Westminster Politics

Thank god we have a niche example to justify this shit show.

I don't see allowing people to work more hours if they choose to as being contentious. I don't see anyone arguing that people should be forced to work longer hours against their will.
 
I don't see allowing people to work more hours if they choose to as being contentious. I don't see anyone arguing that people should be forced to work longer hours against their will.

You really don't think the torys plan to get rid of the working time directive won't put people at risk of being forced to work longer hours as standard?
 
You really don't think the torys plan to get rid of the working time directive won't put people at risk of being forced to work longer hours as standard?

I think if someone tries to get someone else to work more than their contractual commitment then they will have a breach of contract / constructive dismissal case on their hands. If they force them in a physical sense then they'll have even greater problems.

Obviously if people are successful applicants to a job that's strictly 60 hour per week and decide that it isn't for them they can resign.
 
You really don't think the torys plan to get rid of the working time directive won't put people at risk of being forced to work longer hours as standard?

You only have to look at the hours they were forcing on junior doctors a few years ago (still do to some degree).
 

Yes, at the heart of matters is the resistance to change in the CS, and as we've heard from the past even those who will eventually benefit from change will still initially reject it!

Accusations about Priti Patel's bullying (or not) is a side show, the danger is that Government is taking on an all out war on certain CS 'mandarins' and that in itself could disrupt Brexit reforms. Politically Boris cannot afford delays and deviations and he and many of his ministers, in fact the whole cabinet, are likely to adopt a take no prisoner approach in rooting out what they may see as 'fifth-column' remainers in the CS.

Patel seems to be the Governments 'arse-kicker in chief' Minister, piloted in her efforts perhaps by Dominic Cummings and his highly prized intel.
 
I don't see allowing people to work more hours if they choose to as being contentious.

Depends what the job is. The 56 hours you mentioned suggests you're talking about drivers and tbh other road users might well argue that abolishing that rule is contentious when it will be them that gets shunted in the back by a 20 tonne articulated lorry driven by a guy who can barely stay awake.
 
The S*n on YouTube have a video that's called "Army on standby as Boris declares war on coronavirus with battle plan to kill off deadly bug".

That's Boris, the utter coward who probably thinks paternity leave means abandoning your child, and is apparently some incredible military strategist now. I imagine the battle plan involves hiding in a fridge.
 
The S*n on YouTube have a video that's called "Army on standby as Boris declares war on coronavirus with battle plan to kill off deadly bug".
I miss the old Doctor Who episodes.
 
Depends what the job is. The 56 hours you mentioned suggests you're talking about drivers and tbh other road users might well argue that abolishing that rule is contentious when it will be them that gets shunted in the back by a 20 tonne articulated lorry driven by a guy who can barely stay awake.

I'm not. If I were my insurance premiums would be disincentive enough.
 
:lol: 'Doctor Where' would be more appropriate for him.
 
Doctor%2BWho%2B-%2BThe%2BBrigadier%2B-%2BThe%2BAmbassadors%2Bof%2BDeath%2B1.png

"Right - gimme all your hand sanitiser."
 
I don't see allowing people to work more hours if they choose to as being contentious. I don't see anyone arguing that people should be forced to work longer hours against their will.

The idea that the pressures on people to work longer hours boil down to people either being "forced" or not is laughably naive.
 
Good point. The BBC reporter actually on the scene, who said it didn't happen, only had the one source after all.

I'm more in the feckup camp than in the 'giant tory conspiracy one' on this. But you go ahead and enjoy yourself.
 
I'm more in the feckup camp than in the 'giant tory conspiracy one' on this.
You can tell it just was a feck up by Panorama's expose on the government sources (there must have been two after all) who used the two highest profile TV journalists in the country to peddle demonstrable lies during an election campaign. It must be on next week.
 
I think if someone tries to get someone else to work more than their contractual commitment then they will have a breach of contract / constructive dismissal case on their hands. If they force them in a physical sense then they'll have even greater problems.

Obviously if people are successful applicants to a job that's strictly 60 hour per week and decide that it isn't for them they can resign.

do you think that 19th century european working hours were voluntary on the part of workers?
 
The idea that the pressures on people to work longer hours boil down to people either being "forced" or not is laughably naive.

do you think that 19th century european working hours were voluntary on the part of workers?

I think the idea that the state knows better and that forcing people to accept their view as law is oppressive.

If the state feels that working those hours is inhumane, they should advocate for fewer hours. If people listen to them and stop working for employers who demand you work 60 hours then that's democracy in action. Employers who only require 40 hours will become more successful as they will attract better and more productive staff whilst employers who demand 60 hours will have fatigued staff who're less productive. The former will flourish and the latter will disappear.

If however you have a large cohort of people who actively and productivity want to work a 60 hour night shift and with mutual agreement you can run a successful business then everyone is happy.

The alternative is we force people to do something they don't want to do under the guise of "big brother knows best". Big Brother knows shit. Especially as the state never tells bankers they can't work 80 hour weeks, it's always the poor they need to protect from their own perceived stupidity.
 
