Off Topic OLOF's political thread

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Yes I do speak for myself, but I know a lot who think as I do
Can’t say I’ve surveyed my friends, family and peers view on the pay rise for nurses announced on Weds tbh, but you’ve patently been very active in doing so. Well done.
 
It was their pay deal from 2018. I believe it was called Agenda for Change (not sure though)

In my opinion even £148bn is plenty but where has the extra £50bn gone?
As was mentioned earlier I think a bonus payment for front line staff would be a very good idea out of this £50bn

If it's for covid related PPE then that 50 billions already gone into the pockets of Hancock and Johnsons mates for the PPE they sourced
 
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Can’t say I’ve surveyed my friends, family and peers view on the pay rise for nurses announced on Weds tbh, but you’ve patently been very active in doing so. Well done.
Thank you I try to give a balanced view wherever I can
 
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If it’s a hollow threat then don’t make it, it’s doing untold damage to the nursing profession

They haven't threatened to do it. The press have said they might do it.

I used to be a union rep. The union have just gone to the press and let them do the hard work. The next step is to have a vote on the 1% increase if nothing changes (the union will still be negotiating). If the majority vote against it then they will officially ballot it.

If that still comes out a refusal to accept the offer then hopefully renegotiations take place. If the government won't shift on the 1% then another vote takes place on what action to take.

If they vote to take action (stop overtime, go on a rolling strike, a full strike or even just working to rule) then you have to jump through a shed load of legal hoops to get it off the ground. This usually takes at the very minimum of 4 months. It doesn't usually get this far. Just the threat of it usually forces negotiations to re-open again.

The fact that the government has budgeted for 2.1% suggests that's what the union should be getting at the very least although you would push for more. My guess on the outcome would be somewhere around 1.8% and a guarantee of around a further 2% over the next couple of years which will probably get through. That essentially will be a poor deal as inflation should bounce back well over 2% if the vaccines work as well as expected. The nurses will just see nearly 6% over three years and accept it. Meanwhile the politicians will laugh like hell at them voting essentially for a pay cut for three years.

I know morally it is wrong but if they wanted a pay hike of 12.5% like the union has asked for then they needed to start the negotiations last February in time to potentially strike during the 2nd wave of infections. The government wouldn't have any choice but to pay it. Not sure the population would have understood that one though.
 
If it's for covid related PPE then that 50 billions already gone into the pockets of Hancock and Johnsons mates for the PPE they sourced
You obviously have evidence to support this otherwise I’m sure you wouldn’t make these claims
 
It was their pay deal from 2018. I believe it was called Agenda for Change (not sure though)

In my opinion even £148bn is plenty but where has the extra £50bn gone?
As was mentioned earlier I think a bonus payment for front line staff would be a very good idea out of this £50bn
Mostly to Tory cronies, mates and donors, much of it for non supplied or incorrect spec PPE. See the Good law project for full details.

The £148BN means nothing without context. We spend less per capita on healthcare than most of our peers around the globe.

I think the previously agreed rates of increase from the May era have been shelved or limited to a specific cohort. Could be wrong though.
 
You obviously have evidence to support this otherwise I’m sure you wouldn’t make these claims

I can't say i have. Obviously all 50 billion hasnt been pocketed and my comment was tongue in cheek as significant amount probably want to legitimate companies. My views are from what I have read from other people but for the purposes of doing a bit of due diligence, here are a few articles i found that made it into mainstream news in my google search

https://www.ft.com/content/ee4f2220-9b22-4a4d-87c2-85e8034f8e8c
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54978460

250m to a jewellery firm
350m to pestfix (yes, they are a pest control company) who was only worth about 18k
3m to an artificial intelligence company
155m to a hedge fund (ayanda capital)
30m to Hancocks ex pub mate to produce test tubes.


Just found this beauty

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/17/world/europe/britain-covid-contracts.html

To shine a light on one of the greatest spending sprees in Britain’s postwar era, The New York Times analyzed a large segment of it, the roughly 1,200 central government contracts that have been made public, together worth nearly $22 billion. Of that, about $11 billion went to companies either run by friends and associates of politicians in the Conservative Party, or with no prior experience or a history of controversy. Meanwhile, smaller firms without political clout got nowhere.

How true all that statement is i really can't be arsed to delve that deep. Not like i can do anything about it anyway
 
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I can't say i have. Obviously all 50 billion hasnt been pocketed and my comment was tongue in cheek as significant amount probably want to legitimate companies. My views are from what I have read from other people but for the purposes of doing a bit of due diligence, here are a few articles i found that made it into mainstream news in my google search

https://www.ft.com/content/ee4f2220-9b22-4a4d-87c2-85e8034f8e8c
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54978460

250m to a jewellery firm
350m to pestfix (yes, they are a pest control company) who was only worth about 18k
3m to an artificial intelligence company
155m to a hedge fund (ayanda capital)
30m to Hancocks ex pub mate to produce test tubes.


