asperity Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Oh yes the sacred NHS Lt Kije, the envy of the world. Such a good system that nobody in the world has copied it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 I don't remember bringing up the NHS Asp And the NHS is a good universal system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 If you regard the NHS as a system where the government provides insurance for all residents (or citizens) and pays all health care expenses, then that would include:- Norway, Kuwait, Sweden, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Finland, Slovenia, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Spain, Iceland, Brazil, Chile and Japan. In fact thirty-two of the thirty-three developed nations have universal health care with the United States the exception and the one that practically stands alone when it comes to people with illness or chronic conditions having difficulty affording health care and paying medical bills.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Greedy government, some of us like the National health service amongst other things Asp. Something wrong with your memory Lt.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 The NHS is a victim of it's own success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 The NHS is a victim of the success of it's own hype. It shouldn't be in the business of providing cosmetic surgery and the like for "free at the point of need" for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 The NHS is a victim of the success of it's own hype. It shouldn't be in the business of providing cosmetic surgery and the like for "free at the point of need" for example. I agree, there's a lot wrong with the NHS but I wouldn't swap it for the US model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Totally agree Asp: said many times, we need to decide exactly just what the parameters of the NHS should be; knowing, the greater the scope, the greater the cost. Problem is, politicians keep tinkering with it, trying to get more out of it, whilst putting less in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fugtifino Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Anyway, back to zero hours contracts: anyone who thinks they're a good idea has never worked on one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algy Posted August 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 1910 the days of casual labour (the new definition - Zero hours contracts) these men at Liverpools' Alexandra Dock crowding around the foremen in an attempt to get picked for a days work it was called 'the stand' and the ritual was repeated daily. Bill Smathers speaks about his days on the docks:You had to ‘get on the stand’, and if your face fitted, you got a job. You had to form a stand, inside the dock gates then. The boss would come out and put his hand on your shoulder. Well, when he done that, you were employed. You might get half a day’s work, a day’s work, or you might get a week’s work, which was very, very seldom. Only the bosses, like the office staff, were employed permanent. The ordinary dockers were all casual workers.You got eight shillings a day. That’s all and you had to work very hard for it. You had no mechanical gear. Everything was hand-balled … you worked any kind of cargo that came along … grain, hides, sugar, tea. cotton, asbestos, carbon-black. You were glad to do the day’s work to get the money. I can see these times returning, what unions there are are not strong enough to protect their members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 So Zero hour contracts are a step back in time algy. It's where they belong, Just to add to the debate http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23655605 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Could the drop in wages also be partly attributed to the influx of Eastern European labour being willing to do jobs previously commanding more than minimum wage for the minimum wage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davy51 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 The government have worked a crafty move now by having the job centre referring customers to their employment providing partners which are ,in effect ,agencies so the customer can then be taken off the dole figure because he/she is now with an agency which still has few jobs to offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Could the drop in wages also be partly attributed to the influx of Eastern European labour being willing to do jobs previously commanding more than minimum wage for the minimum wage? Or nasty bosses taking cheap illegal labour instead of employing legal labour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Or nasty bosses taking cheap illegal labour instead of employing legal labour that could be a factor too.... Although from all the times I have seen that it tends to be foreign restaurant owners and builders etc. that tend to employ illegals (although not exclusively) the craziness of it though (if you have ever watched the programme that follows the UK Border Force in their work) is that you can have an illegal Chinese immigrant running a Chinese takeaway in South Wales who also employs illegal Chinese workers. The workers are rounded up and deported (allegedly) and the boss gets a £10,000 fine per illegal a) How did they manage to set up a business in the first place? How do they get the illegal workers to work there? c) Why are they not deported too? On occasion they have raided "legitimate" businesses and found illegal workers. Hit the business with fines of up to £30,000 and then gone back a few months later only to find more illegals there.... how can any takeaway food business afford to pay fines like that and if they aren't paying the fines why are they still allowed to trade?? The bloody mind boggles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Well the latest capture of "illegal" Chinese, in Spain; reported that the traffickers were charging £50,000 per individual to smuggle them into Europe, providing them with false passports - so I guess for that kind of money they can arrange a job too?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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