Postal workers are asking for local support as they take strike action over four days this month and next.
The strike, initiated by the Communication Workers Union (CWU, is due to a dispute over pay and pensions.
There is also anger at changes to hours including later starts and working some Sundays, reductions to sick pay and the cutting of some allowances.
In Ramsgate staff will man a picket line from 5am until late afternoon outside the sorting office in Wilfred Road during the days of action on 26 and 31 August and the 8 and 9 September.
Depots at Margate and Broadstairs will be shut.
‘Fighting for fair pay’
Thanet postman Ben Jackson said: “Local support is something that we need to show the company that people have our back. The new terms and conditions will not only impact us working but will also impact the local community.
“Royal Mail shareholders have got millions in bonus payments over the last few months, but are only offering us a 2% raise during a 10% inflation rate, which means an 8% pay cut in the long term. We are simply asking for fair pay for the work we have done since the pandemic and onwards.
“The second stage is the terms of conditions. Hopefully the company will halt these changes after the strikes we are currently doing from Friday.
“There will be new contracts for newer employees, the conditions not yet known but an educated guess will be less pay.
“For now we are fighting for fair pay,”
Pay offer and national action
Royal Mail says an offer of up to 5.5% has been made despite company losses of £1m per day but the CWU says this is a 2% pay award without agreement plus 1.5% based on signing away terms and conditions and a £500 bonus for targets that are not achievable.
Across the country some 115,000 postal workers are due to take part in the strikes after some 97% of those balloted voted in favour of the action.
CWU and Post Office negotiators have been in talks facilitated by independent arbitration service ACAS.
If no agreement is reached, the strike days will take place on Friday August 26th (All Post Office members), Saturday August 27th (Crowns) and Tuesday August 30th (Admin & Supply Chain).
Royal Mail says: “Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but they cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce. We will be doing what we can to keep services running, but customers should expect significant disruption.
On days when strike action is taking place:
It will will deliver as many Special Delivery and Tracked24 parcels as possible
It will prioritise the delivery of COVID test kits and medical prescriptions wherever possible
It will not be delivering letters (with the exception of Special Delivery)
What you can do:
Post your items as early as possible in advance of the strike dates
Continue to post your items at Postboxes or Post Offices, however collections will be less frequent on days when strike action is taking place
As this company is losing £1m a day, it cannot go on for ever,people are using postal service less and less ,by using their computer,jobs will inevitably go,and the loses mean until it makes a profit unfortunately wage increase cannot keep up, and for those who will say the bosses get paid to much ,jealousy ?and envy,yes some bosses earn to much always have done and always will ,if you were in their position ,no doubt you would take the high wages and pension contributions
Ray I don’t believe there should be such a striking difference between bosses and workers pay but I am not a jealous or envious person just someone who cares about how we are treating people in this society
You might, most with a conscience wouldn’t be happy earning millions for poor performance under your stewardship, while the workers actually trying their hardest are struggling & seeing their pension fund raided.
When you mention jealousy and envy (after mentioning the company making losses) You could rephrase that maybe as Company that paid its CEO £753 000 with a bonus of £143 000 cuts wages and terms and conditions of its employees. Put that way it might be better described as rightful indignation rather than jealousy.
Exactly!
Mail is still an essential service. The increases in executive pay could be curtailed if they were willing, but they are not. They demand increases of 30% and similar while the ones who do the real graft are expected to exist on pay that’s less than inflation. There’s no excuse for it. And their working conditions are being stripped back too. If it happens to them, it can happen to any of us who have to work for a living. So if you don’t have a trust fund or a silver spoon, you should support the strikes too.
Thank God for Amazon!
The human rights abusers.
Peter, You’re only saying that because of your own selfish reasons with flogging your books on there
I doubt very much that you’d sell very many of your books elsewhere ,certainly not enough to live off .
The Royal Mail is so called because it was instigated by Charles II. As a means to more easily spy on his subjects post-Civil War/Protectorate/Restoration. It is an obsolete 17th century artifact.
Peter, like hundreds of millions of other is adhering to the 21st century paradigm.
Exactly Harry.
Amazon can both print and deliver my books anywhere within a couple of days, with free delivery for many countries including the UK. Why on earth would I want to go to the extra trouble and costs of posting them myself? Hardly selfish, just good business sense.
