Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party.

[edwin_m]

Waiting to see the Bank Of England scramble to lower interest rates soon enough...

They've said that's unlikely any time soon, as the UK economy is in a worse state than others that are considering reductions.

 

[nw1]

I'm going to be biased by my own experiences, while I don't think this is going to be anything record breaking, I certainly think eyebrows will raise when they see the UK economy move into recession over winter 23 and spring 24.

All I see around me is redundancies, recruiters I talk to say that few places are hiring. That's two industries I see day to day, sure there are others that are different, but not a good sign.

All of this to try and keep salaries down, to prevent a "wage price spiral", when the things primarily driving higher costs are essentials people need to buy anyway - food, energy, fuel, housing. Many of which are global trends, compounded with (in my opinion), poor short termist decision making in the UK.

Waiting to see the Bank Of England scramble to lower interest rates soon enough...

The problem is indeed not, as far as I can see, "wages spiral" and we do not, IMO, need to "keep salaries down". What is driving inflation is the high prices of products, and it's this which needs to be tackled, somehow (and I admit I don't have the answer).

If this is meaning that there are less jobs available, that is worrying. Last thing we want is high prices and high unemployment, this is a nightmare scenario that must be avoided at all costs.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

The problem is indeed not, as far as I can see, "wages spiral" and we do not, IMO, need to "keep salaries down". What is driving inflation is the high prices of products, and it's this which needs to be tackled, somehow (and I admit I don't have the answer).

And what do you think is driving the high prices of products, apart from the obvious issue of the energy shortage post Ukraine? (Clue: Wages are a pretty huge chunk of most employers' expenses and the statutory minimum wage has increased a lot in recent years)

 

[bahnause]

And what do you think is driving the high prices of products, apart from the obvious issue of the energy shortage post Ukraine? (Clue: Wages are a pretty huge chunk of most employers' expenses and the statutory minimum wage has increased a lot in recent years)

Lack of supplies (hello Brexit) and inflated profits for companies not only in the energy, but also in the food and other sectors.

 

[najaB]

And what do you think is driving the high prices of products, apart from the obvious issue of the energy shortage post Ukraine?

I would accept that it was wages if they weren't lagging significantly behind prices.

 

[nw1]

And what do you think is driving the high prices of products, apart from the obvious issue of the energy shortage post Ukraine? (Clue: Wages are a pretty huge chunk of most employers' expenses and the statutory minimum wage has increased a lot in recent years)

I would say a mix of Ukraine, the economic damage caused by Covid/lockdown and the B-word. These are surely more important than wages supposedly going up, which I'm not sure they actually are. The fact that there's been so much industrial action of late surely shows wages aren't going up that much.

 

[brad465]

And what do you think is driving the high prices of products, apart from the obvious issue of the energy shortage post Ukraine? (Clue: Wages are a pretty huge chunk of most employers' expenses and the statutory minimum wage has increased a lot in recent years)

Central Banks Printing money like it's going out of fashion.

 

[43096]

They've said that's unlikely any time soon, as the UK economy is in a worse state than others that are considering reductions.

I wonder why that is? Couldn't be because we decided to isolate ourselves from our nearest trading partners, could it? You reap what you sow!

 

[The Ham]

Oh dear, someone decided it was a good time to launch a small boat:

 

[Busaholic]

Oh dear, someone decided it was a good time to launch a small boat:

Oh, wow. Her constituency people will now get it in the neck for not checking the credentials of these pranksters, but who cares? An A1 spoof, viral isn't in it.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

And what do you think is driving the high prices of products, apart from the obvious issue of the energy shortage post Ukraine? (Clue: Wages are a pretty huge chunk of most employers' expenses and the statutory minimum wage has increased a lot in recent years)

Theres no energy shortage Ukraine debacle just reordered how energy is sent round the world and as a result Europe is now locked into paying more to transport LNG half way round the world rather than sent down a gas pipeline from Russia.

 

[brad465]

Oh dear, someone decided it was a good time to launch a small boat:

Looks like phishing to me.

 

[AM9]

Looks like phishing to me.

I like ther comment as she walked away about the video going viral.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I like ther comment as she walked away about the video going viral.

Thought she handled it pretty well and probably believes any publicity however bad is good

 

[SuspectUsual]

I wonder if Michelle Mone uses the same PR advisors as Prince Andrew?

 

[DerekC]

There is an article in the Grauniad this morning about Nigel Farage's likely role to boost Reform UK in the coming election. If it goes as they are implying, it seems likely to sink the Tories completely.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...tm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

First four paragraphs:

Allies of Nigel Farage believe he will be unable to resist taking a prominent role for Reform UK’s imminent attempts to make the next election a referendum on “mass migration”.

