Forum Topic

Border force strikes

If your flying out of heathrow from the end of august onwards  border force are going on strike for 23 days of industrial action under work to rule. So expect big delays at times Oh yeh,LNER drivers announced 22 days of strike action from the start of September to early November. Is it winter already Dont think the two are pay related tho

Julian Pavey ● 64d85 Comments

“ But the "embarrassingly low" state pension was a feature of the last Conservative government,”Mmm yes it was but it was inherited from Labour wasn’t it? And one of the first things the Tory/Lib Dem coalition did was to put in place the Triple Lock to try to ease the pain inflicted upon pensioners by the Labour government.

Steve Taylor ● 58d

So over the same period pensioners have seen their pensions rise from about £9k whilst train drivers were earning on average a staggering £60k !! 

Steve Taylor ● 58d

I cant disagree with that. But the "embarrassingly low" state pension was a feature of the last Conservative government, and it's curious how, once a Labour government is elected, people suddenly become aware of the need for increasing it.

Robert Fish ● 58d

Apologies for confusion. I was right first time. The comparative figure for the state pension increase is 32%. Although the train drivers' award is backdated to 2022/23, they haven't had an increase since 2019.

Robert Fish ● 58d

19.5% from an embarrassing low starting point where, based on a unified cost of living index, the UK rates 15th of 30 European countries. Marginally ahead of Finland but way behind those 'economic powerhouses' of Bosnia and Bulgaria.

N V Brooks ● 58d

I thought the train drivers award was backdated to 2019/20, not 2022/23. You will have since seen my recalculation of the state pension increase over the same period.

Robert Fish ● 58d

Correction: the comparative increase for pensioners is 19.5%. The train drivers' award is backdated to 2022/23.

Robert Fish ● 58d

How do you arrive at 32%?

Steve Taylor ● 58d

You're not comparing like with like. The state pension has gone up by 32% over the period covered by the train drivers' award.

Robert Fish ● 58d

So you accept that such a massive increase for train drivers is abhorrent whilst pensioners are being screwed by getting a mediocre 2.5% on their mediocre pension and having winter fuel allowance cancelled.

Steve Taylor ● 58d

I made no comment on fairness. I merely answered the questions you raised in your previous post.

Robert Fish ● 58d

Ok, so realistically you aren’t optimistic about receiving a pension increase of more than 2.5% on a meagre pension of approx £11.5k yet train drivers will get massive back pay awards from 2019 plus plus plus. And you think it’s fair?“ The pay award for train drivers  includes a backdated 5% increase for 2019 to 2022, 4.75% for 2022 to 2024, and 4.5% for 2024 to 2025.”“ The ‘laid back’ life of a £67k train driver – and how it compares to other jobsThe academic requirements are minimal and the perks generous, so why are they paid so much more than nurses, army officers and teachers?”

Steve Taylor ● 58d

State pensions were raised by 8.5% from April 2024.  The train-drivers' award includes back-dated increases for the last two years. The increase for 2024/25 is 4.5%.So far as I'm aware, wage growth for the purposes of the triple lock includes both public sector increases and private sector bonuses. The government calculates wage growth for the triple lock  based on the average increase in earnings between May and July of the previous year. As there was a substantial NHS settlement in June 2023, wage growth this year may be very limited. Meanwile price inflation has only been 2.23% in the nine months between last September and June (the latest period for which data are available). Prospects for a substantial increase in the state pension for 2025/26 don't look too promising. Whether it's based on price inflation or wage growth, the increase may not be much more than the guaranteed minimum of 2.5%.

Robert Fish ● 58d

So what did you pensioners get? Wasn’t it about 10% And what percentage does an increase from £60k to £69k represent? Moving forward - under triple lock rules what % can pensioners expect in April?  With inflation only at 2%, will the 2.5% minimum kick in or will it be in line with private sector wage increases which are ……..??  And of course private sector bonuses don’t count so can’t be included in the percentage. I’m not sure if public sector increases will be included in the calculation???

Steve Taylor ● 58d

Everyone is deserving of a livable income, if young you can take on other work as we did, whereas a fixed income is unavoidable for many elderly.

