There is a delicious irony in the news that McDonald's, purveyor of all things that Nanny hates, will award their own qualifications equal to GCSEs, A levels and degrees, in subjects such as fast-food restaurant management.
Ever keen to be in the limelight, Gordon "Smiler" Brown is even backing the initiative.
How hypocritical and how very typical of this government!
Those with Nannyish tendencies who criticise McDonald's for doing this should remember this; now that we as a country have abandoned any pretence of being involved in manufacturing, this is as close as anyone will get these days to an apprenticeship.
Ken,
ReplyDeleteSad but true. McLevels in flipping burgers for spotty herbets to eat before chucking the litter everywhere thus enhancing our lovely town centres even further.
Meanwhile, our old industries are gone and even Jaguar and Rover are now in foreign hands.
This country has descended into a mere shadow of its former self.
Someone pointed out to me a few years ago that for young people who wished to go travelling and would need to earn a few quid on the trip, having work experience in a McDonalds was a very portable and job enabling skill. The methods are much the same anywhere.
ReplyDeleteThat made me think.
I have just read in today's paper that the Balance of Trade deficit, with reference to your comment about manufacturing, is now so many billions more than it was a couple of years ago that it is hardly surprising that what was once the yard stick measure for the economy is now ignored.
Recognising that the Government clearly see no need whatsoever to improve infrastructure - why bother when there are no manufactured goods to move around - and so will leave our crumbling roads and capacity challenged railways to fester, using speed management (and therefore longer journey times) to 'fix' the problem whilst also raising some cash.
So much for 'progress' and the Prudence Brown effect.
I wonder what his ideas are to 'fight' the increase in the cost of food? Recommend eating less and say it will help the 'fight' against 'obesity'. Now that would be a suggestion he should perhaps heed himself.
I wonder if Oxford or Cambridge would accept a Mc A Level in burger flippin as meeting the entry criteria to study jurisprudence or astro physics or would they just ask
ReplyDelete"Do you want fries with that?"
Anyway, Nanny has totally lost the plot and I'm lovin' it!
Hold on, Ken
ReplyDeleteIt's our failure (since the Thatcher days) to offer the required number of proper apprenticeships in the construction trades that leaves us using Polish plumbers.
Will,
ReplyDeleteHave to disagree the fact that we use overseas plumbers, builders etc is due to the fact that they turn up on time, do the job for a good price and don't piss off half way through to get down the pub or to "get some supplies" never to be seen again till the next day.
As anyone who has had to deal with the great British craftsmen will know they are a bunch of cowboys that make John Wayne look like he should be sitting sideways on his horse wearing a frilly dress and a bonnet.
While I am not a supporter of unlimited immigration into the UK, I am a supporter of people who come here to work and do a better job in the free market to better themselves and their families.
Needless to say if the local Brit can match the price, or prove he can do a better job on time and without bullshit excuses every time he is late I will give him the job. Have yet to meet a Brit 'tradesman' who could meet those requirements and I state that with sadness rather than glee.
100% in agreement with Anonymous 4:10 AM.
ReplyDeleteI needed a boiler repaired a few years ago. Given the price the guy was quoting, I asked if the solenoid he had installed was gold plated.
He replied that “the authorities don't allow them to use second-hand parts”. I'd like to think not, but I don't expect to be ripped off as a result!
I seriously believed his goal was to become a millionaire plumber within a fixed number of years.
I was delighted to hear of Polish plumbers coming to free up the market, although I haven't needed a plumber since. Maybe the solenoid was indeed gold plated.
Yes, in the short term, Polish plumbers will provide a cheap service. They can afford to undercut their native rivals.
ReplyDeleteHowever, before you all jump for joy and cuddle up to them, think about how cheap Japanese bikes and cars were in the 1970s compared to our own home produced ones. Then think what happened once our own car and bike manufactures were put out of business due to cheap imports. Yes the Japanese produced items went up and up until they were dearer than what our home produced ones were prior to the Japanese invasion. Sadly by that time there were no British manufactures left to compete with, so the Japanese had an effective monopoly and therefore could charge what they wanted.
Perhaps in a few years time, a similar thing will happen with plumbers....Remember, the only way Brits can be trained to be plumbers is by serving apprenticeships with skilled plumbers. If all our plumbers have gone out of business, who will train them?
Yes Tonk, but it's called competition in a constantly-changing world.
ReplyDeleteThe rules are fairly simple. If we can't do what needs to be done to compete then we don't deserve a living.
What I have noticed though is that the markets are not as ruthless as one might at first fear. In reality, plumbers (or any other market participants) don't need to delight their customers in order to win business. They only need to be slightly less incompetent than their competitors.
It's like - you don't need to outrun a lion to live, you just need to outrun the guy you're with. It’s such a benevolent world really when you look at it like that!
Tonk,
ReplyDeleteAnd why did we all buy Jap cars and bikes rather than the fantastic Morris Marina and Austin Allegro?
Short answer cos they were crap cars, produced by a nanny workforce led by 'cmorades' like Red Robbo.
Called the free market mate and if you don't like it you can join nanny in 'protecting' inefficient businesses against more efficient competition.
I am not against apprentiships or skilled tradesmen making a good living and imparting their knowledge on to a new generation. Just show me the skilled tradesmen and the 'yoof' who are willing to get up and do the day's work.
Going back 30 years, or so... I had a British Ford Escort, a Vauxhall and a Land Rover.
ReplyDeleteThey were all, quite frankly, shit.
Unreliable, if it rained they would not stop and it it was foggy, they would not start.
Complete crap.
I started buying Toyota and have never looked back.
The Brits put themselves out of the car manufacturing business, not the Japanese.
Join Nanny? Me? NEVER!! Better dead than in bed with Nanny!!
ReplyDeleteI agree, we should not protect inefficient practices. We need to compete in a global market. The free market is, in general, a good thing. However, we do not have a truly free market in real terms.
I illustrate my point by relating a recent experience I have had.
I live in a house that has a traditional brick cavity ground floor and a timber framed roof and upper floor hung with tiles. I think it is called a Mansard roof. I had a couple of tiles slip during some high winds a couple of months ago. I called up my local builder; I have used him for the last twenty-five years. He is polite, professional, turns up on time and clears up after he has finished the job.
He turns up and I show him what needs doing. He looks embarrassed and says it will be £500 plus VAT to re hang these tiles. I query the amount. He states that twenty years ago he would have said “Stick the kettle on, two sugars please.” While I was making the tea, he would have got his ladders from his van and hopped up the ladder and done the two minute job. He would have charged a tenner. Ten years ago he stated that he would have had to get two of his men to come to do the job, one to do the job, one to hold the ladder, he would have charged £75. Now, he says he needs to do a risk assessment; the job is at height (15 Feet) he will need to hire in a safe working platform. Etc etc. Non compliance with the red tape can put him in jail or face huge fines….Kerching. He says I’ll give you the number of a couple of Eastern Europeans that work for me, they will come and do it for you on a private basis. They came they did the job, I paid £50.
The irony is, these Eastern Europeans are here because Euro Nanny says they can be. The same Euro Nanny, in collusion with British Nanny and Local Nanny has tied the hands and shot in the foot our own tradesmen under a myriad of rules, regulations and red tape. All our tradesmen need is a level playing field, then they can compete.
You are right, during the years of BL, British made cars were crap, so were Japanese cars. They were just cheaper. Now Japanese cars are great, expensive but great. The unions of that time destroyed much of our industry.