I think the idea that the state knows better and that forcing people to accept their view as law is oppressive.

If the state feels that working those hours is inhumane, they should advocate for fewer hours. If people listen to them and stop working for employers who demand you work 60 hours then that's democracy in action. Employers who only require 40 hours will become more successful as they will attract better and more productive staff whilst employers who demand 60 hours will have fatigued staff who're less productive. The former will flourish and the latter will disappear.

If however you have a large cohort of people who actively and productivity want to work a 60 hour night shift and with mutual agreement you can run a successful business then everyone is happy.

The alternative is we force people to do something they don't want to do under the guise of "big brother knows best". Big Brother knows shit. Especially as the state never tells bankers they can't work 80 hour weeks, it's always the poor they need to protect from their own perceived stupidity.

that doesn't answer my question.
to quote the Indian Supreme Court from 1982, speaking on the application of forced labour laws to a minimum wage case -

Even if remuneration is paid, labour supplied by a person would be hit by Article 23 if it is forced labour, that is, labour supplied not willingly but as a result of force or compulsion. For example, where a person has entered into a contract of service with another for a period of three years and he wishes to discontinue serving such other person before the expiration of the period of three years, if a law were to provide that in such a case the contract shall be specifically enforced and he shall be compelled to serve for the full period of three years, it would clearly amount to forced labour and such a law would be void as offending Article 23. That is why specific performance of a contract of service cannot be enforced against an employee and the employee cannot be forced by compulsion of law to continue to serve the employer. Of course, if there is a breach of the contract of service, the employee would be liable to pay damages to the employer but he cannot be forced to continue to serve the employer without breaching the injunction of Article 23. [487 H; 488 A-D] Baily v. Alabama, 219 US 219:55 Law Ed. 191; quoted with approval/

Even if a person has contracted with another to perform service and there is consideration for such service in the shape of liquidation of debt or even remuneration, he cannot be forced by compulsion of law or otherwise, to continue to perform such service, as that would be forced labour within the inhibition of Article 23, which strikes at every form of forced labour even if it has its origin in a contract voluntarily entered into by the person obligated to provide labour or service, for the reasons, namely; (i) it offends against human dignity to compel a person to provide labour or service to another if he does not wish to do so, even though it be breach of the contract entered into by him; (ii) there should be no serfdom or involuntary servitude in a free democratic India which respects the dignity of the individual and the worth of the human person; (iii) in a country like India where there is so much poverty and unemployment and there is no equality of bargaining power, a contract of service may on its face voluntary but it may, in reality, be involuntary, because while entering into the contract the employee by reason of his economically helpless condition, may have been faced with Hobson's choice, either to starve or to submit to the exploitative terms dictated by the powerful employer. It would be a travesty of justice to hold the employee in such a case to the terms of the contract and to compel him to serve the employer even though he may not wish to do so.
[...]
It is a fact that in a capitalist society economic circumstances exert much greater pressure on an individual in driving him to a particular course of action than physical compulsion or force of legislative provision. The word 'force' must therefore be construed to include not only physical or legal force but force arising from the compulsion of economic circumstances which leaves no choice of alternatives to a person in want and compels him to provide labour or service even though the remuneration received for it is less than the minimum wage.
https://indiankanoon.org/doc/496663/
 
I think the idea that the state knows better and that forcing people to accept their view as law is oppressive.

If the state feels that working those hours is inhumane, they should advocate for fewer hours. If people listen to them and stop working for employers who demand you work 60 hours then that's democracy in action. Employers who only require 40 hours will become more successful as they will attract better and more productive staff whilst employers who demand 60 hours will have fatigued staff who're less productive. The former will flourish and the latter will disappear.

If however you have a large cohort of people who actively and productivity want to work a 60 hour night shift and with mutual agreement you can run a successful business then everyone is happy.

The alternative is we force people to do something they don't want to do under the guise of "big brother knows best". Big Brother knows shit. Especially as the state never tells bankers they can't work 80 hour weeks, it's always the poor they need to protect from their own perceived stupidity.
Holy feck. Are you really this naive?
Your example of the free market arriving at the best and optimum working practices for all is a total ideologically based fantasy, demonstrably disproven by reality.
 
I think the idea that the state knows better and that forcing people to accept their view as law is oppressive.

If the state feels that working those hours is inhumane, they should advocate for fewer hours. If people listen to them and stop working for employers who demand you work 60 hours then that's democracy in action. Employers who only require 40 hours will become more successful as they will attract better and more productive staff whilst employers who demand 60 hours will have fatigued staff who're less productive. The former will flourish and the latter will disappear.

If however you have a large cohort of people who actively and productivity want to work a 60 hour night shift and with mutual agreement you can run a successful business then everyone is happy.

The alternative is we force people to do something they don't want to do under the guise of "big brother knows best". Big Brother knows shit. Especially as the state never tells bankers they can't work 80 hour weeks, it's always the poor they need to protect from their own perceived stupidity.

