Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
It's rare we agree on anything but I'm happy to agree with you on this.
It's difficult and there are undoubtedly genuine cases of people who cannot work because of long-term debilitating or chronic conditions and I've every sympathy for those individuals.
Mental health is one of those areas where the Coalition did some very good work - stress is a thing, I saw it many times in my working life and people react to it in different ways, some relish it, others don't. Helping those for whom stress is a negative experience get back to work is something all thoughtful employers should be and are about.
That said, there are unquestionably a number who are playing the system to get sickness benefit in lieu of working for a living and that has to be the target. Whether that number is 1.5 million or not I don't know.
Are there 1.5m jobs for them out there, though?
This is where the paradox lies and it was interesting to hear some discussion about this on LBC this morning. Is there a pool of labour out there? Some say yes, some say no. Does that align to the jobs which need filling? That's the other question. An employer rang in and was tearing his hair out over people not turning up to interviews even when invited and there seems an extraordinary high percentage of new workers who quit their jobs on the first day.
As I said here before, if you have 100 people apply for 20 jobs you have an unemployment problem, if you have 40 people apply for 20 jobs you have close to full employment, if you have 10 people apply for 20 jobs you have an under-employment problem. In some parts of the economy, we have an under-employment problem - it may well be the pool of specialist skilled labour which once existed does so no longer.
What you have internally is a core of the unemployable - people who can't work or don't want to work for whatever reason (genuine or otherwise). Getting them into work is a struggle - plugging the gaps in areas of specialist work is much more difficult. How do you create the skilled labour force you need? Two ways - either train them (which takes them but would be an economically beneficial thing if done right) or import them....
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
Awkward moment in Sweden last time I visited. I had a full English breakfast in the capital and part of it fell in love with me.
I have an image of a plate of beans sending you a love letter. Please explain
Stockholm syndrome is a proposed condition or theory that tries to explain why hostages sometimes develop a psychological bond with their captors.[1][2]
Psst: It’s best to try and disguise cut and pastes from Wikipedia by deleting the bracketed numbers
Au contraire I leave them in on purpose to save me the trouble of a link.
Is the US notably more expensive than the time of your last visit?
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
I'm glad you didn't end up stranded in the middle of nowhere.
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
Normally I'd say - what about the paper map, but yesterday was not a day for paper maps...
Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
It's rare we agree on anything but I'm happy to agree with you on this.
It's difficult and there are undoubtedly genuine cases of people who cannot work because of long-term debilitating or chronic conditions and I've every sympathy for those individuals.
Mental health is one of those areas where the Coalition did some very good work - stress is a thing, I saw it many times in my working life and people react to it in different ways, some relish it, others don't. Helping those for whom stress is a negative experience get back to work is something all thoughtful employers should be and are about.
That said, there are unquestionably a number who are playing the system to get sickness benefit in lieu of working for a living and that has to be the target. Whether that number is 1.5 million or not I don't know.
Are there 1.5m jobs for them out there, though?
This is where the paradox lies and it was interesting to hear some discussion about this on LBC this morning. Is there a pool of labour out there? Some say yes, some say no. Does that align to the jobs which need filling? That's the other question. An employer rang in and was tearing his hair out over people not turning up to interviews even when invited and there seems an extraordinary high percentage of new workers who quit their jobs on the first day.
As I said here before, if you have 100 people apply for 20 jobs you have an unemployment problem, if you have 40 people apply for 20 jobs you have close to full employment, if you have 10 people apply for 20 jobs you have an under-employment problem. In some parts of the economy, we have an under-employment problem - it may well be the pool of specialist skilled labour which once existed does so no longer.
What you have internally is a core of the unemployable - people who can't work or don't want to work for whatever reason (genuine or otherwise). Getting them into work is a struggle - plugging the gaps in areas of specialist work is much more difficult. How do you create the skilled labour force you need? Two ways - either train them (which takes them but would be an economically beneficial thing if done right) or import them....
Certainly in the white collar world the employment market is tighter than I've seen it since the GFC. I'm talking 100 applicants to every job. My LinkedIn is full of posts of people who've been out of work for over a year. That's anecdata, but the FT is saying the same thing - https://www.ft.com/content/1429fcb2-e0ef-4e47-b2b8-8bd225ac2fe2 (and the comments section full of similar stories).
I'm assuming most of the people on long term sick leave aren't competing for well paid middle class knowledge jobs, though. So what you actually get by shunting 1.5m low skilled workers into the workforce is problematic, as you can't lower the wage for unskilled work below the minimum wage. So, as you say, you need to upskill people. Else you just have mass unemployment. Which means spending money on training the 1.5m to be plumbers or programmers or whatever else is needed.