Not to mention publishing them electronically. Removing any need for a physical transport mechanism at all!
Indeed, I sell quite a few ebooks too (not that a luddite like me would ever buy one!).
Of course, some of us don’t have the option of striking. My royalty rate hasn’t increased in years, but if I don’t write/publish, then I don’t earn money! Still, if I ever choose to down tools/pen/laptop, I’m sure I could rely on the support of the Ramsgate far left.
Rockstar, you have to remember that Peter Checksfield is carrying an enormous burden having to be constantly negative! Together with suffering from being a Pillock, it must be almost unbearable. This Tory government is trying to force the nations workforce to take a pay cut, by offering them below inflation pay deals, that means a pay cut. My newspaper this morning reported the following who are taking industrial action: Port workers at Felixstowe, Council staff in Edinburgh city, Staff at the countries largest exam board AQA, Postal Workers, Journalists at several newspapers, Barristers, Telecoms (40,000 workers) The following are considering industrial Action: About 100,000 NHS workers, Bus drivers in North London, Civil Servants, Teachers, Rail workers. My guess is this is just the start, in the same newspaper there is a report that the Price Cap on energy will go up to £6,500 by next April, that means having to pay £125.00 a week! Good luck with that whatever Muppet wins the Tory election to become Prime Minister!
Here we go, another lefty resorting to insults because they’re incapable of civilised debate.
I was trying to start a civilised debate, which you are incapable of contributing to Peter! Do you agree that this governments policy of cutting mostly public servants pay is the best way to reduce inflation, because if you do watch out for trouble! I am looking at a graph from my newspaper that showed inflation in the mid 70’s peaked at just over 26%! This was due to Ted Heath’s failed Tory policies, which is why he only served for one term!
By 1981/2 inflation was just under 20%, and by 1990 it was just under 10%. It didn’t get below 5% until the mid 1990’s, so you see the inflation, caused largely by Thatcher, and the Tories, took all of 20 years to get under control! By trying to force workers to pay for the failed fiscal policies of the Tories, will only lead to industrial unrest, and why should they anyway, when the Tories are still feeding their business friends large heaps of public money!
You “try to start a civilised debate” by calling someone a “pillock”? I dread to think what you’d call them if you were being uncivilised!
Watch the film Life and Death in the Warehouse. It’s still available on iPlayer. It might give you a different perspective on Amazon.
I’m sure you’re right, but I’m not going to withdraw my books from the biggest bookshop in the world.
No one cares about your ‘books’, Peter.
Define “no one”.
“No one cares about your books,Peter”.
Obviously they do,Carly,or else Peter would not have a viable business.
Thank you, Eric.
Of course, I could spend my time doing something more constructive, such as shouting outside empty buildings whilst making sure someone photographs me for the local press.
On second thoughts, I’ll just carry on as I am.
Carly J – what a sad person you are with such comments about Peters books and his method of selling/publishing. Take the red blinkers off and enter the real world please.
I genuinely feel sorry for Carly. Something clearly must’ve happened to make her so bitter and angry all the time (maybe she needs to just sit down and relax with a good book!).
Dumpton.
Your analysis of Ted Heath’s policies is popular in some quarters. The same quarters which blame “Tory government” for inflation, etc. today. It is factually incomplete in both cases. The actions of the late Sheikh Yamani and Putin are to blame. The cause is human induced fossil fuel shortage and stockpiling. No government any where in the World could mitigate against this.
Well Harry, I lived through the terrible industrial unrest that Ted Heath and Thatcher inflicted on this country, reverberations of which are still with us. The privatising of nationalised industries has been a dismal failure, most of them are now owned by foreign companies, who pay their profits into off shore banks, instead of re-investing it back into the industries that were once owned by the nation! People also forget that it was the Tories that got rid of Thatcher, because she had become too authoritarian, and unbalanced!
Incidentally, I am not a member of any political party, but I consider myself a Social Democrat, which makes people like Peter Checksfield anti social I suppose! I am going to predict that there will be a run on candles soon, once the energy companies raise the costs to eye watering sums which most people will be unable to pay!
Come the new year most people are going to have save £125.00 week to pay for their annual energy costs (Estimated at £6,500pa), so will end up sitting in the dark, or by the light of candles! Oh! nearly forgot, homelessness will rocket too, as people won’t be able to afford their rent, which is extortionate due the said Thatcher selling off council houses, Duurh! The Tories couldn’t run a bath!
