Weekend Roundup
A few items that we didn't have the time, wish or will to comment on last week.
Jeremy Corbyn and his Backers managed to persuade the media that an unofficial, unrecognised strike at a McDonald's, that has the union's coal and ink stained fingers all over it, was a clear sign that broken Britain has abandoned capitalism. Or something..
The Great Oz went on to demand a £10 an hour minimum wage for these essential workers in a key hospitality industry.
Somehow or other the High Sparrow must have missed this hideous, unwelcome and unwanted intrusion onto the supermarkets and high streets.
Primarily caused by the rising cost of wages at a time when most other fixed costs for the industry have been falling for a decade the self serve sucker has become a thing. I expect some bright university kid to be doing the fairly easy maths to discover how many jobs have been lost in the UK since these checkouts appeared and writing a mechanisation-unemployment paper on the results.
The most infuriating thing about these self-shaft machines is that we, who are now doing the work for the multiples, don't get any discount for using them. Not even a 5p free bag.
{unless you press the button that says 'I have my own bag' and then take them anyway. The machine doesn't know. Its a machine.}
Where is my T.U.C representative? A fair checkout's pay for a fair self pack.
In
almost the same breath that the unofficial Prime Minister was getting
angry about low skilled workers receiving low pay, he did a U-turn on EU
membership and decided open borders with the free, unlimited, unrestricted, unchecked movement of unskilled
labour is the best way to achieve that higher wage aim.
Is there any attempt at even a mild look at cause and effect of the policies they propose at Labour HQ?
Probably not.
David Lammy MP, had articles on a report he helped to compile in favourable media outlets complaining about the number of minority kids in jail.
How likely they are to go to prison for drug and firearms and offences and how unlikely they are to receive jobs once they are released. And his stats on the face of it are quite shocking.
41% of under 18's are from minority backgrounds. But 48% of all prisoners are Christians. So do they also need special treatment? The 41% stat is only 5% of all prisoners. The total stat isn't given. If it was still 41% of ALL prisoners that would be a shocker.
HMG gives the total figures, which have not changed much since 2005, as 12-13% black. 7-8% Asian. 4% mixed race. That's still bad as 2011 census tells us that only 3-4% of the country identifies as black.
Where Lammy says this "I expected to find the
youth justice system laser-focused on this issue. Instead, I have seen
large parts of the system indifferent to issues of race," he is an idiot.
Of COURSE the justice system isn't concerned about race. Justice is blind.
There is no quota system or each minority with excess offenders being let off.
Where he says "The disproportionate number of BAME young people in the justice system
is a social time-bomb. It is beyond time to stop talking about this
problem and to act" he is partly right.
Asians making up 7-8% of the population make up 7-8% of the prison population, don't seem to be the problem. So its more of a BME problem.
On the point of giving re-offenders a job, he might be right that only something like a tax incentive or salary payment will help.
As a young interviewer doing the choices for a shop management position I was going to propose someone with a spent criminal conviction. My boss advised against.
"Even if this person turns out to be manager of the year, you personally won't gain anything from it. No one will thank you. if they turn out to still be a criminal you have a lot of explaining to do."
The re offending rates are huge. The best risk would be a fifty-fifty. So I left it.
That said , my most senior manager was a black guy from a Croydon gang background. He always gave other BAME, and white bad news kids a chance. Always. Despite all my protestations not to do it. And he had about a 50% success rate with them.
but I doubt this manager, my friend, even with his gang tats and gold tooth and bandana would agree with much of where Lammy lays blame.
Feel free to comment away.
