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Re Osborne's (welcome) increase in minimum wage to £9 by 2020
Businesses were largely positive about the move, said Simon Walker, director general at the Institute of Directors.
"We should not understate the boldness of this move, and many businesses will have been taken by surprise, but the IoD accepts that after several years of slow wage rises, now is the time for companies to increase pay."
Re Ed Miliband's plan to increase minimum wage to £8 by 2020:
Responding to Labour’s plans to raise the minimum wage to £8 per hour by the end of the next parliament, Simon Walker, Director General of the Institute Of Directors, emphasised that the vast majority of IoD members already pay the higher ‘Living Wage’, but stressed that decisions on the minimum wage must be taken by the independent Low Pay Commission
From the Labour Party's 2015 Manifesto:
We will improve the security and reward of working life by raising the National
Minimum Wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019, banning exploitative
zero-hours contracts and promoting the Living Wage.
I don't like it (the best way of helping the poor is to give them money rather than fix prices) but it is good politics.
it didn't leak and so Harman fluffed her reply, talking about cuts to tax credits without any scheme to raise wages, when the whole point was he had just introduced such a scheme.
'The Living Wage thing is pure pre-distribution.
I don't like it (the best way of helping the poor is to give them money rather than fix prices)...'
A living-wage paid for work needing doing isn't'helping the poor'?
Are you suggesting a citizens' income sort of thing?
I'm okay with that but I don't know if that's your meaning.
What would you do?
Greece & France are getting along fabulously at the moment; I think France is going to propose. Greece will likely say yes out of love, not being in it for the money. It's a love match, yeah.
Tubby Isaacs wrote:
Universal Credit doesn't exist for children.
It's children born after 2017, isn't it?
Good question.
I don't know.
I'm frightened for people with more than two children depending on tax credits.
If it happens for them now, that's serious difficulty for those families in one go.
I know there aren't that many of them, but what about those families with upwards of six children?
Its not unusual for orthodox Jewish families to have 15+ children, I have an acquaintance who had 16 at the last count, I've not asked recently. Like a lot of her community she voted tory "because Ed Miliband supports a Palestine state".
I will have to try very hard not to laugh when next I see her.
Harry Leslie Smith @Harryslaststand 2h2 hours ago
If #budget2015 intention was to make our 16-25 year olds a lost generation than it was a stunning success
My only hope is that many young people experiencing the punishments and FU approach of Cameron and co will feel as I did as a young person affected by Thatcher's rule ... it woke me up to a lot of things, made me politically active and vow to never support a party that could do such things to people.
I see a lot of young people losing their jobs once they turn 25 and start to cost employers more ...
Yvette Cooper MP
10 mins ·
WATCH: David Cameron in #budget2015 has broken his pre-election promise not to cut child tax credit.
On Thursday 30 April 2015 David Cameron told David Dimbleby during the BBC Question Time Election Leaders Special that child tax credit will not fall - today he cut it.
(this is from a video on FB and I can't get the link to it)
RogerOThornhill wrote:Hello. I missed all this because...
Car goes into service - on the walk back I meet wife on the way to GP with severe nose bleed (again) - no GP appointments - get cab to A&E - they stop the bleeding and pack said nose - ambulance to 2nd hospital with an ENT unit - they take a look and admit her overnight for obs - get bus home alone - phone garage and head back out to pick up car. And breathe.
So was it for everyone else?
Hope your wife is okay. Sympathise entirely.
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
Laura McInerney @miss_mcinerney 6h6 hours ago
Because THIS is what schools REALLY need >>
Osborne gives £50m to expand the number of cadet units in state schools #budget2015
Laura McInerney @miss_mcinerney 6h6 hours ago
Can't afford to pay your school cleaners? Or run after-school clubs? Or fix your roof?
Don't worry: GET A CADET UNIT.
Ffs.
Well quite. Requested by MOD and not DfE apparently.
Laura McInerney retweeted
Mike Cameron @mikercameron 6h6 hours ago
@miss_mcinerney Maybe "Students to Troops" will be more successful than "Troops to Teachers".
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
citizenJA wrote:
Good question.
I don't know.
I'm frightened for people with more than two children depending on tax credits.
If it happens for them now, that's serious difficulty for those families in one go.
