Who can they lean on? They can't dictate to private companies their pay policy unless you want to introduce prices and incomes policy of the 60/70s? They could simply increase income tax and NI across the board then we all suffer.

No doubt you will be expecting above inflation increases across the public sector?

When our schools closed, I don't remember it being the teachers who closed them. Pretty sure it was the DfE. But you keep on with the teacher bashing. Your usual target of NHS workers must be off the hit list now you've clapped for them a few times on a Thursday night.

I have never attacked the NHS workers nor did I clap for them nor will I ever be taking the knee - a lot I may be but a lemming I am not - to my knowledge the schools stayed open or did I get that wrong?

Did we have many teachers test positive for Covid that were still teaching?

Our schools closed initially, then reopened for vulnerable and key worker kids as soon as they could. Support/admin staff worked from home, and teachers were on a rota between coming in to teach and running online lessons from home. It's not perfect, but our trust's online lessons and resources are incredible for the time in which they were implemented, all by the current members of teaching and support staff. There was even an online national academy set up during lockdown to help further deliver online education. Obviously, it relies on devices and Internet access. Our trust have been able to provide laptops to most underprivileged kids, and a certain ex leader of a certain political party was laughed at for offering free broadband for all.

We had a self-isolation list set up beforehand for anyone with symptoms. I don't know how many staff have had it. I do know that one of our schools in the North have had 40 kids affected by family Covid deaths.

I'm just constantly amazed at people who have no idea what's gone into keeping kids educated and motivated throughout this pandemic, and who just spout the Daily Mail comments section outrage to perpetuate toxic, misguided divisions. If people actually educated themselves about the situation, they'd realise that teachers haven't just been sat at home twiddling their thumbs, waiting for A Place in the Sun to start, so they can get inspiration for their retirement home for all that lovely money they steal from the public purse.

What do you mean by rewarded - Pay increases ?
How much of a reward would be acceptable ?
Would it be an acceptable reward that they still have a job when thousands won't ?
What about private sector that have worked through the pandemic ?
Not sure the greatest strategy of paying down a debt is to start by dishing out rewards (pay increases).
What do you class as wealthiest ?Taxation is already geared to higher income earners paying more,how much would you like to see them pay?

I think its inevitable the triple lock will have to be broken,there will have to be public sector pay freezes.
Inevitable there will be tax hikes.
Circa £330bn needs to be recouped,no government could have anticipated this.
The government could have not been as generous with the furlough scheme,they could not have been as generous with the self employed element of furlough scheme and reduced the expected debt.Unfortunately it was a lose lose scenario for any government what ever the party.
Everyone will have to carry some of the burden.Again not sure what you class as wealthy,but i would increase taxation to 50% for income above £150k,unfortunately this only drags around 300 -350 thousand people into the increase.Would also bring in a new banding of £100k - £150k of 45%
But what we can't do is willy nilly go around giving pay increases because people did their job through the pandemic,however admirable what they have done.
Labour seem fantastic at rolling out criticism of everything,Angela Raynor today asking what support for people returning from France that will have to be quarantined,typical Labour,lets give them a handout - then start moaning when it has to be recouped somehow.

Quote ="TURFEDOUT"Angela Raynor today asking what support for people returning from France that will have to be quarantined,typical Labour,lets give them a handout - then start moaning when it has to be recouped somehow.'" Anyone taking a holiday abroad during a global pandemic should suffer the consequences of their actions, I'm afraid. They had pre-warning with the quarantine measures for returning from Spain the other week. France avoided being added to the list but it was only a matter of time. While we're on the subject of France and stupidity. Here's a beauty from the other side of the political spectrum. https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/polit ... nts/13/08/

Quote ="TURFEDOUT"Angela Raynor today asking what support for people returning from France that will have to be quarantined,typical Labour,lets give them a handout - then start moaning when it has to be recouped somehow.'" Anyone taking a holiday abroad during a global pandemic should suffer the consequences of their actions, I'm afraid. They had pre-warning with the quarantine measures for returning from Spain the other week. France avoided being added to the list but it was only a matter of time. While we're on the subject of France and stupidity. Here's a beauty from the other side of the political spectrum. https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/polit ... nts/13/08/

Yep,theres one i think we can all agree on - what an absolute t1t.

One thing that we seem to agree on is people getting "stuck" abroad and/or having to quarantine upon their return.
At this point, it should be made clear to ANYONE travelling abroad is that, in respect of Covid, they do so at their own risk.
For me, people shouldn't be travelling abroad at all currently.
Even though cases may be slowing in the UK, there is a serious and growing pandemic around the world and if "we" cant/dont prevent people travelling, the very minimum should be that additional costs borne by holidaymakers, due to lock down and other virus consequences, should have to pay any additional costs and not expect to simply return to work without consequences.

