It's interesting to note that between 2010 and 2019 trade between France and India increased by 58%, whereas UK trade with India decreased by 3%. Now we are free of the EU's shackles it will no doubt accelerate dramatically when our super duper new trade deal takes effect.....
Do you buy your own milk? That's the milkman's job. Drive your own car? That's a taximan's job Do you buy generic machine made lager or do you only buy handcrafted organic beer form the local craft shop? Do you put your rubbish in the bin or do you throw it on the floor for the streetsweeper to have a job?
Can’t wait for that sweet, sweet 0.22%* long term increase in GDP https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-india-trade-deal-growth-b1992328.html (* up to)
I'm afraid this is an absolute nonsense argument made mostly by people who can't see that the future in the most mature economies is going to have to be based on less work without a decline in income and living standards for the middle classes. There's nothing more terrifying to western governments than the prospect of a middle class collapse and even UKIP-not-so-lite, as the Tories are now, don't believe the 40-hour nose-to-the-grindstone plus morning and evening commute is the future. The big question about how to do this is one of the greatest challenges for our political and cultural system to discuss and debate. Sadly, unlike in Scandinavia where they seem to have quite a grown-up attitude to things like a universal basic income, our discourse is pretty juvenile when it comes to these questions. The inalienable fact is that pretty much all industries need a broad consumer base of people who have disposable income for leisure and consumption. Without it, the entire economic system collapses. But the Rees-Mogg-style call for everyone to jolly well get back to the office desks in case someone overseas steals their job is an argument that on the surface sounds like common sense but, in the grand scheme of things, it has a lifespan of about five minutes. Many, many office based jobs have become deeply inefficient simply because they are office-based when they really don't need to be. The four-day week for the lucky mostly white-collar workers will be the first step in this direction, it just depends who has the courage to take it.
FTR . And just to appease white middle class labour infiltrators. The shower currently in power, are a disgrace . No argument from me. But . Should . Sir Keir get ahead in the opinion polls then , and you heard it from me, first, Owen Jones and his crew , will throw a spanner in the works by banging on about 1st world problems that those who are struggling to get by can only dream about .
Anywho . How about the middle class office work types just go back to work in the City ? I'm sure the cafes etc would be pleased . Do you care ? If not . Then eff off and do one . And I hope your job goes to Ahmed in Bangladesh. Seriously . I do .
Wow. What a weird set of responses. You do realise that I’m proposing that huge numbers of low quality jobs gradually disappear here and people will inevitably get paid to not work as much as they currently do and some people won’t work at all. You seem to be fetishising poor quality, low paid jobs rather than imagining a better future. why should middle class people spend two hours on the train going to work and spend £15 each day in cafe chains owned by hedge funds that pay their workers badly? Why should they fund another boom in commercial property prices and keep the rent rolling in when they don’t have to? That’s not an economic model to trumpet for the future. Unfortunately, it’s the sort of thinking that leads to poor economic decisions being made on a macro level. Sooner or later we’re going to have to confront the fact that the system isn’t fit for purpose and all the decisions have been made for all the wrong reasons. I don’t know what all the answers are, but having a system that exists simply by forcing everyone to pump money into all the wrong sorts of companies sure ain’t it. But I’m glad your response - having misunderstood my point - was to wish economic hardship on me. That’s the sort of vision we need for the future!
Yes . Why why why ? It's called the economy When you are at home in your pyjamas watching Minder on UK Gold someone else is losing a living. Selfish canute .
An extraordinary world view! I envy you the simplicity of it but I’m eternally grateful to have been productive and profitable for 20+ years without having to conform to a weirdly constructed “economy” that seems to be based on the unchallenged right of massive corporations to expect a slavish, unquestioning stream of customers while paying their staff as little as possible. Gawd Bless “The Economy”.
Also, UK Gold and pyjamas aren’t free so, y’know, every little helps I guess. While everyone else is out and about propping up the economy buying their flat whites I’m doing my bit lending my eyeballs to all the adverts for stair lifts and pension policies! I’m doing my bit, pal, I’m just not wearing my shoes out as much!
I can’t work out if you’re on the wind-up here so I’ll leave it for now but you do realise that this is a really odd way to think about an enormous interlinked, co-dependent economy. If capitalism is as brilliant and essential and robust as those who champion it believe, then it will adjust and adapt to people changing their way of life. That’s what happens, right? Why, all of a sudden, is this fantastic system suddenly under threat because huge numbers of people have seen a better way to live and work? Otherwise all you’re doing is shilling for the train companies and landlords and others who have profited from a lack of choice and flexibility.
You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to say something like "well obviously you're just in favour of not allowing lower income families to avoid paying for childcare through working from home, avoid paying to commute, want them to have less time with their families and drain hours of their waking lives just to put more money into the pockets of faceless corporate owned food outlets. " That's apparently how the game is done now. Anyway, can't type more at the moment. I have to go get the broken wheel on my cart fixed and pick up a new horse. Sadly, Ol' Bessie slipped and broke her leg this weekend.
Is Davy arguing with Henry? And I thought they were the same person with bipolar issues. Today I'm going to be a deranged fascist/today I'm going to be a working class hero.
There are good arguments for working from the office. Onboarding new recruits so they can see what is expected of them. Allowing management to be more sensitive to workplace/ culture issues. Creating better workplace relationships and loyalty. Better creativity and fewer silos, when people come together in person. There are good arguments for working from home. People spend a stupid amount of time and money commuting. It makes no sense to get people to cram into rammed trains, all at the same time, many of which are delayed, so they can do a job that most can do just as well at home. It is better for (most healthy) household relationships to be at home. People sleep better, eat better and exercise better. Their salaries have relatively gone up, instead of down. The most ridiculous thing is the assumption that the office is the place for real work and the home is a place for slacking. I go into the office when I want to have more of a social day, chatting, going for lunch and drinks with colleagues. As I don't have kids, I work from home when I need to get serious work done. My average work day is about half an hour longer when I work from home, but as my commute is about an hour, the time I have to relax after work is also greater. It doesn't take a smart person to see that the obvious solution is a mix of home and office working, where possible.
But... but... but won't somebody please think of the Pret-A-Manger (JAB Holding Company) shareholders and all the commercial landlords and the impoverished train companies which might have to rely on even bigger taxpayer handouts to make ends meet!
Look, Comrade Davy is an old skool union man. If no one will stand up for the hedge fund owned, commercial landlord boss-class, who will?? Big shame they shut down the poorhouses back in the day too. Provided valuable lodgings for workers but swept away by woke politicians.
Interesting point made on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarinaPurkiss/status/1518842769116123136?t=eyylOuyb_bO0U49DG44Q5g&s=19 The current estimated cost of the damage inflicted on Ukraine is £53 billion (as at 5th April). The cost of track and trace was £37 billion. That puts that huge sum in to context. How much of it ended up in Tory donor's pockets? https://www.economist.com/graphic-d...e-has-caused-at-least-68bn-in-physical-damage
Amazing that Labour have managed to claim the moral high ground over the Angela Rayner story when, after all, their deputy leader was the one flashing her growler at the Prime Minister during PMQs