I'm in total agreement that many of the 1.5m on long term sickness benefits should be working. I'm just not sure the jobs are out there, though.
Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
It's rare we agree on anything but I'm happy to agree with you on this.
It's difficult and there are undoubtedly genuine cases of people who cannot work because of long-term debilitating or chronic conditions and I've every sympathy for those individuals.
Mental health is one of those areas where the Coalition did some very good work - stress is a thing, I saw it many times in my working life and people react to it in different ways, some relish it, others don't. Helping those for whom stress is a negative experience get back to work is something all thoughtful employers should be and are about.
That said, there are unquestionably a number who are playing the system to get sickness benefit in lieu of working for a living and that has to be the target. Whether that number is 1.5 million or not I don't know.
Are there 1.5m jobs for them out there, though?
Probably not, but we'd save the difference between sickness benefits and unemployment benefits at least and work isn't a zero sum game, if more people are in work there is more economic activity which will create more jobs.
That's doubtless true in the private sector but if those 1.5 million are public sector busybodys and jobsworths they'd mostly find ways to destroy economic activity rather than creating it.
Mr. Sandpit, " Because if Alli had instead rented the place out commercially, he’d have got £20k for it. Opportunity cost, as an economist would say. "
Or, indeed, a strategy gamer.
I assume it would have stood empty. Cost to Alli, zero.
Cost to Starmer, £20k in kind.
If his employer had done that, he’d have been had for the income tax on the £20k.
One law for politicians, another for the rest of us.
Again.
Really? I'm an employer, if I let one of my staff's children study in my flat for a few days, I am treating that as a favour rather than a benefit in kind.
Which is why Reeves wants to hire a load more tax inspectors.
Letting someone stay in your spare room for a few days, is very different from letting them stay in a massive penthouse in central London.
If Starmer didn’t think so, he’d wouldn’t have declared the arrangement.
To your average tax collector, Starmer’s arrangement as discussed is 100% a BIK.
Which he declared, as a gift. Are you having problems understanding this ?
Simple, greedy grasping millionaire takes freebies and makes himself open to having to return favours and looks exceedingly dodgy and Tin eared
Yes quite
The other story here is what exactly is Lord Ali getting in return for these endless wads of cash/loaned apartments?
He's worth £200m, apparently. You don't end up worth £200m unless you are pretty ruthless with money and you know how to make it work for you. He is clearly expecting reward for this dosh, it's not because he is "kind"
Alongside the blustering Labour lies, this is the big story
12 speeches on the Marriages (Same Sex Couples) Bill, 5 on the Equality Bill, pretty much everything else on LGBT issues in other bills. He is an activist shopping for legislation, or he is a kindly old buffer who likes to help PMs and other Cabinet Ministers live their best lives, with not a thought in the world for any reward. Pick one.
BTW I approve to strongly approve of the above Bills (now Acts), but that's not the point.
If any of those loaned apartments/cash donations have been described less-than-accurately by the Labour pols involved (I am not accusing anyone, just hypothesising) then Ali now has tremendous leverage over them
He can say "well actually that apartment wasn't used for precisely the purpose depicted by Politician X" and then Politician X is finished
This kind of leverage is wrong and bad. It would be wrong in any government. And all from one man
Think back to freebie holidays for Blair and, more recently, Boris. Neither man was brought down by them. Even if you are right about troughing, how does it bring Starmer down?
Firstly, because of the hypocrisy. Secondly, Lord Alli seems to have vastly more hands on influence than any of the people giving free holidays to Blair or Boris.
The Bamfords who gave freebies (including his wedding) to Boris are the B in JCB. Can you not remember Boris's JCB-themed election stunts?
Mr. Sandpit, " Because if Alli had instead rented the place out commercially, he’d have got £20k for it. Opportunity cost, as an economist would say. "
Or, indeed, a strategy gamer.
I assume it would have stood empty. Cost to Alli, zero.
Cost to Starmer, £20k in kind.
If his employer had done that, he’d have been had for the income tax on the £20k.
One law for politicians, another for the rest of us.
Again.
Really? I'm an employer, if I let one of my staff's children study in my flat for a few days, I am treating that as a favour rather than a benefit in kind.
Which is why Reeves wants to hire a load more tax inspectors.
Letting someone stay in your spare room for a few days, is very different from letting them stay in a massive penthouse in central London.
If Starmer didn’t think so, he’d wouldn’t have declared the arrangement.
