DR

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.

Oil giant BP is threatening to quit the North Sea entirely with a £2 billion sale of its UK assets, new boss Meg O'Neill who took over just a month ago is now reviewing a full exit after Ed Miliband's latest tax raid and refusal to issue any new drilling licences, the energy secretary has already extended the windfall tax to a punishing 78 per cent on North Sea profits while branding BP's earnings "morally and economically wrong", BP's chief warned that any fresh tax raid would be "a highly flawed response to the situation", this would be another massive blow to Britain's energy security at a time when Middle East chaos from the Iran war is already pushing up bills, thousands of jobs and billions in investment are now at risk as Labour's Net Zero obsession drives major operators out,

The Greens will raise the minimum wage to £15 for all workers 💪

“Today I own six houses, five cars, and six boats.” Nice insight from man of the people Malcolm Offord playing Billy big baws on STV tonight.