[Politics] The Labour Government

Me Atome said:

Big pay increases are great. I don’t think anybody would argue otherwise.

Click to expand...

dsr-burnley said:

Perhaps this is where the unexplained "black hole" in the Tory budget. They hadn't allowed for all these above-inflation pay rises.

I wonder how the other public service unions are going to react? Will it be "the money's been spent, there won't be any pay rises for us" or is it going to be "strikers get big pay rises, let's go on strike"? Establishing the principle early in a 5-year parliament gives plenty of time for all the unions to come round again for more rounds of strikes.

Click to expand...

Rdodge30 said:

I haven’t spoken to anyone who is not pissed off that the train drivers who are on average £64,000 have just got £9000 a year increase.

Click to expand...

Rdodge30 said:

I haven’t spoken to anyone who is not pissed off that the train drivers who are on average £64,000 have just got £9000 a year increase.

Click to expand...

dsr-burnley said:

That old chestnut. These old right wingers whose deaths you cheerfully predict were brought up in the sixties. Flower people, drugs and free love, student riots, and so forth. They're conservative now, but they weren't then; it's a typical progression for people to move from left to right as they age; if only because taking wealth from the rich to give to the poor, is always more popular among the poor than it is among the rich.

Click to expand...

Berty23 said:

I am reading a book on my holiday called “how Westminster works….and why it doesn’t”

It is interesting and covers the issue of pay in the public sector. It has always struck me as odd when people moan about the quality of the public sector but then moan about it when they have to pay more to get better people. Think about it for a while. The book gives an example. A top graduate can enter civil service on c30k a year and after about 4 or 5 be earning 60 or so. The same graduate could start on 50 in the city and be on more than a permanent secretary (most senior civil servant in a department) would earn after 4 or 5 years.

Now does anyone have any idea why bright maths graduates might pick banking over civil service?

Other option join PWC or KPMG etc. similar story.

People should probably either
A) stop moaning about the quality of people in public sector
B) be prepared to pay them more.

I don’t think we can do neither.

Click to expand...

Harry Wilson's tackle said:

My. How we laughed.

Click to expand...

Harry Wilson's tackle said:

My. How we laughed.

Click to expand...

Rdodge30 said:

I haven’t spoken to anyone who is not pissed off that the train drivers who are on average £64,000 have just got £9000 a year increase.

Click to expand...

Guinness Boy said:

Well meet me.

My concern in daily life is that stuff works properly. If I have to travel to work or the football I’d like the trains to be running. If I get sick or hurt I’d like a hospital bed or a GP appointment, rather than a trolley in a corridor or a phone call with a PA.

That places quite a bit higher than petty jealousy over what someone gets paid for doing a job I couldn’t.

Click to expand...

dsr-burnley said:

Perhaps this is where the unexplained "black hole" in the Tory budget. They hadn't allowed for all these above-inflation pay rises.

I wonder how the other public service unions are going to react? Will it be "the money's been spent, there won't be any pay rises for us" or is it going to be "strikers get big pay rises, let's go on strike"? Establishing the principle early in a 5-year parliament gives plenty of time for all the unions to come round again for more rounds of strikes.

Click to expand...

Thunder Bolt said:

Above inflation when they are based over three years?

Click to expand...

Me Atome said:

Big pay increases are great. I don’t think anybody would argue otherwise. There is of course the obvious question of where does the money come from?
And the new government do seem to have started in a very generous vein. I hope it's all in Rachel Reeves budget.
My concern is that this will lead to big inflation, and all the chaos that brings.

Click to expand...

Rdodge30 said:

I haven’t spoken to anyone who is not pissed off that the train drivers who are on average £64,000 have just got £9000 a year increase.

Click to expand...

BenGarfield said:

The money comes from key strokes on a computer not tax. Inflation results when there is a shortage of real resources. As a country we ar not in that postion. To paraphrase Keynes - "what we can do we can afford"

Click to expand...

Me Atome said:

Labour is a real resource. It is of limited availability. Thus, when the cost goes up, that is inflation. To avoid that cost increase, we import labour from overseas, whether that's skilled surgeons or unskilled fruit pickers.

Click to expand...

Rdodge30 said:

I haven’t spoken to anyone who is not pissed off that the train drivers who are on average £64,000 have just got £9000 a year increase.

Click to expand...

Guinness Boy said:

Well meet me.

Click to expand...

Harry Wilson's tackle said:

And me

Click to expand...

Rdodge30 said:

I’ll take a pass if that’s ok

Ditto …. All I need now is Watford Zero for the hat trick!!


It doesn’t have to be petty jealousy though does it? That’s a very opinionated and short sighted view.

There are many anti monarchists in this country, I don’t expect it’s out of petty jealousy or that they would like Buckingham Palace for themselves.

These pay rises will result in either tax increases, even more expensive rail fares, inflation or all 3.

Click to expand...