To your average tax collector, Starmer’s arrangement as discussed is 100% a BIK.
Which he declared, as a gift. Are you having problems understanding this ?
Simple, greedy grasping millionaire takes freebies and makes himself open to having to return favours and looks exceedingly dodgy and Tin eared
Yes quite
The other story here is what exactly is Lord Ali getting in return for these endless wads of cash/loaned apartments?
He's worth £200m, apparently. You don't end up worth £200m unless you are pretty ruthless with money and you know how to make it work for you. He is clearly expecting reward for this dosh, it's not because he is "kind"
Alongside the blustering Labour lies, this is the big story
12 speeches on the Marriages (Same Sex Couples) Bill, 5 on the Equality Bill, pretty much everything else on LGBT issues in other bills. He is an activist shopping for legislation, or he is a kindly old buffer who likes to help PMs and other Cabinet Ministers live their best lives, with not a thought in the world for any reward. Pick one.
BTW I approve to strongly approve of the above Bills (now Acts), but that's not the point.
If any of those loaned apartments/cash donations have been described less-than-accurately by the Labour pols involved (I am not accusing anyone, just hypothesising) then Ali now has tremendous leverage over them
He can say "well actually that apartment wasn't used for precisely the purpose depicted by Politician X" and then Politician X is finished
This kind of leverage is wrong and bad. It would be wrong in any government. And all from one man
If only there were an enterprising journalist that could get hold of the entry log for the building.
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
Normally I'd say - what about the paper map, but yesterday was not a day for paper maps...
Awkward moment in Sweden last time I visited. I had a full English breakfast in the capital and part of it fell in love with me.
I have an image of a plate of beans sending you a love letter. Please explain
Stockholm syndrome is a proposed condition or theory that tries to explain why hostages sometimes develop a psychological bond with their captors.[1][2]
Psst: It’s best to try and disguise cut and pastes from Wikipedia by deleting the bracketed numbers
Not everybody who uses bracketed numbers derives their text from Wikipedia.
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
Normally I'd say - what about the paper map, but yesterday was not a day for paper maps...
Ortlieb map case. Awkward, maybe, but we used to use such things before phones. A small one for the phone is a good idea too.
Weather was terrible though. You can just about survive one day but it is no fun if you have to do the same again tomorrow, so leaving the rest for another day was probably wise.
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
Great experience you must be buzzing. I hope you rounded the day off with a large whisky with or without your new lady friend.
Enjoy the rest of your trip. That's a high bar to start with.
Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
It's rare we agree on anything but I'm happy to agree with you on this.
It's difficult and there are undoubtedly genuine cases of people who cannot work because of long-term debilitating or chronic conditions and I've every sympathy for those individuals.
Mental health is one of those areas where the Coalition did some very good work - stress is a thing, I saw it many times in my working life and people react to it in different ways, some relish it, others don't. Helping those for whom stress is a negative experience get back to work is something all thoughtful employers should be and are about.
That said, there are unquestionably a number who are playing the system to get sickness benefit in lieu of working for a living and that has to be the target. Whether that number is 1.5 million or not I don't know.
Are there 1.5m jobs for them out there, though?
In a past life I had a part in recruiting a lot of close to minimum wage staff. Warehouse picking etc Some permanent, some on short term contracts. This is a comparatively poor area with low employment.
The success rate was decidely mixed. Some would turn up for interview, with no intention of working. But proof to job centre they were looking.
A significant minority wanted no more than 3 days a week - after that child support would mean a very high effective tax rate. Its rational not to work a 4th or 5th day if you are coming out with an extra £10 a day.
Absenteeism was high on a monday. Some would be great - absolute diamonds, capable of better, quick to learn and qualify to use a forklift (so paid 50p - £1 an hour more), quickly became team leaders etc
A lot wanted to be paid weekly - what do you do if you start work on the 23rd of a month but don't get paid until say the 18th of the next month.
One consistent theme was that if you could get people to turn up for 6 weeks - 3 months, they would by fine. High attrition rate in those early weeks. Work is a habit and takes time to learn or re-learn. Employers could offer more support, we offered pretty little I'm ashamed to say.
Mr. Sandpit, " Because if Alli had instead rented the place out commercially, he’d have got £20k for it. Opportunity cost, as an economist would say. "
Or, indeed, a strategy gamer.
I assume it would have stood empty. Cost to Alli, zero.
Cost to Starmer, £20k in kind.
If his employer had done that, he’d have been had for the income tax on the £20k.
One law for politicians, another for the rest of us.
Again.
Really? I'm an employer, if I let one of my staff's children study in my flat for a few days, I am treating that as a favour rather than a benefit in kind.
