Current Affairs

[Onelife]

Thoughts on the 1% pay rise suggested for health staff.

I'm very mixed about this. On one hand the rest of the public sector are getting nothing. Many in the private sector have lost money or jobs during the pandemic and very few will get any rise anytime soon. Inflation is low, !% is actually above inflation. The government has no money and anything given to the health service will ultimately come from taxes, some of it paid by people earning salaries below health service level. A higher rise may spark "me too" claims across public service. The counter claim for 12.5% coupled with a threat of strike action is outrageous.

On the other hand NHS staff went above and beyond during the pandemic and knowingly put their lives at risk helping others. I'm not sure anyone else can say that. Yes shop workers and teachers and others carried on at some risk, but not in the same league as health staff. Working socially distanced where some of you customers/pupils/clients might have Covid is not the same as working close to them where you know they have it. The government has already paid out huge sums in compensation, grants and furlough to people who have been able to stay safely at home. Then there is the suggestion, if not a commitment, that the pay rise would be 2.1%.

On balance I'd give them the 2.1%. No we can't afford it. But we can't afford 1% either. And we can't afford health staff to walk away and new staff to have to be trained. I would also give them a one-off tax-free bonus equal to 10% of their salary up to a cap of £3,000. That is far less than we've paid furloughed staff to stay at home.

1% plus what you have outlined would I think have been more palatable.

[towny44]

I do agree with them what they say about the press. Give them a inch they will turn it into a mile.

But I remember before the wedding there was a comment that one of her friends had warned her about how the UK media would hound her, however she was reported as saying that she knew how to handle the media.
My own opinion is that she expected to be the centre of attention, and when she found out just how far down the pecking order she would be, she decided that it was not for her.

Short Memory John, they were the centre of attention and that is what the firm, and if the truth be known, Will and Kate didn’t like…at least it kick started them into doing more PR work.

Whilst it’s generally accepted that the inner circle of the Royals decline to comment on in house matters, it comes comes as no surprise that they have chosen to let it be known they are conducting internal investigation into bulling…it’s just a shame they didn’t afford the same to the ninth in line who allegedly enjoys getting his own way with young girls .

As usual OL you deliberately miss the point, yes her and Harry were the centre of attention before and for a period after the wedding. What I was referring to was the fact that her and Harry were then much lower echelon Royals than Kate and her family and I believe that is what she was unable to accept. In normal families older brothers don't have anywhere near the same superiority the Royals possess, and rank and status is much more dependant on education, salary and job.

[oldbluefox]

The Royal Family were very kind to Me Again and her family (what few of them were invited to the wedding!) in the midst of all the wrangling with her father and as I remember the crowds that day were vey enthusiastic about their marriage. Then we had the shenanigans when Archie was born. The Press were not told when she was having the baby or where and after his birth there were no photos. Apart from an official photoshoot at Windsor when we got a glimpse of him we saw nothing of the infant..........until they went to South Africa and he was presented for all the world to see to Archbishop Tutu. Meghan then started lecturing us all on women's rights and proclaimed on her ethnicity "I am one of you!" (How you can equate a millionaire soap actress on the same level as any gathered there I fail to understand). However I felt she was now playing the racist card. The pair of them then started preaching to us all about global warming and the need to reduce CO2 by flying less. Having flown to the States for a baby shower only months before and taking numerous flights in private jets this was highly hypocritical.
Since then the whole situation has just deteriorated further. They left to gain privacy but have been in the Press ever since (when it suited them). They didn't want Archie to have a title because they wanted him to grow up away from the glare of royalty but now she is upset he wasn't made a prince.

My feelings are if they want to lead quiet, private lives go away, find somewhere quiet and get on with it but stop courting publicity as and when it suits you.
I have struck them off my Christmas card list forthwith.

[oldbluefox]

And I don't know how Harry could just sit there whilst she slated his family for the world to hear. They must have been very well paid.

[david63]

And I don't know how Harry could just sit there whilst she slated his family for the world to hear. They must have been very well paid.

Allegedly they did not get paid for the interview.

I think that we are lucky that Harry will never be King - he does not appear to have the backbone to stand up to his wife. Thank God his grandmother (and grandfather) are made of stronger stuff!

[Stephen]

The Royal Family were very kind to Me Again and her family (what few of them were invited to the wedding!) in the midst of all the wrangling with her father and as I remember the crowds that day were vey enthusiastic about their marriage. Then we had the shenanigans when Archie was born. The Press were not told when she was having the baby or where and after his birth there were no photos. Apart from an official photoshoot at Windsor when we got a glimpse of him we saw nothing of the infant..........until they went to South Africa and he was presented for all the world to see to Archbishop Tutu. Meghan then started lecturing us all on women's rights and proclaimed on her ethnicity "I am one of you!" (How you can equate a millionaire soap actress on the same level as any gathered there I fail to understand). However I felt she was now playing the racist card. The pair of them then started preaching to us all about global warming and the need to reduce CO2 by flying less. Having flown to the States for a baby shower only months before and taking numerous flights in private jets this was highly hypocritical.
Since then the whole situation has just deteriorated further. They left to gain privacy but have been in the Press ever since (when it suited them). They didn't want Archie to have a title because they wanted him to grow up away from the glare of royalty but now she is upset he wasn't made a prince.

