betting purposes. And it depends what the aim is. Clearly it isn't anywhere near a majority. But an 80 seat majority hasn't ever been overturned in one go. My take. Support for the Tories drip, dripped away from a high point in June. The Paterson fiasco pushed it over the edge. They haven't led this year, and it has settled at 5% Labour lead. The return of the Lib Dems is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to turf the Tories out. As is the willingness to vote tactically. There is ample evidence of the former. Some of the latter. It may continue to grow. Is this enough? Well. It's enough to put it in play. It is tough to see the situation being better in 6 months.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
It should be noted that drivers having second jobs can have severe consequences, both for their careers and the public. There are strict safety-based rules for drivers, based on the hours they work. They are meant to try to be rested before they come on-shift, and their working (on railway) hours are based on that. Any significant second job is hard to organise because of the shift patterns, and because of the rest required.
But as ever, it is interesting that the focus is on the drivers. There are about 20,000 train drivers in the UK, and 115,000 railway workers. And many of these have jobs just as critical as those of drivers.
Signalmen, for instance. Signal engineers too (that accident because of shorted wiring by a rushed, tired engineer IIRC).
(And the point could be further made that having second jobs is also bad for MPs, for their 'proper' careers and for the public, albeit in a different way.)
Not a great Yougov for the Tories certainly, 31% would be back to 2001 levels and barely above their 1997 voteshare.
Techne a bit better for them at 35%
No Tory poll leads for 5 months and 14 days...
There was a period of over two years during the 2010-15 Parliament where no Conservative leads were recorded - and much good that ended up doing EdM.
IMHO the main point to be taken away from the polling at present is that Labour shows no signs of getting away from what is, by most reasonable measures, a pretty hopeless Government. Tony Blair typically held leads of anything between fifteen and thirty points for years on end prior to the '97 election.
If though you are implying that Labour actually need to pull away to double digit to be able to win, and swing back as 2015 is always the norm, I would call you wrong. An alternative example could be the 2005 election campaign, much smaller Labour leads, and pretty much the popular vote the parties ended with, suggesting Tories would get about 33 and they got about 33. What slightly obscures both 2005 and 2015 is the vagaries of tactical voting against Tories in the three Blair wins, that in 2015 ended with a bang. Hint: it might be back.
My recollection of 2015 was folk refusing to believe the polling evidence of a total collapse of the Lib Dems in the areas they held. There was an ITN poll some way out which showed them losing every single seat in the South West. No one took it seriously. I did. Hence I called Tory majority very early.*
*This isn't a boast. I called 2017 totally wrong. And Brexit.
One question would be, how much of the Lib Dem gains from 97 onwards was Lab tactical votes for them, the coalition term shredded. My own analysts thought is different, before the libdem gains many were solid Tory with no Lab presence, but Libdem was an option for disgruntled con voters without them having to vote Labour. It then became a Libdem seat with a lot of incumbency factor partly because a lot of the libdems got on telly a lot and became political celebrities, the constituency enjoyed being Libdem. The coalition sent the voters back to conservatives partly to keep Labour out, partly because Cameron was not like the old nasty party so the coalition with him made the Tory’s no longer the nasty party but a reasonable and moderate one in the voters eyes.
I was young and couldn’t vote in 2015, but it was all about avoiding the chaos of letting labour back in, austerity didn’t play as much in 2015 as it did in 2017. Maybe the Corbyn effort actually campaigned stronger on austerity in 2017 than Milliband team did in 2015, the difference between being valuably serious promises on managing the economy versus straightforward anti austerity protest vote campaign.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
Macron has appointed the current Ambassador to the UK Catherine Colonna as Foreign Minister.
Talk about rewarding failure. Macron was completely blindsided by AUKUS and instead of actually giving the French state a real read on politics in the UK she seems to be all remoaning all the time.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
What do you see as a 'fair and reasonable' offer? Why is the current offer not 'fair and reasonable' ?
Agreeing a pay rise that is inflation busting and agreeing to remove the threat of 2,500 redundancies on the network. To resolve this the employers would need to engage in proper dialogue with the union and consider enhanced redundancy packages.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
We certainly don't want a parliament full of City lawyers and posh landowners. Which it used to be.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
A serious post (for once) on the strikes and railways:
Drivers get paid too much. I knew a railway worker - one of the grunts on the ground who had to go out in all weathers to keep the railways working, often doing hard physical labour - who was fed up with the way the railway unions concentrated on the public-facing roles such as drivers or guards, over the people who actually kept the system running. And whose failures could cause as many delays or deaths as drivers - if not more.
In fact, there was a certain amount of condescension from drivers towards trackworkers.
This proposed strike is also about safeguarding 2,500 people who are ‘grunts on the ground’ who are threatened with losing their jobs with the potentially devastating impact this could have on safety.
Indeed. But it is also against a background of a union leadership who are somewhat pro-Russia at a time we are supporting a side that is opposing Russia.
At the beginning of the Second World War, before Barbarossa, some British unions were rather (ahem) strike-prone. After Barbarossa, that ended. Somewhat unsurprisingly.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
Your figures for legal pay were right in about 1995
Why do you think we particularly want those people in Parliament? You have no idea what pettifogging nonsense top flight commercial law is, with no attraction or interest whatever other than the huge rewards for success. Are you saying there are not enough greedy monomaniacs in the Commons?
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
What do you see as a 'fair and reasonable' offer? Why is the current offer not 'fair and reasonable' ?
Agreeing a pay rise that is inflation busting and agreeing to remove the threat of 2,500 redundancies on the network. To resolve this the employers would need to engage in proper dialogue with the union and consider enhanced redundancy packages.
Who pays? The government or passengers? Are you willing to see fare increases to pay for these increases (and all that means), or should the further pay increases come from general taxation?
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
We certainly don't want a parliament full of City lawyers and posh landowners. Which it used to be.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
We certainly don't want a parliament full of City lawyers and posh landowners. Which it used to be.
We could certainly do with a few more of the former given the complex legislation that needs to be made and scrutinised.
Banning outside earnings just means we will get even fewer top lawyers in Parliament. I am not saying we need to stop paying MPs, which was the reason MPs used to come from only the top professional classes or landed gentry (with a handful of union funded Labour MPs gradually coming in) until they got salaries at the start of the last century
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Boris and Case put the booze on the table with a green light to let off steam. The staff then got all the FPNs not the leadership group - the leadership group now fighting to avoid getting criticism they actually deserve in the report. The police won’t even tell Gray who they have fined.
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
We certainly don't want a parliament full of City lawyers and posh landowners. Which it used to be.
Personally, I care little for the background of MPs - as long as they've not broken the law. If they can make 'good', forward-looking laws based in reality rather than ideology that leave the UK in a better place, then I don't care if they're Etonian or ex-Communist.
But generally, a variety is probably best. Which is why Oxford PPE might be a negative...