Which is why Reeves wants to hire a load more tax inspectors.
Letting someone stay in your spare room for a few days, is very different from letting them stay in a massive penthouse in central London.
If Starmer didn’t think so, he’d wouldn’t have declared the arrangement.
To your average tax collector, Starmer’s arrangement as discussed is 100% a BIK.
Which he declared, as a gift. Are you having problems understanding this ?
Simple, greedy grasping millionaire takes freebies and makes himself open to having to return favours and looks exceedingly dodgy and Tin eared
Yes quite
The other story here is what exactly is Lord Ali getting in return for these endless wads of cash/loaned apartments?
He's worth £200m, apparently. You don't end up worth £200m unless you are pretty ruthless with money and you know how to make it work for you. He is clearly expecting reward for this dosh, it's not because he is "kind"
Alongside the blustering Labour lies, this is the big story
12 speeches on the Marriages (Same Sex Couples) Bill, 5 on the Equality Bill, pretty much everything else on LGBT issues in other bills. He is an activist shopping for legislation, or he is a kindly old buffer who likes to help PMs and other Cabinet Ministers live their best lives, with not a thought in the world for any reward. Pick one.
BTW I approve to strongly approve of the above Bills (now Acts), but that's not the point.
If any of those loaned apartments/cash donations have been described less-than-accurately by the Labour pols involved (I am not accusing anyone, just hypothesising) then Ali now has tremendous leverage over them
He can say "well actually that apartment wasn't used for precisely the purpose depicted by Politician X" and then Politician X is finished
This kind of leverage is wrong and bad. It would be wrong in any government. And all from one man
Think back to freebie holidays for Blair and, more recently, Boris. Neither man was brought down by them. Even if you are right about troughing, how does it bring Starmer down?
Firstly, because of the hypocrisy. Secondly, Lord Alli seems to have vastly more hands on influence than any of the people giving free holidays to Blair or Boris.
The Bamfords who gave freebies (including his wedding) to Boris are the B in JCB. Can you not remember Boris's JCB-themed election stunts?
That's not influence over policy. Did they choose parliamentary candidates?
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
That's a shame. Is that it? Have you abandoned it entirely?
In terms of great walks in Britain maybe you have to stick to the tried and trusted (and pray for good weather)
I did three days of the south west coastal path once and it was fabulous. I've heard the Ridgway is pretty good...
Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
It's rare we agree on anything but I'm happy to agree with you on this.
It's difficult and there are undoubtedly genuine cases of people who cannot work because of long-term debilitating or chronic conditions and I've every sympathy for those individuals.
Mental health is one of those areas where the Coalition did some very good work - stress is a thing, I saw it many times in my working life and people react to it in different ways, some relish it, others don't. Helping those for whom stress is a negative experience get back to work is something all thoughtful employers should be and are about.
That said, there are unquestionably a number who are playing the system to get sickness benefit in lieu of working for a living and that has to be the target. Whether that number is 1.5 million or not I don't know.
Are there 1.5m jobs for them out there, though?
This is where the paradox lies and it was interesting to hear some discussion about this on LBC this morning. Is there a pool of labour out there? Some say yes, some say no. Does that align to the jobs which need filling? That's the other question. An employer rang in and was tearing his hair out over people not turning up to interviews even when invited and there seems an extraordinary high percentage of new workers who quit their jobs on the first day.
As I said here before, if you have 100 people apply for 20 jobs you have an unemployment problem, if you have 40 people apply for 20 jobs you have close to full employment, if you have 10 people apply for 20 jobs you have an under-employment problem. In some parts of the economy, we have an under-employment problem - it may well be the pool of specialist skilled labour which once existed does so no longer.
What you have internally is a core of the unemployable - people who can't work or don't want to work for whatever reason (genuine or otherwise). Getting them into work is a struggle - plugging the gaps in areas of specialist work is much more difficult. How do you create the skilled labour force you need? Two ways - either train them (which takes them but would be an economically beneficial thing if done right) or import them....
Certainly in the white collar world the employment market is tighter than I've seen it since the GFC. I'm talking 100 applicants to every job. My LinkedIn is full of posts of people who've been out of work for over a year. That's anecdata, but the FT is saying the same thing - https://www.ft.com/content/1429fcb2-e0ef-4e47-b2b8-8bd225ac2fe2 (and the comments section full of similar stories).