Janice Evans ● 58d

State pensioners have already received a percentage increase for 2024/25 nearly double the award to train drivers. There are about 12,640,000 state pensioners, and only about 19,000 train drivers.

Robert Fish ● 58d

Hopefully if they are well enough to cancel any help like cleaners, carers etc., they will stay warm and not go without meals.

Janice Evans ● 58d

I don’t know the answer and I haven’t googled but I seem to recall that the vast majority of pensioners did in fact vote. I do know a number of under 30’s and even 30 to 40 year olds who are so dissatisfied with the politics of today that they couldn’t be bothered to vote. I do think that tens of thousands of pensioners who voted Labour will now be extremely angry that they have been stabbed in the back. Especially those who have historically voted Tory.

Steve Taylor ● 58d

They should have voted is the answer, just over half the population voted.

Janice Evans ● 58d

I do not now if Labour is in for a rough ride,however, I am sure pensioners are going to suffer. How about increasing the pension by the same amount as train drivers or GP’s or even an average of them both. I suppose MP’s will have to have an increase soon !

John Southey ● 58d

“The problem isn't paying drivers a living wage”No it isn’t. The drivers have been earning way above the living wage for years.

Steve Taylor ● 59d

Back to strikes and growth.We aren't going to get much growth if the trains aren't running and people can't get to work.And for any pay rise (for a 40% higher rate payer) 42% of it comes straight back into the public coffers as additional tax and employee's NI (plus some additional employer's NI - which is an additional cost to the train company).The problem isn't paying drivers a living wage.  The problem is the amount of money being sucked out of the rail system in dividends and interest payments (often to off shore "capitives" - getting a tax deduction on the way).At least the net of tax additional income from pay rises to staff gets (mainly) spent in the UK (some of which comes straight back into the government coffers as VAT, etc).

T P Howell ● 60d

You clearly still  haven't read my posts at 18.29 and 18.40 on 17 August, in which I acknowledged the impact of the government's COVID support measures on public sector debt. But that came only after a decade in which austerity drove public sector debt from 36.6% of GDP to 85.2%. By contrast Labour had public debt well under control before the banking crisis.Yes, by all means add Ukraine and the resultant energy crisis into the mix. They certainly exacerbated the debt problem. As I commented at 18.40 on 17 August, it's a shame that incorrigible Tory boys won't extend the same consideration to the rise in public sector debt as a result of the Labour government's measures to contain the banking crisis.

Robert Fish ● 60d

"The 2008 Banking crisis was a result of Labours failure to get a grip on banking and in particular, Alistair Darling’s gross incompetence as Chancellor."Don't think so. It was triggered by collapses and companies going massively insolvent elsewhere especially in the US.https://express.adobe.com/page/DAlRb7HdWiHqA/What would a Conservative government have done after the run on Northern Rock? Just let the private investors suck up losses of any of their savings over £2000?

Andrew Jones ● 60d

That's right, all jobs should be well paid. That's why a lot of young people today feel work is not really something for them. They have seen how their parents have ended up after a lifetime of work and a poor pension.

Nicholas Beard ● 60d

“ The debt was incurred in bailing out the banks in 2008 - a fact which you deliberately ignore.”And you deliberately ignore the pandemic, the over generous furlough system, the global energy crisis, the over generous subsidies on energy bills and the over generous foreign aid to Ukraine. No government this century has had to deal with with such life threatening issues. The Tory government did not cause those issues. They were victims!    The 2008 Banking crisis was a result of Labours failure to get a grip on banking and in particular, Alistair Darling’s gross incompetence as Chancellor. Enough said - we are where we are so we will watch Reeves appease the Unions  and succumb to the greed  whilst implementing austerity measures like we have never seen before. We can only despair for the weak and vulnerable.

Steve Taylor ● 60d

“ International law is clear that it is the asylum seeker who decides  which is their safe and final destination.”Totally irrelevant if they choose to take an illegal route to get to the UK. If they choose to come by unregistered boats which don’t dock at registered ports and undergo customs and immigration procedures, they are 100% illegal immigrants. You don’t get to decide if they are asylum seekers. Neither does Mr Fish or the Guardian or Ch4 News. Illegal routes = illegal immigrants.