My feelings are if they want to lead quiet, private lives go away, find somewhere quiet and get on with it but stop courting publicity as and when it suits you.
I have struck them off my Christmas card list forthwith.

And I’ve stopped sending the begging letters. Let’s see how they like that

[oldbluefox]

And I don't know how Harry could just sit there whilst she slated his family for the world to hear.

Corrected.

[Frank Manning]

Absolutely spot on OBF. I will not be watching the ITV broadcast, just sorry it is replacing Unforgotten. She wanted to be the centre of attraction, and apart from being 'soap queen' she realised she couldn't be, and with the Duchess of Cambridge above her in the pecking order she felt faux humiliation.

I hope the Royal Family stay silent, because if they say anything it will only prolong this ridiculous charade.

[screwy]

Making an allegation against a Royal without backing it up with a name smacks of a Lie.

[towny44]

Making an allegation against a Royal without backing it up with a name smacks of a Lie.

Wasn't there also some confusion about when this took place, Harry seemed to say this was before the wedding not while she was pregnant with Archie as she said. Which sort of casts doubt on how accurate all her other assertions were.

[david63]

Interestingly when asked Boris would not make any comment about the Royal family but Starmer has to start saying that racism in the Royal family needs looking into. Obviously why one is Prime Minister and the other isn't.

[oldbluefox]

A woman of mixed race was saying when she had a baby people asked whether it would have dark skin. She felt this was no different to asking whether it would have red hair. She saw it as nothing to do with racism. If that was the context of the conversation then neither do I.

[towny44]

Interestingly when asked Boris would not make any comment about the Royal family but Starmer has to start saying that racism in the Royal family needs looking into. Obviously why one is Prime Minister and the other isn't.

What I find quite racist is the assumption that anyone of mixed race is black, why is that even when the person has pale skin, surely considering them black should be considered equally as racist to white people?

[Stephen]

The baby skin colour remark does sound like the sort of thing Philip would put his foot in and say

Those garden chairs looked comfortable. Wouldn’t mind a set of them.

[Ranchi]

Pretty turgid viewing. As mentioned above, Britain’s Got Talent’ production values; long pauses, revealing close ups and jaw dropping of a scale not seen since Susan Boyle struck up with a bit of Lloyd Weber. What really was hard to justify was how one could introduce the topic of skin colour and then claiming the high ground by refusing to name the party involved as it would cause damage but ignoring the fact that in doing so one has cast suspicion on all members of the family except the Queen & Prince Philip.

How Oprah could ignore the ‘loss’ of Thomas Markle was surprising. I’ll have to remember to lose the milk and papers next time I go on holiday.

Memories of Greta Garbo driving round in an open topped car armed with a megaphone proclaiming ‘I want to be alone’ spring to mind. Good old Peter Cook!

[Manoverboard]

We watched a prog about Joanne Lumley's visit to Japan .... it was very good, so, how was Meghan

[david63]

We watched a prog about Joanne Lumley's visit to Japan .... it was very good, so, how was Meghan

Don't know - I watched Masterchef!

[screwy]

Motorway cops and a recording of Jamie Oliver, much more interesting than those two spoiled Pratt’s.

[towny44]

Pauline recorded it and will presumably watch it sometime, but I imagine most of the juicier bits have already been aired on news broadcasts, so not much point for me.
There is an interesting piece in todays Daily Wail by an American, he suggests that the interview was purely for the US audience, where he proclaims the pair are adored, and of course the nations sympathy is entirely with the Sussexes.

[Jan Rosser]

We watched a prog about Joanne Lumley's visit to Japan .... it was very good, so, how was Meghan

Don't know - I watched Masterchef!

Me too - good taste The more excerpts from the programme I see the less I want to see it all

[Onelife]

Well, I’m sure you Meghan haters were left disappointed seeing that it was plaintively obvious she was telling the truth. They are clearly well out of it and I wish them all the luck in the world.

I just hope Kate finds the courage to put her happiness above that of duty and follow in their footsteps.

P.s I’ve always found that people who keep chickens are lovely people

[david63]

it was plaintively obvious she was telling the truth.

You are obviously overlooking one key point - she is an actress!

[towny44]

Well, I’m sure you Meghan haters were left disappointed seeing that it was plaintively obvious she was telling the truth. They are clearly well out of it and I wish them all the luck in the world.

I just hope Kate finds the courage to put her happiness above that of duty and follow in their footsteps.

P.s I’ve always found that people who keep chickens are lovely people

You really do need to get out more and read the papers, there are so many holes in her account of things that if it were a ship it would sink. I have only seen the news clips but it was apparent that the poor girl is/was suffering from something like pre-natal or post-natal depression, as a consequence her account of what happened has to be viewed in that context, her illness has clearly clouded her memory as well as her judgement.

[Onelife]

it was plaintively obvious she was telling the truth.

You are obviously overlooking one key point - she is an actress!

If you are suggesting to me that she wasn’t telling the truth then I would have to question your judgment David. and that of anyone else who watched the interview with an open mind.

[david63]

Keefie - unless you have some inside information that you are not sharing with the rest of us then you have no more idea as to whether she is telling the truth than I, or anybody else, does.

This whole charade is just a publicity stunt aimed at the US market and pitched in such a way as to garner sympathy for the "underdogs".