I'm assuming most of the people on long term sick leave aren't competing for well paid middle class knowledge jobs, though. So what you actually get by shunting 1.5m low skilled workers into the workforce is problematic, as you can't lower the wage for unskilled work below the minimum wage. So, as you say, you need to upskill people. Else you just have mass unemployment. Which means spending money on training the 1.5m to be plumbers or programmers or whatever else is needed.
I'm in total agreement that many of the 1.5m on long term sickness benefits should be working. I'm just not sure the jobs are out there, though.
What is very obvious from my retired rural perch is that two inconsistent arguments are used about employment.
For bankers, city types, and all sorts of quite well paid people, the rule is that, even if there are loads of applicants, you have to pay £n squillions because that's the law of supply and demand and all that.
However, it seems to me that the massive numbers of vacancies quite remarkably occur in places far away from derivative trading offices (whatever they are) in Mayfair.
In low paid jobs that are not all that nice to do different laws seem to apply. The rate for the job (minimum wage) is what there is and thats's tough. Fill them by getting people off the sick and into these jobs or importing them from poor places. Magically different laws of economics apply.
We could always be radical and apply supply and demand as much to picking and cutting leeks as being CE of a FTSE 100 company?
Round here there is no great problem filling OK but routine jobs that are not very highly paid but are not nasty/cold/horrible. Of which there are a lot.
Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
Push back into work? How do you make employers employ sick people?
By offering them flexibility on the employee’s terms.
There’s loads of jobs that can now be done remotely online, and aren’t massively time-sensitive.
Eg. Call centre workers on phones, emails, chat services etc, should be able to log in when they can and be paid for the hours they work. Most of these services always have a queue, so every extra man-hour they can get makes that queue shorter.
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
That's a shame. Is that it? Have you abandoned it entirely?
In terms of great walks in Britain maybe you have to stick to the tried and trusted (and pray for good weather)
I did three days of the south west coastal path once and it was fabulous. I've heard the Ridgway is pretty good...
I've given up my original plan, and haven't decided what to do instead
I'm considering doing the walk to the south coast (which is what really matters, to join home to my Brittany walk) in more manageable chunks
Last year I walked to my mate's place a few miles north of Amesbury. I might walk from there to Salisbury in a day, then think about the next leg
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
That's a shame. Is that it? Have you abandoned it entirely?
In terms of great walks in Britain maybe you have to stick to the tried and trusted (and pray for good weather)
I did three days of the south west coastal path once and it was fabulous. I've heard the Ridgway is pretty good...
I've given up my original plan, and haven't decided what to do instead
I'm considering doing the walk to the south coast (which is what really matters, to join home to my Brittany walk) in more manageable chunks
Last year I walked to my mate's place a few miles north of Amesbury. I might walk from there to Salisbury in a day, then think about the next leg
Best of luck whatever you do, it does appear that UK autumn has arrived a little early this year. Salisbury’s nice, and has a lot of train connections if you want to relocate yourself.
Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
It's rare we agree on anything but I'm happy to agree with you on this.
It's difficult and there are undoubtedly genuine cases of people who cannot work because of long-term debilitating or chronic conditions and I've every sympathy for those individuals.
Mental health is one of those areas where the Coalition did some very good work - stress is a thing, I saw it many times in my working life and people react to it in different ways, some relish it, others don't. Helping those for whom stress is a negative experience get back to work is something all thoughtful employers should be and are about.
That said, there are unquestionably a number who are playing the system to get sickness benefit in lieu of working for a living and that has to be the target. Whether that number is 1.5 million or not I don't know.
Are there 1.5m jobs for them out there, though?
In a past life I had a part in recruiting a lot of close to minimum wage staff. Warehouse picking etc Some permanent, some on short term contracts. This is a comparatively poor area with low employment.
The success rate was decidely mixed. Some would turn up for interview, with no intention of working. But proof to job centre they were looking.
A significant minority wanted no more than 3 days a week - after that child support would mean a very high effective tax rate. Its rational not to work a 4th or 5th day if you are coming out with an extra £10 a day.
Absenteeism was high on a monday. Some would be great - absolute diamonds, capable of better, quick to learn and qualify to use a forklift (so paid 50p - £1 an hour more), quickly became team leaders etc
A lot wanted to be paid weekly - what do you do if you start work on the 23rd of a month but don't get paid until say the 18th of the next month.
One consistent theme was that if you could get people to turn up for 6 weeks - 3 months, they would by fine. High attrition rate in those early weeks. Work is a habit and takes time to learn or re-learn. Employers could offer more support, we offered pretty little I'm ashamed to say.
Fantastic post. A lot of this is usually conveyed by anecdote (a friend tried to hire....) rather than actual experience.
