Wonder what you make of this news?
“The BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson is to step down from his role after 10 years. He will replace Jim Naughtie on the presenting team of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Robinson will also report and present across television and radio for BBC News and Current Affairs.”
I’ll be glad to see the back of Naughtie, he identified so readily with the Left it was visceral. Robinson is an interesting character but Today is steeped in bias and it strikes me it will be very difficult to provide balance. Thoughts?
Who cares. Who listens to this crap any more? The sodding bbc is damaged goods and well past its sell by date.
Robinson, just hours after the budget told us that the benefits of the increase in the minimum wage was far outstripped by the cuts in benefits.
I can only conclude that he has a brain capacity for mathematical equations far in excess of that of Einstein, and I can only wonder why he only made the dizzy heights of promoting the AlBeeb agenda.
Why should there be a minimum wage and why should there be living wage enforced by government? The concept is pure socialism . Mr Osborne might have muted the commie labour party in the short term but he’s done serious damage to the English economy in the long term.
I think it’s a ‘loss leader’ in policy terms. On the other hand maybe it’s a ‘lost leader’.
The problem Osborne has is that despite what looks like a good set of numbers, the economy isn’t really maturing.
It’s propped up by a huge number of low value, low skilled jobs, and that is driving inward migration. We are a low productivity economy compared to other EU nations.
I’m betting he is attempting to force a levelling of the playing field between the immigrant (one who only wants to stay temporarily and will live in 10 up digs for a year) and the unskilled domiciled worker.
If the pay is mandated to be higher, that should bring a greater number of people into the workforce who have existing cost base issues of high housing and energy costs currently covered by benefits.
In doing this, he is going to price some people out of work permanently – but it is going to drive productivity because if the employer has to pay, then he wants a return commensurate with that cost. So he is going to train, or raise prices to his customers (starbucks etc).
This will drive inflation, which he also wants, because it erodes debt. Osborne, like other very indebted chancellors, is scared to death of deflation, because it kills off the hope of debt repayment ever being possible.
So it’s really about much wider issues than the standard of living, or bashing the Labour party (though I’m sure that was also considered).
Do remember that Naughtie is only stepping down having secured a pluim job for his own son at the beeb.