Do you want to discuss boring politics? (21 Viewers)

[Nick]

My work is hybrid now and has been for a couple of years, I'm one of very few people who actually goes to the office regularly.

I don't buy the idea that I'm any more productive, it still takes me the same amount of time to perform the same task. I think what a lot of the WFH increases productivity people are on about is hanging the washing out

It depends on the task I'm doing. If I am coding something I do it much better at home with some music on as opposed to in the office with the phone ringing, people coming over every 5 minutes and stopping what I'm doing.

Productivity isn't always 9-5 either, sometimes I can do something at 7 at night easily rather than trying to force it at 1PM amongst other things.

 

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[chiefdave]

Im not sure that’s correct though Dave

WFH’s staunchest proponents just dropped a bomb: Fully remote workers are less productive

Fully remote work is associated with 10% to 20% lower productivity than fully in-person work, a new paper finds.

fortune.com

Many people will be more productive, many won’t be. It depends on role, personal circumstances, office/home environment, drive, experience, IT/Comms access, commute time etc etc. Everyone’s different

Think that's looking at a subset of people WFH who are totally remote. Its a minor, but key, difference. Suspect the number of employers who genuinely don't give a fuck where in the world you are and will permanently employ you to sit by a pool in Spain working off your laptop are few and far between.

I was a 4 hour drive from my office that was deliberate on my employers part as they have clients locally. I can imagine the response if they said they were coming up here for a meeting or when I was asked to go to a client site was to say no because I wasn't at home.

Don't think anyone is suggesting forcing people to work every day of the year from home in total isolation is a good thing.

 

[wingy]

My work is hybrid now and has been for a couple of years, I'm one of very few people who actually goes to the office regularly.

I don't buy the idea that I'm any more productive, it still takes me the same amount of time to perform the same task. I think what a lot of the WFH increases productivity people are on about is hanging the washing out

That's so old hat washing, hanging it out?

 

[Ian1779]

Given the issues you have identified, where are the 6,500 extra teachers, funded by VAT on private education, going to come from?

They’re not going to as it stands. So one of the following is going to have to happen to even make that number which is miles short of what is needed.

a) the entire amount will come from abroad, such as Canada, SA, USA or Caribbean - this is currently subject to a big push via school sponsorship
b) there will need to be heavy financial incentives for entering the profession akin to previous ‘golden handshakes’
c) they find some way to have a serious look at working schedules/workload and try and entice back those that have left previously

 

[shmmeee]

They’re not going to as it stands. So one of the following is going to have to happen to even make that number which is miles short of what is needed.

a) the entire amount will come from abroad, such as Canada, SA, USA or Caribbean - this is currently subject to a big push via school sponsorship
b) there will need to be heavy financial incentives for entering the profession akin to previous ‘golden handshakes’
c) they find some way to have a serious look at working schedules/workload and try and entice back those that have left previously

They should absolutely bring back golden handshakes.

 

[MalcSB]

Scrapping the ban on onshore wind farms isnt viewed as all that beneficial by someone who should know.

https://www.igem.org.uk/resource/chris-o-shea-questions-wind-power-efficiency-in-uk-s-energy-future.html#:~:text=Chris%20O'Shea%2C%20the%20CEO,in%20the%20UK's%20energy%20strategy.

 

[wingy]

They should absolutely bring back golden handshakes.

Is this a metaphor or something?🫣

 

[shmmeee]

Scrapping the ban on onshore wind farms isnt viewed as all that beneficial by someone who should know.

https://www.igem.org.uk/resource/chris-o-shea-questions-wind-power-efficiency-in-uk-s-energy-future.html#:~:text=Chris%20O'Shea%2C%20the%20CEO,in%20the%20UK's%20energy%20strategy.

Whaaaat? A gas salesman doesn’t think we should replace gas??

I’m shocked I tells ya

 

[MalcSB]

Rayner to scrap requirement for builders to build “beautiful houses”
@shmmeee your vision will be replaced by eyesores like this.
View attachment 1722411033852.jpeg

 

[MalcSB]

Whaaaat? A gas salesman doesn’t think we should replace gas??

