[Politics] The Labour Government

[A mex eyecan]

I’d suggest if a business can only afford to pay minimum wage and can’t pass on a small increase it’s probably not a great business.

what a stupid suggestion.
I

 

[Bry Nylon]

Sir Keir would do well to forego any further foreign junkets and stay home for a while and sort the government’s comms out.

From the same source that brought us news of the growing animosity in the Cabinet toward Sue Gray months before the media picked up on it, I hear further news of approving whispers across Whitehall and in dark corners of Westminster tearooms for Angela Rayner’s recent PMQ performances and Labour MPs reporting that 'the more constituents see of her, the more they like her.'

Apparently, Ms Rayner has the happy knack of coming across as, “normal – and not like a Dalek.”

 

[LamieRobertson]

I’d suggest if a business can only afford to pay minimum wage and can’t pass on a small increase it’s probably not a great business.

Small increase here…small increase there etc …a lot of small increases can add up to a rather large one…

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Yes and add also the effect of the 3% employer pension contributions for those that haven't opted out of the scheme! I think you made the right move bailing when you did as small business owners are the only people in this economy that are getting an effective wage decrease!

We are in this ridiculous situation where we are getting squeezed from all sides, costs going up, taxation going up, regulatory compliance increasing. When the minimum wage goes up all hourly rates need to increase and salaries need to increase due expectations or you lose staff, and with the employment market as tight as it is, people are a nightmare to replace. As a small business there are very few things I can do to increase efficiency or run leaner, the most obvious would be to reduce the salaried workforce but this will have an impact on the quality of the service I provide. When you can't put up prices anymore the cost increases end up coming off your bottom line.

I'd love to see a list of the the current Cabinet, and see how many of them have actually started their own business, or run their own small business.

 

[jcdenton08]

I just don’t agree it’s “anti business” like the right are screaming. I think it’s protecting citizens. I’ll happily give them a shoeing on their performance so far (not good) but not on this one.

But - need the full budget to really know just how bad it’s going to be.

 

[Weststander]

I’d suggest if a business can only afford to pay minimum wage and can’t pass on a small increase it’s probably not a great business.

People often churn that one out.

It’s the cumulative effect. I’ve seen a pub’s accounts for a long time. Payroll costs used to be £140k, after not so many years £280k. R4 You & Yours had a recent special just on restaurant closures, it was something like 30% lower numbers than in 2019, spiralling costs were cited by former restaurant owners as the main reason including payroll. Ers NI hikes would be the ‘icing on the cake’ for more.

 

[Rdodge30]

I am crossing my fingers that it won't be at the upper end of that estimate as I am (genuinely) not sure what I will do!

I fully expect it to be higher than all those estimates to be honest. I really don’t know what I will do. In order to maintain fairness and staff morale all the higher earners will have to get an increase equal to the percentage increase the Government puts on the Living wage.

Worried doesn’t cover it

 

[LamieRobertson]

Sir Keir would do well to forego any further foreign junkets and stay home for a while and sort the government’s comms out.

From the same source that brought us news of the growing animosity in the Cabinet toward Sue Gray months before the media picked up on it, I hear further news of approving whispers across Whitehall and in dark corners of Westminster tearooms for Angela Rayner’s recent PMQ performances and Labour MPs reporting that 'the more constituents see of her, the more they like her.'

Apparently, Ms Rayner has the happy knack of coming across as, “normal – and not like a Dalek.”

Always wins a trophy in her second season….oh hang on thats another Ange

 

[Weststander]

Always wins a trophy in her second season….oh hang on thats another Ange

Tottenham always win a trophy in a century ending with 20th.

 

[A mex eyecan]

People often churn that one out.

It’s the cumulative effect. I’ve seen a pub’s accounts for a long time. Payroll costs used to be £140k, after not so many years £280k. R4 You & Yours had a recent special just on restaurant closures, it was something like 30% lower numbers than in 2019, spiralling costs were cited by former restaurant owners as the main reason including payroll. Ers NI hikes would the ‘icing on the cake’ for more.

People churn it out just shows how little they understand what business are up against. Still maybe they’ve never tried to create or run a business of their own, maybe an employee.

its not just the wages, minimum pay, Ni’s that have squeezed and squeezed.
I’ll give a few examples of things that have pushed companies such as mine were affected during and just after covid. Set against a backdrop of our trying to keep all our employees jobs open, no redundancies.

Covid lockdown saw turnover drop from circa 200k per month to less than 10k
Not being in entertainment or pub trade weren’t entitled to any grants
A landlord who refused point blank to give any break whatsoever in the rent, (and in fact went on to increase the rent from 50k to 80k when the lease was renewed in the following 18 months)
No break in paying rates

The period between shutdowns and return to work saw around 20% of leisure based customer base closed down or dramatically reduced hours.

