Meanwhile, I note that today's data shows that private sector pay rises are running at 6.6%, with public sector rises at 2.2%. Both of course are below inflation, but there's no doubt that public sector workers are bearing the brunt of the current cost of living crisis.
Of course there are lots of well-paid public sector workers who can withstand this. But millions of public sector workers are on low wages. It's hardly surprising that they're getting a bit bolshie, when their supermarket shop and other basic bills are rising by 10% or more.
If the minimum wage increase story is true, this will affect quite a few low paid public sector workers. IIRC, the NHS, for example, employees a lot of people on very low pay.
I’m thinking of buying an e-bike because they’re good for the climate. You can get some nice ones that cost between £100-£200.
A push bike is much better for the climate.
Not sure that's true. E-bikes open up the possibility of commutes for people who simply couldn't do them on push bikes, for example.
There's also probably a study showing that an e-bike produces less CO2 per journey than a cyclist on a standard bike (possibly involving some heroic assumptions about electricity generation source)
If the calories for the cycling come mainly from beef and rice, and the e-bike is charged by solar panels, it's pretty easy to make such a calculation work. But I know that most of my cycling calories come from sugar cane and sugar beet.
How far would you have to cycle to make up for the environmental cost of manufacturing the battery and the solar panels?
Also, how much is saved by pushbikes as a result of people not being as fat and therefore requiring fewer carbon intensive interventions for their health?
How much does it cost for all the ones flattened by cars, lorries, busses etc
Here's a puzzle: NHS spending in England this year is ~12% higher in real terms than in 2019/20. There are 13% more doctors (incl. 10% more consultants) than in 2019, 11% more nurses, and 10% more clinical support staff. Yet the NHS is treating fewer people from the waiting list.
(social care was the one that came to my mind, but the others are good points, too)
In my recent experience (12 nights with broken hip & elbow) I could have been discharged two days faster if the different services were better at talking to each other. While the surgical side did feel “joined up” (an initial plan to delay operating on my elbow quashed in favour of more urgent treatment) the rest was disjointed. I saw this repeatedly in my 6 bed ward - discharge delayed because not all the paperwork was sorted. I counted myself lucky with a two day delay, and in the end that was nearly three.
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