PB isn't the best place to find insights into the world of the low paid, manual workforce so this is super useful. Thx.
Greensill (of blessed memory) had a payroll product where companies could pay their workforce on any schedule the employee chose, even daily. Greensill would advance the money as required and collect it from the employer at the end of the month.
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
That's a shame. Is that it? Have you abandoned it entirely?
In terms of great walks in Britain maybe you have to stick to the tried and trusted (and pray for good weather)
I did three days of the south west coastal path once and it was fabulous. I've heard the Ridgway is pretty good...
I've given up my original plan, and haven't decided what to do instead
I'm considering doing the walk to the south coast (which is what really matters, to join home to my Brittany walk) in more manageable chunks
Last year I walked to my mate's place a few miles north of Amesbury. I might walk from there to Salisbury in a day, then think about the next leg
When I did the Wessex Ridgeway more than a decade ago, I did the first half in day circular walks, then the second half to Lyme Regis in a three-day backpack. I remember it all fondly.
Day walks can be very good to see more of an area.
This is the first of the “Ali cash” where the explanation offered is itself highly dubious. Free glasses, offices, dresses, arsenal boxes, taylor swift tix - they all make sense even if they are objectionable. We can SEE the designer specs
£20k for a quiet place to study for GCSEs where the dates don’t fit at all??
That sounds like a total lie. And if it can be proved that it is a lie then Starmer would have to resign
Amount of donation or nature and value if donation in kind: Accommodation, value £20,437.28 Date received: 29 May 2024 to 13 July 2024
££ but the long and short of it is the OECD chief economist is saying the current fiscal rules are bad news for investment and need an overhaul. This occurring as Reeves prepares the ground for a reform that will distinguish between current and investment spending.
This *could* be very good long term news for the economy if done properly. We are badly in need of investment across the entire economy: in the public sector, in the private sector, and in that huge bit of the Venn diagram that is the private sector supported or regulated by the public sector.
We are a nation of asset-sweaters and accountants, not capex investors. Reforming the fiscal rules won't be enough, and it could go wrong, but it's a start.
"I have taken representations from the OECD, and I have heard those representations.
It's the market rate for renting out the property and with the election called at 2 days notice in the middle of exam times I don't think SKS had many other options...
Not if the property is really worth the £18m that someone posted on here (which surprised me)
This is the first of the “Ali cash” where the explanation offered is itself highly dubious. Free glasses, offices, dresses, arsenal boxes, taylor swift tix - they all make sense even if they are objectionable. We can SEE the designer specs
£20k for a quiet place to study for GCSEs where the dates don’t fit at all??
That sounds like a total lie. And if it can be proved that it is a lie then Starmer would have to resign
To be fair, in isolation, it’s not that big a deal - Starmer wanted his son shielded from the press and noise and hullabaloo around the election to concentrate on exams.
If there hadn’t been the clothes freebies and just the football tickets then people would probably sympathise.
The problem is that it’s on top of all the freebies, paid for parties etc and crucially all by the same person.
What he should have probably done is to have asked a nearby boarding school to take his son in for the period. I’m sure he’s got loads of friendly boarding schools willing to help him.
It's the market rate for renting out the property and with the election called at 2 days notice in the middle of exam times I don't think SKS had many other options...
Not if the property is really worth the £18m that someone posted on here (which surprised me)
The value is not that far off afaics, very much depending on the exact property details / status.
Rental on an £18m property would be .. um .. at 2% yield, which might be ambitious, £360k per annum or £30k per month. £20k for 6 weeks is a push, but just about on the edge of the justifiable if all the variances line up.
Does anyone have a £10 million pad in Central London that they rent out? If so, are they telling?
Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
It's rare we agree on anything but I'm happy to agree with you on this.
It's difficult and there are undoubtedly genuine cases of people who cannot work because of long-term debilitating or chronic conditions and I've every sympathy for those individuals.
Mental health is one of those areas where the Coalition did some very good work - stress is a thing, I saw it many times in my working life and people react to it in different ways, some relish it, others don't. Helping those for whom stress is a negative experience get back to work is something all thoughtful employers should be and are about.
That said, there are unquestionably a number who are playing the system to get sickness benefit in lieu of working for a living and that has to be the target. Whether that number is 1.5 million or not I don't know.
Are there 1.5m jobs for them out there, though?
Probably not, but we'd save the difference between sickness benefits and unemployment benefits at least and work isn't a zero sum game, if more people are in work there is more economic activity which will create more jobs.
Have to say the expectation of work and work assessments for people on sickness benefits is the first Labour policy I support. The Tories should have done this in 2022. We also need to move to independent work assessments rather than GPs.
