Scotrail

[hk blues]

37 minutes ago, Michael W said:

It is entirely true about the triple lock, though as you note it was suspended last year. They also pledged that they wouldn't increase National Insurance, yet did so anyway. Unprecedented times etc - they found the excuse they needed and suddenly the manifesto was forgotten about. And there is zero chance the increase in the NI threshold would've happened were it not for events seeing prices going mad. 

There have been a number of measures announced to support against the cost of living that pensioners benefit from as well, so scrapping the triple lock and raising pensions by 5% would not be fundamentally unfair in my view. 

Of all the things that are wrong in our tax and welfare systems, reducing pensions should be pretty low down on the "To Do List" 

[betting competition]

I think Bow Crow will be looking down proud at how Mick Lynch dismantling any right-wing media interviewees and tory politicians.

No doubt the media are trying to find out the dirt on Mick Lynch and no doubt there will be stories in the next few days. 

 

[vikingTON]

1 minute ago, hk blues said:

Of all the things that are wrong in our tax and welfare systems, reducing pensions should be pretty low down on the "To Do List" 

Pensions make up by far the largest chunk of social welfare spending, while the unemployed 'scroungers' that the media/public focus on take a miniscule fraction of that budget each year. 

While there are millions of people living on £80 per week UC, partial UC/housing benefit top-ups etc. just to make ends meet, giving every single pensioner a 10% raise no questions asked cannot be a priority and is an enormous waste of resources. 

[DA Baracus]

3 minutes ago, betting competition said:

I think Bow Crow will be looking down proud at how Mick Lynch dismantling any right-wing media interviewees and tory politicians.

No doubt the media are trying to find out the dirt on Mick Lynch and no doubt there will be stories in the next few days. 

 

And if they can't find something they'll make something up, and run it on the front page, claim it is 'allegeded' and that they are just reporting what their 'source' told them, then bury a tiny apology on page 22 underneath a bunch of ads a few days later, content that the damage is done.

[hk blues]

1 minute ago, virginton said:

Pensions make up by far the largest chunk of social welfare spending, while the unemployed 'scroungers' that the media/public focus on take a miniscule fraction of that budget each year. 

While there are millions of people living on £80 per week UC, partial UC/housing benefit top-ups etc. just to make ends meet, giving every single pensioner a 10% raise no questions asked cannot be a priority and is an enormous waste of resources. 

Giving pensioners a rise of 10% and increasing welfare payments are not mutually exclusive, or at least needn't be.

[Michael W]

7 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Of all the things that are wrong in our tax and welfare systems, reducing pensions should be pretty low down on the "To Do List" 

It's a reduction in the same way an employee not being given a payrise in line with inflation is. It's not a reduction to the party paying it, but does impact the recipient. 

If the working age population are supposed to just accept this, then pensioners can too. After all, their pensions are funded by the tax contributions of the workers, who are being told to restrain themselves. 

[hk blues]

6 minutes ago, Michael W said:

It's a reduction in the same way an employee not being given a payrise in line with inflation is. It's not a reduction to the party paying it, but does impact the recipient. 

If the working age population are supposed to just accept this, then pensioners can too. After all, their pensions are funded by the tax contributions of the workers, who are being told to restrain themselves. 

I don't really buy into the idea that just because one sector of the population is suffering other sectors should share the pain as if that will somehow help - I don't believe for 1 second that any savings from removing the triple lock this year would be ploughed back into more deserving causes.  

[Michael W]

8 minutes ago, hk blues said:

I don't really buy into the idea that just because one sector of the population is suffering other sectors should share the pain as if that will somehow help - I don't believe for 1 second that any savings from removing the triple lock this year would be ploughed back into more deserving causes.  

But that's the message the Government is broadcasting - don't ask for a big payrise, you'll contribute to inflation and make things worse. Tough it out. 

A message which is totally undermined when the government hands pensioners an increase in-line with inflation. The government is, quite literally, saying some people are more deserving than others. 

[Glen Sannox]

3 hours ago, Bert Raccoon said:

On the subject of pensioners, I've never known a skint pensioner 

If they have to go into a care home, they become skint very quickly. There are plenty skint pensioners.

