Grumpy Agency Guy

I genuinely can't believe we're here again. What an utter failure of politics.

I have never been a fan of Keir Starmer as Prime Minister. Top politicians need to realise it’s not just the message, but how you sell it that cuts through to the public psyche. His policies may well have been among the best for the country and some undoubtedly were but Sir Keir never seemed able to land them with the public. Voters rarely reward policies they don’t emotionally connect with. Yesterday’s reset speech didn’t help. What exactly was he trying to tell us. Now, in what could be the death throes of his tenancy in No 10 after less than two years at the top, I do find myself feeling for him. He pulled himself up by his bootstraps and reached not one but two of the highest offices in the land. So, as the wannabes circle the Cabinet table this morning, positioning for what may come next, spare a thought for a man who genuinely wanted to make a difference, but never quite mastered the art of making his case. Fair?

Keir Starmer has resigned

How He Stays Fit At 50

A minimum wage of £15 would end my coffee shop, it would have to close, as would many other businesses. I’ll explain for the economically illiterate. Staff costs are currently half our costs, a £15 minimum wage is actually more than £15 an hour for the company, because you have to add: - 12.07% holiday - Sick pay - Maternity pay if and when required - National insurance - Pension contributions These costs would mean the shop loses money because remember, energy costs are up, rates are up, regulations are up. Now you can pass these costs onto the consumer - that would mean charging a lot more for coffee, people won’t pay it. The likes of Starbucks and Costa can, because they have economies of scale. The independent doesn’t. Now the little socialist will say well this is your fault, if you can’t run a business that can afford to pay its staff properly, but the little socialist has never run a business and does not understand the dynamics. Now I could pay some staff off and fill those hours myself or reduce us to one staff member during certain periods - but this proves the point that a minimum wage costs jobs. There was a time when these jobs were done by kids, perhaps on the weekend, paid a lower wage, no holiday and no silly employment rights. Perhaps they were even paid cash. The dynamic worked and small businesses like this could operate. It was also a great first job. Sadly now it isn’t worth employing entitlement youngsters at this level of pay. So alas, I don’t need the stress, the business would close, a number of jobs would be lost. Economics is about understanding these dynamics, no vibes. The cost of living is not solved through passing on inflation to the business, it is solved by ending high inflation and creating prosperity. This is what socialists don’t understand, they can’t create prosperity, they can only destroy it.