My books burn well! ; )
Like I said: “… popular in some quarters, etc.”
I lived through it too and stand resolutely by my post.
Representative Democracy is and always has been a sham. The Executive rules and has to surf whatever global waves are available at the time. Ask any civil servant above Grade 6.
I guess someone like you seem to be, is delighted with the terrible wages and conditions of the amazon workforce, which ensures their bosses literally raking in millions.. you live in your bubble, I prefer to be part of the real world and defending our wages conditions and in my case pensions
Not a matter of “living in a bubble”, it’s the ONLY way to be a successful author these days.
Great CV ‘Successful author, I dont care about the working and living conditions of my readers, read about my successes while you trudge of to the food bank. Peter, one day you’ll miss that postie that keeps his eye out for vulnerable people living on their own. I know I would.
If people can afford my books, then I doubt if they really need food banks… much as I admire them getting their priorities right! ; )
How do you define a successful author?
How do you define a successful author?
Someone who doesn’t ask the same question twice.
Well said.
“… bubble…”
“… pension…”
I remember sitting in a 1970’s A-Level Economics class doing a few quick calculations during a lesson on Pensions.
The sums didn’t add up when I was 17. Even less so now.
When the S.R.P. was introduced in 1912, it could be claimed at age 70. Average life expectancy was 58. THEN the sums added up. Now they don’t.
Those First Worlders who believe the Pension myth live in one of the biggest bubbles of all. They rely upon poverty and exploitation in what used to be called the Third World for their payouts.
Pit the price down instead of up and you might find more people use the Royal mail
No people is their computers ,so they don’t have to walk to the post office,no price reduction will stop it ,cat is out of the bag ,you cannot put it back
Amazon is an excellent service without doubt, yet again the government sold off the post office and the new management expect the public and employees to pay the price by higher prices and worse working conditions and poor pay. Just like the high train fares the greedy rail operators keep putting the fares up so less people are using the trains. Our daughter before lockdown told her London employers that she wanted to work from home rather than pay £6500 for a season ticket which goes up each year. The employer asked other staff did they want to work from home 115 staff who travel by train said yes. The knock on is the train operators have shot them self in the foot but as a result of covid and the pandemic less people use the trains so the operators want to reduce staff and safety and expect rail workers to not have fair pay.
This is a result of evil Tories capitalism all the pigs have gone to the trough only to find there’s less food for them to eat.
The train operators still managed to pay £38m to shareholders. Most of which was from govt subsidies. As in, on top of the astronomical fares the tax payer subbed the shareholders another £39m
Seems a good job being a postman – better than walking the streets!
They must all have strong bladders.
5.30am starts!
And 12 O’clock end of shift.I know;I was one.
Precisely. I’m friends with several postman, and they tell me that’s why they do the job.
Paying out millions to share holders whilst losing a million a day doesn’t add up, but let’s face it delivering in all kinds of weather be it sun rain snow be it 40° or minus 5° they still deliver if there is any in the depot. The government say they want to get everyone back to work on a decent wage so we don’t have to pay out so much benefits but it’s not going to happen if company’s don’t pay a decent wage they say they are offering up to 5.5% but it subject to conditions, this will mean that with the reduction of workable hours being offered under the company’s offer even including the £500 for acceptance of the new contract they will be on less take home pay that is not taking into account inflation is at 10% will mean more people will be paid Tax & universal credits, I see another winter of discontent on the horizon hopefully not but if inflation is 10% workers will want as near as possible raise to that figure how else will bread be put on the table.
Solidarity with CWU members taking industrial action and all workers taking strike action to defend their wages, terms and conditions.
I agree 100%. Shareholders and boards of directors are taking in the profits at the expense of their workers. Postal workers are entitled to a decent wage for the excellent work they do, and it is shameful that they need to go on strike to try and get it.
More people, particularly businesses will switch to other providers.
They are doing themselves no favours.
The model has to change and they need to accept that.
Agree seaside lover
The only mail I get through the door is junk mail. The rest turns up in my inbox or it gets downloaded. Fast, efficient, no waiting. The few services such as the NHS will probably move into the 21st century at some point. Regrettably times have moved on and you cannot continue to run the post office in its present form to service a small percentage of the population.