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
We certainly don't want a parliament full of City lawyers and posh landowners. Which it used to be.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Yes. Absolutely. Why should the workers of this country have a hit to their standard of living when the bosses are still getting large pay raises. The governor of the bank of England on £450k a year saying workers on less than a tenth of that should not ask for more. Bollocks to that.
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Boris and Case put the booze on the table with a green light to let off steam. The staff then got all the FPNs not the leadership group - the leadership group now fighting to avoid getting criticism they actually deserve in the report. The police won’t even tell Gray who they have fined.
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Boris and Case put the booze on the table with a green light to let off steam. The staff then got all the FPNs not the leadership group - the leadership group now fighting to avoid getting criticism they actually deserve in the report. The police won’t even tell Gray who they have fined.
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
We certainly don't want a parliament full of City lawyers and posh landowners. Which it used to be.
Personally, I care little for the background of MPs - as long as they've not broken the law. If they can make 'good', forward-looking laws based in reality rather than ideology that leave the UK in a better place, then I don't care if they're Etonian or ex-Communist.
But generally, a variety is probably best. Which is why Oxford PPE might be a negative...
Stephen Bush’s excellent article in the FT points to a different problem namely most MPs come from an educational background which makes them believe they are right and therefore don’t need to bother listening to opposing arguments. I’d argue that is more of a problem than whether someone is a lawyer or not.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Yes. Absolutely. Why should the workers of this country have a hit to their standard of living when the bosses are still getting large pay raises. The governor of the bank of England on £450k a year saying workers on less than a tenth of that should not ask for more. Bollocks to that.
Unrealistic aspiration and it will not happen, not that I disagree about bosses greed
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
What do you see as a 'fair and reasonable' offer? Why is the current offer not 'fair and reasonable' ?
Agreeing a pay rise that is inflation busting and agreeing to remove the threat of 2,500 redundancies on the network. To resolve this the employers would need to engage in proper dialogue with the union and consider enhanced redundancy packages.
Who pays? The government or passengers? Are you willing to see fare increases to pay for these increases (and all that means), or should the further pay increases come from general taxation?
Probably come from rail users. But it will have to come. The current offer is not acceptable. I expect they will settle for something higher in the end. Not 9% but maybe 7.5%
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
Macron has appointed the current Ambassador to the UK Catherine Colonna as Foreign Minister.
Talk about rewarding failure. Macron was completely blindsided by AUKUS and instead of actually giving the French state a real read on politics in the UK she seems to be all remoaning all the time.
More about surrounding yourself with people who won’t challenge you and who can be trusted to splurge out the usual platitudes. She will be talking about the need for dialogue with Russia in no time.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
What do you see as a 'fair and reasonable' offer? Why is the current offer not 'fair and reasonable' ?
Agreeing a pay rise that is inflation busting and agreeing to remove the threat of 2,500 redundancies on the network. To resolve this the employers would need to engage in proper dialogue with the union and consider enhanced redundancy packages.
Who pays? The government or passengers? Are you willing to see fare increases to pay for these increases (and all that means), or should the further pay increases come from general taxation?
Probably come from rail users. But it will have to come. The current offer is not acceptable. I expect they will settle for something higher in the end. Not 9% but maybe 7.5%
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
think a wage price spiral is inevitable now based on what we are seeing. The govt will try to raise interest rates but as we are seeing today in the usa that will cause asset prices to crash (dow down another 500 today) nasdaq now down over 30% from peak. This will cause a reversal of course otherwise pensions will be trashed....and so it goes
think a wage price spiral is inevitable now based on what we are seeing. The govt will try to raise interest rates but as we are seeing today in the usa that will cause asset prices to crash (dow down another 500 today) nasdaq now down over 30% from peak. This will cause a reversal of course otherwise pensions will be trashed....and so it goes
Recession is inevitable if wage demands are too high
58% Labour-led coalition parties 35% Right wing parties 6% UK wreckers 1% Others
So the parties which it could be reasonably assumed would be willing to participate in a Labour-led coalition, that's Labour, the LDs and Greens, are 23% ahead of the Right.
Yes, keep talking like the LDs are just an adjunct to Labour and see how that works for you.
Try looking at the polling detail before commenting on polls. When the current LD voters were asked to choose between Starmer and Johnson over who would make Best PM, they divided for Starmer in a ratio of 3.5 to 1. The LDs can't look to prop up the Conservatives again when their voters are so starkly leaning in the other direction.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
What do you see as a 'fair and reasonable' offer? Why is the current offer not 'fair and reasonable' ?
Agreeing a pay rise that is inflation busting and agreeing to remove the threat of 2,500 redundancies on the network. To resolve this the employers would need to engage in proper dialogue with the union and consider enhanced redundancy packages.
Who pays? The government or passengers? Are you willing to see fare increases to pay for these increases (and all that means), or should the further pay increases come from general taxation?
Probably come from rail users. But it will have to come. The current offer is not acceptable. I expect they will settle for something higher in the end. Not 9% but maybe 7.5%
'Probably'.
The rail industry has achieved miracles in the last 25 years, with pre-Covid ridership (*) doubled. Yet just after the industry has been hit by massive change in the form of Covid and WfH, you expect to make it less competitive by massively putting up fares? At a time when the passengers are also suffering? And your threat are strikes that hurt passengers and drive away more custom?
The best thing for the industry and its employees is to get more bums on moquette. This is certainly not the time to do so.
And as I said below, the timing of this is very suspicious given the way some of the leadership seem rather (ahem) pro-Russian. There may be no connection, but it's a shame they've been stupid enough to make such a connection possible.
think a wage price spiral is inevitable now based on what we are seeing. The govt will try to raise interest rates but as we are seeing today in the usa that will cause asset prices to crash (dow down another 500 today) nasdaq now down over 30% from peak. This will cause a reversal of course otherwise pensions will be trashed....and so it goes
Recession is inevitable if wage demands are too high
wage demands too high is inflationary and locks the inflation into the system. The BOE is powerless to fight this without crashing the economy and putting millions of homeowners into bankruptcy....so they will print money instead
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Boris and Case put the booze on the table with a green light to let off steam. The staff then got all the FPNs not the leadership group - the leadership group now fighting to avoid getting criticism they actually deserve in the report. The police won’t even tell Gray who they have fined.
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
Link to Boris putting the booze on the table ?
Rubbish post from you 🙂 You know I was being metaphorical about placing the booze on table with his own hands. It was his leadership, the culture he was presiding over and encouraging he’s getting whitewashed from owning this week.
You know I am right in the point I have just made. Why are you arguing against this? Just say yes, it’s a whitewash.
Not a great Yougov for the Tories certainly, 31% would be back to 2001 levels and barely above their 1997 voteshare.
Techne a bit better for them at 35%
No Tory poll leads for 5 months and 14 days...
There was a period of over two years during the 2010-15 Parliament where no Conservative leads were recorded - and much good that ended up doing EdM.
IMHO the main point to be taken away from the polling at present is that Labour shows no signs of getting away from what is, by most reasonable measures, a pretty hopeless Government. Tony Blair typically held leads of anything between fifteen and thirty points for years on end prior to the '97 election.
