There’s a lot of Amazon and Yodel van drivers earning peanuts. There’s plenty of options of movement in the labour market with this. Trouble is it takes time and during that time we’ll get the usual people screaming ‘’Brexit and we want low prices but better pay and conditions and higher standard of living.’’

You can’t have change without change. Of course the supply situation needs to improve from here, but I don’t expect it to be back to normal. It actually wasn’t too good weeks before. Sometimes you had to go to the next one or two petrol stations. Once the media got involved you can’t get anything without queuing half a day, and the supply of fuel didn’t change at all.

COYP

This is where the better pay etc comes in. If you say to a parcel courier earning well under £20k he can earn 3 times more then you can expect people will do it. Then you get the job centres or whatever they’re now called to get tough on work applications, which will include vacancies left by new HGV drivers. Takes time of course. Or we just keep importing cheaper labour and never improve our own citizens. I can bet the same objectors will have been unhappy with overpaid 30 year olds blocking the way of young graduates or signings in the palace squad.

Edited by Rudi Hedman (30 Sep 2021 12.33pm)

COYP

You only need a driving licence and be over 18 or whatever and you can deliver parcels. There are many unemployed and furlough ends today for a huge amount of people, including many hgv drivers you’d be surprised to hear. Must’ve been transporting non essential goods around.

There are rules on claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or whatever they call it. It depends on how you apply the rules. During labour days you could self certify yourself on incapacity benefit. They’d even encourage some to do so.

If it isn’t higher wages they now don’t want then it’s nobody will do the jobs anyway. It’s quite revealing from these remoaner lefties. Oh it’s okay for Keira Starmer to announce £15 minimum wage but if anyone to the right of centre starts talking about it the economy is going to collapse

Edited by Rudi Hedman (30 Sep 2021 12.55pm)

COYP

There is a shortage of HGV drivers because it is a skill that requires a qualification, it is also an unsocial job that many would not like.

Delivery drivers is not a skill anyone with a licence can do it so the pool of labour if far greater. If the hours and pay are are lousy then that has to be addressed. The numbers are there if they want the job.

I agree with ASCPFC about incentivising people back into work and then using the stick if they don't.

The unemployed often complain about the lag between their last benefit cheque and their first pay cheque. I would not be against continuing to pay benefits until that person gets his first salary it will only be a matter of weeks after which the taxpayer will benefit.

I would also look at encouraging people to take short term contracts with a similar financial incentive as hopefully this will lead to a permanent job.

Edited by Badger11 (30 Sep 2021 1.19pm)

Edited by Badger11 (30 Sep 2021 1.19pm)

One more point

Ha ha , Rabb! "Ello luv, its the delivery you ordered!". "The keys under the mat driver, can you bring it in to the kitchen please, i"m upstairs in bed and can"t come down, i"m waiting for my carer to arrive, let yourself out". Certainly can madam , certainly can!

I agree on incentivising working, I just don't think you can do it to the extent others do.

I don't think you can make the dole finite - as you allude to, the age-old problem with a welfare system is that it is always going to be exploitable to some extent, and you will always have people happy to exploit it. The question is whether you cut off those in genuine need of help to stop the exploiters.. like you, I'd argue you don't.

So you tighten all the loop holes you can, you incentivise people to work as much as you can, I just don't think it's sufficient to plug the level of gaps we're talking about.