The years of discontent, 2022/23

[parsforlife]

An absolute fortune has found it’s was into a very few hands over the last few years,  we should just sit back and accept that we should just be poor for a bit as a result.  f**k that, fight back.

[Brother Blades]

13 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

An absolute fortune has found it’s was into a very few hands over the last few years,  we should just sit back and accept that we should just be poor for a bit as a result.  f**k that, fight back.

Exactly! Just see how much richer the richest are in the last 2 years! It’s obscene. 
Just as one example, some plastic surgery laden narcissist has just spent over 1/4 of the annual NHS budget on what was nothing more than a vanity project! The NHS that services over 65 million people! We need a reset, and if it means people dying then so be it, it’ll not take too many dying, when the richest are protected by the best private health care available, for the peasants to revolt. The world we currently live in is not too different from ancient Egypt, the Greek empire or Roman European rule. It’s fucked. 

[Billy Jean King]

That's it, the final straw, camels back is broken etc, etc.....

BBC News - Jacob's Cream Crackers workers in Liverpool walk out over pay
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-63622881

[Mark Connolly]

I'm sure the Government could claim back some cash from the companies they gave PPE contracts to, but never received any product from?

[doulikefish]

Budget this week with tax rises expected it's going to see a lot more folk on strike for more pay 

[welshbairn]

3 minutes ago, doulikefish said:

Budget this week with tax rises expected it's going to see a lot more folk on strike for more pay 

Wouldn't surprise me if there's a VAT rise with Hunt saying everyone will be paying more tax.

[Brother Blades]

1 minute ago, doulikefish said:

Budget this week with tax rises expected it's going to see a lot more folk on strike for more pay 

Only if tax rises aren’t aimed at the better off & those that can actually afford it.  I’ve done calculations on my weekly shop & it’s increased by slightly less than a quarter in the last 6 months! So inflation for the worst off in society must be riding at about 20% minimum? 

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

17 hours ago, oaksoft said:

Honestly, I've given up asking. They obviously have no idea how the Scottish Government are going to pay for it.

And frankly, it's pretty obvious they don't care either.

At the end of the day they're only interested in themselves.

TBH, this thread is slowly pushing me towards a view that maybe we do need to tighten the rules on who can strike.

If the police are not allowed to strike, maybe there should also be a ban on those involved in critical health service provision such as nurses, paramedics and firefighters. I'm starting to have some sympathy for that view because what is happening right now is an abuse of the right to strike. I also wonder whether there should also be limits on how much disruption teaching and lecturing staff should be able to impose on our young people. I think this is going to be the inevitable end result of all this disruption and frankly the unions will have nobody but themselves and their members to blame.

I fully support the NHS strike. I fully support emergency service workers being allowed to strike, its a failing of the government that there are no contingencies in place. 

5 hours ago, scottsdad said:

Police officers and prison officers cannot strike. The reasons are obvious here - if the police were not working for even a night there would be riots, looting and so on. 

Extending this to other areas is just wrong though. The right to strike is essential. If this right is taken away from paramedics and lecturers (!?) then employers can simply impose ever worse conditions. Below inflation wage rises, eroded pensions, more workload, less security - why would you want this?

Police should be able to strike and the move to have industrial rights has commenced. It may not be the wholescale withdrawal of emergency response but it may be a refusal to staff events/protests/football matches, perhaps a strike to coincide with an old firm game causing it to be cancelled would get the point across. 

[Bairnardo]

It's mental how much mileage the "people have to justifiy what gets cut to fund their pay rise" arguement is getting. People have to do nothing of the sort, in any sector. 

[SweeperDee]

An absolute fortune has found it’s was into a very few hands over the last few years,  we should just sit back and accept that we should just be poor for a bit as a result.  f**k that, fight back.

HOW WILL YOU AFFORD TO FIGHT BACK?!?

[SweeperDee]

It's mental how much mileage the "people have to justifiy what gets cut to fund their pay rise" arguement is getting. People have to do nothing of the sort, in any sector. 

WHAT NEEDS TO BE CUT?!?!

[Gaz]

Just read the last few pages. Jesus Christ.

The Tories have fair done a brilliant job of convincing everyone that it's all the fault of your mate / neighbour striking to get a pay rise to actually pay their bills rather than their rampant financial incompentence.

Eat your cereal.

[SweeperDee]

Just read the last few pages. Jesus Christ.
The Tories have fair done a brilliant job of convincing everyone that it's all the fault of your mate / neighbour striking to get a pay rise to actually pay their bills rather than their rampant financial incompentence.
Eat your cereal.

I mean, considering who are the main proponents of this viewpoint on the last few pages, it’s not actually that surprising.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

For anyone who’s interested in ‘hOw WiLl ThEy AfFoRd It?’ 
Id suggest they seize the assets of people who committed massive levels of fraud during the pandemic. Mad idea I know but seizing the proceeds of the most significant fraud in history may be a good starting point. The Scottish Government has the power to do this, under the proceeds of crime act, the Westminster government can also do this. Theres my answer. 

[SweeperDee]

For anyone who’s interested in ‘hOw WiLl ThEy AfFoRd It?’ 
Id suggest they seize the assets of people who committed massive levels of fraud during the pandemic. Mad idea I know but seizing the proceeds of the most significant fraud in history may be a good starting point. The Scottish Government has the power to do this, under the proceeds of crime act, the Westminster government can also do this. Theres my answer. 

Good shout. Should give us a few £hundred billion to play with, there or there abouts. We can busk it from there.

[The_Kincardine]

35 minutes ago, SweeperDee said:

WHAT NEEDS TO BE CUT?!?!

Given that Scotland has a massive fiscal deficit and is propped up by the largess of Tory voters from London and the SE?  Pretty-much everything.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

Going back to Ambulance folk striking - admittedly it's been a long time since i checked but a good few years ago i thought about it as a change of career. Until I looked at the starting salaries - it wasn't much more than that of a Local Council Clerical Officer. f**k that for the proverbial game of dominoes. 

[Benjamin_Nevis]

1 minute ago, The_Kincardine said:

Given that Scotland has a massive fiscal deficit and is propped up by the largess of Tory voters from London and the SE?  Pretty-much everything.

Only Tory voters pay tax there? That sounds like a fabulous system tbh. 

BTW can you keep your utterly pathetic need for negative attention to the Politics Sub? It's a bit of a drag having to laugh at you in too many places at once. 

Please and thank you. 

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

1 minute ago, SweeperDee said:

Good shout. Should give us a few £hundred billion to play with, there or there abouts. We can busk it from there.

We know the fraud was committed, we should also seize the assets of those who sold the ‘faulty’ equipment too if no refund is provided. The £32m in fraudulent business support grants in Scotland alone would massively help and thats just 1 sector.
The UK government ‘owns up’ to about 10billion in fraud, the real figure must be considerably more.  

[The Skelpit Lug]

2 hours ago, Dawson Park Boy said:

I think everyone will just need to accept that they are going to be poorer for the next few years.

Okay, measures will be put in place to try and help the very poorest but, inevitably, some people will suffer.

Its really up to us all to try to mitigate our energy use, to shop better for food, to cook better and to generally be more economical with our money.

The forthcoming tax rises will hit the better off more, and that’s correct, but there just aren’t enough wealthy people around. Therefore all of us are in for a poorer time.