If though you are implying that Labour actually need to pull away to double digit to be able to win, and swing back as 2015 is always the norm, I would call you wrong. An alternative example could be the 2005 election campaign, much smaller Labour leads, and pretty much the popular vote the parties ended with, suggesting Tories would get about 33 and they got about 33. What slightly obscures both 2005 and 2015 is the vagaries of tactical voting against Tories in the three Blair wins, that in 2015 ended with a bang. Hint: it might be back.
My recollection of 2015 was folk refusing to believe the polling evidence of a total collapse of the Lib Dems in the areas they held. There was an ITN poll some way out which showed them losing every single seat in the South West. No one took it seriously. I did. Hence I called Tory majority very early.*
*This isn't a boast. I called 2017 totally wrong. And Brexit.
One question would be, how much of the Lib Dem gains from 97 onwards was Lab tactical votes for them, the coalition term shredded. My own analysts thought is different, before the libdem gains many were solid Tory with no Lab presence, but Libdem was an option for disgruntled con voters without them having to vote Labour. It then became a Libdem seat with a lot of incumbency factor partly because a lot of the libdems got on telly a lot and became political celebrities, the constituency enjoyed being Libdem. The coalition sent the voters back to conservatives partly to keep Labour out, partly because Cameron was not like the old nasty party so the coalition with him made the Tory’s no longer the nasty party but a reasonable and moderate one in the voters eyes.
I was young and couldn’t vote in 2015, but it was all about avoiding the chaos of letting labour back in, austerity didn’t play as much in 2015 as it did in 2017. Maybe the Corbyn effort actually campaigned stronger on austerity in 2017 than Milliband team did in 2015, the difference between being valuably serious promises on managing the economy versus straightforward anti austerity protest vote campaign.
I think you overestimate 2015 as an anti-Labour vote. There was a Con to Lab swing in England and Wales. Rather. It was an anti-Lib Dem one. Their collapse, and Labour's in Scotland completely overturned the massive voter efficiency advantage Labour held. And gave the Tories a (largely) unexpected majority. An advantage the Tories hold today. A Lib Dem revival is essential to erode that now.
think a wage price spiral is inevitable now based on what we are seeing. The govt will try to raise interest rates but as we are seeing today in the usa that will cause asset prices to crash (dow down another 500 today) nasdaq now down over 30% from peak. This will cause a reversal of course otherwise pensions will be trashed....and so it goes
Recession is inevitable if wage demands are too high
It’s pretty much inevitable now. It is just how bad it gets. There won’t be a soft landing. Needs some action from the fed. 0.5bp a time really is inadequate. Inaction to date has led to where we are.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
How is the government going to function with “40% cuts” when the UK has repatriated powers from the EU and public services are already on the verge of collapse?
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
What do you see as a 'fair and reasonable' offer? Why is the current offer not 'fair and reasonable' ?
Agreeing a pay rise that is inflation busting and agreeing to remove the threat of 2,500 redundancies on the network. To resolve this the employers would need to engage in proper dialogue with the union and consider enhanced redundancy packages.
Who pays? The government or passengers? Are you willing to see fare increases to pay for these increases (and all that means), or should the further pay increases come from general taxation?
Probably come from rail users. But it will have to come. The current offer is not acceptable. I expect they will settle for something higher in the end. Not 9% but maybe 7.5%
'Probably'.
The rail industry has achieved miracles in the last 25 years, with pre-Covid ridership (*) doubled. Yet just after the industry has been hit by massive change in the form of Covid and WfH, you expect to make it less competitive by massively putting up fares? At a time when the passengers are also suffering? And your threat are strikes that hurt passengers and drive away more custom?
The best thing for the industry and its employees is to get more bums on moquette. This is certainly not the time to do so.
And as I said below, the timing of this is very suspicious given the way some of the leadership seem rather (ahem) pro-Russian. There may be no connection, but it's a shame they've been stupid enough to make such a connection possible.
(*) A word I hate.
Ending working from home, not that I advocate that, would certainly help get more bums on seats.
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Boris and Case put the booze on the table with a green light to let off steam. The staff then got all the FPNs not the leadership group - the leadership group now fighting to avoid getting criticism they actually deserve in the report. The police won’t even tell Gray who they have fined.
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
Link to Boris putting the booze on the table ?
Rubbish post from you 🙂 You know I was being metaphorical about placing the booze on table with his own hands. It was his leadership, the culture he was presiding over and encouraging he’s getting whitewashed from owning this week.
You know I am right in the point I have just made. Why are you arguing against this? Just say yes, it’s a whitewash.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
We certainly don't want a parliament full of City lawyers and posh landowners. Which it used to be.
Personally, I care little for the background of MPs - as long as they've not broken the law. If they can make 'good', forward-looking laws based in reality rather than ideology that leave the UK in a better place, then I don't care if they're Etonian or ex-Communist.
But generally, a variety is probably best. Which is why Oxford PPE might be a negative...
Stephen Bush’s excellent article in the FT points to a different problem namely most MPs come from an educational background which makes them believe they are right and therefore don’t need to bother listening to opposing arguments. I’d argue that is more of a problem than whether someone is a lawyer or not.
Out of curiosity, which are the educational backgrounds from which people tend to emerge believing they may well be wrong and listening passionately to opposing arguments in order to modify, refine, change and clarify their opinions? They are rare creatures.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
I am not at all sure this is a good news story for the country not least wage increases will add to inflation depending on the % demanded
I have said several times that Starmer and labour have not been tested on making unpopular decisions, and it will be interesting which side of the argument they come down on and how it is received in the country
The Government and businesses alike are eternally arguing for wage restraint. On the one hand, if inflation is low then the plebs don't need more money. On the other, if inflation is high then the plebs must not have more money, because that will simply stoke inflation. Either way, wages must be suppressed.
These rules do not, of course, apply to asset values, or to the pay, allowances and bonuses of special sunflowers such as CEOs of large companies and our beloved MPs.
MPs just have had 2.7%. But of coruse they are allowed to hustle on the side for whatever they can get. Imagine if a train driver refused to start till the passengers had had a whip round ...
'register' does not mean 'are not allowed to moonlight'.
There is nothing to stop tube drivers having second jobs either, they also just need to declare it.
Based on hours worked MPs earn £23.45 an hour, tube drivers earn £30.18 an hour
Time of day, time of week ... you haven't allowed for that.
And I haven't noticed subsidised restaurant cars for staff on LT trains. Or people queuing to [edit] bribe, or rather subsidise out of the kindness of the heart, them and their union, in marked contrast to the Conservative Party.
There are staff canteens for drivers.
I haven't noticed MPs striking either, or RMT drivers working 6 or 7 day weeks as MPs do with constituency surgeries and events at weekends as well as long days in Parliament in the week, including sometimes late into the evening if late votes.
Your comparisons are utterly meaningless till MPs are banned from accepting all outside money, and given a rather higher salary (which I think is itself justifiable, but not when too many are taking the piss).