I know there aren't that many of them, but what about those families with upwards of six children?
Its not unusual for orthodox Jewish families to have 15+ children, I have an acquaintance who had 16 at the last count, I've not asked recently. Like a lot of her community she voted tory "because Ed Miliband supports a Palestine state".
I will have to try very hard not to laugh when next I see her.
Have to say, I wouldn't try. At all......
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
RogerOThornhill wrote:Hello. I missed all this because...
Car goes into service - on the walk back I meet wife on the way to GP with severe nose bleed (again) - no GP appointments - get cab to A&E - they stop the bleeding and pack said nose - ambulance to 2nd hospital with an ENT unit - they take a look and admit her overnight for obs - get bus home alone - phone garage and head back out to pick up car. And breathe.
So was it for everyone else?
Sorry to hear all that. Especially that you had to adopt the Jeremy Hunt tactic re getting treatment and jog off to A&E ... You've definitely had 'one of those' days - you deserve a treat of some sort now.
Budget - hellish IMO - all sleight of hand - dross and pain presented as rabbits and presents. And they're rushing in fox hunting relaxation by the back door. It all stinks.
RogerOThornhill wrote:Hello. I missed all this because...
Car goes into service - on the walk back I meet wife on the way to GP with severe nose bleed (again) - no GP appointments - get cab to A&E - they stop the bleeding and pack said nose - ambulance to 2nd hospital with an ENT unit - they take a look and admit her overnight for obs - get bus home alone - phone garage and head back out to pick up car. And breathe.
So was it for everyone else?
Hope your wife is okay. Sympathise entirely.
Thanks! And likewise in reverse.
There was a point where I was getting really worried when we were waiting to go up to the ward and she came over very faint and just wanted to get her head down. Lying down on a bed helped eventually!
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.
RogerOThornhill wrote:Hello. I missed all this because...
Car goes into service - on the walk back I meet wife on the way to GP with severe nose bleed (again) - no GP appointments - get cab to A&E - they stop the bleeding and pack said nose - ambulance to 2nd hospital with an ENT unit - they take a look and admit her overnight for obs - get bus home alone - phone garage and head back out to pick up car. And breathe.
So was it for everyone else?
Oh no! I do hope she'll be ok.
This time, I'm gonna be stronger I'm not giving in...
After [so far] five visits to different departments at the Royal Berkshire Hospital I have nothing but admiration for the staff, both medical and admin we've had contact with. Apart from one unhelpful person who phoned us from the Sleep Apanea clinic and a neglected and dirty toilet [a half inch build up of encrusted, dirty fluff on the skirting board] in the Pre-Op temporary building, they have been lovely and nothing has been too much trouble. I've ticked up quite a few hours waiting whilst Mr Ohso has had tests and they have treated everyone the same.
It is such a relief to know he's in good hands....
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. – Aesop
AndrewSparrow @AndrewSparrow 1m1 minute ago
AndrewSparrow retweeted Andrew Harrop
Harrop says min wage at 60% median wage (now Osbo's plan) was briefly Lab policy til Lab watered it down
Ignore who's reporting that comment. We were (mostly) all wanting Labour to be bolder and more radical before the election - they should have been. This kind of Tory lite really isn't what we want to be ...
Come on shadow cabinet and leadership hopefuls ... start thinking bolder and shouting louder ... it's all too grey at present.
ohsocynical wrote:After [so far] five visits to different departments at the Royal Berkshire Hospital I have nothing but admiration for the staff, both medical and admin we've had contact with. Apart from one unhelpful person who phoned us from the Sleep Apanea clinic and a neglected and dirty toilet [a half inch build up of encrusted, dirty fluff on the skirting board] in the Pre-Op temporary building, they have been lovely and nothing has been too much trouble. I've ticked up quite a few hours waiting whilst Mr Ohso has had tests and they have treated everyone the same.
It is such a relief to know he's in good hands....
Good.
Very good.
Give my love to family, please.
xx
cJA
Andrew Harrop @andrew_harrop 58m58 minutes ago
Fancy a 79pc marginal tax rate - or 49pc as a second earner dipping toe in labour market? Thought not
NIESR analysis http://www.niesr.ac.uk/blog/taxes-tax-c ... Z1Xjfm6eUk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
The changes outlined by the chancellor will deliver £9bn of his planned welfare cuts, which are to be introduced over a longer period than Osborne’s original plan set out in his March budget.