The former Brexit party leader did not rule out a return to frontline politics after he completed his appearance on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! earlier this month, though he dismissed the idea of rejoining the Conservatives under Rishi Sunak.


However, figures close to him are increasingly confident that he will want to seize the opportunity to shape the next election with Reform UK. It is understood that the party is planning a press conference at the start of January to kick off its campaign to create an “immigration election” when voters go to the polls next year. It follows Tory infighting over Sunak’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.

The latest Opinium poll for the Observer puts Reform UK on 9% support. However, it also reveals that 37% of current Conservative voters would be more favourable towards Reform with Farage as leader. (Screenshot of barchart below)

 

[AM9]

Thought she handled it pretty well and probably believes any publicity however bad is good

As a KC she is used to rapidly changing situations in court where it is necessary to present in a particular and disciplined way.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

There is an article in the Grauniad this morning about Nigel Farage's likely role to boost Reform UK in the coming election. If it goes as they are implying, it seems likely to sink the Tories completely.

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...tm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

First four paragraphs:



View attachment 148683

Tories don't need any help to sink themselves and hopefully out of this we finally get the Tory retreating back to being a centre right party and the nutters can go to Reform.

 

[ainsworth74]

As a KC she is used to rapidly changing situations in court where it is necessary to present in a particular and disciplined way.

She was made a KC (well QC) when she became Attorney General as courtesy not because of her abilities as a barrister.

 

[AM9]

She was made a KC (well QC) when she became Attorney General as courtesy not because of her abilities as a barrister.

Thanks, - I didn't know that it was an act of political expediency. Still, she has the brass neck of a politician anyway.

 

[brad465]

The Mone row is blowing up more today after the interview yesterday:

Michelle Mone hits back at Rishi Sunak over PPE scandal

The peer says she was "honest" with the government over contracts for personal protective equipment.

www.bbc.co.uk

Baroness Michelle Mone has hit back at Rishi Sunak, saying she was "honest" with the government over contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE).
The peer has admitted lying to the media about her links to a company that supplied millions of pounds worth of personal protective equipment to the government during the Covid pandemic.
But she insisted the government knew about her involvement.
The prime minister said he was taking the issue "incredibly seriously".
In an interview with the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Baroness Mone conceded she stands to benefit from the profits made by PPE Medpro, which is led by her husband.
Asked about her admission she did not tell the truth about her links to the company, Mr Sunak said: "The government takes these things incredibly seriously, which is why we're pursuing legal action against the company concerned in these matters."
"But it is also subject to an ongoing criminal investigation. And because of that, there's not much further that I can add," he told reporters on a visit to Scotland.
Responding to Mr Sunak's comments on X, Baroness Mone said: "What is @RishiSunak talking about?
"I was honest with the Cabinet Office, the government and the NHS in my dealings with them.
"They all knew about my involvement from the very beginning."
However, Lord Bethell - who was a minister in the Department of Health during the pandemic - disputed her account, saying she "wasn't 'honest' about her financial interest to me".
"She didn't explain 'from the very beginning' about her financial 'involvement'," he wrote on X, adding that Mr Sunak was right to take the matter seriously.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The Mone row is blowing up more today after the interview yesterday:

Michelle Mone hits back at Rishi Sunak over PPE scandal

The peer says she was "honest" with the government over contracts for personal protective equipment.

www.bbc.co.uk

Trouble shes discredited herself by saying shes lied and she was the tip of the iceberg of others that benefited from this govt fraud.

 

[Busaholic]

Trouble shes discredited herself by saying shes lied and she was the tip of the iceberg of others that benefited from this govt fraud.

Can you imagine the furore if this was a Labour peer allegedly enriching herself and family in such a way while the Labour party was in government? GB News and the Mail would be in a state of permanent catatonic fury.

 

[brad465]

Trouble shes discredited herself by saying shes lied and she was the tip of the iceberg of others that benefited from this govt fraud.

I suspect she's being allowed to be a scapegoat for it all so all the other cases alluded to with "tip of the iceberg" have nothing to worry about.

 

[jon0844]

I was with someone over the weekend who told me about the latest scandal of bringing people in on skilled visas, who in fact have zero skills at all. The BBC funnily enough has done a story today talking about this relating to people from India, but it seems they're now bringing in mostly young people from Africa on a VERY large scale - who will work in the care sector, learn on the job, and get paid £11 per hour for up to 65 hours a week. That sounds a lot of money, but apparently they'll be housed by the employers and, like the BBC article today says, staff pretty much can't dare complain about their treatment or any other issues as they'll end up being forced to go home if they leave their job - and likely homeless too.

After five years, they can elect to go into training to become nurses, and also apply to bring their children over. All the time I assume they're treated as you'd expect for someone on a very limited visa with lots of restrictions.