Steve Taylor ● 60d

No, I didn't "omit the fact that the Tories / Lib Dems inherited huge debt following Labour’s 13 years of financial mismanagement". It seems you didn't see my post at 18.29 on 17 August. The debt was incurred in bailing out the banks in 2008 - a fact which you deliberately ignore. Prior to the banking crisis Labour had reduced public debt from 40.4 to 36.4% of GDP.

Robert Fish ● 60d

Your opinions , not unusually,  demonstrate a lack of knowledge. International law is clear that it is the asylum seeker who decides  which is their safe and final destination. Not you. Not me. Not the Daily Mail. It is then up to the government of the final country to determine whether or not the claim for asylum is genuine. That decision is not determined by how they arrived in the country.

Stewart Jones ● 61d

“It is indeed down to 14 years of Tory governments and the post-Thatcherite fiscal orthodoxy”Of course you omit the fact that the Tories / Lib Dem’s inherited huge debt following Labour’s 13 years if financial mismanagement under Gordon Brown. Cue Liam Byrne’s note to the Treasury. “If she sticks to the idea of balanced budgets, then it's either more austerity or higher taxes. Which do you prefer?”Thanks for asking. Without doubt more austerity please. 100%. She needs to get Britain working.

Steve Taylor ● 61d

“ What you call illegal immigrants I prefer to call asylum seekers who have been denied legal routes here. ”Yes - they are illegal immigrants. If they were genuine asylum seekers, escaping persecution, they could have sought asylum in France or Italy or Spain or Greece instead of coming to the UK as illegal immigrants. The fact that they are denied legal routes to get here renders them ‘illegal’ so you can call them asylum seekers all you like but they are illegal immigrants. Repeatedly stating that black is white doesn’t make it so.

Steve Taylor ● 61d

What you call illegal immigrants I prefer to call asylum seekers who have been denied legal routes here. In any case, they are only a small, but high-profile, element in immigration. There are far greater numbers of people from non-visa countries who come here as tourists, get 6 months entry, overstay and disappear. Listen to delivery riders talking between themselves outside Nandos or Five Guys. Many of them are Latin American, and unless they have Italian, Portuguese or Spanish parents, grandparents or great grandparents and thus obtained passports by ius sanguinis, they have to be illegal.  We're so focused on asylum seekers as a result of the emotions whipped up against these people by the likes of Farage and Yaxley-Lennon that we miss much of what is really going on.

Robert Fish ● 61d

It is indeed down to 14 years of Tory governments and the post-Thatcherite fiscal orthodoxy which Reeves is too timid to challenge. If she sticks to the idea of balanced budgets, then it's either more austerity or higher taxes. Which do you prefer?

Robert Fish ● 61d

Reeves has already announced austerity measures and, yes, we are sure to hear about increased taxes in the budget - if not before. And she will blame it all on “14 years of Tories”  blah blah blah. She will also cut defence spending. And she needs to find the money to house the massive increase in illegal immigrants and increase foreign aid.

Steve Taylor ● 61d

Enough said? Do you mean that with such a level of debt the government can't afford to borrow more? If that's the case, then we should be prepared either for tax increases or more austerity. And it's austerity which has hindered growth and made it impossible to reduce public debt as a percentage of GDP, and, with apologies to Richard Greenhough for the hyperbole, has "destroyed" public services.

Robert Fish ● 61d

No, there was no plan for growth through government borrowing/investment. The idea was that growth would be stimulated by £45bn of unfunded tax cuts! And the suggestion that there could be other unfunded cuts down the line spooked the markets.

Robert Fish ● 61d

GB currently owes £2.7 trillion.We are expected to repay £89 billion interest on our total borrowings to date.Enough said.

Denis I. Fox ● 61d

No, Truss didn’t have a plan. She just let Kwarteng loose and then didn’t have the guts to put him on a leash.

Steve Taylor ● 61d

Didn't Liz Truss want to borrow for the sake of growth? Look what happened to her.

