I sit here, angry and despairing in equal measure. Faced with a blank page, I have no idea where to start. Prices are rising and wages are stagnant, as has been the case for the past few years, and while some people have been willing to suck it up, prices are now rising at over 10% per year, which is unpalatable to those who have seen their disposable income being whittled away over the previous years, albeit at a slower rate.
I realise that the prices are rising due to the war in Ukraine, but we could have taken steps in the last 12 years to ensure that the UK has a robust economy. Instead it feels like we've been hollowing it out, so that it looks fine from the outside, but at the first gust of unexpected global headwinds it collapses. The number of trades unions waking up to the fact that they are providing their labour and expertise for basically the same price as they did five years ago, despite the fact that their wages don't buy the same amount these days appears to be growing exponentially, and they are all deciding to strike.
I'm not a member of a union, but normally wage discussions are ongoing when I get my annual settlement, and I have in the past been awarded what a union might refer to as "a derisory pay increase". As it is, I do (and have done) okay. But I can see why these guys are upset, and I can see why things are coming to a head now. So fair play and good luck to them.
I guess the TL:DR point of this is that the UK economy is screwed (putting it politely) and currently I can't see any solution - certainly the solution isn't called Truss or Sunak.
TTFN.
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