What an incredibly bizarre statement. Did you even think about what you were typing? Even the merest glance at the real world shows us its not only false, but the exact opposite of what actually happens. People work on zero hours contracts when they want known hours, they work in the gig economy when they want to be considered employees, they work for companies that pay below living wage even though it leaves them in poverty, and so on. Hell, the entirety of the post-industrialisation era shows that what you're suggesting simply doesn't happen in the real world. Its why we ended up with powerful unions and why we have parliamentary representation of labour.
 
What an incredibly bizarre statement. Did you even think about what you were typing? Even the merest glance at the real world shows us its not only false, but the exact opposite of what actually happens. People work on zero hours contracts when they want known hours, they work in the gig economy when they want to be considered employees, they work for companies that pay below living wage even though it leaves them in poverty, and so on. Hell, the entirety of the post-industrialisation era shows that what you're suggesting simply doesn't happen in the real world. Its why we ended up with powerful unions and why we have parliamentary representation of labour.

The naivety the likes of Finneh shows in everything he says shows that some people simply don't understand the real world. Yet still get's an equal say in it.
 
Holy feck. Are you really this naive?
Your example of the free market arriving at the best and optimum working practices for all is a total ideologically based fantasy, demonstrably disproven by reality.
I think it's "I'm alright Jack" more than naivety.
What an incredibly bizarre statement. Did you even think about what you were typing? Even the merest glance at the real world shows us its not only false, but the exact opposite of what actually happens. People work on zero hours contracts when they want known hours, they work in the gig economy when they want to be considered employees, they work for companies that pay below living wage even though it leaves them in poverty, and so on. Hell, the entirety of the post-industrialisation era shows that what you're suggesting simply doesn't happen in the real world. Its why we ended up with powerful unions and why we have parliamentary representation of labour.
Many people who are on zero hours contracts like being on them. It gives them flexibility to choose when they want to work and to also top up their bank savings when they want to. They're not tied down to 36 hours a week when they'd, like all of us, rather have a lie in. I used to be on a zero hours contract and it was the best job I had. I could get three shifts one week so I could work 45 hours and then get three weeks off where I wrestled with the rats surrounding my cardboard house for food scraps because I was getting feck all work unless I was willing to kill myself for the benefit of some jumped up entrepreneur who gave his incompetent brother a management role and skimmed our wages from time to time.
 
I think it's "I'm alright Jack" more than naivety.

Many people who are on zero hours contracts like being on them. It gives them flexibility to choose when they want to work and to also top up their bank savings when they want to. They're not tied down to 36 hours a week when they'd, like all of us, rather have a lie in. I used to be on a zero hours contract and it was the best job I had. I could get three shifts one week so I could work 45 hours and then get three weeks off where I wrestled with the rats surrounding my cardboard house for food scraps because I was getting feck all work unless I was willing to kill myself for the benefit of some jumped up entrepreneur who gave his incompetent brother a management role and skimmed our wages from time to time.

Sometimes I'm not sure with you :lol:
 
Holy feck. Are you really this naive?
Your example of the free market arriving at the best and optimum working practices for all is a total ideologically based fantasy, demonstrably disproven by reality.
If you want to see something crazy, ask @finneh what he thinks should happen if a restaurant refuses to serve a black family.
 
that doesn't answer my question.
to quote the Indian Supreme Court from 1982, speaking on the application of forced labour laws to a minimum wage case -


https://indiankanoon.org/doc/496663/

I don't disagree with you, it's the means of protecting the worker that I disagree with as not only do they fail to achieve the aim of protecting the worse off in society, but often actively harm the poorest.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjACegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw3U5E1bpQJB7kSRPAzS3fm0

My view as is articulated above in that these regulations generally hurt the poorest and benefit the middle classes and wealthiest by reducing competition. The WTD is no different in limiting hours for the poorest (e.g. my operative on £28k pa who isn't allowed to earn another £4k pa Vs a banker who can work 80 hours without penalty).

The intentions are good but as is often the case the outcomes are undesirable.
 
Erm I think that depends how much you earn?...
Sorry, but I'm asking if the majority of people do or not? Meant to put a question mark at the end of that rather thank make it look like a statement.
 
I mean, they're not wrong are they or am I missing the point? You get more from a pension than you've paid in?

Depends on a number of things, the chief of which is how long you live after starting to receive your full pension!
Because people now tend to live longer after they reach (state) pensionable age, some may get back what they paid in, but the whole thing use to be predicated on the basis of most people dying within ten years of retirement, now the predictions are more like the majority surviving 20 years, hence the need to increase the official retirement age.
 
I mean, they're not wrong are they or am I missing the point? You get more from a pension than you've paid in?
What a lot of people don't get is that what they paid in over the years has gone. All of it, and more, spent on current pensions at the time of their paying in. All they got for it, apart from the warm glow that comes from looking after others, is a promise that future generations would pay for their own pension when the time came. Just a promise, that's all.