It all sounds rather like people being smuggled in and having to give up their passport to work for a gangmaster - but this is all apparently legal and above board. No doubt it's happening, or will happen, in other sectors too.

[The BBC story is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67684417]

I would hope a new Government would look into this as a matter of priority.

 

[nw1]

I was with someone over the weekend who told me about the latest scandal of bringing people in on skilled visas, who in fact have zero skills at all. The BBC funnily enough has done a story today talking about this relating to people from India, but it seems they're now bringing in mostly young people from Africa - who will work in the care sector, learn on the job, and get paid £11 per hour for up to 65 hours a week. That sounds a lot of money, but apparently they'll be housed by the employers and, like the BBC article today says, staff pretty much can't dare complain about their treatment or any other issues as they'll end up being forced to go home if they leave their job - and likely homeless too.

After five years, they can elect to go into training to become nurses, and also apply to bring their children over. All the time I assume they're treated as you'd expect for someone on a very limited visa with lots of restrictions.

It all sounds rather like people being smuggled in and having to give up their passport to work for a gangmaster - but this is all apparently legal and above board. No doubt it's happening, or will happen, in other sectors too.

[The BBC story is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67684417]

Sounds distinctly dodgy (sorry, misread the bit about giving up their passport which I mistakenly assumed was the case here).

 

[Gloster]

I suspect she's being allowed to be a scapegoat for it all so all the other cases alluded to with "tip of the iceberg" have nothing to worry about.

She is not a scapegoat: a scapegoat is someone who is either not involved in something or is only on the edges, but has all the blame put on them to let others get away with it. She is deeply involved in the wrongdoing, as much as many others, but ‘they’ are concentrating on her because of her high profile: much better for click-bait and for making people think you are taking it ‘incredibly seriously’ while you are doing as little as possible. I have no doubt that they are hoping she will drag it out until they can claim that they can’t investigate other cases as it was all so long ago.

She might have a tiny bit of justification for her moans, but saying ‘others were just as crooked as me, why aren’t they being investigated?’ is not as good as claiming it is infamy. (‘Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me.’)

 

[jon0844]

Sounds distinctly dodgy (sorry, misread the bit about giving up their passport which I mistakenly assumed was the case here).

No, but it's not a great deal different. You come to work at a care home and if you want to stay and have a chance to get training to advance your career then you better not do anything to annoy your employer who is most likely your landlord too. And if you're not happy, who do you complain to?

It sounds very fishy but the Tories probably love this idea. Let's go back to having factory owners building homes for their staff...

 

[DynamicSpirit]

No, but it's not a great deal different. You come to work at a care home and if you want to stay and have a chance to get training to advance your career then you better not do anything to annoy your employer who is most likely your landlord too. And if you're not happy, who do you complain to?

It sounds very fishy but the Tories probably love this idea. Let's go back to having factory owners building homes for their staff...

It's a very sad situation, but I doubt there's anything intentionally fishy by the Government. In the end, it's almost an inevitable consequence of the fact that an awful lot of people in other countries desperately want to work in the UK because, even if they get exploited here, that's still often a much better life than they could get in their home countries - and there will always be unscrupulous individuals/companies willing to take advantage of that. We certainly should try to make sure that this sort of thing doesn't happen, but I doubt it's an easy thing to stop. I guess one possibility would be for the Government to be much more pro-active in making sure that people who get work visas are informed of what their rights are and about things their employer is not allowed to do. Some kind of helpline for people who may be exploited on workers visas would be good to.

Somewhat ironically, the Government's recent decision to raise the minimum salary for people on work visas is likely to help - since if you have to pay foreign workers a large salary, you're probably not going to choose to employ them unless they really are very skilled.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

She is not a scapegoat: a scapegoat is someone who is either not involved in something or is only on the edges, but has all the blame put on them to let others get away with it. She is deeply involved in the wrongdoing, as much as many others, but ‘they’ are concentrating on her because of her high profile: much better for click-bait and for making people think you are taking it ‘incredibly seriously’ while you are doing as little as possible. I have no doubt that they are hoping she will drag it out until they can claim that they can’t investigate other cases as it was all so long ago.

She might have a tiny bit of justification for her moans, but saying ‘others were just as crooked as me, why aren’t they being investigated?’ is not as good as claiming it is infamy. (‘Infamy! Infamy! They’ve all got it in for me.’)

Any investigation is just a front to make it look as though something is being done. Remember in the case of Mone not only were the contracts overpaid for but all the PPE was utterly useless had had to be destroyed in may cases they paid the same companies to do that as well. Yes Mone needs to be stripped of her peerage but the people that authorised all these misdemeanours have committed crimes against teh state and should be prosecuted.