I’m shocked I tells ya

He’s an energy salesman.

 

[CCFCSteve]

They should absolutely bring back golden handshakes.

Been saying for years there should be a bursary and/or refund system for tuition fees for certain subjects and jobs as part of a wider industrial strategy.

For certain public sector jobs ie teachers or nurses it could be part of an agreement to gradually write off tuition fees after years served. More years you serve in public sector, more written off

I think there is already some support for nurses but more just grants/bursary, no tie in which doesn’t make sense to me

 

[Deleted member 5849]

Been saying for years there should be a bursary and/or refund system for tuition fees for certain subjects and jobs as part of a wider industrial strategy.

For certain public sector jobs ie teachers or nurses it could be part of an agreement to gradually write off tuition fees after years served. More years you serve in public sector, more written off

I think there is already some support for nurses but more just grants/bursary, no tie in which doesn’t make sense to me

They did at one stage fund the pgce in certain subjects where they needed people. I hadn't even realised they'd stopped that!

 

[shmmeee]

Been saying for years there should be a bursary and/or refund system for tuition fees for certain subjects and jobs as part of a wider industrial strategy.

For certain public sector jobs ie teachers or nurses it could be part of an agreement to gradually write off tuition fees after years served. More years you serve in public sector, more written off

I think there is already some support for nurses but more just grants/bursary, no tie in which doesn’t make sense to me

They used to pay off student loans just before I started teaching. Seems like a no brainer to me: come and teach for X years, get some or all of your loan forgiven. The cost can’t be that much surely considering how few people actually pay them all anyway.

 

[MalcSB]

I'm all for unversallism and think means testing is pointless

Promise to keep winter fuel allowance by many Labour MPs prove to be Labour lies. What next? The promise to reduce fuel costs? The triple lock?

 

[shmmeee]

I'm all for unversallism and think means testing is pointless

Bit disingenuous that. Starmer is talking about all winter fuel payments not making them means tested. I’d rather the richest demo doesn’t get a random handout than we cut working benefits and pay.

 

[MalcSB]

Bit disingenuous that. Starmer is talking about all winter fuel payments not making them means tested. I’d rather the richest demo doesn’t get a random handout than we cut working benefits and pay.

Weasel words

 

[wingy]

Promise to keep winter fuel allowance by many Labour MPs prove to be Labour lies. What next? The promise to reduce fuel costs? The triple lock?

I think the previous govt have to explain the the shortfall in all truth,uncosted spending seems to have been the byword for a lot of this, I don't think Jeremy Hunt queried a lot of it when interviewed on BBC, black hole of £35b sounds scarily similar to Truss's budget doesn't it?

 

[shmmeee]

Weasel words

Do you think Elton John needs a winter fuel allowance?

 

[shmmeee]

I think the previous govt have to explain the the shortfall in all truth,uncosted spending seems to have been the byword for a lot of this, I don't think Jeremy Hunt queried a lot of it when interviewed on BBC, black hole of £35b sounds scarily similar to Truss's budget doesn't it?

They knew they were losing since Truss and just piled everything up for the next government. People have been calling this out for years.

 

[wingy]

They knew they were losing since Truss and just piled everything up for the next government. People have been calling this out for years.

It's scary really almost all numbers for each disaster are scarily around the total of the predicted loss to our economy of Brexit?

 

[MalcSB]

I think the previous govt have to explain the the shortfall in all truth,uncosted spending seems to have been the byword for a lot of this, I don't think Jeremy Hunt queried a lot of it when interviewed on BBC, black hole of £35b sounds scarily similar to Truss's budget doesn't it?

Most of the shortfall has been explained by what Reeves has agreed to in the past couple of weeks,

 

[MalcSB]

It's scary really almost all numbers for each disaster are scarily around the total of the predicted loss to our economy of Brexit?

It’s not related.

 

[MalcSB]

Do you think Elton John needs a winter fuel allowance?

Whether he does or not, Labour lied.

 

[MalcSB]

They knew they were losing since Truss and just piled everything up for the next government. People have been calling this out for years.