Keith Iddon ● 61d

Robert, that could lead to even greater losses.

Janice Evans ● 61d

"you can be an utter pillock at times"Takes one to know one.

Richard Greenhough ● 61d

The problem is not the settlements per se. It is the fact that, unless Reeves throws over the fiscal rules, the settlements will require cuts in other areas, or tax increases, and the growth she seeks will never be achieved. What is needed is massive investment funded by borrowing.

Robert Fish ● 61d

Richard, how many times have you now posted that quotation from Alice through the Looking Glass on here? Enough times for people to be bored by it, and conclude you are stuck in childhood. I choose my words carefully, and I say that you can be an utter pillock at times.

Robert Fish ● 61d

In the lead up to the GE Labour leaders banged on and on about creating growth to build the economy.In his opening 45 days in office Sir Keir has approved inflation busting pay rises to allcomers without insisting on extra productivity in order to promote growth.The train drivers unions even had the affront to keep their Spanish practices!

Denis I. Fox ● 61d

You seem to be getting influenced by Humpty Campbell - “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” Hope you aren't also getting scrambled egg for brains.

Richard Greenhough ● 61d

Apart from politicians at both  local and national level who need to show a far greater degree of altruism given the doors that being in that high profile public position open for them.

N V Brooks ● 61d

Only one of Steve Taylor's ubiquitous "morons" would assume that I meant the services no longer existed. Exaggerating the case, yes - but saying that public services are damaged would scarcely do justice to the severity of the crisis.

Robert Fish ● 61d

"..they destroyed most public services in the process."Nothing like exaggerating your case. "Damaged" would have been arguably fair comment, but "destroyed" ? That implies that most public services no longer exist.

Richard Greenhough ● 61d

An annual salary of £60k gives a take-home pay of about £45k with about £11k going in Income Tax and £3k in National Insurance Contributions, so think what a contribution these drivers are making to the common good!And it has to be an ‘inflation busting pay award’ or it wouldn’t really be a pay rise at all!As others have suggested, there's a shortage of drivers as, presumably, the train companies haven't trained up enough, and I think the different fragmented companies have been competing for their services.So what if train driving is a well-paid job - ALL jobs should be well paid!

Peter Evans ● 61d

The average drivers salary is 60K rising to 69K if they accept the latest pay deal for a 4 day week and does not include overtime. If they take 1 days holiday and volunteer to work overtime on their rest day in the same week they earn approx an additional £600 take home for a 4 day week. If you visit the drivers forum most claim it’s a well paid job.

Jayne Thorburn ● 61d

Yes a DB pension scheme where the employee contributes 3 to 5% and the employer contributes 18 to 23% could be considered to be a very generous pension scheme.

Steve Taylor ● 61d

There’s a very big difference between a defined benefit and a defined contribution pension scheme.Regardless of how much the employee puts in, a defined benefit scheme  will always be better for the employee and cost the employer more in terms of their contributions.If train drivers have a defined benefit contribution scheme than losing that benefit would be a big thing and I don’t blame them or anyone else for trying to keep what you already have.

Andrew Jones ● 61d

Reed (large employment agency, so they should know) say:The AVERAGE train driver salary in the UK is £48,500 per year. Train drivers begin with an average starting salary of £30,000, with only the highest salaries exceeding £65,000.Train driver salaries can also differ between commercial or freight roles. The average freight train driver salary in the UK is £44,418.The average train driver salary in London is £58,795, with experienced professionals in the region having salaries that can exceed £69,000, while train driver salaries in Scotland start at £38,194 for newly qualified drivers, rising to £48,360 after the probation period has ended.The average annual salary range for some company-specific train driver roles are:London North Eastern Railway (LNER)The average LNER train driver salary range is £30,000 to £70,000.Transport for London (TfL)The average TFL train driver salary range is £57,217 to £61,620.ScotrailThe average Scotrail train driver salary range is £50,659 to £56,245.Northern RailThe average Northern Rail train driver salary range is £40,104 to £57,546.East Midlands RailwayThe average East Midlands Railway train driver salary range is £54,403 to £61,467.Great Western RailwayThe average Great Western Railway train driver salary range is £49,807 to £67,304.MerseyrailThe average Merseyrail train driver salary range is £50,572 to £55,415.Southeastern RailwayThe average Southeastern Railway train driver salary range is £37,261 to £58,503.A train driver with four-nine years of experience can earn an average salary of £47,300, while an experienced train driver with 10-20 years of experience earns £55,000 on average. Train drivers with more than 20 years of experience earn an average of £65,000.It is not clear if this includes overtime.And so far as "generous pensions" are concerned - they pay into their pensions (like everyone else).There is a national shortage of train drivers. It is odd how those people who believe in market economics dogma stops short when it comes to wages.

