Thérèse Coffey has come up with some solutions for people who can’t afford to eat. One of her suggestions is that people “work some more hours”, another is that they get “upskilled” and also that they should “get a higher income”. Ah, you say. You’ve taken her words out of context in order to fit your lefty agenda. I was waiting for that one, so here are Coffey’s exact words:
“Of course we do know that one of the best ways to boost their incomes is not only to get into work if they’re not in work already, but potentially to work some more hours, to get upskilled, to get a higher income, but of course the local welfare grant that was given some time ago now by central Government to local councils is there for them to use as well.”
So, that’s all there is to it. Simple as that. Actually, it’s as simplistic as that because here the actual secretary of state for the environment, formerly the health secretary shows either that she is ignorant about the troubles people have trying to put bread on the table, she doesn’t understand the real world or she simply doesn’t care. My guess is that it’s a combination of all these things.
There’s no need to drill down through the points she makes because we will always end up in the same place. If you do not like the pay you receive as an NHS worker, a rail worker, a teacher, a civil servant, a postal worker and all the rest of it, just resign and do something else. After all, we don’t really need people to care for those who cannot care for themselves, or indeed staff hospitals, drive trains, teach at schools, perform the functions provided by civil servants or deliver post. Coffey thinks, presumably, that these things will get done without anyone having to do anything. That is the logic of her argument, or at least it would be if there was any logic to it.
None of Coffey’s so-called solutions mean anything at all. For all manner of reasons, people who aren’t in work – and that’s a significant and varied group – can’t just swan into well-paid work when they feel like it. How many employers will give extra hours to workers? Ever worked for a supermarket? They drive down people’s hours and in recent times have removed weekend working allowances. I could go through all the occupations I have named and point out her ignorance, but you could do that, too. In truth, Coffey is an idiot.
Anyway, what’s the point in boosting your income when there are no fruit and vegetables to spend it on, not that Coffey looks like she has met fruit or vegetables in her life? Uniquely in Europe, we’re being rationed anyway due to a number of reasons – we don’t produce enough of our own is one – but of course the effects of the self-inflicted economic disaster that was Brexit is right up there. But don’t worry, announces Coffey in the House of Commons today, if you can’t afford to eat then don’t worry: there won’t be enough fruit and veg to go around for at least the next month. What a relief that must be.
Like the rest of Brand Rishi Sunak’s government, Coffey is taking the piss, without a care in the world for those who have nothing. I thought Margaret Thatcher’s governments were the worst of all time, but in the background you can hear Sunak crying, “Hold my alcohol-free beer.”