I remember someone at my old workplace worked out it would need ~4.5k centrally contracted doctors to give everyone on sickness benefits one 30 minute work assessment every 90 days but it would also take a significant chunk out of GP appointment schedules freeing up resource for people who are sick and looking to get better rather than people who are chronically sick and won't get better or people who aren't sick and just want to get signed off by scamming and pretending they are.
There's probably 1.5m people that can be pushed into the lesser unemployment benefits or back into work if this is done right and that will result in a ~£10bn saving at least.
It's rare we agree on anything but I'm happy to agree with you on this.
It's difficult and there are undoubtedly genuine cases of people who cannot work because of long-term debilitating or chronic conditions and I've every sympathy for those individuals.
Mental health is one of those areas where the Coalition did some very good work - stress is a thing, I saw it many times in my working life and people react to it in different ways, some relish it, others don't. Helping those for whom stress is a negative experience get back to work is something all thoughtful employers should be and are about.
That said, there are unquestionably a number who are playing the system to get sickness benefit in lieu of working for a living and that has to be the target. Whether that number is 1.5 million or not I don't know.
Are there 1.5m jobs for them out there, though?
This is where the paradox lies and it was interesting to hear some discussion about this on LBC this morning. Is there a pool of labour out there? Some say yes, some say no. Does that align to the jobs which need filling? That's the other question. An employer rang in and was tearing his hair out over people not turning up to interviews even when invited and there seems an extraordinary high percentage of new workers who quit their jobs on the first day.
As I said here before, if you have 100 people apply for 20 jobs you have an unemployment problem, if you have 40 people apply for 20 jobs you have close to full employment, if you have 10 people apply for 20 jobs you have an under-employment problem. In some parts of the economy, we have an under-employment problem - it may well be the pool of specialist skilled labour which once existed does so no longer.
What you have internally is a core of the unemployable - people who can't work or don't want to work for whatever reason (genuine or otherwise). Getting them into work is a struggle - plugging the gaps in areas of specialist work is much more difficult. How do you create the skilled labour force you need? Two ways - either train them (which takes them but would be an economically beneficial thing if done right) or import them....
Certainly in the white collar world the employment market is tighter than I've seen it since the GFC. I'm talking 100 applicants to every job. My LinkedIn is full of posts of people who've been out of work for over a year. That's anecdata, but the FT is saying the same thing - https://www.ft.com/content/1429fcb2-e0ef-4e47-b2b8-8bd225ac2fe2 (and the comments section full of similar stories).
I'm assuming most of the people on long term sick leave aren't competing for well paid middle class knowledge jobs, though. So what you actually get by shunting 1.5m low skilled workers into the workforce is problematic, as you can't lower the wage for unskilled work below the minimum wage. So, as you say, you need to upskill people. Else you just have mass unemployment. Which means spending money on training the 1.5m to be plumbers or programmers or whatever else is needed.
I'm in total agreement that many of the 1.5m on long term sickness benefits should be working. I'm just not sure the jobs are out there, though.
Many will get far more on dole rather than working. Rent paid, council tax paid and a tax free wedge on top with likely lots of other things, especially if a few children
Comments
As I said here before, if you have 100 people apply for 20 jobs you have an unemployment problem, if you have 40 people apply for 20 jobs you have close to full employment, if you have 10 people apply for 20 jobs you have an under-employment problem. In some parts of the economy, we have an under-employment problem - it may well be the pool of specialist skilled labour which once existed does so no longer.
What you have internally is a core of the unemployable - people who can't work or don't want to work for whatever reason (genuine or otherwise). Getting them into work is a struggle - plugging the gaps in areas of specialist work is much more difficult. How do you create the skilled labour force you need? Two ways - either train them (which takes them but would be an economically beneficial thing if done right) or import them....
I walked twenty miles and didn't quite make it to Devizes
I was very wet and very lost. The rain and wind got worse all day, and my phone couldn't tell me where I was
It told.me I was in Malmesbury, Chippenham, Marlborough and Amesbury. It never once gave me a location between Avebury and Devizes (where I actually was). I couldn't see more than half a mile ahead of me, so couldn't even navigate by landmarks
I got helpful directions from a local Caleb when I was quite lost. He told me to cross a meadow, to save about a mile. He was right that it was a shorter distance, but I had to walk through thigh to waist high, wet grass
I had to stop to rest about every thirty seconds. I finally crossed the meadow after about an hour, and having got wet to my bones
I carried on and after about another hour and a half's walk down another massive puddle infested farm track, ended up in a lay-by next to a small fast and wet road
This was when my phone was telling me that I was just outside Chippenham. It was getting dark and I didn't know where I was; even if I'd known I didn't have enough signal to call a taxi to tell it that I didn't know where I was
I was about to start to sob when a car pulled into the lay-by and the lovely Irish lady driver asked if I needed help
She drove my very wet arse all the way home, and wouldn't even accept a bit of cash for the fuel
Is the US notably more expensive than the time of your last visit?