We would all love to fly abroad and catch a few rays but, doing so at the moment will simply perpetuate the spread of the virus, or worse.

There are politics going on here, rather then protecting the population.

Getting back to NHS front line staff in particular,regardless of the state of the public purse, of course their should be some monetary reward for their efforts during this crisis.and all those that liked to clap on a Thursday evening should be very pleased to contribute, unless, of course,, it was yet more cheap words and deeds, all the way down from the PM.

To suggest that their reward is to still have a job when others may be losing theirs seems just a little bit grubby.
When Johnson talks about a debt of thanks, a bit of clapping on Thursday doesn't really cut it, especially on the back of a 10 year pay freeze that the Tories had already imposed.

As you say we agree on people travelling abroad.

No intention to sound grubby,so i will have another go.
I don't think any pay rise for NHS front line workers should be linked to their performance through a pandemic.
I just don't see how you can justify singling out one public sector should be given a financial reward for doing their job through the crisis.Imagine our armed forces are embroiled in a long running military conflict - when its finished,should we award them a pay rise to thank them for their efforts ?
Now,I'm not saying we pay our NHS staff well enough,i don't think we do.

This this and this a million times over. All these labour supporters on here are just embarassing. Their party heroes are literally child abusing, racist war mongering, expense fiddling whoppers yet according to them. Are Salt of the earth

That’s why you lost by the biggest margin ever. Because you are embarassing

Let's get back to A levels - how difficult would it have been to allow these kids to take these exams - not really - papers were already written - plenty of space to allow for social distancing - plenty of teachers with time on their hands. Sadly not the will on the part of the teachers - they should hang their head in shame.

As I recall, when I did my A levels it was in a gym with small desks pretty much 1m apart, with a teacher wandering around generally doing f'k all. In fact, most of my education involved reading books written by someone else whilst the teacher generally did f'k all except tell us which page to start from and then hand out questions, written by someone else and recycled over the years.

What did you want them to do in your exams? Tell you the answers? Write them on the paper for you?

State education needs fully bringing up to the 21st century. It has improved massively, but there are still areas where kids are still learning the same useless rubbish I was learning over 25 years ago. We were on the cusp of the information age and we were being prepared for work in coal mines, power stations and on spinning jennies as if the industrial revolution was in full swing! It's only when I went to college that I really started learning.

Who made the decision to cancel the exams? I'm pretty certain the teachers in our trust would have facilitated the A Level exams if allowed to. I think you believe teachers actually have more power then they do. Where are you getting all these 'teachers are to blame' attack lines from?

[iGavin Williamson, Education Secretary, said cancelling SATs, GCSEs, A levels and AS levels would "save people's lives".[/i

I think if the teaching unions who are the ones with the grunt had said "let's get the A Levels done" they would have happened but sadly the teaching unions seem to want to put any obstacle in the way of teachers returning to normality.

To say the unions have no power doesn't represent the true situation

Hang on a minute. You're always telling us that unions have too much power and need reigning in. Now you're telling us that the unions should flex their power to get schools open. Make your mind up.

Really? South Korean evidence showed the opposite and that 12-13 yea4 old were the biggest spreaders.

I will make a prediction - if schools reopen on a ‘business as usual’ basis the infection rate nationally will increase significantly. I made a prediction in writing back in March that the UK would have one of the highest death rates and the most affected economies in the developed world, which have this far proved correct. It was blatantly obvious then that our inept government was ignoring evidence from around the world, as they still are.

The reason the exams didn't take place was in part due to union pressure. The unions have issued a 200 point - yes 200 - document that unless everyone of these 200 - yes 200 points are not adopted they will stop their members returning to work. Yes their power needs reigning in even Stevie Wonder can see their objectives - get Williamson out.

Nostradamus speaks - we have a very densely populated country with a service based economy - you remove the people then the service sector is going to suffer - it doesn't take a highly attuned mind to predict what will happen

So do we wait for a vaccine for the kids to go back to school?

Seems we have a government that could not though.

you really are an eegit.

I think the government thought release lockdown and the normality will return - sadly not. Towns are still empty people have got used to shopping on line and they don't want the commute either. Plus if the schools don't go back their parents cant go to work - what happens if the schools haven't gone back by the end of furlough?

If it hasn't sunk in yet, we're not going back to how it was in 2019. As desperate as our great leaders are to get back to the good old days, it just isn't going to happen. People's priorities have changed. No longer will they want to waste money on retail trinkets and sit for hours on trains and buses, in cars for hours on their way to jobs which they can just so easily do at home, and save themselves a massive percentage of their earnings while doing it.

and what do you know about work? freeloading and shirking all your life? all you care about is the supply of werthers originals.