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Extreme Inequality in UK

Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
Strikes are a way to point out what the system would look like, and work like, if these people did as you and @Ponty advocate, and leave
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And sadly, help point out to employers that people can be replaced.

Something that has contributed significantly to the decimation of trades union membership numbers over the years.
 
www.theguardian.com

What a legendary historian tells us about the contempt for today’s working class | Kenan Malik

A century after his birth, EP Thompson’s empathy with those facing scorn and condescension is more relevant than ever
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Does this article have a place in this thread? Update your thinking for modern issues obviously but it’s a similar pattern. I feel like we’re a deeply divided society and getting more so. Talk of house prices and job mobility is irrelevant to millions who live outside the “rules” any chance they get. Particularly the young “working class”.
 
Ponty said:
Sorry, that’s simply not true. Flexibility costs money. Short term asset commitments cost money and are relatively expensive pro rata. To have the ability to walk away from an asset at short notice costs money. If you rent a car from Avis for a month, you’ll get a better rate than if you rent it for a day. Likewise you’ll get a better rate on a house for a 1 year commitment than a week. Can‘t have it all ways.
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You can't compare multi-year private tenancies with day rate car rentals. If I want to secure office space for my business, it will not cost me 2x the cost of taking a mortgage on the property to do so.
Residential property letting is broken, due to lack of supply, but the people who were in in more than five years ago are making big money from escalating rents, and so will come up with endless excuses as to why their good luck is shrewd investment, or hard work... anything so long as the situation continues.

Meanwhile, that lack of supply means new private landlords can't get in, let alone people who might want to live in a house they own. (I'm not one of those "ban landlords" people.. private landlords are an important part of a working market, but first there has to be housing to let)

Governments are scared to do anting much with housing supply for fear of reducing the "value" of voters' houses, but until people stop pretending that price inflation is somehow not poisonous if it's applying to something they happen to already own one of, we'll keep spiralling the drain, assuming the economy doesn't just break under a weight of property debt that cannot be serviced by economic output.

Ask people what they'd really prefer: a house that's "worth" £50k less, or their kids being able to find a place to live. (and no, the answer is not equity release..)
 
KrisW said:
People acting against the company's "perceived" support of Israel, I note. Not any of its actions, just internet opinion. So yes, hurrah that the mindless mob has accidentally hurt a "bad" company.
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Yes. (Just added a question mark)
 
stevec67 said:
on that basis anyone with a pension fund and a modest house in London is therefore rich. What's a 2 bed terrace in London? £700k and up? Many will be over £1M without trying hard. But that doesn't make you rich because you can't realise it unless you sell up and move to Bolton. Or Spain, but you can't very easily do that any more.
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My thoughts exactly.

For the rest though, I wouldn't go as far as to say "anyone" I've always been lucky enough to be on the comfortable end of my earnings, put a reasonable amount in to pensions. Was lucky enough to purchase my flat at an ideal time and it's value has grown substantially, but I'm still short of that £1M target. The vast majority of Londoners are far worse off than me on all the above counts, so I'd be highly surprised if most Londoners were breaking £6-700k "wealth".
 
KrisW said:
You can't compare multi-year private tenancies with day rate car rentals. If I want to secure office space for my business, it will not cost me 2x the cost of taking a mortgage on the property to do so.
Residential property letting is broken, due to lack of supply, but the people who were in in more than five years ago are making big money from escalating rents, and so will come up with endless excuses as to why their good luck is shrewd investment, or hard work... anything so long as the situation continues.

Meanwhile, that lack of supply means new private landlords can't get in, let alone people who might want to live in a house they own. (I'm not one of those "ban landlords" people.. private landlords are an important part of a working market, but first there has to be housing to let)

Governments are scared to do anting much with housing supply for fear of reducing the "value" of voters' houses, but until people stop pretending that price inflation is somehow not poisonous if it's applying to something they happen to already own one of, we'll keep spiralling the drain, assuming the economy doesn't just break under a weight of property debt that cannot be serviced by economic output.

Ask people what they'd really prefer: a house that's "worth" £50k less, or their kids being able to find a place to live. (and no, the answer is not equity release..)
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Successive govts have encouraged property as an alternative to a traditional pension fund. When Brown went after their dividends, folks piled into property. It was good timing too because property was relatively good value. Any politician who deliberately crashes the market now is toast, which is why they have to keep the plates spinning by encouraging more ways for people to take on ever increasing levels of debt.
 
KrisW said:
People acting against the company's "perceived" support of Israel, I note. Not any of its actions, just internet opinion. So yes, hurrah that the mindless mob has accidentally hurt a "bad" company.
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It's hardly "misinformation" as the McDonalds spokesperson claims when the McDonalds Israel franchise tweeted that they were giving free meals to IDF personnel.

But it is of course a local franchise and doesn't imply any wider support in the company. It sounds more like an epic PR **** up to me.

Not sure how it relates to this thread though.
 
gez said:
The vast majority of Londoners are far worse off than me on all the above counts, so I'd be highly surprised if most Londoners were breaking £6-700k "wealth".
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Median household wealth in London is about £375k - fourth highest in the country after the South East, East and South West.

London and Scotland are the only regions where median household wealth dropped substantially for the period 2016-2020 (the most recent ONS figures available).

London also has the highest Gini coefficient (level of wealth inequality).

ONS stats.
 
paulfromcamden said:
Median household wealth in London is about £375k - fourth highest in the country after the South East, East and South West.

London and Scotland are the only regions where median household wealth dropped substantially for the period 2016-2020 (the most recent ONS figures available).

London also has the highest Gini coefficient (level of wealth inequality).

ONS stats.
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I have no doubt. I once found a map (on some website I forget which) which showed average home prices across the UK. It was quite a while ago now, about 10-15 years, but even then average prices went something like this:

London = 2x Home Counties = 2x Midlands = 2x North East = 2x Scotland

Meaning that London was 4x the average in the Midlands etc. Of course such things are never a static thing, so I can fully believe that London has been overtaken by the home counties.
 
No you're not.

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The Daily Heil trying to get benefits cut still more to get a tax break for these poor people. Christ if £200k isn't enough how do they survive?
 
I'm not going to read the piece, so not sure what it says (but can guess) but I detect a nasty undercurrent there. As well as the 'cost of living, sheesh!' point, my guess is that it's mainly an excuse to have another go at all those feckless benefits scroungers popping out sprogs left, right and centre.
 
I was thinking about this stuff today as I was filtering past a load of Chelsea tractors on Park Lane on my moped on my way to my part time job.

Strikes me that if you really think you need £100k or £200k a year for your life to be tolerable your priorities are probably a bit out of whack.
 
It's nice to see Jeremy **** raising awareness of how people are struggling on £100k.

I think he's absolutely right that the sort of people who live in South West Surrey deserve more cash and I fully support his aim of free childcare for the rich when he returns as chancellor in the next parliament.

www.theguardian.com

Jeremy Hunt doubles down on ‘£100k a year doesn’t go far’ claim

UK chancellor defends remarks about high salaries after being criticised for being out of touch
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
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