There are not many skint trade union leaders or train drivers though.

[101]

https://twitter.com/bmay/status/1539867888563232768?t=tCZGhdIrYp7l4KXJ1Q4Wbg&s=19

RMT told their members to vote to leave the EU which is going to lead to the, attempted at least, removal of the Human rights and EU labour laws.

Mick might be a darling of the media at the moment but he clearly hasn't always got it right.

[jamamafegan]

Mike Lynch on Question Time tonight. Could be a good watch.

[Billy Jean King]

https://twitter.com/bmay/status/1539867888563232768?t=tCZGhdIrYp7l4KXJ1Q4Wbg&s=19
RMT told their members to vote to leave the EU which is going to lead to the, attempted at least, removal of the Human rights and EU labour laws.
Mick might be a darling of the media at the moment but he clearly hasn't always got it right.

Anyone that voted in the EU referendum based on what their trade union advised deserves all they are getting imo.

[Arch Stanton]

 

 

[Left Back]

10 minutes ago, 101 said:

https://twitter.com/bmay/status/1539867888563232768?t=tCZGhdIrYp7l4KXJ1Q4Wbg&s=19

RMT told their members to vote to leave the EU which is going to lead to the, attempted at least, removal of the Human rights and EU labour laws.

Mick might be a darling of the media at the moment but he clearly hasn't always got it right.

Here's the reasons.

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-sets-out-six-key-reasons-for-leaving-the-eu/

[Miguel Sanchez]

18 hours ago, yoda said:

Frank Sobotka was a good union man and had links to organised crime (including human trafficking). It's not a stretch to believe that many union officials participate in similar criminal activity.

[19QOS19]

Anyone that voted in the EU referendum based on what their trade union advised deserves all they are getting imo.

Always think that when parties wheel out "celebrities" to encourage folk to vote for their party. If someone is basing their vote on what a minted celeb says then they shouldn't be allowed a fucking vote.

[Guest]

No doubt the media are trying to find out the dirt on Mick Lynch and no doubt there will be stories in the next few days. 
 

Gone are the days when Rupert and Co could just openly hack your phone for some dirt, now they need to hide it.

[Aladdin]

Pensioners are getting the rise across the board as that's the Tories' constituency.  If they were worried about fairness, and only raising the incomes of those pensioners at the low end, they could surely look to increase the amount paid by way of pension credit and expand eligibility for it.

Mick Lynch has performed really well in terms of media interviews and has likely bought more support for the workers.  I still don't believe you can dish out public sector pay rises that match inflation when it is so far above the reasonable target but a rise of 5-6% should be possible.  It also shouldn't be ignored that the reason some public sector workers are so exposed to the cost of living was the years of failing to match inflation with pay rises during the decade of austerity which was a total f**k up.

[Benjamin_Nevis]

39 minutes ago, Glen Sannox said:

If they have to go into a care home, they become skint very quickly. There are plenty skint pensioners.

There are not many skint trade union leaders or train drivers though.

No, they're financially assessed. If they can't afford residential care, the state will pay for it. What they don't get to do is hold onto properties worth six figures, or fucktons of savings whilst the state pays hundreds/thousands per week for their care. I appreciate this results in massive tantrums from their sons and daughters who don't get to inherit their properties, which is of course a terrible fucking shame. 

[Dawson Park Boy]

1 hour ago, betting competition said:

I think Bow Crow will be looking down proud at how Mick Lynch dismantling any right-wing media interviewees and tory politicians.

No doubt the media are trying to find out the dirt on Mick Lynch and no doubt there will be stories in the next few days. 

 

Bob Crow led a very ‘champagne socialist’ lifestyle.

I well recall, a good few years ago getting on a Silver Seas cruise liner at Rio and a variety of passengers telling me just how boorish his behaviour was on the leg from Barbados to Rio where he disembarked. Apparently, he was drunk every night and caused a lot of problems with guests and crew. Obviously, this is all hearsay but I did hear this about him from other sources.

He died quite soon afterwards with a lot of publicity and that is how I recalled what I had heard on the ship.

He certainly could talk the socialist talk.