Postman came to me yesterday and all he put thru was leaflets …. So don’t bother. Snail mail sack em all
I like letters, and stamps. I detest Amazon and don’t buy things online. The way things are moving from human contact to online resources does not seem to be a healthy way of life.
Personally I think there’s a place for both Royal Mail and Amazon but I think people who haven’t posted a letter or small parcel for a while might be surprised as to how expensive it’s become with Royal Mail
You must live a very limited existence if you can get all you need in Ramsgate shops.
That you Marvin….
Agree seaside lover
What is very striking about all these forthcoming strikes is who is striking and, for what.
Nobody in the Care Sector on Minimum Wage. No Zero-Hours Contract staff. Just folks who have sufficient put aside to be able to afford to not go to work for a while and gilt-edged pensions to look forward to. And what for? More money in one form or another.
I have no sympathy for any of them. It all smells of politics, Callaghan, Scargill, Jenkins and a foetid cesspool. If they think this is how to get Starmer & Rayner past the winning post they’ve forgotten what happened in 1979.
From someone who tries not to vote at all and has never voted Tory
NHS workers are balloting to strike, could well happen in next couple of months. Care workers, hospitality and shop workers should too, they’re often on low pay and/or have unfair contracts or conditions. There have also been lots of private sector strikes but they are often localised and don’t get reported in the news.
I’m sure you’ll be at every protest.
Don’t be silly Carly.
I worked in the Care Sector for 11 years. None of them would dream of striking. Unfortunately, “vocation” is no longer a word understood by NHS or teaching staff (my late mother was an hospital matron who left the country to work abroad when the NHS was formed. She wasn’t wrong about what it would turn into and who it would attract. Nor the way individuals would fail to act responsibly regarding their own health & welfare).
As to your comments about “the pandemic”. What pandemic? I caught the Sun Tzu virus twice. Nothing to write home about. The largest case of mass manipulation and scaremongering in human history. Anyone seen Pfizer, Moderna or Astra-Zeneca’s accounts for the year 2021 to 2022?
Nobody uses the Royal Mail huh!
a 12.6 billion yearly turnover tells you otherwise.
A lot of people think the post office is a thing of the past because they believe it has been displaced by fantastic reliable, efficient internet services. But we are still in the internet’s honeymoon period. One day it will no longer be free at the point of use and the likes of Apple and Google will use all the tricks at their disposal to force us to cough up or suffer a degraded service. When that time comes, we will all wish that we’d supported the post office staff while they still had a fighting chance of survival
Agree with that comment, only a matter of time before we all will be paying a higher cost one way or another, with no competition out there, we will have no other choice.
The RM legacy workers i know up proper london are sucking up to management cos they are soon to retire.
Why has a such respected company been allowed to get it so wrong, privatisation of greed. Cheers maggie
Playing darts to night against a RM team, there great guys but governed by lesser time served mini managements
Good luck to the royal mail (except for the dart match).
Ha haaa ha
Vince Cable in Lib Dem Coalition privatised the Royal Mail not Maggie.
Keep delivering the mail, but wear transparent trousers. Your employers will soon back down!
I totally support the men and women who work for royal mail.. they’re fighting for a living wage and to resist the terrible attack to their conditions at work. Will do everything possible to support them. As a pensioner I know they’re fight is our fight.. this government and the RM directors are laughing all the way to the bank, whilst we are left facing their cost if greed crisis Enough is Enough
Totally agree. I’m not a pensioner. I am fearful of how I, my family and my friends are supposed to manage as the costs of everything go up day by day, but wages stay flat or barely rise. Many have tightened their belts as far as they will go. The help coming from government is useless, like a fart in a hurricane.
Is Labour’s policy to reverse the increase in pension age (particularly for women)? If so, they’ll get my vote!
Flipping heck Peter ! Make your mind up , one minute the Tories can’t do any wrong and anyone who resorts to strike action is automatically called a “ leftie “ by you
Next minute you are talking about voting for Labour in the next general election;.
It’s obvious to me that you swing both ways ! Lol
Just because I don’t support the strikes doesn’t mean I think that “Tories can’t do any wrong”. Fact is, I’ve voted Tory, Labour, UKIP, Green and Monster Raving Loony Party over the years, depending entirely on circumstance, type of election and policies. However, I do think it is VERY wrong that people are being forced to work longer because (with very little warning) pensions are delayed. Sadly, NO party seems too bothered about it.