Hang on. That was a Coalition budget. The Tory budget is to do it over a longer period?!
AndrewSparrow @AndrewSparrow 1m1 minute ago
AndrewSparrow retweeted Andrew Harrop
Harrop says min wage at 60% median wage (now Osbo's plan) was briefly Lab policy til Lab watered it down
Ignore who's reporting that comment. We were (mostly) all wanting Labour to be bolder and more radical before the election - they should have been. This kind of Tory lite really isn't what we want to be ...
Come on shadow cabinet and leadership hopefuls ... start thinking bolder and shouting louder ... it's all too grey at present.
Think that's unfair.
Labour have a much broader anti-poverty strategy, with tax credits too uprated at least by inflation.
AndrewSparrow @AndrewSparrow 1m1 minute ago
AndrewSparrow retweeted Andrew Harrop
Harrop says min wage at 60% median wage (now Osbo's plan) was briefly Lab policy til Lab watered it down
Ignore who's reporting that comment. We were (mostly) all wanting Labour to be bolder and more radical before the election - they should have been. This kind of Tory lite really isn't what we want to be ...
Come on shadow cabinet and leadership hopefuls ... start thinking bolder and shouting louder ... it's all too grey at present.
Think that's unfair.
Labour have a much broader anti-poverty strategy, with tax credits too uprated at least by inflation.
I think the problem was not having a single clear message that could be sold very easily - it was all presented in a bit of a piecemeal way. The clearest and boldest policy statement - scapping non dom status - was an outright winner and scared the pants off Osborne and co - that's why he's nicked it now. We needed more of that clarity and boldness IMO.
AndrewSparrow @AndrewSparrow 1m1 minute ago
AndrewSparrow retweeted Andrew Harrop
Harrop says min wage at 60% median wage (now Osbo's plan) was briefly Lab policy til Lab watered it down
Ignore who's reporting that comment. We were (mostly) all wanting Labour to be bolder and more radical before the election - they should have been. This kind of Tory lite really isn't what we want to be ...
Come on shadow cabinet and leadership hopefuls ... start thinking bolder and shouting louder ... it's all too grey at present.
I'll shout – the Labour Manifesto 2015 said they would raise the NMW to more than £8 per hour by the end of the parliament! They shouldn't let the Tories crow about this oh-so-generous £9 the Tories are now offering over that timescale. It's still not an actual Living Wage, just doublespeak.
This time, I'm gonna be stronger I'm not giving in...
citizenJA wrote:... You're quite right to bring this up - I've only read Harman's response to Osborne, I haven't watched the entire exchange. Thank you for your patience with me, my friend, sincerely.
Thanks, JA (bit quicker to type than гражданка - ohhh!), but I had forgotten her admonishing him for playing politics, games in other words, instead of proper governance. Now that I really did appreciate, something I keep saying myself. Maybe that's why, not being vain or anything... or am I?
The CBI wasn’t all that keen either. Its director general, John Cridland, said the government was getting pretty close to setting an overtly political mandate for the low pay commission. “That’s not something I welcome,” he added.
Fair play, same point was made about Miliband before.
rebeccariots2 wrote:
I think the problem was not having a single clear message that could be sold very easily - it was all presented in a bit of a piecemeal way. The clearest and boldest policy statement - scapping non dom status - was an outright winner and scared the pants off Osborne and co - that's why he's nicked it now. We needed more of that clarity and boldness IMO.
Agree with that. We needed more stuff to make people vote for us. Much as I criticized Lucas on rail for her simplistic stuff, wholesale rail renationalization might have got more votes.
LadyCentauria wrote:... It's still not an actual Living Wage, just doublespeak.
Doublespeak indeed, LadyC. At some point I recall much more privatisation and disposal of public assets to bring down the deficit. I missed the joke but Dave was particularly amused by that one. Anyway George forgot something, unforgivable given he had notes. He could have reassured thinking people with a promise that all outsourced contracts pay his living wage. 'And on that note, given this was a day for figgles, what minimum /living wage does he propose for under 25s? Oh he doesn't they don't figure at all!
