Pampered public sector will bring nation to its knees – the main reasons are greed and selfishness
TEACHERS in England work fewer hours than almost any others in Europe, a survey suggests.
And they will work even fewer this year, as they’re out on strike. Again.
All strikes are disruptive. But when the teachers strike it brings the economy to a grinding halt.
They know this. That’s why they’re doing it.
So are they badly paid? You’ve got to be kidding.
British teachers are the seventh best paid in the entire world, the survey from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says.
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With 15 years’ experience, the study adds, they will earn much more than counterparts in the likes of France, Spain, Italy, New Zealand and Norway.
The survey also says they work fewer hours than teachers in ANY country of the developed world, except Luxembourg.
And there’s only about three schools in Luxembourg, where they teach kids to make stamps all day. Probably.
So why do our teachers carp? Well, they say they have faced a “real terms” cut in wages. Prices have risen sharply. You’ve noticed, no?
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Thanks for your explanation, Miss. It’s called INFLATION. And if the Government caves in and pays the teachers any more than the five per cent they’ve been offered, that will make inflation worse, won’t it? Worse for everyone.
But the teachers don’t give a stuff about anyone else. It’s hard to believe they give a stuff about kids, either.
Far too many youngsters, especially in the primary sector, got next to no schooling during the pandemic.
The civil servants decided to take the day off today, too. Though I’m not sure anybody noticed. That’s another group who were swinging the lead during Covid.
A pampered public sector is for ever clamouring for more money for less work.
Generous pensions
The nurses have voted to strike too. Our nurses are nowhere near as well paid as teachers.
But they still earn a lot more than do nurses in France and Italy.
The idea that our NHS staff is uniquely badly treated in the developed world is bunkum.
Our nurses get around about the average wage for a job in the UK. That seems to me to be about right.
So why all these strikes? Well, we have a cost-of-living crisis.
By and large, when people in the private sector face a cost-of-living crisis, they tighten their belts and sit it out.
When people in the public sector face the same thing, they demand more money, and usually get it. And when they don’t, they strike.
Never mind the other enormous benefits they get from being public servants.
Very generous pensions and often a shorter working week among them.
They are also on strike because the unions hate the current Government and want to get the message across that the wicked Tories are paying everyone a pittance.
I’m not keen on the current Government, either. But it isn’t true.
Public sector workers are bringing this country to its knees. And the main reasons are greed and selfishness.
Let us pray the Government stays firm. Give in now and there will be more misery just around the corner.
WONG’S GOT IT WRONG
AUSTRALIAN Foreign Minister Penny Wong has been lecturing us.
She said Britain must confront its colonial legacy in her region of the world.
OK. Let’s do a bit of confronting, then.
If it wasn’t for our colonial legacy, Penny, your country would not be part of the developed world.
It would likely not be one of the richest in the world. With one of the highest life expectancies. With one of the highest standards of living.
Instead, it would probably be on a par with the poorest parts of Africa, at best.
That’s what our “colonial legacy” has meant for Australia, Ms Wong.
So don’t forget it, no matter how tempting it is to spew out fashionable woke platitudes.
THE third Monday in January, Blue Monday, is supposedly the worst day of the year.
But for folks like me, who enjoy their football, that comes a little later.
Today, in fact – when the transfer window slammed shut.
And having hoped your team might sign Lionel Messi you end up with Rudy Gestede.
It’s actually been pretty good for my lot, Millwall, this time around.
But clubs can never quite match our sense of expectation.
ESPECIALLY if you’re an Everton fan.
SCOTCH FROTH
IF you want a good laugh, watch Scottish Nationalist Party leader Nicola Sturgeon being interviewed on the transgender prison row.
Her answers are hilarious because they make no sense whatsoever.
Let’s be clear. The multiple rapist Isla Bryson is not a woman.
He may wish to identify as a woman. But he is not.
This absurdity has to come to an end because, as Sturgeon has shown, it makes no sense in the real world.
Think Rihanna is hell? Listen to BT fault line
AN American priest who had a heart attack apparently “died” briefly and went to Hell.
When he got there he found they were playing songs by Rihanna to the eternally damned.
Gerald Johnson said his brief trip was utterly unendurable and that they also played the song Don’t Worry, Be Happy.
I thought I’d better investigate further, so contacted Hell’s press office.
An infernal spokesimp told me: “Typical misinformation from the other side.
“The playlist in Hell’s ante-room does not include Rihanna.
“It is all soothing electronic music like you get when you’re on hold for six hours to the BT fault line.
“The clue to this misunderstanding lies in Mr Johnson’s vocation. He’s a priest. That wasn’t Hell he visited, it was Heaven.”
APPRENTICE time again tomorrow night.
We’re hoping Shazia or Reece get the boot. Or preferably both.
Shazia’s chippy and annoying.
Reece is the incredibly dim Scots bloke who should have been fired before.
The trouble is, not one of the candidates this time around is either terribly likeable or very bright.
It grieves me to think that any of them might win the show.
A CALL TO UMS ’N’ AHS
THE Ukrainians will be getting a few tanks, at last. But not for quite a while.
Meanwhile, they’re short of anti-tank weapons and fighter jets.
Our grudging and piecemeal support for Ukraine is immoral.
They need to be properly equipped to fight Putin’s invaders.
The way we are behaving will simply drag out the war for longer and longer.
We should give President Zelensky the materials he needs to finish the job.
Then we need never fear the Russians again.
EXPOSE COVID’S SNOOPS
SO, the Government secretly spied on people who thought lockdown was pointless, or that Covid vaccines might be dangerous.
A covert Army regiment was ordered to track what was being said by journalists like Peter Hitchens and Toby Young.
And someone on government orders ensured that the articles they wrote disappeared from view.
Why has there not been more fuss made about this? It gives a chilling insight into our Government’s authoritarianism.
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At the very least we need an inquiry into who ordered what and when.
And then some sackings.
I SEE that the International Monetary Fund has said our economy is about robust and vibrant as an octogenarian’s todger.
The only good news is that the IMF is almost always wrong about everything.
But what our Government needs to do is lower taxes, not for the rich but for the middle classes.
Those paying at the 40 per cent rate.
And ease the regulations on small firms.
Both of those policies would get our economy moving again.