Besides, I’m 60 next year, and I don’t want to have to wait another decade for my free bus pass!
I fully support the postal workers going on strike. It’s a vital service that we all use, and it really should be nationalised to stop so much money being siphoned out of the service to shareholders that do nothing at all – they do no work, they don’t benefit the service, they just soak up money that could be used to improve the service and allow posties to work decent hours and get fair that matches rising living costs.
Anyone who is seriously arguing that workers should just accept wages that don’t match inflation should give their head a wobble.
Fully support our striking postal workers, and striking workers in all sectors, we should be standing by all industrys fighting against the attacks on our standard of living regardless of how productive the company they work for is.
Lots of local companies still using royal mail for their day to day post, the cvarity I work for send 100’s of letters out using them each week.
Amazon may be convenient but it’s also a terrible company that abuses it’s workers, if this is setting the standard for the future then we are idiots for accepting that.
People commenting on here that online services are going to get cheaper and freer, just look at all the streaming services breaking away and making us pay more for their own content, too many services, all charging more and more.
I’m sharing this article that covers what it was like for frontline workers during the height of the covid pandemic, as it seems like some have forgotten. It covers bin men, nurses, care workers, transport workers, teachers and postal workers. https://tribunemag.co.uk/2020/12/2020-a-workers-perspective
Good luck to all workers who are undervalued & struggling during the Tory induced cost of living chaos. It’s evident that privatisation has done nothing for country except increase the wealth divide. Why should the workers accept crumbs from the master’s table? So many now seeing just how oppressed they’ve been & how the hedonistic, arrogant rich are taking them for granted. Time to redress the balance is now!!
Esme the recession is not totally the tories fault there is a world recession. What they are to blame for is encouraging the dreadfull brexit and handling it worse than most other countries. We have now not only dropped out of the g7 but the g20. Its all the rubbish left by idiot Johnson the worst PM ever after Thatcher
I fully support the postal workers. I know several posties and its a tough job and deserves to be paid properly. Online purchases are increasing and all have to be delivered by human beings. By the way I was staggered to hear Peter Checksfield has time to write books as he spends so much time writing comments on other peoples stories! Or are his books just compilations of his witticisms on here?
I’m striking for more pay!
I’m curious to know why you’ve previously voted Monster Raving Loony.party ?
Which of their policies got their vote from you ? Lol
I’m assuming it was a protest vote at the time ?
Don’t knock ’em, some of their policies eventually became law, such as passports for pets and all-day pub openings. But yes, it was a protest vote of sorts: I lived in Peckham at the time, and thought our MP Harriet Harman’s policies were even more ludicrous than Screaming Lord Sutch’s!
I voted Green fairly recently in the KCC elections as a protest against all the concreting over of Thanet.
Lol!
I support the postal workers and hope their strike succeeds.
The UK unions should push to unite all workers across all industries against the Tories, what the UK needs is one big union like the syndicalists did via the CNT in Spain in the 30’s.
An Injury to One is an Injury to all.
If they get a wage increase, that will mean the cost of post will go up again, it’s getting stupid.
No, it doesn’t have to. We could have cheaper post and we’ll paid workers if we clawed back the outrageous profiteering.
Translation: “I hate the rich”.
Fact is the greedy rich are the problem, not the workers scraping by on their ‘trickled down’ scraps.
Yes. And there would be even more money if we stopped subsidising billionaires through the taxation system. Also renationalise all utilities and public services to stop them being used as a cash cow for profiteers.
How is communism going in Russia n North Korea ??? No one has a super yacht and no one is poor… Is that right… Everyone equal yeah ?
Another load of selfish gits putting their greed before the state of the economy. The rich are not to blame they just worked harder to get rich. No one can help being born poor but its their own fault if they stay pòor
How deluded you are Noddy: ‘the rich worked harder to get rich” most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. It’s easy to get even filthier rich when your born into a class that owns all the capital already and spends it’s time investing and lobbying govt to milk as much wealth out of the system as possible.
The only people that get rich from the working class are the ones that get a ‘lucky’ break or win the lottery.