Sorry to hear that.
I'm assuming most of the people on long term sick leave aren't competing for well paid middle class knowledge jobs, though. So what you actually get by shunting 1.5m low skilled workers into the workforce is problematic, as you can't lower the wage for unskilled work below the minimum wage. So, as you say, you need to upskill people. Else you just have mass unemployment. Which means spending money on training the 1.5m to be plumbers or programmers or whatever else is needed.
I'm in total agreement that many of the 1.5m on long term sickness benefits should be working. I'm just not sure the jobs are out there, though.
Weather was terrible though. You can just about survive one day but it is no fun if you have to do the same again tomorrow, so leaving the rest for another day was probably wise.
Autumn proper seems to have arrived a bit early.
Enjoy the rest of your trip. That's a high bar to start with.
Some permanent, some on short term contracts.
This is a comparatively poor area with low employment.
The success rate was decidely mixed.
Some would turn up for interview, with no intention of working. But proof to job centre they were looking.
A significant minority wanted no more than 3 days a week - after that child support would mean a very high effective tax rate. Its rational not to work a 4th or 5th day if you are coming out with an extra £10 a day.
Absenteeism was high on a monday.
Some would be great - absolute diamonds, capable of better, quick to learn and qualify to use a forklift (so paid 50p - £1 an hour more), quickly became team leaders etc
A lot wanted to be paid weekly - what do you do if you start work on the 23rd of a month but don't get paid until say the 18th of the next month.
One consistent theme was that if you could get people to turn up for 6 weeks - 3 months, they would by fine.
High attrition rate in those early weeks.
Work is a habit and takes time to learn or re-learn.
Employers could offer more support, we offered pretty little I'm ashamed to say.
I decided to Google 'types of sausage' to help me come up with an original pun
I got as far as 'types o' and 'f sausage' came up as the suggestion
That is Keir cut through
I couldn't come up with an original pun
Andouille all tried
In terms of great walks in Britain maybe you have to stick to the tried and trusted (and pray for good weather)
I did three days of the south west coastal path once and it was fabulous. I've heard the Ridgway is pretty good...
NEW THREAD
For bankers, city types, and all sorts of quite well paid people, the rule is that, even if there are loads of applicants, you have to pay £n squillions because that's the law of supply and demand and all that.
However, it seems to me that the massive numbers of vacancies quite remarkably occur in places far away from derivative trading offices (whatever they are) in Mayfair.
In low paid jobs that are not all that nice to do different laws seem to apply. The rate for the job (minimum wage) is what there is and thats's tough. Fill them by getting people off the sick and into these jobs or importing them from poor places. Magically different laws of economics apply.
We could always be radical and apply supply and demand as much to picking and cutting leeks as being CE of a FTSE 100 company?
Round here there is no great problem filling OK but routine jobs that are not very highly paid but are not nasty/cold/horrible. Of which there are a lot.
There’s loads of jobs that can now be done remotely online, and aren’t massively time-sensitive.
Eg. Call centre workers on phones, emails, chat services etc, should be able to log in when they can and be paid for the hours they work. Most of these services always have a queue, so every extra man-hour they can get makes that queue shorter.
I'm considering doing the walk to the south coast (which is what really matters, to join home to my Brittany walk) in more manageable chunks
Last year I walked to my mate's place a few miles north of Amesbury. I might walk from there to Salisbury in a day, then think about the next leg
Day walks can be very good to see more of an area.
Ching ching!
It is claimed to be a ~500sqm penthouse. *
Here's a 210sqm ish penthouse at Centre Point at £8m.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/131727791#/?channel=RES_BUY
Rental on an £18m property would be .. um .. at 2% yield, which might be ambitious, £360k per annum or £30k per month. £20k for 6 weeks is a push, but just about on the edge of the justifiable if all the variances line up.
Does anyone have a £10 million pad in Central London that they rent out? If so, are they telling?
* https://order-order.com/2024/09/25/inside-the-luxury-study-pad-starmer-took-as-freebie-for-sons-gcses/
Remember that Guido plays games, so he may have included the roof terraces or similar.