Westminster Politics

Sweet Square

Full Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
23,656
Location
The Zone
Surprise!

Government suggests planned national living wage increase could be shelved if economy falters

When Sajid Javid, the chancellor, told the Tory conference in September that the government would raise the national living wage to £10.50 an hour over five years, that sounded like a clear commitment. It was in the manifesto (pdf) too as a promise about what would happen under a Conservative government, not something that might happen.
But now an element of doubt seems to be creeping in. As the government briefing document (pdf) on the Queen’s speech reveals, the national living wage increase will only take place “provided economic conditions allow”. This implies that, in the event of a recession, the rise won’t go ahead. The document says:

The chancellor has pledged that the national living wage will increase, reaching two-thirds of median earnings within five years (projected to be around £10.50 an hour in 2024), provided economic conditions allow.
 
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
13,122
Surprise!

Government suggests planned national living wage increase could be shelved if economy falters
it makes sense. If wages stagnate, do not rise in line with inflation or even fall between now and then, the minimum wage would be (relatively) too high. I expect most legislative to have detail like this.
 

Abizzz

Full Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
7,637
it makes sense. If wages stagnate, do not rise in line with inflation or even fall between now and then, the minimum wage would be (relatively) too high. I expect most legislative to have detail like this.
While true it's worth remembering that a)Tories promised rise in minimum wage b) stagnating wages are the consequences of successive tory governments c)inflation is a direct consequence of current tory policy.

So while it makes sense it also makes sense to blame those responsible for it. Especially when they promised something else less than a 10 days ago.
 
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
13,122
While true it's worth remembering that a)Tories promised rise in minimum wage b) stagnating wages are the consequences of successive tory governments c)inflation is a direct consequence of current tory policy.

So while it makes sense it also makes sense to blame those responsible for it. Especially when they promised something else less than a 10 days ago.
its just contingency though. If the economic conditions are met, they they deliver that wage rate, can’t see the problem. Nothing to concern ourselves with to be frank.
 

Smores

Full Member
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
25,532
its just contingency though. If the economic conditions are met, they they deliver that wage rate, can’t see the problem. Nothing to concern ourselves with to be frank.
Are you under the impression that if they don't put that statement in they'll be forced to implement it? What exactly is the contingency? Why is said statement not applicable to the other policies in the document.

The bill is for a relative increase by the looks of it not a set amount so it's not a contingency incase inflation lags. If anything families need a catch up from sluggish growth anyway.

Besides, Brexit is done so the economy is going to thrive Boris was very clear on this.
 

DavidDeSchmikes

Full Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
17,270
Zac Goldsmith handed peerage to keep environment minister role
Zac Goldsmith, who lost his seat as MP for Richmond at the election, has been made a lord and will keep his environment minister job, Downing Street has just announced.
 

Jippy

Sleeps with tramps, bangs jacuzzis, dirty shoes
Staff
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
57,435
Location
Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams
its just contingency though. If the economic conditions are met, they they deliver that wage rate, can’t see the problem. Nothing to concern ourselves with to be frank.
People may well have voted on that as the guaranteed minimum pay rise it was presented. Not even a week in and it's already exposed as a Tory lie or half-truth at best.
Nothing to concern ourselves with though and roll on those 40 new hospitals, the 50,000 nurses and 20,000 police, along with innumerable flying pigs across the land.
 
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
13,122
People may well have voted on that as the guaranteed minimum pay rise it was presented. Not even a week in and it's already exposed as a Tory lie or half-truth at best.
Nothing to concern ourselves with though and roll on those 40 new hospitals, the 50,000 nurses and 20,000 police, along with innumerable flying pigs across the land.
unless there is a big issue in the economy then there’s not an issue. There will be a recession, and if we had a crack like 2008, you would expect that to change the landscape, and affect such policies wouldn't you?
 

Jippy

Sleeps with tramps, bangs jacuzzis, dirty shoes
Staff
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
57,435
Location
Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams
unless there is a big issue in the economy then there’s not an issue. There will be a recession, and if we had a crack like 2008, you would expect that to change the landscape, and affect such policies wouldn't you?
One can argue it's pragmatic, much as the Tories may argue that not disclosing that caveat was pragmatic I guess. They provide zero detail on what conditions would preclude the wage rise not being implemented too.

The EU workers' rights protections being ditched is another one. It's depressing that our government constantly spouts blatant lies, but hardly anyone seems to give a shit.
 