“The only people that get rich from the working class are…lucky break or win the lottery”.Socialist nonsense.There are thousands of working class people who have got rich by hard work and enterprise.
Just because you come from a disadvantaged background,does not mean you cannot become an entrepreneur.
Your reasoning is like those socialists who make an excuse for working class underachievement in schools.
Dead right Eric
Absolute rubbish thousands get rich by working herd long hours
I support the posties nurses carers paramedics firefighters lifeboat services and our soilders they get less wages than most and they the ones who really need a pay rise with you all the way 😉 you all do amazing jobs and harder than those getting a great wage for doing next to nothing these are the people who put their lives on gold to save us
Noddy the ‘selfish gits’ who put their greed before the state of the economy are the directors and shareholders of the private companies who control our utilities and our public services. These directors and shareholders are the people who are holding the country to ransom and raking in huge profits at the same time.
Absolute rubbish these companies dividends pay our pension schemes and support the country. You havn’t got a clue what director’s do or the long hours many of them work.
I know many self-made wealthy businessmen/women – and I don’t just mean pop stars! Some of these started their lives in REAL poverty, yet through hard work, tenacity and (yes) occasional good luck, they bettered their lives. The one thing they ALL have in common is that they don’t subscribe to the socialist “Them and Us” mentality, and believe that the opportunities are there for us all.
I personally will never be rich (though I’m doing OK), but I also know that if I’d changed my priorities in life a little, I have little doubt that I could’ve become very wealthy too. NOT that I have any regrets, and nor do I think it would’ve improved my happiness (despite my persona on here, I’m actually quite a jolly and positive soul in real life!).
‘they don’t subscribe to the socialist “Them and Us” mentality …’
Oh dear.
The whole point of Socialism is that there is no “them”, just “us”.
Socialism is a great idea.
Not as appropriate to Britain as Chartism though. The Chartists properly understood “The Money Trick”. Money is the problem, not the solution. “More money” always means more inflation, devaluation and trickle down economics.
Marx himself was a Capitalist, who played the markets. His book was entitled “Das Capital”. Not Das Socialism. Socialism is a foreign import, like National Socialism. They both end up the same. Mass gatherings and mass killings. Those who fail to learn the lessons from the mistakes of History are fated to repeat them!”
Meanwhile, all the medical discoveries and machines, all the information technology and all of our transport machinery were created from the minds of free thinking individuals working within Capitalism.
Deal with it and go to work. Want more money? Work harder and smarter. Don’t whine and pretend you’re whining for the benefit of others. It’s just, “The politics of jealousy”. Isn’t it?😂😂😂
It’s the nature of Capitalism that only a very, very few can be very very rich. In order for that to happen, very very many people haveto be very, poor.
In the UK, something like 90% of the wealth is owned by 10% of the population. In other words,,the 10% of wealth remaining is dived up amongst 90% of us.
It also means that many strive hard (and sometimes succeed) in trying to join that 10%. Far better than going through life knowing that “this is it!”.
Everyone deserves decent wages. For maximum impact everyone on low wages whatever job they do postie, shop worker, whatever should all strike on the same day.
If everyone suddenly got a pay increase, then inflation would soar even more, and we’d very soon be back to square one.
If everyone had had reasonable inflation-proofing pay rises over recent years, there wouldn’t be a sudden demand.
And given the economic catastrophe about to overwhelm us, who can blame people?
The inflation is caused by the double whammy of a global pandemic and war in Europe. No-one could’ve foreseen those.
Anyway, I’m off out to pick some blackberries and apples. Far better than waddling to the food bank! ; )
It seems to me to be two train of thoughts on here.
1, dont have a pay rise as that will push up inflation. So why this means is = let the working classes suffer hardship and a fall in living standards. Allow the well off to carry on living it up at the cost of the working classes.
2, have a decent pay rise so the working classes dont suffer a cost of living crisis, also to keep safe working practices instead of cutting jobs. Cut the payout to shareholders.
I am differently in number 2 100% behind all working classes people. I am sick and tired of the pen pushers of this country taking most of our money and getting the most financial help from the Tories.
We are heading for a general strike and as with a normal Tory government it normal ends up in riots. Pole tax anyone ?
The Tories supported the banks with our taxes the same bankers who screwed our pensions. The same bankers that allowed the system to fail.
