We’re all facing job uncertainty, but unlike business bosses, miners handle it with real dignity
Sun columnist Kelvin praises the 'Last Miners' who face real uncertainty with dignity rather than the whining coming from business bosses who complain then shrink back to their multi-million pound homes
IF I hear one more of those management tossers at the CBI saying business doesn’t like “uncertainty” (the new post-Brexit mantra) I will throw up.
If you are in work you are constantly dealing with “uncertainty”. Are you going to be made redundant? Is the firm in trouble? Have we just lost a big order? Is an important colleague moving on? Is the new boss an idiot?
It was the last of the country’s deep coal mines and the two-parter was filmed in the last five days before the 450 miners were made redundant.
Many had known no other job but hacking coal. They would go 800m down in a lift and then travel four miles on a trestle to the face. Makes the fact the 8.02 is late look a breeze, doesn’t it?
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Sure they shed tears as the pit closed, but what I found most uplifting was how they set about finding new careers. And one by one they triumphed.
One chap became a manager at a Mercedes-Benz showroom. Another an engineer. Another a much in-demand handyman.
I found their response to real uncertainty — Am I going to have a job? How is the mortgage to be paid? — uplifting compared with the spokespeople for business who give their politicised soundbites then return to their £2million houses.
They have no idea what real uncertainty looks like, so I would be grateful if they kept their ignorance to themselves.
Brilliant Brits started the EU revolution
COME Sunday night it will be well worth watching the 10pm news. You may learn that the EU is finally falling apart.
Both Italy and Austria are going to the polls and if the results are “populist”, expect the rest of Europe to vote in a similar way next year.
And that will spell the end of Brussels, so we won’t have anybody left to negotiate our Brexit with. Who would have guessed?
Come Sunday night it will be well worth watching the 10pm news. You may learn that the EU is finally falling apart
The Italians are facing a rather boring referendum about constitutional reform. What makes it interesting is that the Italian Prime Minister, , says he will quit if he loses. His opponent, a potty comedian, Beppe Grillo, above, is hostile to immigration and, with youth unemployment at 37 per cent, on the front foot. If Renzi is defeated it will trigger a financial crisis as the banks are all skint. Perhaps they will go back to the lira.
Over in Austria it’s even more serious. The favourite to win the Presidential election is right-winger Norbert Hofer, who wants to ban the burka, outlaw mosques and crack down on immigration.
He wants to stay in the EU but doesn’t want freedom of movement. With the country facing 11.7 per cent youth unemployment and 90,000 migrants last year, he is the favourite.
So it no longer matters what Hollande or Merkel say any more. It’s what the people say that matters.
And this revolution is all down to the little old UK voting Brexit.
Give yourself a pat on the back.
HOLLYWOOD actress Alicia Silverstone, aged 40, clearly likes to have skin in the game. She is baring her bum on behalf of the animal rights campaigners Peta, who allege that your jumper was created by cruelty in the sheep-shearing process.
But farmers claim the argument is woolly, pointing out that if they didn’t shear the sheep they would suffer from a condition in which flies lay their eggs in the wool – these then hatch into maggots. As I ponder these arguments my mind wanders towards the perky posterior of Ms Silverstone, where I imagine she keeps her thought process.
ONGOING SAGA
MY old chums at Saga have been at it again.
Reader Lisa Heap noticed her mother’s car insurance had gone up over time from £390 to £672 before incredibly jumping in a year to £1,265. No explanation except they would have known she was a vulnerable 78.
Mum, from Stockport, Gtr Manchester, knew of my campaign against “loyalty” and allowed Lisa to look at price comparison sites (not sure if it was my ) and switched to Hastings Direct for £424, saving £841. Saga should hang their head.
Send your saving stories to [email protected]
Make tax firms pay up over skint stars
Mr Staunton is only the beginning. The number of professional footballers facing financial ruin will run into 500-plus, many of them household names. Why will they be the only ones facing a bleak future?
As a footballer Mr Staunton, above, would have had no idea what he was letting himself in for when he signed. Even a Treasury QC of my acquaintance said he couldn’t be sure.
Mr Staunton invested in three schemes developed by Ingenious Media, a financial outfit founded by celebrity accountant Patrick McKenna. In what way has Mr McKenna suffered? He’s worth £400million. That money should go to his innocent, unknowing victims.
What about the brokers? Big banks like RBS (not to mention IFAs) received huge rewards for selling on these tax “shelters”. Yet they have not paid a penny to their victims and use every legal trick to stonewall.
There is one scheme called Eclipse in which anybody who invested £200,000 will face a £2million HMRC bill.
That scheme was created by HSBC and sold through a broker.
I haven’t seen HSBC being fined or their CEO jailed. Have you?
Be pleased to hear from footballers or their representatives on this issue. Please email [email protected].
LIFE IS A JOURNEY
THEY both left school at 16.
One was dyslexic and went bust in an early business venture, while his mate spent his early life dossing in barns and caravans while working as a forester and builder.
Today, Paul Caplan and John Graham are sharing £55million after selling their Go Outdoors chain, which they founded in Sheffield 18 years ago.
Well done, guys. They prove the old saying: Success is a journey, not a destination.
Tips for Sgt sexist
I KNOW I sit outside polite society but I absolutely rolled up at the public misconduct inquiry into Sgt Andy Sheldon, described as being of the “old school” at West Midlands Police.
Having been found guilty, the panel decided Sheldon should stay in his job but receive “management advice”.
What kind of advice would that be? That small t*ts would be quite acceptable in Handsworth? That “munters” go down well in Hall Green? And there’s nothing wrong with a slapped a**e in Selly Oak?
Why this was played out in public is beyond me. Not least because one witness revealed a police inspector was “laughing and agreeing” with Sheldon’s analysis of female job prospects.
I suspect in the weeks to come the inspector will be one of those called on to offer “management advice” to Sheldon. You couldn’t make it up.
ON the back of a sewage tanker in Flintshire – We shift the logs that clog your bogs.
Car wash in Clayton West, West Yorks – Car Foam Warehouse.
Dog grooming business in Southend-on-Sea, Essex – Shampooches.
A lady locksmith in Wigton, Leics – Mrs Picklocks.
Barber’s in Darlington, Co Durham – Cut ’n’ Edge.
Restaurant in Borough, South London – Feng Sushi.
Christmas tree seller in Northampton – We Tree Kings.
Butcher’s opposite the park in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex – Meat By The Park.
Thai restaurant in Darling Harbour, Sydney – Thai Foon.
The punnies are the best part of this column. Do keep sending them to [email protected].
-FOREIGN Office bod Sir Alan Duncan must have done something very wrong in a previous life to be chosen as the Government’s representative at the funeral of tyrant Fidel Castro. Why send anybody? Do you normally gather round the grave of a mass murderer?
-WITH a bit of luck the Omran prints by the artist Jolyon Madden should be with you in a couple of weeks max. The delay is due to my administrative efficiency. My apologies.