T P Howell ● 62d

And people who decided to become train drivers were aware of the high salary they would get for short hours and an over generous pension scheme and travel perks for sitting on their a£)*s all day.  But now they have demanded more and more. It’s just greed, greed, greed. Junior doctors asked for more simply to survive.

Steve Taylor ● 62d

Steve, Junior doctors were aware of the relative doctors salaries before embarking on their chosen careers.All medical staff receive immense public admiration, not only for saving lives and making lives better, but for their sense of vocation.This was borne out during the pandemic when we all stood outside our front doors clapping every Thursday.This sense of vocation being more important than high earnings has been lost.

Denis I. Fox ● 62d

“ the Junior doctors who they represent have threatened strike action next year, despite been given a pay rise of over 22% spread over two years.”Many of these junior doctors earn under £30k so they deserve much more than 22%.  This is vastly different to the greedy overpaid train drivers. The train drivers strikes  cause havoc to millions of people trying to get to work to earn a living.  Millions of people on minimum wage will not be paid if they can’t get to work.  It’s disgraceful.

Steve Taylor ● 63d

One wonders why the non practicing leads at the BMA, all of whom are paid well over £110,000 each do not attract criticism for their purely administrative rôles.

N V Brooks ● 63d

In mentioning the impact of Covid, I omitted the considerable expenditure on the government's bail-out, and in particular the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. It's just a shame that incorrigible Tory boys aren't prepared to extend the same consideration to Labour's earlier massive bail-out of the banks.

Robert Fish ● 63d

Do you really believe the nonsense you spout? You ignore the fact that government debt increased at the end of the last Labour administration in consequence of Brown and Darling's response to the international banking crisis. But you prefer to believe that it rose because of Labour profligacy. The fact is that the empty coffers were merely the pretext for Osborne's austerity programme. The ostensible reason for austerity was to reduce government debt as a proportion of GDP. The real reason was Osborne's desire to shrink the size of the state, and through reduced public expenditure achieve the holy grail of lower taxes for all, particularly for the "hardest hit" in society, i.e. its most affluent members, whose interests the Conservative Party serves. If reducing government debt as a proportion of GDP were in fact the real reason for austerity, then the programme was a miserable failure. In 1997/98 public sector net debt was 36.6% of GDP.  Over the next 12 years it rose to 85.2% of GDP. We can forgive the further rise to 96.6% over the following two years, because of the impact of the Covid crisis on GDP. Even so, public sector debt rose again in the last financial year to 97.6% of GDP, after Sunak's reprise of austerity. It's a fine record: through austerity, successive Conservative administrations managed to nearly triple government debt as a perentage of GDP, and they destroyed most public services in the process.The culpability of of the Tories for the mess we're in is undeniable. I wish however I could say with confidence that Labour has the solution. Rachel Reeves's acceptance of the "fiscal rules" worries me. Balanced budgets need to go out of the door. Only massive investment, not only for capital but also for current expenditure, can get us out of the hole dug by the Tories. Reeves seems too timid for that - she's too afraid of criticism of profligacy from all the people, like a few on this forum, who are just waiting for any excuse to knock Labour's policies on the economy.A final thought: how will Tories feel if after 14 years Labour are still blaming the last government for the debt crisis inherited in 2024?

