To think Piers Morgan has a point?

[Bluebellpainting]

Personally not a fan of Piers Morgan and his interview style annoys me with the constant interruptions. However when questioning the health secretary I did think he had a point about taking a pay cut. Matt Hancock was quite quick when asked to suggest that footballers should take a pay cut but isn’t willing to do the same himself. My husband and I disagree but wondered what others thought. AIBU to think the Matt Hancock is being hypocritical by suggesting others should be taking a pay cut but not being willing to take one himself?

This is what has happened in New Zealand to show solidarity with everyone affected financially by the shut down.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/15/jacinda-ardern-and-ministers-take-20-pay-cut-in-solidarity-with-those-hit-by-covid-19

Apples and oranges comparison, OP

Matt Hancock will have his MP's salary, his minister's salary, his tax-free official car, phone and computer, and his second-home allowance either as mortgage payments or rent paid for whichever of his homes he chooses to designate as not his main home.

He will not get his office and staff allowances in his pocket as many people seem to think but will have to pay these out of his own pocket then claim them back.

It's quite interesting that the New Zealand prime minister has taken a 20% pay cut for the next 6 months and I believe ordered her cabinet to do the same. She said it may not make a big difference but they have to be sent to lead and set examples.

Why does anyone need to take a pay cut? The whole thing's a nonsense argument dreamed up to stir everyone up.

Lots of footballers are over paid, lots of all kinds of people are "over paid" by some people's standards, but they are paid the market rate for what they do and they have negotiated these contracts.

Equally, lots of people's work is underpaid and under valued.

Footballers, like everyone else - under or over paid - pay the requisite amount of tax based on their earnings, and this is contributed to society's pot. Many of them also donate willingly to causes that they choose. If you wish to commandeer a higher proportion of their wages for society's pot then vote to raise taxes for the wealthy. I would note though that vast numbers of people thought exactly this was laughable and bordering on extremist at the last election.

I have no particular loyalty to or desire to defend footballers in particular, but I'm so tired of this need to single out particular people or groups of people as "the cause of all society's ills". I also notice it's never the landed gentry who've hoarded wealth and power for generations who are considered to be the problem.

X posted with bangin!

My understanding with regards to Matt Hancock's request to footballers was based on the fact that the clubs tried to furlough all of their non playing staff (backroom team) with no impact on the "stars". This was an absolute PR catastrophe as well as completely unethical. Had the footballers taken a minor pay cut this could have covered the backroom staff wages and they would'nt have needed government money "furlough" to pay the back room team.

Lots of people are working harder than ever and having to take pay cuts. Lead by example, I think. Even with a significant pay cut, MPs are not going to be living on the breadline are they?

YABU if you think Piers Morgan is capable of making a sane and rational argument.

“don’t think he should take a pay cut but I think it is hypocritical to suggest others should without being willing to do so himself.”

So all the Amazon warehouse workers on minimum wage can’t suggest that Jeff Bezos and his executives take a pay cut unless they’re willing to take a pay cut too? Because that’s hypocritical?

No, it’s called punching up, that’s not hypocritical.

The business of football isn't making any money at the moment. There is a very real chance that some clubs could go bankrupt because their income has tanked but they still have wages and maintenance costs. A pay cut is in the footballers' own interests as it makes it more likely that they will have a job to go back to. None of them will be hard up as a result of a pay cut.

Politicians are still working, some of them working harder than they were before, government is not a profit making business and not going to go bankrupt. There is no particular benefit to the public or to government in a pay cut.

Rather than getting people to take pay cuts I think we should be concentrating on ensuring that everyone who lives in the U.K. pays the correct tax. No putting income through offshore accounts etc

Footballers are a lot like actors. There's a few famous ones we've all heard of who are doing very nicley, and loads more getting by, if that.

It’s not all clubs that are taking the furlough option. Manchester United are paying all 900 of their staff, plus their players all donated 30% of wages to the NHS. De Gea is one of them for whoever mentioned him up thread. Other clubs have followed suit.

Tottenham and Liverpool tried to use furlough but changed their minds after criticism, Newcastle and possibly others have used it.

I don't think politicians earn that much to be honest. Of course many of them are rich (millionaires) but that's nothing to do with their salary. Rather than politicians taking a pay cut I'd much prefer it if they made decisions to invest properly in the NHS - this would be a lasting legacy, something everyone would benefit from. MPs taking a short term pay cut wouldn't make much difference to anyone.

No I don't think he has a point. Is Piers Morgan himself taking a paycut? I assume he is ......?

Footballers are not working and are paid far too much (IMO) - They are paid significantly more than Matt Hancock who is working 7 days a week doing a highly stressful role.

The Health Secretary should take a pay cut while working flat out during a pandemic, in the course of which he has already caught and survived the disease?!
Complete, utter, batshit insanity

This.

Footballers have relatively short careers, if you look at some of our politicians MH could still be getting his salary in 30 years time. How many top flight footballers, or other sports people, can say the same? How long do the big earners in the City work?

I think footballers get picked on as they are generally working class boys, many of them are BAME, so people resent their money. Obviously the likes of Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees Mogg have a God given right to earn big money. I think it was wrong to single out footballers and to make it clear the last time I went to a professional football match George Best was playing and the group of us teenage girls weren't there to watch the football so I in no way a football fan.

It isn't just about if Matt Hancock is working hard enough for his money, as the NZ PM has said this is about us all being in it together but in this country we aren't all in it together are we. From Gove and his jumping the queue to get his daughter tested to Carrie Symonds going against lockdown by travelling to join her fiance in a country house to many public sector workers being expected to work from home with no financial assistance but up to £10k for MPs to do the same thing there is one law for them and another for us and the working class footballers are definitely us not them.

I don't like Piers Morgan, don't like his style, but I am glad he is challenging Ministers because they need challenging.

Why should politicians take a pay cut? I don't get the reasoning on that.

Matt Hancock's annual take home pay is currently £88,025 and his income tax and national insurance contributions are a combined £57,466. I do not consider this high at all.

I would much prefer MP's and Ministers were paid a higher annual salary but in return they suspended their private activities and had their business interest and investments managed by 'blind trustees' allowing them to work unfettered on their political roles.

Piers Morgan's pay and career is strongly connected to tabloid journalism and entertainment. He excels at story-telling in particular.

Can't stand Piers but even a stopped cock is right twice a day...

To be fair footballers aren’t playing at the moment but that was only ever 90 minutes or so a week. The bulk of their job (as with all athletes) is training and I would imagine that’s continuing behind closed doors.

Equally hedge fund managers -they might not be in the office but I’m sure they are working very hard behind the scenes.

Taking a pay cut isn’t supposed to be reflective of the effort you may or may not be putting in but a way of spreading the load and showing solidarity. Of not asking other people to do something you aren’t prepared to do yourself, the sign of a good leader. Jacinda Arden and her NZ government seem to be working hard and managing things pretty well but they’ve all accepted a 20% pay cut.

All this rubbish about footballers taking a pay cut is just another way to punish people for imagined sins in our time of New Puritanism. As a PP said, the vast majority of footballers earn nowhere near the big money and as for those that do, most of them are working class lads made good in the only way society allows them to and they've done nothing wrong in that. If any footballers do end up negotiating pay to ensure their various clubs' survival that's different and fine, but Piers Morgan's attention-seeking rantings have a whiff of 'I saw Goody Salah having a huge bank account'. Piers Morgan - now there's someone who's vastly overpaid if I ever saw one. He did make the rules after all ;)

The NZ prime minister has announced a 20% pay cut for herself and public officials. By contrast to our politicians.

YABU to suggest that that complete bastard Piers Morgan should even be on the public stage after his appalling display of bullying yesterday morning.