Tube drivers are also not banned from outside earning but still earn more per hour worked than MPs.
Banning outside earnings even with a slightly higher salary paid for by taxpayers just further reduces the incentive for top professionals eg barristers and solicitors and doctors to become MPs
But tube drivers don't get paid extra by outsiders *just because they are tube drivers*. MPs do.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
Only a minority of MPs get paid outside earnings and they tend to be the most skilled ones we want in Parliament.
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
We certainly don't want a parliament full of City lawyers and posh landowners. Which it used to be.
Personally, I care little for the background of MPs - as long as they've not broken the law. If they can make 'good', forward-looking laws based in reality rather than ideology that leave the UK in a better place, then I don't care if they're Etonian or ex-Communist.
But generally, a variety is probably best. Which is why Oxford PPE might be a negative...
Stephen Bush’s excellent article in the FT points to a different problem namely most MPs come from an educational background which makes them believe they are right and therefore don’t need to bother listening to opposing arguments. I’d argue that is more of a problem than whether someone is a lawyer or not.
That is more a reflection of the party system and the whips than the background of MPs
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
Even the private sector is also seeing average pay rises well below inflation
Good evening from The Roxy (as was) in Sheffield. Do I blame Ukraine / the coat of living crisis for paying £6.70 for a pint...?
thats expensive for sheffield...still the telegraph tonite is saying around 30 countries could starve due to putins blockade of grain so i suppose we should count our blessings
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Boris and Case put the booze on the table with a green light to let off steam. The staff then got all the FPNs not the leadership group - the leadership group now fighting to avoid getting criticism they actually deserve in the report. The police won’t even tell Gray who they have fined.
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
Link to Boris putting the booze on the table ?
Rubbish post from you 🙂 You know I was being metaphorical about placing the booze on table with his own hands. It was his leadership, the culture he was presiding over and encouraging he’s getting whitewashed from owning this week.
You know I am right in the point I have just made. Why are you arguing against this? Just say yes, it’s a whitewash.
I am not conceding a 'white wash' but others will try to, hence quoting the mirror and guardian
Downden across the street telling us to follow the rules, no intention of senior leadership in number 10 to follow the rules themselves. It was a culture Boris led and inspired..
Just look at this culture and disregard for the rules listed by politico. If Boris doesn’t own this it’s a whitewash. Go on, say it. If Boris doesn’t own this, it’s a whitewash.
think a wage price spiral is inevitable now based on what we are seeing. The govt will try to raise interest rates but as we are seeing today in the usa that will cause asset prices to crash (dow down another 500 today) nasdaq now down over 30% from peak. This will cause a reversal of course otherwise pensions will be trashed....and so it goes
Recession is inevitable if wage demands are too high
It’s pretty much inevitable now. It is just how bad it gets. There won’t be a soft landing. Needs some action from the fed. 0.5bp a time really is inadequate. Inaction to date has led to where we are.
Am finding myself in full agreement with all your posts today. (I don't always). This is another case of the government lazily hoping for the best and wishing it away. We used to have the BoE's letters published and the Chancellor's responses with great fanfare under Osborne whenever the target was breached. Heard nothing at all. Other than it is "independent". That is. Nowt whatsoever to do with us mate. We're just the government.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Not 9%, but not 2% either. If the government pushes through a 7% real terms pay cut then expect considerable unrest in the NHS. Those waiting lists will not be getting shorter.
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
One businesses price increases is another man's wage increase. If prices weren't going up in the shops, people wouldn't be demanding pay increases to maintain their standard of living.
think a wage price spiral is inevitable now based on what we are seeing. The govt will try to raise interest rates but as we are seeing today in the usa that will cause asset prices to crash (dow down another 500 today) nasdaq now down over 30% from peak. This will cause a reversal of course otherwise pensions will be trashed....and so it goes
Recession is inevitable if wage demands are too high
You are trying to spin the recession on Union Baron wage demands?
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
Yes. But that wasn't banking and finance pay increases. Why don't you direct your ire at City bonuses. Which are a huge component of wage growth? Why aren't they leading to uncompetitiveness and job losses by the bucketload?
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
One businesses price increases is another man's wage increase. If prices weren't going up in the shops, people wouldn't be demanding pay increases to maintain their standard of living.
And if we didn't have a war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia increasing food and energy costs and extra pressure on gas and electricity supplies as we came out of lockdown, shops wouldn't be increasing prices too
How is the government going to function with “40% cuts” when the UK has repatriated powers from the EU and public services are already on the verge of collapse?
More with less. The private sector has been doing it for decades.
A recent small example of waste, my mum has had a few hospital appointments recently, each one is a handwritten envelope with clearly locally printed and sent letters that aren't signed. Why does this happen? If they don't need to be signed why aren't they using the government's existing letters system that HMRC and the DWP use?
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Boris and Case put the booze on the table with a green light to let off steam. The staff then got all the FPNs not the leadership group - the leadership group now fighting to avoid getting criticism they actually deserve in the report. The police won’t even tell Gray who they have fined.
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
Link to Boris putting the booze on the table ?
Rubbish post from you 🙂 You know I was being metaphorical about placing the booze on table with his own hands. It was his leadership, the culture he was presiding over and encouraging he’s getting whitewashed from owning this week.
You know I am right in the point I have just made. Why are you arguing against this? Just say yes, it’s a whitewash.
I am not conceding a 'white wash' but others will try to, hence quoting the mirror and guardian
Downden across the street telling us to follow the rules, no intention of senior leadership in number 10 to follow the rules themselves. It was a culture Boris led and inspired..
Just look at this culture and disregard for the rules listed by politico. If Boris doesn’t own this it’s a whitewash. Go on, say it. If Boris doesn’t own this, it’s a whitewash.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
Even the private sector is also seeing average pay rises well below inflation
From the ONS:
Average total pay growth for the private sector was 8.2% in January to March 2022, and for the public sector was 1.6% in the same time period; the finance and business services sector showed the largest growth rate (10.7%), partly because of strong bonus payments.
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
Yes. But that wasn't banking and finance pay increases. Why don't you direct your ire at City bonuses. Which are a huge component of wage growth? Why aren't they leading to uncompetitiveness and job losses by the bucketload?
because the city gets first dibs on freshly minted QE money from the BOE so those big bonuses can be financed
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
Except it is not excessive consumer demand driving inflation in the main. How will raising interest rates control fuel prices? It just adds the misery of higher mortgages or rent to those who cannot pay their bills? Similarly, how does a real terms pay cut of 7% improve the supply of Chinese goods?
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
Yes. But that wasn't banking and finance pay increases. Why don't you direct your ire at City bonuses. Which are a huge component of wage growth? Why aren't they leading to uncompetitiveness and job losses by the bucketload?
If city firms gave wage increases beyond rises in profits they would go bust
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
Strikes are probably one of the few things that could push the polls back to the Tories, particularly if they are led by Putin sympathisers.
