This-England

The Unions are run by Marxists and International Socialists so they cant have British Workers interests at heart.
Only Nationalist Trade Unions like they have in Italy and France can represent our own Workers.

This-England

Keir Hardie the founding member of the Labour party was himself against immigration with him and several other Labour MP's at the time backed the anti-immigrant British Brothers League and British Workers League.

Moving Target

Robert Mugabe? Not any better, I know, but Karl Marx would be nearer the truth. The bourgousie staying in control and all that by becoming involved with working class movements.

Who do you think is behind groups like 'Socialist Alliance' whom lobby massively in the Union movement? Service workers from Sainsbury's and Tesco or trendy lefty types from UNISON and NUT?

Arthur Scargill come back - all is forgiven.

Soddball

I'm too young to remember the Winter of Discontent clearly. I have very vague memories of seeing the miner's strike on TV and Scargill.

What I think everyone remembers most about him is that he lost.

Britannist

One person I know of who relied on work from a job agency has now been told that they have no jobs available. The same agency was named in a local newspaper article as having taken on over 500 eastern europeans in the last couple of years.

Soddball

It's a market. Jobs aren't there for handing out, we're not in a socialist paradise no matter what some political parties might think.

If you don't have the skills or the jobs aren't available, move or retrain.

I make a living by making myself indispensable and ensuring my skills are up to date and my prices for work are fair. I have a loyal client base because of it.

Moving Target

Whoosh! Another one over the head.

Brother Scargill's heyday was a good few years after the Winter of Discontent.

Moving Target

Good one, watch out though some people might think you're being serious...

Even such an economic scholar as yourself would surely have to consider concepts such as Social Cost and Market Failure.

Even Milton Friedman has changed his mind these days.

Britannist

Bully for you.

I don't like your tone.

The Centre for Policy Studies, MigrationWatch, the UK Independence Party and a range of other organisations agree with me - we should retrain our own workforce, NOT bring in someone elses because they are cheaper in the short term.

Soddball

You don't like my tone because I'm being realistic rather than idealistic. I couldn't care less whether you like it or not. Deal with it.

It is not the job of businesses to employ people, it is to make money. Nor is it the job of businesses to select inadequate, undertrained staff for high wages. That way lies bankruptcy, despite what the unions might tell you. If you want to attract businesses, you offer them a skilled workforce at a price they can afford.

Whether or not you agree with the influx of migrants - and personally I have no objection to the Poles, they are an excellent people with much to commend them - is irrelevant. They are here, they are better-educated than our workers, and they are prepared to work harder for less. The education system is failing our workers by not equipping them with skills.

If you don't like living in a free market economy, I can recommend some excellent alternatives. Cuba offers good healthcare and the longest average lifespan of any non-western nation, with only the secret police, unemployment and organ harvesting to worry about.

The fault does not lie with businesses. Unless you take an entirely statist approach then businesses will always exist and they will always seek to reduce their costs. Blaming them for that is like blaming sharks for being voracious predators.