There was a huge and prolonged increase on cost of goods. Chemicals, sanitisers, paper products increasing order by order, not month by month. One example of gloves saw costs go from pre covid £9.50 per thousand to over £80 per thousand. Another Paper disposables increase by over 65% in less than 9 months.

We needed to renew vans that had been committed to but the costs went up by just over 25%

Gas and Elect costs increased by over 13k per year

The customers understandably kicked back against all increases. Some who refused any increase whatsoever we had no choice other than to stop supplying.

When your GP margin is less than 27.5% and you’ve absorbed an overall increases of 7.5%, maybe more, there isn’t the capability to keep sucking up more and more cost.

So as for stupid comments of not being great businesses I’d counter that they are in fact quite the opposit. There’s hundreds like my old company. Companies who employ thousands upon thousands of staff, companies who try and try to keep their workers jobs open, companies who pay taxes, who help create jobs in outside companies such as their suppliers, their insurers, garages, etc etc. Comapnies who despite it all hang on in there working on wafer wafer thin margins.

Still let’s tax the F out of them and when they start to warn that the straw is about to break and probably jeopardise people’s livelihoods let’s start making snide and ignorant ‘suggestions’ that ‘they aren’t probably great businesses’

Priceless.

EDIT: What would the poster suggest then? close them down? lay off your staff? See those around 50 year old plus struggle to get new employment? Or how about them stuck at home, struggling with mental health issues and claiming benefits from the state? Yet another situation not thought about ..

 

[keaton]

Agreed, yes.

Getting the country back on its feet is going to cost money, and that money has to come from somewhere. Just make sure there appears to be a perception of fairness, with the broad-shouldered taking the greatest burden etc.

I was merely chipping into this "what is a working person?" debate that still seems to be rumbling on. As I say, it strikes me as entirely self-inflicted through yet more poor comms.

But it's also a case of Tories critising Labour for the same as they've done. The conservative manifesto had 9 mentions of "working people". It's a shorthand they've both used

 

[Bozza]

But it's also a case of Tories critising Labour for the same as they've done. The conservative manifesto had 9 mentions of "working people". It's a shorthand they've both used

But the Torie are in the political wilderness. It doesn't matter what they put in their manifesto - they rightfully lost the privilege of influencing the lives of the people of this country, working or otherwise.

Scrutiny will rightfully be focused on the government if they break their manifesto promise. We'll find out on Wednesday.

 

[The Clamp]

I’d suggest if a business can only afford to pay minimum wage and can’t pass on a small increase it’s probably not a great business.

One should think hard before accepting a job where the boss pays the absolute minimum they can legally get away with.

You already know what that boss thinks of you.

 

[jcdenton08]

One should think hard before accepting a job where the boss pays the absolute minimum they can legally get away with.

You already know what that boss thinks of you.

Of course the issue is of those who can’t be choosers, trying to make ends meet. Pretty much every unskilled job is minimum wage.

 

[Guinness Boy]

But the Torie are in the political wilderness. It doesn't matter what they put in their manifesto - they rightfully lost the privilege of influencing the lives of the people of this country, working or otherwise.

Scrutiny will rightfully be focused on the government if they break their manifesto promise. We'll find out on Wednesday.

Surely if it appears in the Tory manifesto then both they and their shill journalists should understand what it means? It's an incredibly simple concept that I've described several pages back.

 

[Guinness Boy]

No new freeports to come in Budget after 'comms cock-up'

The government mistakenly briefed that five new low-tax sites would be announced this week.

www.bbc.co.uk

Good. Freeports are an awful idea.

 

[The Clamp]

Of course the issue is of those who can’t be choosers, trying to make ends meet. Pretty much every unskilled job is minimum wage.

Which is why one should think.

 

[jcdenton08]

Surely if it appears in the Tory manifesto then both they and their shill journalists should understand what it means? It's an incredibly simple concept that I've described several pages back.

Just for fairness, both sides have shill journalists, selective editing and controlling the narrative. For example try and find anything about Mike Amesbury on the front page of The Mirror website.

The Tories are a mess I agree; but Labour and their supporters need to get out of the habit of falling back on “but the Tories”.

 

[Bozza]

Surely if it appears in the Tory manifesto then both they and their shill journalists should understand what it means? It's an incredibly simple concept that I've described several pages back.

I'm not going to waste my time trying to find the Tory manifesto and search through it for "working people" to see what they said they were or weren't going to do for them. Because, even if I did that, as the Tories are now sitting on the sidelines, we have no way of validating whether they would have kept their word or not. It's an exercise of futility.

In contrast, we know the Labour Party promised no increased taxation on working people and, on Wednesday, we will be able to see if they are going to keep to that promise.

Edit: Just to be clear, I have no interest in arguing the toss on who is and isn't a working person.

 

[The Clamp]

Good. Freeports are an awful idea.

Agreed.