Rubbish. Like saying the economy Is in the worst state since 1945. Or that it has all come as a surprise.

 

[clint van damme]

Do you think Elton John needs a winter fuel allowance?

He did sing a song sbout nicking a heater

 

[Philosoraptor]

Do you think Elton John needs a winter fuel allowance?

 

[fernandopartridge]

They used to pay off student loans just before I started teaching. Seems like a no brainer to me: come and teach for X years, get some or all of your loan forgiven. The cost can’t be that much surely considering how few people actually pay them all anyway.

Yeah, let's be honest the 'cost' of the student loan is practically written off as soon as it is issued.

 

[fernandopartridge]

Do you think Elton John needs a winter fuel allowance?

Honestly who cares?

 

[Deleted member 5849]

Honestly who cares?

Elton John does I guess.

 

[duffer]

Much as I want (and we need) this Labour government to do well, Reeves still comes over as a cheap Thatcher tribute act to me.

Qualifying for Pension Credit seems like a remarkably low bar to me.

My mum didn't qualify and all she had was the State Pension, £150 quid or so a month from a private pension, and a tiny maisonette, on which she was still paying a mortgage. The winter fuel allowance was a big deal for her, and people like her (of which there are many).

Looks a lot like the 'a' word to me, does this. Austerity. It's the inevitable result of taking on Tory fiscal dogma.

When we start talking seriously about redistribution from the wealthy rather than endlessly punishing the poor, I'll start believing a bit more in this Government...

The billions Britain needs are at Rachel Reeves’s fingertips, and no fiscal promises need be broken | Polly Toynbee

These initial cuts must be followed by an autumn budget that taxes the richest and focuses on growth, says the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com

 

[fernandopartridge]

Elton John does I guess.

And it seems to me, I'll live my life, with a candle for my light

 

[fernandopartridge]

Much as I want (and we need) this Labour government to do well, Reeves still comes over as a cheap Thatcher tribute act to me.

Qualifying for Pension Credit seems like a remarkably low bar to me.

My mum didn't qualify and all she had was the State Pension, £150 quid or so a month from a private pension, and a tiny maisonette, on which she was still paying a mortgage. The winter fuel allowance was a big deal for her, and people like her (of which there are many).

Looks a lot like the 'a' word to me, does this. Austerity. It's the inevitable result of taking on Tory fiscal dogma.

When we start talking seriously about redistribution from the wealthy rather than endlessly punishing the poor, I'll start believing a bit more in this Government...

The billions Britain needs are at Rachel Reeves’s fingertips, and no fiscal promises need be broken | Polly Toynbee

These initial cuts must be followed by an autumn budget that taxes the richest and focuses on growth, says the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com

Removal of the allowance is literally removing the equivalent amount from being spent in the real economy. As if we don't have enough being spent on deadweight hygiene needs like housing and utilities.

 

[shmmeee]

Much as I want (and we need) this Labour government to do well, Reeves still comes over as a cheap Thatcher tribute act to me.

Qualifying for Pension Credit seems like a remarkably low bar to me.

My mum didn't qualify and all she had was the State Pension, £150 quid or so a month from a private pension, and a tiny maisonette, on which she was still paying a mortgage. The winter fuel allowance was a big deal for her, and people like her (of which there are many).

Looks a lot like the 'a' word to me, does this. Austerity. It's the inevitable result of taking on Tory fiscal dogma.

When we start talking seriously about redistribution from the wealthy rather than endlessly punishing the poor, I'll start believing a bit more in this Government...

The billions Britain needs are at Rachel Reeves’s fingertips, and no fiscal promises need be broken | Polly Toynbee

These initial cuts must be followed by an autumn budget that taxes the richest and focuses on growth, says the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com

It is austerity. They backed themselves into a corner on tax, all that’s left is austerity. Should have just reversed the NI cuts really.

 

[Grendel]

Do you think Elton John needs a winter fuel allowance?

Deflecting the point as many on low pension incomes will suffer as a result of this

 

[fernandopartridge]

This is from a financial advisor's website so unsure on real source. State pensions across Europe: