AIBU to say that I have had enough of this government and Its grabby supporters.

DS trained in a trade. Despite coming top of his year in the level 2 course and wanting to do the level 3, everything changed and he needed both a Maths and an English GCSE to do level 3.

He was told he couldn’t even do the course he had just completed with a near perfect score

College ended up closing because they couldn’t get anyone who wanted to do a trade and had the qualifications.

I have got a friend who can’t do a course to widen her knowledge in a particular area of her business because she doesn’t have a maths GCSE

Patronising woman at the college on the open evening said she should look at doing something that didn’t require qualifications as she wouldn’t cope with all she had to learn.

Imagine telling a chef they should get a job as a waiter because they are never going to be able to do the course in how to make sushi if they haven’t got their maths GCSE

You can be very intelligent speak well and be able to read and write legible instructions as well as plaster a house or make a staircase from scratch and not have an English or maths GCSE

The really odd thing is that if you go abroad you can get the qualification and then be able to work in the UK

Your completely right. Those who take in society have taken to the point where it is breaking down. It cannot be right that so people just sponge off the state and the hard work of people like you, then expect you to grateful that you live in this country with them. It's time for a rebase. If you can afford the latest iphone you don't need state charity, if you can afford to go on holiday you don't need state charity. It makes we so cross. I fear we have crossed the point where there are no so many turkeys voting we won't be able to get out of it.

Some points -
Autism isn't a 'sick mind' fgs. Although the issues caused by being ND in a NT world can certainly cause mental health issues.
People can be on benefits and work.
People can claim carers allowance and still work, although that work is limited.

And to the person who said work is good for mental health, that's only the case with supportive, reasonable employers. Bad employers do not help improve mental health, and can cause poor mental health.

What's needed is functioning mental health services that can see people in a timely fashion!

How are those on UC being shafted ?

if I can just mention this small thing for anyone that has a business too - specially anyone employing just themselves and one or two others via payroll ( even if it’s your partner ) - im
mentioning it as I do my own accounts and had totally missed this for some reason - the gvt have upped ‘employer assistance’ on employer NI contributions up to £10k. From £5k - which means if you pay employer NI contributions you will probably end up paying nil on employer NI in a small business , unless all incredibly highly paid .

@Alexandra2001 but of course those of us who predicted this were just talking the country down - let’s be frank the Tory’s remained in power for 4 years post Brexit and couldn’t make it work - if they could have, they would have done so . However much Brexiters want to think we could be like the US - we can’t - the USA is its own ‘EU’ and has a big enough internal market plus Canada to generate opportunity for international business - Australia is different too as it has strategic alliances with far east but also doesn’t have its competitors literally 26 miles over the sea.

IME zero hour contracts suit employers far more than employees. It is often impossible to get F/T hours, especially in retail. Employers choose to employ under zero hours and then pick and choose which hours they want to give you and if you decline or take time off, they will then not give you hours for a while. I have seen this happen with my own DC.
There will be a small amount of employees for whom zero hours works but for the vast majority, with mortgages and bills to pay, it really doesn’t and it only benefits employers. Personally, I welcome more rights for workers.

This, I totally agree.

I also work hard for the NHS in my min wage job, doing 10 hour shifts with 1/2 hour break.

Why is it always said that it is only the wealthy that have worked hard?

God forbid, op, that you’d have to put your children into state school and they’d have the same opportunities as people who don’t have wealthy parents and you couldn’t buy privilege.

I agree totally about Labour and disability benefits as well, I have voted Labour all my life but this is not what I voted for so will not be voting for them again.

100% agree, Brexit and we have Farage of Reform to thank for this, has cost the UK billions in lost investment and needless costs... for what?

Starmer needs to get on and negotiate a CU/SM deal even if the names change, the clock is ticking as we were once told.

Thats not backed by the figures, 124k fewer job vacancies in 24/25 .... 542k fewer jobs since the highs of 2022.

We have lost more job vacancies prior to July 2024, then since.

R4 covered this recently, one reason is the NI increases & NMW increases, i wont deny that... but another effect is AI, employers are worried about taking people on into roles that may well soon disappear, so are hanging back..

Also, employers are far more choosy, making sure the applicant is suitable and is the right fit, as employment law may change, making it harder to get rid of people for no reason.. not a bad thing?

But here's the rub... more unemployment but productivity remains the same or increases, means we have GDP growth....

You know what would give us some quick economic growth at minimal cost within 18 months- setting up a single market and customs union with EU - I’m sorry but whether people like it or not it’s one of the biggies why there’s an issue - a lack of international investment unless it’s a very uk specific enterprise like say an Amazon warehouse. It was easy to blame Covid initially as they timed together and Ukraine too but the reality is its lack of EU money and international investment that’s an issue and it has now come home to roost , as well as lack of control treaty’s on sending the small boats back - it always would have come home and it’s my belief the Tory’s threw the election too because they were well aware of the score - it’s much easier to carp from the sidelines than deal with the issues - hence why they let 900k not particularly skilled immigrants in legally for several years on the trot

From the hundreds of people I work with there wasn’t any issue with jobs. People left university, they got a job and you never saw them again. It’s just last years university graduates who for quite a few who got a job directly from University and thought they were following a well trodden path only to find that after the Budget they were being let go and no other jobs available and having to return to the agency work on a zero hours contract. Except the agency work that once could offer them 5 days work per week is now only averaging 2 days per week.

Growth will only come when we start to invest wisely and with care, not the huge waste we have seen with HS2, over 130 billion if you include the cancellation of the northern leg.

Too much of any growth under the Tories was based on immigration, which isn't real growth at all.

Tax? NI was cut by 19 billion, it led to not a single % point of growth BT it is costing over £10billion pa in lost tax revenue, which means less investment, more cuts elsewhere and lower growth....

Plenty of ministers have had commercial experience in the RW, as have their advisors.

Job vacancies have been decreasing rapidly for over 3 years, what was the cause for drop in the preceding 2 1/2 years before the NI increase announced?

The UK economy didn't bounce back after Covid compared to other comparable countries.

But its just easy to blame Labour for the last 3 years, than look for the real causes.

We need economic growth. Tax is not the answer - unless it gives incentives to work / invest. Our politicians (as a whole) are so busy in-fighting and being politicians who’ve never worked a commercial job in their life, that they have no clue on how to encourage it. The huge debt incurred during covid, the interest on that debt, the Ukraine war (jeopardising energy and food) and a poorly executed Brexit have all added to the challenge.

My dream would be for all of society’s contributors and those who need support to feel more prosperous and secure. I can’t see how any political party can deliver on this.

The top? Have you heard of Billionaires?

Yes, it was in good shape. Six months before the global financial crisis, the Tories said Labour were not spending enough, and promised to increase spending by 5%. That claim was conveniently removed from their website a few months after the 2008 crash, when they were harping on about Labour’s supposedly profligate spending.

We also had the best health outcomes by spending in the developed nations on all measures other than public health; the US was at the bottom of all measures.

It sounds like your real problem is that you need a better accountant.

Could the OP explain why she was so much better off under the Tory's then ?? - because I’m in the same position as her and I see no difference! And if it involves VAT on private schools- well that’s a choice not a necessity

This with bells on. We employ a couple of people on zero hrs who it really suits. Retirees who work for the summer then follow the winter sun. Students who want work in the Xmas hols.

we are actively looking to move away from business activity that involves employing people. It’s far too atresssful.

In very good shape. NHS ranked best in the world. Sure Start doing real good.

I work advising low paid people working in the creative sector. It’s only going to get worse imo. We already have a spike in employed music teachers being forced into ‘self employment’ to eliminate the vat, NI and pension costs, and zero hours workers in education across all sectors losing work. It’s not just the NI. Another big chill wind is the employment rights bill enabling you to ‘insist’ on regular hours if you’ve worked regular hours for 12 weeks even if you have a zero hour contract. Arts orgs and music schools are openly saying they can’t afford this. It’s nuts. How to break a sector. It’s as if the government only understands a 70s model of regular permanent employment and just wants to bolt this on to all settings with no regard for the settings. Student politics.

Exactly, I think more people are realising this.

OP Instead of rereading Atlas Shrugged, you should try The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mandibles

whatever you think of shriver, this is one scary book, especially looking at the uk’s direction of travel right now.

Can I also say that speaking to a tradesmen they other day they said that they struggle to get apprentices / trainees as they are clueless - don't bring outdoor clothing, forget to bring their lunch, arrive late etc etc