Jeremy Hunt in plea to early retirees: ‘Britain needs you’

Anonymous101

Stubod said:

I think I would be more inclined to "help out", if I truly believed that our "leaders" shared the same commitment rather than doing their very best to avoid paying their own fair share...???

I’m sure they see it as “fair” after all they’re not PAYE worker drones. They’re far to important to play by those rules.

zagfles

Anonymous101 said:

Stubod said:

I think I would be more inclined to "help out", if I truly believed that our "leaders" shared the same commitment rather than doing their very best to avoid paying their own fair share...???

I’m sure they see it as “fair” after all they’re not PAYE worker drones. They’re far to important to play by those rules.

As opposed to, say, premiership footballers who earn in one week what an MP does in a year?

Maybe a country that values the job of kicking a football round a pitch 50 times as much as the job of running the country deserves the politicians it gets.

Anonymous101

zagfles said:

Anonymous101 said:

Stubod said:

I think I would be more inclined to "help out", if I truly believed that our "leaders" shared the same commitment rather than doing their very best to avoid paying their own fair share...???

I’m sure they see it as “fair” after all they’re not PAYE worker drones. They’re far to important to play by those rules.

As opposed to, say, premiership footballers who earn in one week what an MP does in a year?

Maybe a country that values the job of kicking a football round a pitch 50 times as much as the job of running the country deserves the politicians it gets.

Won’t get any arguments from me that the country gets the politicians it deserves.

Politicians are clearly underpaid when compared to other senior roles across both private and public sectors. Obviously the expenses allowances go some way to even this up but still it’s no wonder they often look to take on other paid work.

Altior

bostonerimus said:

Albermarle said:

mumf said:

Politicians are idiots. Usually Public School Idiots. Never had to do real work. Idiots .

They say the public gets the politicians they deserve.

In practice what that means is that the public has unrealistic expectations of what can be done ( for example wanting better public services and lower taxes at the same time ) So that forces the politicians to make promises they can not keep, because if they told the truth nobody would vote for them.

I don’t hear the public calling for lower taxes - it’s just Tory politicians with no imagination and the echo of Truss’s “Grrrowrth, Grrrowth, Grrrowth” mantra. Also Hunt promising to cut inflation in half is an easy promise to make with world energy prices stabilizing and even falling. Even if prices remain high comparing future 2023 prices with today’s high prices will probably produce a low inflation number.

The public 'called' for extended lockdowns and furlough. Those had a huge majority in polling whilst it was at the same time devastating the public finances. Coincidently, peak Tory party polling coincided with it haemorrhaging borrowed and 'printed' money out to the public. Not sure I trust the public's judgement on economic policies. It's probably why the country isn't meant to be run via a series of mini snap polls. Central government is meant to look at the bigger picture. Including ways to grow the economy. Part of Ireland's relative success has been, lower corporation tax, leading to economic growth. 

The public aren't 'calling' for net zero either, but it's being inflicted upon us anyway, at great cost to the middle and lower classes.

Stubod

...fundamentaly I agree, MP's should be paid far more money than they are now....but assume that they have to forgo any other income??

Universidad

molerat said:

Cutting of working age benefits is what is needed, back to the old system of the job centre telling you where you are going to work if you won't find work yourself !

Convenient that this wouldn't affect you...

bostonerimus

Universidad said:

molerat said:

Cutting of working age benefits is what is needed, back to the old system of the job centre telling you where you are going to work if you won't find work yourself !

Convenient that this wouldn't affect you...

Yes, just like Charlie Drake in "The Worker".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxgLyQJSQoc

pensionpawn

My wife recently retired from a supermarket managerial post. I'm semi retired and I know she would consider a day, possibly two, a week just running the till, nothing more, when I'm at work. However she doesn't want a minimum 12 hour per week contract with its usual restrictions. She's happy to be "zero hours" and will work at £11 per hour if the day and time suits her. If she's not free the supermarket tries the next zero hour option and so on. However I believe employment law prohibits this. Hence she'll just potter around the house relaxing by herself when I'm at work. The government could do something about this. Perhaps I'll email my MP and count the number of weeks that nothing happens!

NedS

Pensions_matter_2 said:

From reading various posts, I think the workforce environment - performance reviews, expectation of working many more hours than contracted to do, mis-management, workers being undervalued etc, is a significant factor in the decision by many to retire early when able to do so. Employers need to seriously address these issues and practices (probably a fall out from the credit crunch and employers tightening their belts) if they want to have any realistic chance of attracting older experienced people back into the workforce. 

and therein lies the issue. People are only prepared to put up with this treatment whilst they have to, and the moment people have obtained the financial freedom to walk away, they are gone. Workplace culture needs to change to either retain people over 50 or entice them back. They need to fundamentally feel valued and be treated with some dignity at work, not be treated like a sack of s###

DoublePolaroid

zagfles said:

Anonymous101 said:

Stubod said:

I think I would be more inclined to "help out", if I truly believed that our "leaders" shared the same commitment rather than doing their very best to avoid paying their own fair share...???

I’m sure they see it as “fair” after all they’re not PAYE worker drones. They’re far to important to play by those rules.

As opposed to, say, premiership footballers who earn in one week what an MP does in a year?

Maybe a country that values the job of kicking a football round a pitch 50 times as much as the job of running the country deserves the politicians it gets.

Don’t really get this. If you include expenses, jobbing MP’s get paid a similar salary to NHS consultants. Nobody complains about the competence of our brain surgeons, cardiologists and the like and medicine in general has no problem attracting thousands upon thousands of rather bright minds happy to work productively and (generally) for the benefit of the public for a salary that is apparently so low that it encumbers us with thick, incompetent politicians. It’s pretty clear that pay isn’t the issue. 

As for PL footballers, rather unlike MP’s, they are in the top minuscule fraction of a percent for talent at a game that vast numbers play and every penny they earn is paid for by people happy to fork out to watch the post popular sport in the world. Apart from Jesse Lingard. He gets paid far too much.