Robert Fish ● 63d

The BMA seem to be exempt from the criticism targeted towards the greedy rail unions on this forum, yet the Junior doctors who they represent have threatened strike action next year, despite been given a pay rise of over 22% spread over two years.Unions being in ad hoc with a Labour Government and getting their own way is an age old prediction, and spells ill for everyone else.Not much changes under the sun.

Denis I. Fox ● 63d

“ This moron is an ex-copper, quite what made anyone think he was fit for any of these positions  is another question. And some of you are moaning about train drivers salaries? “Ah - an ex copper ‘eh?  Well that explains where the greed and rot set in.  He was already well used to an unnecessarily high salary where incompetence is rewarded.

Steve Taylor ● 63d

“I  think it’s the government of the last fourteen years”Grow up Alastair. Stop bleating on about the last 14 years especially as the fact of the matter is that the Tories inherited empty coffers and uncontrolled debt from Labour 14 years ago (cue Liam Byrne) We are where we are and this LABOUR government is NOW screwing pensions radically and at the same time granting MASSIVE increases to greedy unions to fund greedy train drivers whilst millions of children are below poverty line.  It’s sickening.  1950s Moscow would be proud of them

Steve Taylor ● 63d

If you really want to see obscene salries and total wastes of space look no further than Union leadership and university vice chancellors.

N V Brooks ● 63d

Why so much bile where the train drivers are concerned? Has no-one seen the outrageous salaries of some of these CEOs in the utility and other industries, plus eye watering bonuses for buggering their job up? Read Private Eye and it is enough to make you weep to see how some of these incompetent smart -arses flit from job to job earning telephone numbers plus bonuses and then bog off with their ill-gotten gains. One such being Ian Trenholm late of the CQC at £199.000 p.a. Previously this complete f*ckwit was 'earning' £175,000 as CEO of NHS Blood and Transplant where he ballsed-up an I.T. system written off at a cost of £26M to the NHS, because he wouldn't listen to anyone. He went there after jumping from DEFRA - where he again was instrumental in overseeing another I.T. 'shitshow'. This moron is an ex-copper, quite what made anyone think he was fit for any of these positions  is another question. And some of you are moaning about train drivers salaries? Really? If this pillock was just one maybe there would be some excuses, but we see this over and over again. There are times when I think some of these fabulous jobs could just as easily be done - with a greater degree of success - if they were to be offered to someone random standing in a bus queue.

Vanessa Smith ● 63d

"We could usefully start a campaign to improve basic literacy in malcontents."I think this would be a great service to the country and the economy. I have noticed a strong correlation between right wing views and illiteracy. So presumably helping people to read and write will reduce xenophobia and bigotry in general.

Paul Campbell ● 63d

Yes, Alastair, I'll gladly join. Are there any retired English teachers in the UOP? We could usefully start a campaign to improve basic literacy in malcontents. The basics of the economy can wait for another day.

Robert Fish ● 63d

Ok Robert, confession time.  I’m a fully paid-up, card-carrying member of the UOP, Union of Outrageous Pensioners.  We are a small but passionate group of seniors or ‘old farts’ as we prefer it, united in our refusal to be suckered by triple-lock bribes.  Care to join us?  Lefties, snowflakes and wokerati all welcome!

Alastair Banton ● 63d

Simon CalderJust another day"Heading for Heathrow Terminal 5 this morning?Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express services not running due to a broken-down train.Some Elizabeth Line trains also not serving T2/3/4 as a result.Piccadilly Line of the Tube running but with reduced service." "Just when passengers thought they could count on a rail trip, LNER announces bumper weekend strikes" "UK Border Force staff strike at London Heathrow: Saturday 31 August to Tuesday 3 September." "This one is timed for the return from family holidays" You get what you want and your try for even more Oh what fun times ahead.

Julian Pavey ● 63d

Pensioners - outrageous people? How dare you!

Robert Fish ● 63d

Cheap and patronising slur, Jayne.  Of course I am aware of the necessity of tax and of the necessity of a progressive tax system to fund all sorts of things that need funding.  I think it’s the government of the last fourteen years who needed a few lessons in how to administer tax for everyone’s benefit and in the avoidance of greed.  If they had we might be in a better state now.