So you would expect strikes on Scotrail to boost the SNP?
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
I've already mentioned that the NHS is having an Open Day at Blyth job centre on Monday. They can't fill admin, porters and maintenance roles.
Good evening from The Roxy (as was) in Sheffield. Do I blame Ukraine / the coat of living crisis for paying £6.70 for a pint...?
thats expensive for sheffield...still the telegraph tonite is saying around 30 countries could starve due to putins blockade of grain so i suppose we should count our blessings
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
One businesses price increases is another man's wage increase. If prices weren't going up in the shops, people wouldn't be demanding pay increases to maintain their standard of living.
And if we didn't have a war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia increasing food and energy costs and extra pressure on gas and electricity supplies as we came out of lockdown, shops wouldn't be increasing prices too
So how come inflation started well before the war in ukraine, and roughly corresponded with the start of the pandemic, and the printing of enormous amounts of cash?
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
Except it is not excessive consumer demand driving inflation in the main. How will raising interest rates control fuel prices? It just adds the misery of higher mortgages or rent to those who cannot pay their bills? Similarly, how does a real terms pay cut of 7% improve the supply of Chinese goods?
because if the govt allows pay increases of 9% inflation becomes embedded and you get a wage price spiral. Inflation of 10% this year could become 20% next year then you have a big problem
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
I've already mentioned that the NHS is having an Open Day at Blyth job centre on Monday. They can't fill admin, porters and maintenance roles.
We have lost half our band 2 admin and reception staff in my department this year. Being abused by the public and low pay isn't a great combination.
58% Labour-led coalition parties 35% Right wing parties 6% UK wreckers 1% Others
So the parties which it could be reasonably assumed would be willing to participate in a Labour-led coalition, that's Labour, the LDs and Greens, are 23% ahead of the Right.
Yes, keep talking like the LDs are just an adjunct to Labour and see how that works for you.
Try looking at the polling detail before commenting on polls. When the current LD voters were asked to choose between Starmer and Johnson over who would make Best PM, they divided for Starmer in a ratio of 3.5 to 1. The LDs can't look to prop up the Conservatives again when their voters are so starkly leaning in the other direction.
I would question the 3.5 ratio.
I would question it in terms of not being consistent across the country, in parts of remania I would say it’s a lot higher than that.
The thing with libdems, they are a patchy national party, so many Tory v lab fights they don’t really exist in, but in the tactical voting years when Tory’s unpopular they could snatch safe Tory seats from Tory’s even without tactical voting by virtue of not being labour. That’s what built a golden wall the Tory’s had to knock down.
I think Remania is actually a growing political factor since we’ve had Boris Brexit, not a shrinking one.
Sorry; it’s 20% cuts but up to 40% in some departments.
It's going to cut "waste" of course. And protect the frontline services. As it always does. Which is why you can't get to speak to anyone. Or a passport in short order. Or a driving licence. That would be wasteful.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
Even the private sector is also seeing average pay rises well below inflation
From the ONS:
Average total pay growth for the private sector was 8.2% in January to March 2022, and for the public sector was 1.6% in the same time period; the finance and business services sector showed the largest growth rate (10.7%), partly because of strong bonus payments.
In April 'Pay settlements in the private sector averaged 3.2%, compared with 2.4% in the public sector, the CMI data showed, roughly in line with other similar surveys.'
Sorry; it’s 20% cuts but up to 40% in some departments.
It's going to cut "waste" of course. And protect the frontline services. As it always does. Which is why you can't get to speak to anyone. Or a passport in short order. Or a driving licence. That would be wasteful.
The public sector needs to embrace automation on a much bigger scale.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
I've already mentioned that the NHS is having an Open Day at Blyth job centre on Monday. They can't fill admin, porters and maintenance roles.
We have lost half our band 2 admin and reception staff in my department this year. Being abused by the public and low pay isn't a great combination.
Maybe try providing a better service...the horror stories i hear now out of the nhs....still its just a thought
Sorry; it’s 20% cuts but up to 40% in some departments.
It's going to cut "waste" of course. And protect the frontline services. As it always does. Which is why you can't get to speak to anyone. Or a passport in short order. Or a driving licence. That would be wasteful.
I don't think think the DVLA staff or Passport Office count in the Civil Service numbers. Aren't they QANGOs?
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
One businesses price increases is another man's wage increase. If prices weren't going up in the shops, people wouldn't be demanding pay increases to maintain their standard of living.
And if we didn't have a war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia increasing food and energy costs and extra pressure on gas and electricity supplies as we came out of lockdown, shops wouldn't be increasing prices too
So how come inflation started well before the war in ukraine, and roughly corresponded with the start of the pandemic, and the printing of enormous amounts of cash?
It was both, the increased spending to sustain the economy in the lockdown, the surge in demand for energy supplies post lockdown and then the hit to food and energy supplies post Ukraine war.
The Ukraine is one of the world's biggest wheat, corn and barley producers for example hitting pasta and bread prices for starters and 5% of UK gas supplies and 9% of UK oil supplies came from Russia
Sorry; it’s 20% cuts but up to 40% in some departments.
It's going to cut "waste" of course. And protect the frontline services. As it always does. Which is why you can't get to speak to anyone. Or a passport in short order. Or a driving licence. That would be wasteful.
I don't think think the DVLA staff or Passport Office count in the Civil Service numbers. Aren't they QANGOs?
No, they're still civil servants, I'm pretty sure.
Sorry; it’s 20% cuts but up to 40% in some departments.
It's going to cut "waste" of course. And protect the frontline services. As it always does. Which is why you can't get to speak to anyone. Or a passport in short order. Or a driving licence. That would be wasteful.
The public sector needs to embrace automation on a much bigger scale.
Indeed. Which takes investment from the ownership. Most public sector workers are using IT from the dark ages. How often do you hear "I'm just waiting for the computer to load" from the private sector?
58% Labour-led coalition parties 35% Right wing parties 6% UK wreckers 1% Others
So the parties which it could be reasonably assumed would be willing to participate in a Labour-led coalition, that's Labour, the LDs and Greens, are 23% ahead of the Right.
Yes, keep talking like the LDs are just an adjunct to Labour and see how that works for you.
Try looking at the polling detail before commenting on polls. When the current LD voters were asked to choose between Starmer and Johnson over who would make Best PM, they divided for Starmer in a ratio of 3.5 to 1. The LDs can't look to prop up the Conservatives again when their voters are so starkly leaning in the other direction.
I would question the 3.5 ratio.
I would question it in terms of not being consistent across the country, in parts of remania I would say it’s a lot higher than that.
The thing with libdems, they are a patchy national party, so many Tory v lab fights they don’t really exist in, but in the tactical voting years when Tory’s unpopular they could snatch safe Tory seats from Tory’s even without tactical voting by virtue of not being labour. That’s what built a golden wall the Tory’s had to knock down.
I think Remania is actually a growing political factor since we’ve had Boris Brexit, not a shrinking one.
