Labour has failed on poverty - written by Floating voter
Uncategorized - 13 Comments » - Posted on November, 30 at 9:06 pm
The Independent is running a story with the by-line “Britain face return to Victorian levels of poverty”.
“Labour’s strategy for tackling poverty has reached the end of the road and Britain risks a return to Victorian levels of inequality, according to a major two-year study seen by The Independent.”
Not exactly a glowing recommendation. Strangely enough, one way out this appears to be the rise of the self-employed – a group of people who the current government seems to view as nothing more than a bunch of tax dodgers. The figures being reported are that self employment is up by nearly 110,000.
With the Fabian society calling for more taxes to be levied, those embarking on the voyage of self-employment will view the current government with ever more suspicious eyes. Taxes will become more personal to them because the impact will be closer to them.
Long term I think this will harden a block of voters against Labour, but on the bright side it could work as a route out of poverty as long as the government does not choke self-employment off with excessive taxation.
You can work hard or you can sign-on. If the pay is the same, which would you choose?
Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments »
You can work hard or you can sign-on. If the pay is the same, which would you choose?
I actually do miss working, the chatting to people, being involved with working, believe me being at home all day is a killer.
Today my visit to the disability adviser was great, thanks for coming, we are now closed until the end of January.
But sadly my area is dying as firms are leaving each week. never mind I’m sure labour will use the area for atomic testing soon.
“… the chatting to people, being involved with working, believe me being at home all day is a killer.”
I agree. I was laid off in the 90/91 recession and spent months on my own. At first I turned “finding a job” into my job but it soon became apparent that no matter how hard I tried there were no jobs to be had, so I battened down the hatches and indulged in a couple of long term “projects” – things I never had time for previously – and stuck it out. There was no internet either, nor mobile phones (well there was, but they each required a car battery).
It was after nearly a year of this that I realised that there were still no jobs and I had to make my own job. I never had a clue, but it worked after a fashion.
It is the same as this “you can work from home” guff. What a nightmare!
Seems we’re kin FV, I too sepnt most of 1991 and most of 1992 on the dole – was bad bad unemployment then. Still the 1992 Cricket World Cup was free on Sky then and Granada rented the dish out for £10 a month, even to a doley! Back-to-back one-day-internationals helped pass those workless days.
The ought to encourage people to start up their own businesses. Tories had a scheme called enterprise allowance where if you set out on your own you basically got your dole and benefits for six months to help you out plus some help with bank loans etc. Most of the businesses failed and it was mainly to fiddle the dole figures but it got people off their backsides and gave them a chance to have a go at something better.
Labour should bring that scheme back. For every actual business startup there are 10 people dreaming, be a good vote winner and might help out during the recession.
The thing is that the start up business failures were nothing to do with the Enterprise scheme. Most startups fail in their first year. 75% fail in the first 3 years which is why banks, councils, accountants, etc are so hot on having 3 years of accountants. Any business which does so is a survivor.
Oddly enough, recent schemes set up by the govt to help those in their 20s start a new business made little difference in the failure rate, whilst those in their 40s and 50s got no help but had a far higher success rate. The more unkind reporters said that the older people did better because govt. was not involved, but I suspect that the true reason was that those in middle age were far more experienced in their chosen business area and in their people handling skills.
If that is so then those on their 20s will continue to fail at new businesses simply because they have not lived long enough to succeed.
Sad, but you cannot legislate it away.
I’ve spent most of this year out of work and have applied to numerous jobs to no avail.
I’m now working on doing a job myself also.
Well I know that in the construction industry workers were shifted to be ’self employed’. Not entrepreneurship or anything, just a way of driving down wages.
However, I agree that Labour needs to do more to help small businesses.
If we take money out of the equation of working or being unemployed then I would have winter with the former and summer with the latter. Would also try and have the opposite schedule to the wife.
> They ought to encourage people to start up their own businesses.
Oddly another article in the same Independent edition says the govt is considering enabling from day 1 the current scheme which gives “a £50-a-week self-employment credit for 16 weeks to bridge the gap between the dole and an income from their new business.” – which currently only becomes available after 6 months on the dole.
thing is with these schemes rwendland, is that they are ‘grey’. Would you class a window cleaner with a bucket, rag and ladder as self-employed? He obviously is but not under this scheme. Likewise taxi-drivers – who are nearly all self-employed, tenanted pub landlords, etc etc
“Well I know that in the construction industry workers were shifted to be ’self employed’. Not entrepreneurship or anything, just a way of driving down wages.”
I know what you mean Otley. But I can name a few tradesmen who have their own van, print off cards and advertise their services, even though most of their work is IR35. They may not get on Dragon’s Den but they’re entrepreneurs all the same, and I think it is to be encouraged.
Same with people who are Avon or Betterware reps, Anyone who is prepared to put in extra effort to make a few quid is entrepreneurial and ought, at least, not to be penalised
For those that say the tax-take is lower from these self-employed, i have no answers.
@rwendland.
Something like that would be good, it hasn;t been the case.
When I was last at JC+ which admittedly is nearly 2 years ago, I was told in no uncertain terms that they did not consider self-employement to be an employment option and they could offer no support or training. Were I to go on a course for start up businesses run by the chamber of commerce, I would lose my dole. Which was pants.
You can work hard or you can sign-on. If the pay is the same, which would you choose?
I would not rely on a Government which changes its mind and is likely to run out of money..
Starting a business in a major recession is not very easy, it’s easy when things are good, I was self employed for twenty odd years working for Balfours, i did it because I could actually find work with a number of companies, but during recessions I was first out the door.
But with labour they were talking to me about starting again and they were saying you know you can earn £35 a day. The Self employed Organization was talking about people workings self employed at £37 an hour not a day. because you have to pay for so much, but labour was talking about me working from home filling envelopes.