Just found this beauty

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/17/world/europe/britain-covid-contracts.html

To shine a light on one of the greatest spending sprees in Britain’s postwar era, The New York Times analyzed a large segment of it, the roughly 1,200 central government contracts that have been made public, together worth nearly $22 billion. Of that, about $11 billion went to companies either run by friends and associates of politicians in the Conservative Party, or with no prior experience or a history of controversy. Meanwhile, smaller firms without political clout got nowhere.

How true all that statement is i really can't be arsed to delve that deep. Not like i can do anything about it anyway
Just like you I can’t be arsed
 
In my search for an answer I found this. It applies to Band 2 but I guess there would also be sections for the other bands.

https://www.nhspay.org/band-2

It doesn't look as bad as it's painted by the media in my opinion.


Those who say the £50bn was swallowed up by Tory cronies don't know where it went.
Grade 2 aren’t qualified nurses, degree level nurses start at grade 5.

Pretty sure £22BN of it went on the track and trace fiasco.

£17BN of it went on contracts issued without tender

https://www.ft.com/content/ee4f2220-9b22-4a4d-87c2-85e8034f8e8c
 
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I can't say i have. Obviously all 50 billion hasnt been pocketed and my comment was tongue in cheek as significant amount probably want to legitimate companies. My views are from what I have read from other people but for the purposes of doing a bit of due diligence, here are a few articles i found that made it into mainstream news in my google search

https://www.ft.com/content/ee4f2220-9b22-4a4d-87c2-85e8034f8e8c
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54978460

250m to a jewellery firm
350m to pestfix (yes, they are a pest control company) who was only worth about 18k
3m to an artificial intelligence company
155m to a hedge fund (ayanda capital)
30m to Hancocks ex pub mate to produce test tubes.


Just found this beauty

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/17/world/europe/britain-covid-contracts.html

To shine a light on one of the greatest spending sprees in Britain’s postwar era, The New York Times analyzed a large segment of it, the roughly 1,200 central government contracts that have been made public, together worth nearly $22 billion. Of that, about $11 billion went to companies either run by friends and associates of politicians in the Conservative Party, or with no prior experience or a history of controversy. Meanwhile, smaller firms without political clout got nowhere.

How true all that statement is i really can't be arsed to delve that deep. Not like i can do anything about it anyway
Johnson lied in the House only the other day, as he said that details of all of the COVID related contracts had been published.

Only, literally simultaneously Govt lawyers were admitting in Court that there were 100 that hadn’t been published.

The entire subject was attempted to be brushed under the carpet by the Govt, under the guise of ‘not in the public interest’ only they lost in the High Court on this point.
 
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I read another of the old left wing media touted headlines here.
"We spend less per capita on healthcare"

Apart from the USA, who have a privatised system, we pay around the same as other major countries, between 9 and 11% of GDP.
And we've increased it again.
 
Grade 2 aren’t qualified nurses, degree level nurses start at grade 5.

Pretty sure £22BN of it went on the track and trade fiasco.

£17BN of it went on contracts issued without tender

https://www.ft.com/content/ee4f2220-9b22-4a4d-87c2-85e8034f8e8c

yeah, they were paying some consultants 2400 to 7300 a day for some of their work (10m) on this piece. Great value for money Gove said

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ace-consultants-pay-coronavirus-b1129810.html
 
I have to say that if previous Governments both red and blue had done their jobs correctly we would not have been in the mess we were at the beginning of this pandemic

politics for you. Corruption on all sides. Unfortunately, i was a bit young in previous government iterations and didn't really care about/read much about it. I find it more interesting nowadays but don't generally care too much who gets in but i must say i am surprised by how much corruption and outright lies/bs that comes out in every interview. I don't really have anything to compare it to to see if it was ever the norm
 
Johnson lied in the House only the other day, as he said that details of all of the COVID related contracts had been published.

Only, literally simultaneously Govt lawyers were admitting in Court that there were 100 that hadn’t been published.

The entire subject was attempted to be brushed under the carpet by the Govt, under the guise of ‘not in the public interest’ only they lost in the High Court on this point.
Did you read the headline or the whole article?

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/government-matt-hancock-covid-contracts-high-court-b922461.html

It was a technicality. They didn't publish within the 30 days they were supposed to. Nothing untoward was accused, just process.

If you read the whole thing you can see that the case was a headline grabber and a money spinner for the accusers.
Ridiculous
 
I read another of the old left wing media touted headlines here.
"We spend less per capita on healthcare"

Apart from the USA, who have a privatised system, we pay around the same as other major countries, between 9 and 11% of GDP.
And we've increased it again.

It’s simply a fact, quite why you have to attribute a simple statement of fact to the ‘left’ is beyond me.