But, it still shows the LibDems' problem.
1:3.5 is about 30 percent.
So, for every 10 LibDem voters, 3 are pissed off if they support Starmer and 7 if they support Johnson.
The LibDems are probably better off maintaining an arms length separation from whoever runs a minority administration after GE2024.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
I've already mentioned that the NHS is having an Open Day at Blyth job centre on Monday. They can't fill admin, porters and maintenance roles.
We have lost half our band 2 admin and reception staff in my department this year. Being abused by the public and low pay isn't a great combination.
Maybe try providing a better service...the horror stories i hear now out of the nhs....still its just a thought
Yep, thats the sort of abuse our phone and reception staff get, only considerably more fruity.
It may surprise you to know that AFC Band 2 clerks don't get a big say in how the NHS works. Until this week it was central command and control from the DoH.
Re Sue Gray this from the BBC and if the second paragraph is to be believed then Boris is going nowhere, rightly or wrongly.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
Boris and Case put the booze on the table with a green light to let off steam. The staff then got all the FPNs not the leadership group - the leadership group now fighting to avoid getting criticism they actually deserve in the report. The police won’t even tell Gray who they have fined.
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
Link to Boris putting the booze on the table ?
Rubbish post from you 🙂 You know I was being metaphorical about placing the booze on table with his own hands. It was his leadership, the culture he was presiding over and encouraging he’s getting whitewashed from owning this week.
You know I am right in the point I have just made. Why are you arguing against this? Just say yes, it’s a whitewash.
I am not conceding a 'white wash' but others will try to, hence quoting the mirror and guardian
Downden across the street telling us to follow the rules, no intention of senior leadership in number 10 to follow the rules themselves. It was a culture Boris led and inspired..
Just look at this culture and disregard for the rules listed by politico. If Boris doesn’t own this it’s a whitewash. Go on, say it. If Boris doesn’t own this, it’s a whitewash.
Sue Gray will report next week and then it is up to conservative mps to decide on Boris's future
but, stating you want Boris out so many times, you can have an opinion it looks to you there was a certain culture in number 10 and leaders need to be owners of that culture - of course everyone’s opinion on this can be different, but there’s nothing wrong in you sharing your opinion,
“it looks very much like there was a particular culture that wasn’t right, and the leadership team should own that more than anyone” is what I think you believe, so don’t understand why you are being so coy 🤔
Sorry; it’s 20% cuts but up to 40% in some departments.
It's going to cut "waste" of course. And protect the frontline services. As it always does. Which is why you can't get to speak to anyone. Or a passport in short order. Or a driving licence. That would be wasteful.
I don't think think the DVLA staff or Passport Office count in the Civil Service numbers. Aren't they QANGOs?
Are they? I don't know. I thought they were. DVLA comes up on the Civil Service careers website.
Cameron was a lot deeper in negative polling doodoo by the time he panicked and began Brexit. It was also a little later in the parliament. This kind of small lead will just keep the frog boiling. If you are a Tory who thinks Johnson is a serial winner, nothing to worry about. If you are a Tory who thinks he is mainly good at beating the antisemitic Labour left, you might like to see a bit more get up and go from his opponents.
Sorry; it’s 20% cuts but up to 40% in some departments.
It's going to cut "waste" of course. And protect the frontline services. As it always does. Which is why you can't get to speak to anyone. Or a passport in short order. Or a driving licence. That would be wasteful.
The public sector needs to embrace automation on a much bigger scale.
Indeed. Which takes investment from the ownership. Most public sector workers are using IT from the dark ages. How often do you hear "I'm just waiting for the computer to load" from the private sector?
But how many companies automate locally? Most will use a SaaS platform. The beauty of SaaS is that someone else is making the investment and buying subscription for a few million bucks is a pretty low number but can have a huge multiplier in terms of time/resources saved as well as the ability to expand output.
58% Labour-led coalition parties 35% Right wing parties 6% UK wreckers 1% Others
So the parties which it could be reasonably assumed would be willing to participate in a Labour-led coalition, that's Labour, the LDs and Greens, are 23% ahead of the Right.
Yes, keep talking like the LDs are just an adjunct to Labour and see how that works for you.
Try looking at the polling detail before commenting on polls. When the current LD voters were asked to choose between Starmer and Johnson over who would make Best PM, they divided for Starmer in a ratio of 3.5 to 1. The LDs can't look to prop up the Conservatives again when their voters are so starkly leaning in the other direction.
I would question the 3.5 ratio.
I would question it in terms of not being consistent across the country, in parts of remania I would say it’s a lot higher than that.
The thing with libdems, they are a patchy national party, so many Tory v lab fights they don’t really exist in, but in the tactical voting years when Tory’s unpopular they could snatch safe Tory seats from Tory’s even without tactical voting by virtue of not being labour. That’s what built a golden wall the Tory’s had to knock down.
I think Remania is actually a growing political factor since we’ve had Boris Brexit, not a shrinking one.
But, it still shows the LibDems' problem.
1:3.5 is about 30 percent.
So, for every 10 LibDem voters, 3 are pissed off if they support Starmer and 7 if they support Johnson.
The LibDems are probably better off maintaining an arms length separation from whoever runs a minority administration after GE2024.
I agree, no coalition but issue by issue support for a Starmer minority government would work for me and my LD friends.
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
This RMT
The RMT Union president who is threatening to bring Britain's railways to a standstill this summer is a Putin apologist and senior member of the Communist Party backing pro-Russian separatists
A union baron plotting a summer of rail chaos is a senior member of the Communist Party who has backed pro-Russian separatists in the Ukraine. Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, the militant former train driver protested outside Ukraine’s embassy in London in 2015 while wearing the black and orange Ribbon of St George, a symbol of Russian military valour.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs. If members back the move, millions of passengers will endure rail misery as early as next month.
Alex Gordon, president of the RMT union, is a longstanding Marxist who has previously echoed the Kremlin’s propaganda by branding Ukraine ‘a failed state held to ransom by neo-Nazis’
Already Britain’s most militant union, the RMT has veered even further Left over the past year, rail industry sources say. ‘We could never understand why the RMT is calling strike ballots when the railway is on life support and before there have even been any proper talks,’ one senior source said. ‘Communists and Putin sympathisers have taken over key jobs in the union leadership. They are trying to drag ordinary rail workers into a confrontation which would deeply damage everyone working on the railway.’
Mr Gordon presides over the RMT’s ruling national executive committee. But he is also a major figure in the Communist Party of Britain, sitting on both its executive and political committees. The 55-year-old is also chairman of the Marx Memorial Library in North London, where Communist dictator Vladimir Lenin worked during his exile from Russia.
It comes as the RMT threatens to bring Britain to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in modern history. More than 40,000 staff are being balloted on industrial action in a row over pay and jobs
This strike could be very easily stopped, assuming they win the ballot and I think they will, by the operating companies and network rail coming to their senses and making a fair and reasonable offer.