Alastair Banton ● 63d

He obviously doesn’t have a grasp on the basics of the economy, you need people paying taxes to fund everything agreed train drivers are greedy but the point being once you allow unions to dictate we are doomed. They will all start on the bandwagon making crazy demands. That’s Ok let’s tax the pensioners more outrageous people who have worked all their lives, paid taxes and have little chance of being able to top them up but according to Labour they are fair game to fund greedy union demands.

Jayne Thorburn ● 63d

Yes Alastair,  greed is wanting a £60k salary for a 4 day week, with over generous final salary pension scheme, being increased to £69k. It’s pure greed. Give it to doctors and nurses, yes - but to train drivers?  It’s ridiculous. It’s also ridiculously stupid to talk about child poverty when talking about salaries of £69k. What planet are you from?  Some train drivers are earning much more than airline pilots.

Steve Taylor ● 63d

Maybe, maybe not, but it’s way down my list of things to be bothered about regarding the state of the U.K right now.

Alastair Banton ● 63d

So you think train drivers are being reasonable do you? the current payrise not enough 😂😂😂😂

Jayne Thorburn ● 63d

In a country with shocking levels of child poverty - around a third - and an appalling state of inequality - The top fifth of the population receives 63% of the country's wealth, while the bottom fifth receives only 0.5% - I think you should be careful who you accuse of greed.  The issues are systemic but are solvable given political will.  But jabbering about Range Rovers and attacking unions - ludicrous.

Alastair Banton ● 63d

Basic pay £69K for a train driver plus plus plus, is a good salary there is absolutely o excuse to continue to strike, the taxpayer is already subsidising them not sure what planet they live on. Labour has zero vision on how to negotiate other than give in which will cost everyone more in taxes and price rises, fact for a sub standard service. The world moves on and things have to change yet the unions and strikers wants to live in the past. An interesting winter ahead 😱😱😱

Jayne Thorburn ● 63d

"Everyone feels entitled to own a Range Rover."Which, is your dream.

Mark Frost ● 63d

“ So expect taxes to go up and inflation to rise as a result of inflated pay rises.”All predicted and to be expected under a Labour Government which is prone to being bullied and manipulated by the Unions. Under Labour be prepaid for more greed, greed, greed from workers enticed by their Unions. Everyone feels entitled to own a Range Rover.

Steve Taylor ● 63d

I fully agree with you Paul. We are waiting for new signalling on the Picadilly Line. Cronic lack of investment. I read the Paris metro are building a 120 miles of new lines which is incredible. Our main line trains are also in a bad state. Cancelled HS 2, look at Spains HS lines. It is planned to have a Europe wide HS network. Not here though!

Nicholas Beard ● 63d

What’s that got to do with paying the workforce properly? We’ve just had a Secretary of State for Transport who sneered at criticism of the government’s lack of interest in trains by saying “I am not the Minister for Trains” and then released his “Plan for Drivers”.  A perfect example of how the last government refused to pay for public services and put all the costs of transport on people who are not calculating the true cost to themselves. While reaching the highest level of taxation in decades. We really do need to teach economic literacy better at schools so people don’t buy these stupid lies so readily.

Paul Campbell ● 64d

PCs WORLD 😁

Julian Pavey ● 64d

Ha,they dont blooming work on days whatever you pay the workforce.Take the tube networkJust had a lookBakerloo                  Severe delays Central                  Minor delays Hammersmith & CityMinor  delays Piccadilly                Minor delaysExpect Elizabeth line to soon have severe delays and no district line service to richmond or ealing due to signal or points failure in either the Earls court area,hammersmith area,acton area,ealing area or richmond erea.

Julian Pavey ● 64d

Yes good public services run by decent workforces don't come for free.

Paul Campbell ● 64d

We could see winter of discontent as all the Union line up for improved pay rises , apparently GP’s are next. So expect taxes to go up and inflation to rise as a result of inflated pay rises. The rail union is an utter disgrace and Labour is in for a very rough ride.

Jayne Thorburn ● 64d

It's unlikely to affect you flying out - there are no passport checks outgoing.

Andrzej Kowalski ● 64d