Pull My Strings

I don't think folk with dreary viewing habits are the danger here. Smart arse little c***s who think the rules don't apply to them are the problem. Most folk aren't smart arse little c***s, irrespective of your own experience.

It's nothing like taking drugs and only similar to speeding in that your stupidity can kill other people.

There's no accounting for idiots. Most people will see the bigger picture and behave themselves.

No, the lockdown might last for another 3 months; social distancing will be expected for a lot longer than that certainly well into the summer and quite possibly until next year.

If it peaks next week it'll be because we'll have been in lockdown for a fortnight by then. The only way to prevent a second peak will be to keep everyone in lockdown for a sustained period. Whether that's another month or another 3 months remains to be seen. The expert advice that I've seen reported is that we won't be able to stop social distancing until sufficient people have been infected to achieve herd immunity or there is a vaccine.

The staff have got to agree to be furloughed though and if they refuse then the club's options are to keep paying them or make them redundant. As I understand it the clubs are in discussion with the PFA to find a solution. No doubt that something will ultimately be agreed which works for both parties but just because you can't fix everything immediately doesn't mean you shouldn't fix what you can as soon as you can.

I would say it was unethical to still pay some of your staff hundreds of thousands of pounds, while reducing the income of people who are on a fraction of that amount. Tbf, that's a gut feeling rather than an argument and it's also an entirely different gut feeling than the first one you made. As someone who runs a business and who has had to furlough staff I would say that those who are furloughed are delighted to take up the option (and it is entirely optional). You'll get a minimum 80% of your salary for no work (and 100% if that's possible). Fingers crossed there will still be a business to come back to when this is all over. So far, so "ethical". I don't have staff earning hundreds of thousands a year but if I did I can see that it would be a much more difficult proposition. I could offer them the chance to be furloughed but at the cost of a much greater reduction in their salary. They might prefer just to be made redundant in that scenario and take their chances elsewhere. It's easy to criticise other people for being "unethical" when you don't have to make those sorts of decisions yourself.

What's that argument then? Out of interest. Adherence with the lockdown is for the greater good of the entire country it's not for the benefit of the individual person or business. If I'm being asked/told to stop operating my business for the good of the country why shouldn't I be supported in bearing my inevitable losses that result simply because my business is successful or high profile. There are very, very few businesses which can just shut up shop for several months and survive, certainly no football clubs I would expect.

Ffs.

Is it a pisstake or the inevitable result of an unprecedented global health crisis?

It would but it would be an utterly trivial travesty alongside the million other travesties which we are all guaranteed to suffer.

Aye, certainly the wording on that link suggests your interpretation over mine. I've just furloughed 7 staff today in the expectation that the help we'll get will be capped at £2,500 per employee. If you're right then all the better.

Yes, as I said, 80% of the cost to the employer. The £2,500 includes NI etc. Edit: Sorry, that seems snippy. I just mean that, yeah, I think that's right.

It's 80% of the cost to the employer so includes NI and pension contributions.

I'm not sure that demanding refunds, cancelling subscriptions, etc. is the best way forward just now. Arbroath - and every other business - are going to take a massive hit very, very quickly. Cutting off/ withdrawing what little cash they've got just now will only exacerbate the problem. Also, a lot of businesses may well be technically insolvent now and shouldn't be refunding anybody in that case. If you can afford it you might want to keep paying to local clubs so that they still exist in the other side of this (subscriptions etc. I'm not suggesting people keep buying tickets for non-existent games). Easy for me to say. I'll probably take a different view in a couple of weeks when my own business goes tits up.