I understand the Scottish Government offered 2.2% is that fair and if not how much would you suggest
The RMT very generously previously agreed a below inflation raise. So, now, they need at least inflation.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
Are you seriously suggesting a 9 % pay rise and if so are you also agreeing nurses, doctors, pensioners and benefits also be raised by 9 %
Nurses, doctors, train drivers, teachers... they cost what they cost. This is Market Economics Lesson One. The government (as a monopoly employer... a monopsony? in many cases) has the power to hold down salaries in many of these sectors, and it has used that pretty effectively. But that power is not enough to cope with an effective 8 % pay cut.
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
I've already mentioned that the NHS is having an Open Day at Blyth job centre on Monday. They can't fill admin, porters and maintenance roles.
We have lost half our band 2 admin and reception staff in my department this year. Being abused by the public and low pay isn't a great combination.
Maybe try providing a better service...the horror stories i hear now out of the nhs....still its just a thought
Yep, thats the sort of abuse our phone and reception staff get, only considerably more fruity.
It may surprise you to know that AFC Band 2 clerks don't get a big say in how the NHS works. Until this week it was central command and control from the DoH.
oh i know its not their fault...though i hear many complaints about the attitude of doctors receptionists
Ministers fear ‘biggest rail strike in modern history’ Freight could be prioritised over passengers to counter food and petrol shortages
Fears are growing that union action on the railways billed as the biggest in modern history will bring the UK to a standstill, with empty shelves and petrol pumps running dry. Plans are being drawn up for freight trains to take priority over passenger services to keep supermarket shelves stocked... https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ministers-fear-biggest-rail-strike-in-modern-history-509fzzzlp
Good on the RMT. Fight for the workers. Why not maximise their leverage to get a fair deal.
In a low inflationary environment low wage increases are tolerable but not in the current environment and cutting the numbers of skilled professionals involved in track maintenance is a battle worth fighting for
Ah, you mean the RMT, who has as deputy assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey, who is well-known as a supporter of liberalism and democracy?
I'm sorry, but as long as he's in position I see any current RMT action as support for Russia.
(dons his flameproof coat)
I doubt if most RMT members are very interested in the views of the leadership on Ukraine - they simply want to maintain their income. The RMT's job is to fight their corner, and even if they were run by a joint leadership of Ed Davey and Mother Teresa, it would be odd if they passively accepted a real pay cut.
58% Labour-led coalition parties 35% Right wing parties 6% UK wreckers 1% Others
So the parties which it could be reasonably assumed would be willing to participate in a Labour-led coalition, that's Labour, the LDs and Greens, are 23% ahead of the Right.
Yes, keep talking like the LDs are just an adjunct to Labour and see how that works for you.
Try looking at the polling detail before commenting on polls. When the current LD voters were asked to choose between Starmer and Johnson over who would make Best PM, they divided for Starmer in a ratio of 3.5 to 1. The LDs can't look to prop up the Conservatives again when their voters are so starkly leaning in the other direction.
I would question the 3.5 ratio.
I would question it in terms of not being consistent across the country, in parts of remania I would say it’s a lot higher than that.
The thing with libdems, they are a patchy national party, so many Tory v lab fights they don’t really exist in, but in the tactical voting years when Tory’s unpopular they could snatch safe Tory seats from Tory’s even without tactical voting by virtue of not being labour. That’s what built a golden wall the Tory’s had to knock down.
I think Remania is actually a growing political factor since we’ve had Boris Brexit, not a shrinking one.
But, it still shows the LibDems' problem.
1:3.5 is about 30 percent.
So, for every 10 LibDem voters, 3 are pissed off if they support Starmer and 7 if they support Johnson.
The LibDems are probably better off maintaining an arms length separation from whoever runs a minority administration after GE2024.
Just to repeat what I said, because you obviously not listening.
It’s not a consistent happy or pissed off ratio across all the nations regions and constituencies, in Remania, where it could actually make a difference in seats, it’s no where near that ratio. In my opinion how this works
Comments
https://news.sky.com/story/politics-live-ministers-prepare-for-release-of-stomach-churning-sue-gray-report-after-end-of-polices-partygate-investigation-12593360?postid=3921324#liveblog-body
Slashing waste and getting value for money for tax payers is key part of my own manifesto. What I’m not sure of though is when we the tax payers get money back from from the removal of 20% of government pen pushers? Do they in fact get a nice early retirement package and nice pension - VERS my girlfriend called it when she was calculating them? Are the aged over 50 Civil Servants actually rubbing their hands with glee at the governments news, when it’s more interest right now for the country to keep them working, both paying taxes and sharing their knowledge?
Maybe someone ought to ask these questions of the Tories, how much is the scheme actually costing the government and country in the short and medium term, when exactly does it actually free up any money for cost of living crisis?
Nb it won’t be 40%, that’s just government trying to capture Mail and Express front pages tomorrow before they publish dangerous partygate crowing like todays front pages.
And as lawyers, pardon me while I go and put a sack of onions tthrough the log chipper. That argument has been thoroughly discredited by recent publicity.
At least two thirds of the Great Barrington Declaration three lead authors have swung to antivaxxery, and Toby and they were trying to push that dodgy study that lockdowns had near-zero effect.
I know several on the lockdown sceptic side that certainly are not antivax in the slightest, but that's the problem with the publicity hounds on any side - they steal the attention and focus.
If the individuals Ms Gray plans to name in her report object to what is being said about them, it could delay publication.
A source familiar with the report told the BBC her assessment could be that there were trails of evidence to suggest the prime minister was badly advised, and not necessarily aware of what events he was stumbling into.
An interim version of her report, published in January, did not name individuals but criticised "failures of leadership and judgement" and said some events not have "been allowed to take place".
Dave Penman, boss of the FDA union representing senior civil servants, told the BBC there had been "no rationale" to name people in the Met inquiry.
But he added there would be a "harder line to tread" for Ms Gray in her report, where she would need to balance "sensitivity around naming someone publicly against the important need for public scrutiny of senior officials".
However, he expressed greater concern over junior officials being named.
But as ever, it is interesting that the focus is on the drivers. There are about 20,000 train drivers in the UK, and 115,000 railway workers. And many of these have jobs just as critical as those of drivers.
I was banging on until I was blue in the face (and probably bored everyone to tears) about finding "the low hanging fruit" on restrictions. The ones with least impact on people and most impact on viral spread.
The best information I've found indicates that banning large gatherings had by far the largest effect. Banning meeting a couple of people outside - negligible to zero.
The stay-at-home order looks to have had a small but still significant effect. Which points to it only being of use to get over the final hurdle when you're close to R=1.
(Because, of course, R a fraction over 1 = exponential growth; R a fraction under 1 = decay. Albeit that if you're almost exactly R=1 and maybe a hair under, you may well need extra downwards pressure if you let it grow too high to begin with: 3,000 admissions per day and R=0.99 is unsustainable; 300 admissions per day and R=0.99 isn't a problem)
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scotrail-train-drivers-balloted-industrial-26942279
If you are a partner in a City law firm earning £500,000 a year or a QC in a top commercial set earning £1 million a year or even £250,000 a year at the criminal bar why would you give that up to earn £84,144 a year or even slightly more as an MP yet with no opportunity to continue your professional practice in any form?