If the bankers had be working class and not funding the Tory party do you think the Tories would have funded them ?.
Tories didnt help mining, steel workers, ship building, NHS, teaching, cuts after cuts to our councils meaning services are cut to the bone.
People moan about services in thanet yet vote tory ? Give your head a wobble !
All thanet gets is funding for arty things. 20 million of our taxes pumped into the Turner centre ? Why cos most vote Tory.
“The most financial help”? Not so long ago, the “evil” Tories put in place one of the most generous furlough schemes in the world, which benefitted millions or “ordinary” workers.
They also offered lucrative contracts worth £Bs to cronies for worthless PPE and test and trace facilities
And just whose money did the Tories generously offer?
Theirs, or ours?
Ours. That’s why we’re in such a mess now (I personally wouldn’t have given furlough money to, say, cupcake making businesses that had only been running for 3 months).
So not the Tories, then?
If you ran,a business as self employed for 3 months you didn’t get money off the state during lockdown ,my wife was self employed,for over a year and was not entitled to nothing, I had to get us both by on my very small income
Exactly it’s the working classes that are now paying for furlough, with wages below inflation, a drop in living standards.
This inflation wont affect the well off.
The NHS saved boris live how does he repay them ? He stood and clapped them.
Boris gave millions to his mates for dodge PPE.
We are now paying for furlough, if banks have to pay back our taxes which bailed them out, where does that money come from ? The banks bonuses ? Lol no of course not it comes from their customers, US.
Think about it we gave the bank ours taxes than the banks charge us more to pay us our back our taxes that we lent them lol. So we learnt bankers money than to pay it back the bank charges the tax payers. Bonkers we got screwed twice by the banks
“I personally wouldn’t have given furlough money to, say, cupcake making businesses that had only been running for 3 months)”
Tell me you don’t have a scooby of what you’re bloviating on without telling me…
Rude boy.
If everyone was put on a desert island with£100each within a short time 10% would finnish up rich
Rubbish tò say inflation doesn’t hurt the rich only the poor. Because of Ukraine russian caviar is now up 300% you cant buy a new range rover under 50k. But i dont punish the public because of it i just work harder
Sack the lot and employ easter europeans to do the job
Greedy selfish basxxxds. The country is going to hell in a hand cart, and you and all the others want to strike for more. No thought for the rest of us, we can suffer even more. While your all sitting on your r ses, and later through much higher prices, pensioners dont get to strike for more money.
Pensioners very much could strike and protest for an increase in pensions.
The country is going to hell in a hand cart, you’re right.
Purely because the large majority of the public voted Tory and thought it wouldn’t affect them.
This country’s current state is purely down to 12 years of Tory austerity and a bunch of misinformed apathetic impotence, like you’re showing here, “steve”.
How does someone who’s retired “Go on strike”?
Noddy would be dangerous with more than one brain cell.
Brian is only concerned about the price of caviar and range rovers.
Steve thinks striking for better pay is going to make it worse for the working class.
What an example of little England’s finest thinkers! Can crawl back into your troll caves now boys.
It’s depressing the way certain contributors make issues all about them, rather than the matter in hand. Royal Mail was part of the Post Office and this had all kinds of arms over the years including film units and chemists working on weponised gas.
Since Royal Mail was put into private hands gaps between staff and bosses has increased massively. Working conditions have got progressively worse. Assets have been stripped to make millions but not for “the country” but the already rich.
While courier companies can deliver cheaper it’s because the working conditions, pay and staff support are so poor. Of course Royal Mail staff should challenge attempts to reduce their standard of living and remove the service entirely. As residents, if we want a service we have to support them.
I know some contributers wince at the word “facts” but basic pay in many services has not kept up with costs and so, year on year, these people face actual wage cuts. The greedy bastards, I would advise, are those who get salaries in the hundreds of thousands with bonuses to match, like Southern Water, the worse you do the more you seem to get!
Our country is in the hands of an unpatriotic, selfish, lying and malevolent clique (not being rude but fact based conclusions).
On the road to hell in a hand cart is right! However fights like this are how we might slow the cart down and, maybe, chuck out the drivers.
Maybe he should have done a remake of “To Sir With Love”, featuring Olivia Coleman going into an East End school today? Might be a bit more relevant today?
wrong article m8