Month: February 2023

Exxon is suing the EU over a windfall tax. Shell announces record profits and all the rest will also do so. Meanwhile across the world inflation is hitting the poorest members of society. Surely the answer is to set a price cap for these industries across the developed world. How about a profit margin of e.g. 4% gross. With exemptions for fossil free energy production. Prices could be fixed like bank rates at bi-monthly meetings based on average prices. This would have the added advantage of giving haulage companies a degree of certainty. The companies will squeal but are they not very similar to the utility companies which have similar provisions? Prices at the pumps vary little between supermarkets.

Capitalism does not like price fixing, however rampant extortion on this scale means it is essential. The CAP of the EU enabled farmers to have fixed returns on investments and led to the thriving production across Europe. I acknowledge some negative impacts in LEDC’s.

How are some people so stupid? A phone in idiot complained that teachers only worked 180 days/year and should not complain. Why does he not become a teacher if it is such a doddle? These people seem to have an innate belief in communism that has got lost in the gaps in their brains. Different jobs have different requirements and therefore wages. Public sector workers have seen their relative wages diminish, relative to other workers, whilst inflation has had a major role in undermining training costs and time. If a train driver earns £70000 because that is what their role is valued at, they should not have to face a pay cut.

Also with inflation wages go up and so do taxes like income tax and national insurance. So the government must be mismanaging the economy if their income is rising commensurately? We know that their mismanagement of Brexit has lowered our exports massively.

Then the government announces it is spending more on education than ever before! That is inflation for you. Where does this extra money go? Academies are supposed to be more efficient – has anyone ever seen any figures to show this? Although some head teachers are paid in excess of £150000. Efficient county support services have been shut down and management outsourced. Secretarial and office staff at a secondary school often needs its own multi-storey block, whist in class support is being cut. One example – at Churchill there were 2.5 office staff in 1986. Today about 20. Wage slips are outsourced, but then checked as basic errors seem to be common. And now academies are merging to achieve economies of scale – will they call them local authorities? Which themselves do not cut wages of executives when they outsource responsibilities!

Teachers should not be running the finances of schools just as doctors should not be running the surgeries finances. My view on teaching would be to increase pay with experience. this would include pastoral experience. But have a cut off of about £70000. Management of the site and finances would be separated. Why should a good teacher/doctor be denied the opportunity to continue following their excellence? Often to pursue a management role they are untrained for and crap at!