Even Cabinet Ministers only get about £150,000 a year and are already banned from outside earnings
My take. Support for the Tories drip, dripped away from a high point in June.
The Paterson fiasco pushed it over the edge. They haven't led this year, and it has settled at 5% Labour lead.
The return of the Lib Dems is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to turf the Tories out. As is the willingness to vote tactically. There is ample evidence of the former. Some of the latter. It may continue to grow.
Is this enough?
Well. It's enough to put it in play. It is tough to see the situation being better in 6 months.
(And the point could be further made that having second jobs is also bad for MPs, for their 'proper' careers and for the public, albeit in a different way.)
I was young and couldn’t vote in 2015, but it was all about avoiding the chaos of letting labour back in, austerity didn’t play as much in 2015 as it did in 2017. Maybe the Corbyn effort actually campaigned stronger on austerity in 2017 than Milliband team did in 2015, the difference between being valuably serious promises on managing the economy versus straightforward anti austerity protest vote campaign.
2.2% is a substantial pay cut.
At the beginning of the Second World War, before Barbarossa, some British unions were rather (ahem) strike-prone. After Barbarossa, that ended. Somewhat unsurprisingly.
Why do you think we particularly want those people in Parliament? You have no idea what pettifogging nonsense top flight commercial law is, with no attraction or interest whatever other than the huge rewards for success. Are you saying there are not enough greedy monomaniacs in the Commons?
Not sure about HYUFD, mind.
Banning outside earnings just means we will get even fewer top lawyers in Parliament. I am not saying we need to stop paying MPs, which was the reason MPs used to come from only the top professional classes or landed gentry (with a handful of union funded Labour MPs gradually coming in) until they got salaries at the start of the last century
The greatest political whitewash ever happening right now, right in front the eyes.
But generally, a variety is probably best. Which is why Oxford PPE might be a negative...
The rail industry has achieved miracles in the last 25 years, with pre-Covid ridership (*) doubled. Yet just after the industry has been hit by massive change in the form of Covid and WfH, you expect to make it less competitive by massively putting up fares? At a time when the passengers are also suffering? And your threat are strikes that hurt passengers and drive away more custom?
The best thing for the industry and its employees is to get more bums on moquette. This is certainly not the time to do so.
And as I said below, the timing of this is very suspicious given the way some of the leadership seem rather (ahem) pro-Russian. There may be no connection, but it's a shame they've been stupid enough to make such a connection possible.
(*) A word I hate.
You know I am right in the point I have just made. Why are you arguing against this? Just say yes, it’s a whitewash.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/new-claims-boris-johnson-led-26730794
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/10/email-shows-boris-johnsons-official-invited-no-10-staff-to-lockdown-byob-party
Rather. It was an anti-Lib Dem one.
Their collapse, and Labour's in Scotland completely overturned the massive voter efficiency advantage Labour held. And gave the Tories a (largely) unexpected majority.
An advantage the Tories hold today.
A Lib Dem revival is essential to erode that now.
One man's wage increase is another man's price increase
So the government has a fairly rubbish choice in this situation. Either it can pay these people more, or it will struggle to recruit. I don't know what it's like in the NHS, but the situation in schools is already pretty grisly.
https://twitter.com/NicolaSturgeon/status/1527714597934927878?s=20&t=2vWkphSFg-FjxGieSkywzw
Just look at this culture and disregard for the rules listed by politico. If Boris doesn’t own this it’s a whitewash. Go on, say it. If Boris doesn’t own this, it’s a whitewash.
https://www.politico.eu/article/12-times-boris-johnsons-tories-party-during-lockdown/
(I don't always).
This is another case of the government lazily hoping for the best and wishing it away.
We used to have the BoE's letters published and the Chancellor's responses with great fanfare under Osborne whenever the target was breached.
Heard nothing at all. Other than it is "independent".
That is. Nowt whatsoever to do with us mate. We're just the government.
Why don't you direct your ire at City bonuses. Which are a huge component of wage growth?
Why aren't they leading to uncompetitiveness and job losses by the bucketload?
A recent small example of waste, my mum has had a few hospital appointments recently, each one is a handwritten envelope with clearly locally printed and sent letters that aren't signed. Why does this happen? If they don't need to be signed why aren't they using the government's existing letters system that HMRC and the DWP use?
Sue Gray will report next week and then it is up to conservative mps to decide on Boris's future
Average total pay growth for the private sector was 8.2% in January to March 2022, and for the public sector was 1.6% in the same time period; the finance and business services sector showed the largest growth rate (10.7%), partly because of strong bonus payments.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/averageweeklyearningsingreatbritain/may2022
That's a massive divergence. And it's brave enough doing it when there's hefty overall unemployment. But when unemployment is fairly negligable...
They can't fill admin, porters and maintenance roles.
https://twitter.com/Alpha_Qua_Alpha/status/1527000673442750464/photo/1
I would question it in terms of not being consistent across the country, in parts of remania I would say it’s a lot higher than that.
The thing with libdems, they are a patchy national party, so many Tory v lab fights they don’t really exist in, but in the tactical voting years when Tory’s unpopular they could snatch safe Tory seats from Tory’s even without tactical voting by virtue of not being labour. That’s what built a golden wall the Tory’s had to knock down.
I think Remania is actually a growing political factor since we’ve had Boris Brexit, not a shrinking one.
Which is why you can't get to speak to anyone. Or a passport in short order. Or a driving licence.
That would be wasteful.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/bulletins/consumerpriceinflation/april2022
In April 'Pay settlements in the private sector averaged 3.2%, compared with 2.4% in the public sector, the CMI data showed, roughly in line with other similar surveys.'
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-employers-offer-average-28-pay-rise-staff-survey-2022-04-17/
The Ukraine is one of the world's biggest wheat, corn and barley producers for example hitting pasta and bread prices for starters and 5% of UK gas supplies and 9% of UK oil supplies came from Russia
Which takes investment from the ownership. Most public sector workers are using IT from the dark ages.
How often do you hear "I'm just waiting for the computer to load" from the private sector?
1:3.5 is about 30 percent.
So, for every 10 LibDem voters, 3 are pissed off if they support Starmer and 7 if they support Johnson.
The LibDems are probably better off maintaining an arms length separation from whoever runs a minority administration after GE2024.
It may surprise you to know that AFC Band 2 clerks don't get a big say in how the NHS works. Until this week it was central command and control from the DoH.
“it looks very much like there was a particular culture that wasn’t right, and the leadership team should own that more than anyone” is what I think you believe, so don’t understand why you are being so coy 🤔
It’s not a consistent happy or pissed off ratio across all the nations regions and constituencies, in Remania, where it could actually make a difference in seats, it’s no where near that ratio. In my opinion how this works