Politics Today

[IndoMike]

Push to end low pay may have to be scrapped, UK government warned

Low Pay Commission says cost of fighting coronavirus pandemic endangers flagship pledge to raise national living wage to £10.50 an hour

www.theguardian.com

Let's see what happens.
Strangely, the article focuses on this pay rise not going ahead, and only a small part of it near the end quotes the Treasury as responding that it will
This is poor journalism, in my opinion. The content of the article does not match the heading

 

[IndoMike]

It seems that the standard response from ministries regarding their slow response to the various shortages is "we are working around the click to ..." or "we are working 24 hours a day to .". If that is true, maybe they should learn from the motto "don't work hard: work smart"

 

[IndoMike]

The reason that the Govt has not supplied the necessary testing materials and equipment is nothing to do with lack of relevant chemicals : it's purely due to poor planning, poor bureauxracy and a disorganized government. The mere fact that they keep coming up with different stories from different spokespersons and different promises shows that they are trying to cover up their incompetency.

 

[IndoMike]

The good news (imo) is the banks have received letters "requesting" the not to pay out dividends to shareholders nor bonuses to the fat cat directors.
Well done to the Treasury.
The Treasury also hopes that other big businesses will follow suit.

The bad news is that 800,000 small to middling businesses say they can only last a maximum of a month before running out of cash.
They can't visit the banks to chat about the loans as they are supposed to because the banks are shut But it seems the borrowers have to offer collateral
in order to get the loan.

 

[Hermann]

In new news for today, Toby Young, to55er of the year award winner for 2019, leapfrogs Tim Martin, Mike Ashley and Richard Branson in the early race for this years award, by suggesting that Eugenics isn't all that bad, provided it saves us cash and helps his portfolio.

A man the government wanted to be heavily involved in education.

 

[Alistair20000]

The good news (imo) is the banks have received letters "requesting" the not to pay out dividends to shareholders nor bonuses to the fat cat directors.
Well done to the Treasury.
The Treasury also hopes that other big businesses will follow suit.

The bad news is that 800,000 small to middling businesses say they can only last a maximum of a month before running out of cash.
They can't visit the banks to chat about the loans as they are supposed to because the banks are shut But it seems the borrowers have to offer collateral
in order to get the loan.

You do realise Indo that dividends underpin the income of small savers on modest incomes and pension schemes. This policy will not be hurting the fat cats as much as lots of people way down the income scale.

 

[IndoMike]

You do realise Indo that dividends underpin the income of small savers on modest incomes and pension schemes. This policy will not be hurting the fat cats as much as lots of people way down the income scale.

So you're saying it's not a good idea.

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

So you're saying it's not a good idea.

I believe A 2000 is saying it’s a double edged sword.

Pensioners have seen savings interest rates low for years... Modest share dividends for some of them have helped to mitigate that.

I doubt there will be many tears shed for the daft bonuses(another thing to reset once this is over) but others of less means are inadvertently hurt in the process.

 

[Alistair20000]

So you're saying it's not a good idea.

Given that the supermarkets are do a roaring trade I do not see why they should stop paying dividends. I do not agree with any blunt instrument policies.

If the Treasury think stopping or reducing dividends is some panacea it needs to think again. Savers with modest capital have already been shafted by low interest rates.

Very soon the papers will be baying for more government bailouts, this time for savers. I see charities have joined the list in the last 24 hours.

My main point though was to say that this policy is going to hurt ordinary people as well as fat cats.

 

[Alistair20000]

I believe A 2000 is saying it’s a double edged sword.

Pensioners have seen savings interest rates low for years... Modest share dividends for some of them have helped to mitigate that.

I doubt there will be many tears shed for the daft bonuses(another thing to reset once this is over) but others of less means are inadvertently hurt in the process.

Yes indeed, and I have no time for fat cat bonuses that are not in any way earned