NYSE re-opens but cause of glitch not yet revealed
Wall Street trading ceased for more than three and a half hours
Stoppage coincides with glitch at United Airlines and sharp global market falls
Four hours later and less than half an hour before closing time, the New York Stock Exchange announces that it’s back to business as usual.
Do we have a plan for meeting up with each other when the levy breaks, everyone?
I'm not particularly frightened about this but dismaying, unprecedented occurrences are happening & I think we'd be foolish not to have as low-tech means of helping each other.
Or even contacting each other.
Think of it - no power, no phones, no currency dispensing devices functional.
The machine stops.
Rebeccariots2 knows how to grow food.
I can hike long distances; my stamina is still pretty good.
4.06pm
21:06
Market closes
The bells sound and the traders clap: it’s closing time on Wall Street after a three and a half hour outage blamed on technical problems.
Although the NYSE was closed for half the day, trading continued through other venues, and the day of decline continued as concerns about the Chinese market and Greek debt influenced the market.
All in all, the Dow was down about 260pts (1.47%), the S&P down 35pts (1.67%) and the Nasdaq down 87pts (1.75%) – not a great day for Wall Street, though nothing like the free fall and panic from the day in China.
Not open an hour.
But we're better than China!
All today's headlines:
Why is China's stock market in crisis?
Shares have plunged 30% in three weeks, hundreds of firms have suspended dealings and fears that the slump will spill over into other markets are growing http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... -explained" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Chinese stock markets continue to nosedive as regulator warns of panic
Main markets open sharply down as nearly 700 companies request their shares be suspended in unprecedented move http://www.theguardian.com/business/201 ... s-of-panic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
London Backlash Headline.jpg (71.13 KiB) Viewed 9053 times
AndrewSparrow retweeted
LabourList @LabourList 58m58 minutes ago
"London backlash"? Not exactly how the press are reporting Osborne's non-dom plans...http://labourlist.org/2015/07/how-will- ... om-policy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …
They couldn't stop it being popular with the public though - and it clearly made headline news.
Most economic research (including preliminary work here by Monique Ebell) suggests that employers are unlikely to increase wages much in response, although there may be some impact. There will probably be some negative impacts on work incentives for the low paid , although this will be mixed. However, the impact on poverty (especially child poverty) will not: there is likely to be a substantial rise as a result of today's measures.
A former Reading Labour councillor and stroke victim has hit out at a decision which has seen his council tax rise by a staggering £6 a week.
And Chris Goodall, 72, says other disabled people in Reading have suffered the same council tax hike with the cut in disabled relief.
Mr Goodall, founder member of Reading Stroke Survivors, is appealing against Reading Borough Council’s action to withdraw disabled relief.
The way Ofsted inspects schools is changing with a new regime of “short inspections” starting with the assumption schools are already ‘good’.
Exceptional education leaders will also gain wide public recognition.
Ofsted’s Director for the South East Sir Robin Bosher confirmed some of the biggest changes to education inspection since the inspectorate more than two decades ago.
Speaking to more than 300 headteachers, college principals and early years professionals at the Portsmouth Guildhall recently, Sir Robin paid tribute to education leaders in transforming education standards.
The way Ofsted inspects schools is changing with a new regime of “short inspections” starting with the assumption schools are already ‘good’.
Exceptional education leaders will also gain wide public recognition.
Ofsted’s Director for the South East Sir Robin Bosher confirmed some of the biggest changes to education inspection since the inspectorate more than two decades ago.
Speaking to more than 300 headteachers, college principals and early years professionals at the Portsmouth Guildhall recently, Sir Robin paid tribute to education leaders in transforming education standards.
There's a lot of Twitter comment that the new 'Coasting' stuff isn't actually needed because Ofsted already take into account intake and the progress that pupils should be making when coming to an overall judgement.
If RSCs are simply going to make the decision about which schools they march into, then what's the point of Ofsted?
It's also been noted that grammar schools who hit the 60% 5 GCSEs are automatically exempt from the RSC's gaze even if pupil progress is rubbish and they should have achieved far better given their intake.
If I'm not here, then I'll be in the library. Or the other library.