EwanI Ted

Full Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2018
Messages
1,755

Jippy

Sleeps with tramps, bangs jacuzzis, dirty shoes
Staff
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
57,435
Location
Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams
Probably be a new boundary review that's even worse before the next election.
I'm probably being massively naive here, but can't the Electoral Commission or anyone block a government shamelessly reconstituting the boundaries into its favour? What's to stop any government with a majority doing that, except not being a cnut?
 

esmufc07

Brad
Scout
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
49,882
Location
Lake Jonathan Creek

Jippy

Sleeps with tramps, bangs jacuzzis, dirty shoes
Staff
Joined
Nov 19, 2009
Messages
57,435
Location
Jet fuel doesn't melt steel beams

Ubik

Nothing happens until something moves!
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
18,914
Cheers. Still ropey, given a government can presumably not implement them if they're helping the opposition.
The terms of the review are also set by the government, which is why Cameron mandated aspects (600 seats, equalused constituency sizes) that benefitted the Tory party.
 

EwanI Ted

Full Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2018
Messages
1,755
I wonder if they're as independent as the BBC?
They're actually pretty good historically, the issue is that the two main parties can still influence the outcome by how they respond at the consultation stage. When the Boundary Commission goes out to consultation, every affected CLP responds. If each constituency ends up putting in competing responses with their Labour neighbours its counter productive. Quite simply if one CLP says the border should be there, but their CLP neighbours disagree, then as far as the consultation is concerned the submissions kind of cancel each other out.

A friend of mine led on Labour's Boundary Commission response back in the 1990s, when he managed to get most of the affected CLPs in the country to come up with an agreed response about where boundaries should be and what evidence was provided to the boundary commission in support of it. Not easy, bearing in mind that some CLPs were being put out of existence and therefore some people still didn't agree. But it was largely a unified response. Meanwhile the Tories were in meltdown and offered nothing, and the outcome was a set of boundary changes that significantly favoured Labour.

I have no idea about how the most recent consultation went, but given that the consultations happened in the aftermath of Brexit and the second leadership election, I wouldnt bet on it being well organised, so it may further damage Labour.
 

Smores

Full Member
Joined
May 18, 2011
Messages
25,532

Replies to this tweet and others like it, the chavy xenophobes think they've won and more worryingly that their opinions have won.

We have to respect their opinions though apparently.
 

Sweet Square

Full Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2013
Messages
23,656
Location
The Zone
Who monumentally botched the election and delivered those constituencies into Tory hands? What exactly do you thin will be Corbyn's legacy? One of the burdens of leadership is to accept responsibility for failure. It's a shame that Corbyn and his followers seem to be devoid of humility and honesty.
Christ! Being a liberal is easy isn't it.

Firstly just to get it out of the way, Mcdonell literally apologised for the election result on the Marr show last week. So the idea that the left of the labour party is ''devoid of humility and honesty'' is just untrue

Anyway moving on from this bizarre moralism and onto something that looks like actual politics. You quoted a tweet I posted yesterday showing everyone over 65 hates not just Corbyn but the Labour Party as a whole. So simply getting in a new guy as leader isn't going to change this and neither will the current view the left has, which is going into these communities and do local organising(Putting on a bingo night in Bolsover isn't going to stop 70 year old Bill from thinking the labour leader is an ISIS loving communist who wants to crash the economy by giving away free stuff).

So whats your answer (The best I've come up with so far is to turn and expand Manchester into a giant blade runner city) ? Please don't just say, the new labour leader should be more racist nationalist while holding an England flag.

Corbyn legacy will of course be in part this election lost but it will also be turning the Labour into one of the biggest centre left parties in Europe and putting forward a manifesto that took seriously the dangers of climate change(And it possibly still didn't go far enough). I've yet to see any centrist/liberal politician put forward a plan to actual address the biggest issue of the 21st century. Not only does there seem to be no policy(Or at least policy that isn't constantly undermining the fight against climate change - the Canadian guy who loves doing black face and building pipelines, for example.)there seems to an active disregard for left policy, if liberals are laughing at the idea of planting 2 billion trees in 20 years, then they are no different to the american president who believes climate change is a hoax.

Its one thing to have a political platform that is hated by anyone over 65(Which is a massive problem), its another to have a platform that will utterly fail to meet even the very basic challenges of the modern world.
 
Last edited:

Shamwow

listens to shit music & watches Mrs Brown's Boys
Joined
Jan 8, 2014
Messages
13,969
Location
Spiderpig
Our new Prime Minister is a well documented anti-semite who has written an anti-semitic novel, repeatedly hired a self-confessed anti-semitic writer for the Spectator and has documented anti-semitic MPs sitting in parliament.

Why does no one care? It's a fecking joke.