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Politics, politics, politics (so long and thanks for all the fish)

Baleforce said:
Brexit.
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Brexit has been a contributor to the inflationary bomb but definitely not the main one.... We still would've been in this public (and private) sector pay dispute even if still in the EU (or out of the EU but with a Norway style deal).

Unfortunately the high number of 'Brexit means Brexit' thickos around the UK meant that we were always going to get a bad Brexit (though there was actually no such thing as a 'good Brexit' in comparison to the deal we had while we were in the EU)
 
markysimmo said:
You do know this down to Network Rail and the TOC’s not apparently offering enough money and nothing to do with the Govt
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The government have refused to get involved in discussions. Like every other area of life, they opt out of governing. They spend their time trying to weaponise the strikes to their own political ends rather than helping to solve the issues.
 
Gutter Boy said:
We definitely need to get rid of the HoL. Although I don’t think it can be directly elected, otherwise we’d end up with the same gridlock brick show as they have in America. It needs to be indirectly elected by vocational panels, like the Irish upper chamber is.

The one thing I hate about Gordon Brown and stuff like this, is his divide and rule approach to England. It’s always Scotland, Wales, NI, plus the EU’s division of English regions. But those regions don’t have any natural identity.

I actually think an English Parliament as a lower chamber (replacing the HoC), and a Nordic Council type upper chamber for the 4 nations (covering mainly just foreign policy and defence) might be a way forward.
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The Seanad is not a good model. Toothless and largely political appointees. That's not what you need.
 
Rorschach said:
The Seanad is not a good model. Toothless and largely political appointees. That's not what you need.
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It's been corrupted by political parties infiltrating. But there are things you could put in place to prevent that, specifically i) making sure candidates are actually practicing in their vocations (in Ireland it's become random failed MP candidates who have very tenuous profession links) and ii) making anyone who has been a member of or candidate for a political party ineligible.
 
Gutter Boy said:
It's been corrupted by political parties infiltrating. But there are things you could put in place to prevent that, specifically i) making sure candidates are actually practicing in their vocations (in Ireland it's become random failed MP candidates who have very tenuous profession links) and ii) making anyone who has been a member of or candidate for a political party ineligible.
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I wouldn't say it is worth saving as the reform necessary is substantial. Effectively rip it up and start again type reform. A redesign would be a better word.
For an upper house to mimic there must be better models in other countries. I dare say you could design a better one of your own in ten minutes.
 
markysimmo said:
You do know this down to Network Rail and the TOC’s not apparently offering enough money and nothing to do with the Govt
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Who do you think they report to and who is instructing them in these disputes? Both nr and the tocs and focs are directly following government orders. Both are entirely dependent on the government for their income. They cannot enter into any negotiated agreement without government approval. Trust me NR in particular won’t jump unless the dft tells them to.
 
Finney Is Back said:
Intentionally set off an inflation bomb? Expand please?
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They also exploded the mortgage sector/interest rates by playing poker with the economy a matter of weeks ago. As we all know, they lost very very badly, putting hundreds of pounds each month on to millions of working people’s bills.
 
SpurMeUp said:
While high inflation is bad for the nation, it conveniently erodes government debt. And helps cover up the crazy amounts the government has borrowed by reducing the real value of bonds.
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Eroding debt via inflation is a bit of a fallacy.... High inflation typically also results in high interest rates, thus the debt costs more to service.
 
Danishfurniturelover said:
The Irish system for an Upper House is pretty good. Would go along with that.

As for the uncivil service, well I would put them against a wall and shoot them, not doctors teachers, I mean the ones in Whitehall which you may believe or not include my eldest sister. A founding reason of my hatred of them but also the ones I met have been stupid,make me look clever sort of stupid.
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You've "met" me. We may disagree on many things, but stupid is one thing I'm definitely not.

I'm genuinely interested in what reform you think is needed and also your perception of civil servants and the civil service.
There are definitely changes needed.
(I'll leave your sister out of it! :D)
 
Danishfurniturelover said:
The Irish system for an Upper House is pretty good. Would go along with that.

As for the uncivil service, well I would put them against a wall and shoot them, not doctors teachers, I mean the ones in Whitehall which you may believe or not include my eldest sister. A founding reason of my hatred of them but also the ones I met have been stupid,make me look clever sort of stupid.
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I'll have a read up on the Irish system. Cheers
 
If the country can’t afford the pay deals the unions seek how can it afford to allow tax avoidance and evasion through non dom status, off shore banking and various tax loopholes? How can it afford to write off the billions lost in ppe and furlough fraud? How can it afford to subsidise private companies in £billions for inefficient service provision e.g Track & trace, train operating companies, and our utility providers?
 
Crab.C.Nesbitt said:
If the country can’t afford the pay deals the unions seek how can it afford to allow tax avoidance and evasion through non dom status, off shore banking and various tax loopholes? How can it afford to write off the billions lost in ppe and furlough fraud? How can it afford to subsidise private companies in £billions for inefficient service provision e.g Track & trace, train operating companies, and our utility providers?
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It isn't tax evasion to use non dom status (or offshore banking for that matter). Whether or not we should allow a person to live here for more than 180 days in a year while paying no tax on their overseas income is of course another argument. Personally I feel that we do need some sort of incentive for wealthy people to base themselves in the UK, though I don't think that the current non-dom rules where they pay only £30k a year after 7 to 9 years and then £60k a year after 12 to 14 years before reverting to a UK domiciled status after 15 years is enough of a fee for the privilege.

Unfortunately I doubt that abolishing non dom rules in the UK would result in much of a tax hike for the exchequer. I suspect anyone of any true worth would just cut their time in the UK down to under 180 days a year and continue to domicile themselves in whatever their current tax domicile was. It makes a nice headline grabber though.
 
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Crab.C.Nesbitt said:
Another issue is that because the public sector does not pay competitive salaries private sector organisations cherry pick the more experienced and competent staff, recruit them on higher salaries and then send them back to the same public sector organisations as consultants with 100% or more markup on their on costs.

Essentially people get frustrated and leave because they are not getting paid a fair wage/career development opportunities. This creates staff shortages which hinders productivity. Senior management react only when it gets to crisis mgt scenarios bringing the same employees back via consultancies or agencies at grossly inflated costs.

it’s an utterly ridiculous scenario that is played out repeatedly across the public sector and is driven by senior managements and politicians utter ineptitude when it comes to strategic and business planning.

This is both exacerbated and exemplified by continual reorgs (normally to enable streamlining/reduction in headcount) and an inability to plan and implement organisational change effectively.
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But then working in the private sector your future is generally governed by the P&L of the company you work for, company has a bad year you are out on your ear so it's much more risk/reward to an extent compared to the public sector where unions mean your jobs much more secured even if the organisation you work for runs at a whopping loss.

Thats why average length of stay in the public sector jibs s double that of private
 
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