Government Claims Cheers-As Businesses Foot the Bill

Easter is here, and so far we’ve had some welcome sunshine — so here’s hoping you are having a wonderful, busy weekend with tills ringing and tables full. You deserve it.

I must confess, I had quite a different start to my week. I found myself drafting a tweet, fingers flying, spleen well and truly vented — only to stop, read it back, and hit delete. Tweet in haste, repent at leisure, as they say.

So I saved it for the blog instead. And now, here it is.

The source of my frustration? Watching MPs and government supporters fall over themselves to boast about how they have “given millions of people a pay rise.” I’m sorry — is it just me?

No-one begrudges anyone a pay rise. But a pay rise is only meaningful if it can actually be afforded.

No business on earth can give what it does not have. Any employer with an ounce of common sense knows that valued staff are rewarded — and back in the day, if you felt underpaid, you moved on, and market forces did their work.

Pay rises are negotiated between employer and employee, based on performance and affordability.

That is how it is supposed to work.

So here is the analogy I nearly tweeted. Let’s say an MP walks into the Dog & Duck for a quiet pint. I march over, tap them on the shoulder, and force them — compel them, give them no choice — to buy a round for the entire pub. We then walk next door to Tesco, and I do the same: I force them to pay for everyone’s groceries.

Now tell me: who gets the credit? Should I stand up and boast that I have given everyone free drinks and free groceries? Of course not. I forced someone else’s hand. The generosity wasn’t mine to claim.

And here is the part that seems to escape the notice of those doing the boasting: what do you think that MP does next?

That’s right — they avoid the Dog & Duck. They stop going to Tesco. They do, in fact, exactly what they so love to accuse others of doing. Avoidance.

Businesses cannot absorb costs that the economy does not support.

The evidence is already in: job losses are accelerating, investment is being cancelled, hours are being cut, and venues are closing.

These are not scare stories. These are the numbers coming back from our own sector’s surveys — as reported in this very issue.

A one-size-fits-all mandatory uplift, imposed regardless of the health of an individual business or the broader economy, is a policy that sounds wonderful in a press release and lands very differently on a Monday morning when the wages bill lands on your desk.

Pay rises can only be sustained when businesses are healthy. Businesses can only be healthy when the economy supports them. Forcing the pace helps no-one.

I will say it again: nobody begrudges anyone a fair wage, hey I am an employee myself!

What we object to is a government that forces the cost onto operators and then claims the applause.

Anyway — the sun is almost out, the weekend is here, and there are pints to pull. Have a wonderful Easter, look after your teams, and thank you, as always, for everything you do for this great industry.

Happy Easter. Cheers — The Editor