Greetings All.
The details of the planned reforms to benefits, and in
particular the "sanctions" to be applied to people who
do not take jobs which are available, remain obscure.
I read: 'There will be tougher penalties for people
fit to work but unwilling to do so. A sliding scale
of sanctions will see those refusing work on three
occasions having their benefits taken away for three
months.'
( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11728546 )
It has struck me that, by imposing penalties when
work is available but is not taken up, without any
apparent restraints on what work is offered, and how,
opens the door for employers to offer demanding work
at minimal wages, taking advantage of the sanctions
that would be imposed on those who turn it down.
In other words, opening the door to a "gangmaster"
society (with, perhaps, the Government being Chief
Gangmaster).
I also read (same URL):
'"In prosperous times this dependency culture
would be unsustainable but today it's a national
crisis," said Mr Duncan Smith.
He said 70% of the four million new jobs created
during one of the longest economic booms in
history had gone to foreign workers, while 4.5
million British people continued a life on benefits.
"Businesses had to bring people in from overseas
because our welfare system did not encourage or
even assist people to take those jobs," said
the minister.'
I think this is probably a mis-representation of the
reasons why businesses "brought in" people from overseas.
Surely one of the main reasons is two-fold:
a) Many people from impoverished communites in countries
newly admitted to the EU sought to come to the UK
where jobs were avialble;
b) They were willing to work for a pittance (by UK standards),
and live in poor conditions, in order to be able to send
money home.
And employers were thus able to employ them at much less than
it would cost to employ UK nationals. And the gangmasters
nicely organised it all.
The above is probably a partially-informed opinion, and I
would be obliged for any better-informed comment.
Ted.
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E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <[log in to unmask]>
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Date: 11-Nov-10 Time: 18:06:28
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