Guest 671- Registered: 4 May 2008
- Posts: 2,095
So, just for the record.
Are the last two posters in favour of the gap widening?
"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum"
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
The gap is not important as long as there are opportunities for people at the lower to work and improve their circumstances and income.
Guest 671- Registered: 4 May 2008
- Posts: 2,095
Your answer is yes then.
I can understand that the gap is not important you and I did not expect it to matter to you.
What I don't understand, is when you try to justify your statement with "as long as there are opportunities for people at the lower to work and improve their circumstances and income" When unemployment is rising by the day?
We might be at the lower end (your words not mine) of the scale but we are not stupid.
This gap means a great deal to thousands of people and saying is does not matter is sheer arrogance on your part.
"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum"
Guest 710- Registered: 28 Feb 2011
- Posts: 6,950
The word you seek Gary is, Hubris.
Defined in my Chambers Dictionary thus;
insolence, arrogance, such as invites disaster: Overweening.
A little history is in order...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HubrisIgnorance is bliss, bliss is happiness, I am happy...to draw your attention to the possible connectivity in the foregoing.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
the gap is very important for the sake of stability in society.
trouble is being invited when great disparities are being seen by those at the sharp end.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Gary no, the answer is not yes as I am just as happy if the gap falls. It does not matter to me at all.
You refer to employment opportunities or the supposed lack of. I would be more impressed with that as an argument if a new client of mine who runs an employment agency had more success in finding British people to fill the 200 vacancies he is trying to fill in Ashford for a new business started there. He has fairly few Brits but a whole load of foreigners after those jobs. The level of benefits is far too high and too many people are too comfortable on them.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Yes the gap is hugely important BarryW..it has widened scandalously as has been reported and the Prime Minister and his oppo Cleggy are strutting and puffing over its impact. These hi salaried guys are not wealth creators as is often imagined, Sir Fred Goodwin springs to mind.. (although the odd one might be), these guys are in a system that self rewards. We need workers and shareholders on boards right across business to put a stop to this rampant racheting upwards.
With a bit of luck the PM and his Deputy may be able to deliver something. There are rumblings of developments in this area.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
It is unimportant on the wider scale of things PaulB - that said Howard did make a good point that I accept about 'stability'. Sadly too many people seem to hate success in this country and are driven by envy of others rather than by aspiration. That attitude is debilitating to them and damaging to the economy.
Guest 656- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 2,262
Puts a whole new meaning to 'Mind the Gap', the gap is so bl...y wide that the lower paid are falling into a Big black hole
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
A report by ABI (Association of British Insurers) has been published, and distributed to all British-based banks, asking them to slash bankers' bonuses for 2011.
ABI say that the dividends from shares are being disproportionately paid to the bankers in the form of bonuses, and should be distributed more fairly among the shareholders in banks, and not to the bankers as private bonuses.
In other words, the fat-cat banksters are grabbing the dividends that should go to the shareholders.
Last year, the bankers in Britain, mainly in the City, got £14 billion in bonuses.
ABI expect support from the Government on this, and are making their case public.
Just about everyone agrees that this whole sale rip-off has got to stop.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
# 22...24...28..........................Yet again an amazing assessment of the situation.
`If` Cameron and Cleggy control the outragerous ``Gap``...........what response will it provoke ?
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
the issue is not about envy as some would claim but about a sense of social justice, even the prime minister can see this.
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
howard,can he,or is he wearing rose tinted glasses.
Guest 671- Registered: 4 May 2008
- Posts: 2,095
BarryW.
"You refer to employment opportunities or the supposed lack of"#26
Supposed? Are we just imagining the millions of unemployed then?
You spout about the individual being independent and aspirational.
Then you expect the same people to work for your client who takes a cut of their wages. All previous Govs are at fault for allowing these employment agencies to become the norm for employers and should be scrapped.
It is these employment agencies that are debilitating and damaging our economy.
Let's get back to direct employment. That would lift wages above the benefit level and see more British people employed.
"My New Year's Resolution, is to try and emulate Marek's level of chilled out, thoughtfulness and humour towards other forumites and not lose my decorum"
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Gary I gave you a first hand account of why 'supposed' - local experience from a local (actually Canterbury based) employment agency. Add to that the national stats showing how foreigners are having no trouble picking up jobs it tells you a lot.
I have very good reason to be grateful for such agencies - they provided the way in to employment for both my sons, both now employed with different companies who originally had 'tried them out' as temps.
You could not be more wrong in your attack on agencies 'debilitating and damaging our economy' - frankly an absurd and completely ridiculous thing to say.
Guest 670- Registered: 23 Apr 2008
- Posts: 573
Barry in your post #26 you state that the level of benefits is too high.
This would mean that you know what benefits people receive on average. How much benfit does a married couple with say 2 children receive per week and as you state that the levels are too high what amount would you consider to be reasonable?
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
the job seekers allowance is between 70 and 80 quid a week.
out of this the claimant pays for their food, clothing, electricity, gas, water, t.v.licence and fares.
according to some they then spend the massive amount left living it up in the eight bells.
i cannot find the figures for families but would think that it would be broadly similar pro rata.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Howard, JSA is £67 a week not a penny more. It is less for the very young, can't remember which age group.
Yes, some do say that after doing the shopping, paying the bills and buying fags, the rest is used to sit all day in the pub.
Worse thing is, they actually believe it
To my fortune, when I signed off, I found plenty of work to do. I've currently got December booked out with work, but can assure you that signing on made me pschologically ill.
Although half that time I managed part time self-employment.
Sometimes I go into a short-circuit when people start dishing out theories about unemployed being work-shy or sitting in pubs.
Barry.
I agree that work agencies may have some positive effects, as has been the case with your family, but, in general, they are - to my personal experience - a poor joke.
No offence meant of-course.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Dave: Here is the website that I use when I need to check benefits for clients as I do regularly:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/directgov/
The very fact that there are people who have never worked and are happy and able to live on benefits shows they are too high. As we know there are families where 3 generations have never worked. Another demonstration of that is how many of these people can spend money on cigarettes...
Alexander. Agencies are essential for the efficient running of a business. Think about it for a minute. There are two of our larger local employers that I know of who need to respond to orders. orders do not come in 'evenly' throughout the year. In slow periods they cannot have staff standing around doing nothing while in peak periods they need to bring in many more staff. This is dealt with by agencies. This makes for a much more efficient business helping to keep costs down and ensuring the business is competitive.
You also need to understand more about the role of an agency. This is not just about the placing of temporary staff. A South African company is opening a business in Ashford so they have employed an agency to handle all the recruiting. The agency has the job of advertising, interviewing and employing staff at all levels for the business. The South African company have no local knowledge, know nothing about our procedures and would find this much harder if they could not use an agency.
No-one who wants a job should spend too much time at a jobcentre - far better to go round the private employment agencies as that will have much more chance of success. That has been the case for as long as I can remember.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
Previous Labour governments have tried to make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. It doesn't work, it just reduces tax revenue.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson