Are Politicians Anti-Business?

Ed Miliband

The Sunday Times decided to devote half a dozen pages and an editorial lead last weekend to expose how business ‘unfriendly’ Ed Miliband and the Labour Party is. And, despite the mindless repetition among the thousands of words written to prove its point, there is no doubt that the narrative being used by the official opposition does not lend itself to one drawing the conclusion that the private sector has the full confidence and support of Labour’s leadership.

Indeed, though Shadow Business Minister Chuka Umunna has been at pains to point out that it is tax dodgers, unscrupulous bankers and poor employers that Labour has a problem with, the consistent and constant attack on ‘the private sector’ has led many to conclude that Ed actually is ‘red’ and he would lead a government determined to strangle enterprise and wealth creation.

But, just as there appeared to be an open goal for David Cameron to knock the ball into, and prove the Tory Party’s business – friendly credentials, the Prime Minister decided to shoot himself in the foot by telling bosses it was time they gave their employees a pay rise!

The problem with the rhetoric from both Labour and Conservative’s at the moment is the generality with which they speak – and the obsession with the negative.

For all the talk of ‘economic recovery’ it is a fact that many small businesses are still facing challenging times, and that far from being in a position to increase pay, they worry about being able to keep the staff they have.

The fragile recovery has not allowed business to increase their prices to customers, so where is the additional cash for wage hikes to come from?

The failure to distinguish between ‘big’ business and the vast majority of UK companies who are ‘SME’s’ is starting to grate with many business owners and entrepreneurs.

Have our political leaders thanked all those businessmen and women for fighting through tough times, keeping on staff and surviving by taking a pay cut themselves? Has the Prime Minister called on the treasury to give small bosses a break and be less aggressive when it comes to collecting VAT or corporation tax (no sweetener deals for the small or medium sized company I’m afraid), or indeed have Ministers been exploring how UK Plc can take the pressure off a business owner by actually meeting a promise they all make pre -election – and genuinely cut red tape and bureaucracy?

There is no doubt that unscrupulous employers, illegal tax dodgers and financiers on the fiddle should be held to account and punished. However, they are a very small minority of what makes up the business community of the UK, and it is time for politicians from all sides to start to acknowledge the hard work, honesty and contribution that the vast majority of business owners make to the well -being of the country.

The Footy

And so it came to pass that another bonanza football deal has been brokered, with a sum in the region of £5Billion being paid by a diverse range of media outlets for the TV rights to Premier League football. As I wrote last week here we will be witnessing a fixture programme that will stretch throughout the week, and I do believe this is the beginning of the end for the game.

Dopes like me who have an addiction to a football club, rather than the game itself, will probably continue to moan and groan, but like a chain smoker that has been threatening to pack in the fags for years, will find it almost impossible to ‘give up’ something that is no longer interested in the supporter. However, kids, the next generation of fans, will see football as a TV series, and they are likely start to choose to support teams randomly, depending on results. They certainly won’t be stupid enough to brave a cold, dark Wednesday night to watch Stoke battle out a mid- table fixture against West Ham!

If grass roots football was to benefit, or indeed prices for tickets were to be slashed, there may be something to celebrate. But the additional cash will simply go into the pockets of overpaid footballers, their agents and football ‘administrators’.

To those at the top of the game at the moment of course, this is an irrelevance. ‘Make hay while the sun shines’ should be the FA’s new motto, and one they could inherit from the banking community who had such an attitude during the financial boom – and look what happened to them!

Saturday at 3PM

Football 3pm

The next round of television rights for the product that is the Premier League is about to be negotiated, and various proposals are being presented by the media companies that will give the once ‘beautiful game’ even greater riches in exchange for even greater flexibility as to when games are played; and the notice period that has to be given in announcing televised fixtures.

Potentially this means that we will see ‘live’ games on TV from Friday through to Wednesday evening.

We have already witnessed the further dilution of our once feted FA Cup this season, with TV insisting on 3rd Round ties being played on a Tuesday night – meaning that the 4th Round draw had taken place before some of the previous round of games had been completed. Now, night time kick offs and even more bizarre kick off times look likely to be introduced as FA Premier League bosses prioritise the chasing of the shilling over the interest of supporters.

There is no doubt that the Premier League has been more of a force for good, with greater investment in stadium facilities; a more family friendly environment at most grounds; and a competition that is the UKs most successful export product.

Nevertheless, the Television viewing public, whether they be in the pubs of Moss Side and Walton or the bars of Delhi and Shanghai, are as hooked on the ‘product’ not simply because of the unpredictability of the result and the patchy quality of football on offer, but by the fabulous atmosphere that is generated by fervent, bonkers supporters of English football clubs.

If the powers that be continue to mess around with fixture planning and kick off times, then attendances will, sooner or later, begin to be hit – and when that happens the FA will find themselves in a much more difficult round of negotiations with the media outlets than has been the case thus far.

There is a simple solution to all of this nonsense. We should go back to the entire weekend programme being played on a Saturday at 3PM.

The argument that this would adversely affect attendances is patently nonsense now, as any football supporter who wants to watch a game live via a TV, iPad or laptop can easily find a channel that is streaming the game of their choice – or find a pub that has a foreign channel showing the game.

Saturday at 3 O Clock is the traditional time for football in England. It fits with our culture, and offers supporters the certainty of planning their match days, whilst also significantly reducing the number of ‘domestics’ as fans justify to their partners why they are having to leave the family home at 8.30am to watch a football game that starts at 11.30am (Man City vs Everton a couple of seasons ago).

There is a case for playing a ‘headline’ game on Sunday at 4pm, but other than this, for me, it’s Saturday’s all the way.

And if we could also convince UEFA to see the sense of re-introducing a knock our UEFA Cup, played on Wednesday night, rather than the crazy Thursday evening Europa League, we’d really be making some progress.

Single issue ‘Parties’ are bad for politics

Green UKIP

With the next General Election less than 100 days away, it seems highly likely that we are heading for another ‘hung parliament’ and coalition government. The big question is, how will that coalition be made up – and what impact will the so-called ‘fringe’ parties have on the result?

It seems to me that all manner of multi-party agreements could come into play post-election. Labour could sign up to a deal with the Greens and the SNP; the Tories could go with the Unionists of Ireland, the Lib Dems and maybe even UKIP; or we could end up with the largest party, probably the Conservatives, going it alone for a few months before calling another General Election to try and get a conclusive result.

The uncertainty surrounding May’s poll is due to several things, among them the less than inspirational leadership we are being offered by the leaders of the three mainstream parties; but largely it is because of the surge in support the minor political forces have enjoyed in recent months.

It sounds somewhat patronising, and perhaps even a little politically snobbish to say this, but those who are seriously thinking of putting their ‘X’ in the box marked Green, UKIP, Independent or, to a lesser extent, SNP, are clearly not too concerned about the detail and range of policies that are required for government.

These fringe parties are basically single issue campaigners who have decided that forming a ‘political party’ gives them more legitimacy and a bigger voice than by simply sticking to what they actually are – protest groups.

The Greens are anti-nuclear; anti-fracking and, apparently, anti-enterprise. They have no clue about economic policy, defence or indeed a whole manner of things that should concentrate the minds of any political party standing for election. Do those who are planning to vote Green really appreciate that they want to abolish the army in favour of ‘civil defence’ volunteers? Or that they wish to kick the Queen out of Buckingham Palace and stick her and the Corgi’s in a council house?

Outside of immigration and their anti-EU agenda, have UKIP got any policies that bear scrutiny? Certainly on both the NHS and economic policy they have been found desperately short of ideas and credibility.

And, outside of using the proceeds of North Sea oil to prop up some kind of Scottish Utopia, how are the SNP proposing to govern their nation if they do ever get full blown UDI? With oil prices now plummeting, you can only see their mismanagement of public services getting worse if they were to be given the powers they crave.

Single issue pressure groups should be just that – or we end up in the dangerous position that we now find ourselves, with a turned off electorate choosing to back parties with one idea rather than a Manifesto to govern.

More Evidence That the North-South Divide is Growing

North South Divide

There was little surprise with the news this week that for every one job created in the North since 2004, twelve have been created in the South, according to a Centre for Cities report that is summarised here.

The fact that this latest study covers the past decade also shows that neither the previous Labour government, with its push towards regionalism, nor the current coalition administration, have been able to reverse what is an unhealthy and unacceptable trend that has been part of the UK economic landscape for generations now.

The devolution programme that George Osborne has been driving through his ‘Northern Powerhouse’ initiative has not, of course, had a chance to prove whether it will be the key to finally solve this long-standing conundrum, but if the regions and cities across the north grasp the opportunities he is offering, then I have no doubt that more strategic planning and spending on transport, skills, training and economic development at a local level will contribute to a growth in city region jobs and wealth.

However, more radical proposals are necessary too, not least identifying new ways of supporting existing businesses, and as importantly encouraging start up’s.

The Northwest and Yorkshire is still way short of where it needs to be in terms of VAT registered businesses, and the ‘enterprise culture’ that successive governments have attempted to establish has not been delivered.

There are still too many public sector led ‘business support’ projects – I still shake my head in disbelief when I hear local government officers who wouldn’t know a balance sheet from the back end of a bus waxing lyrical about what business needs – and a range of financial incentives in place that actually favour larger companies who would have ample access to finance in the mainstream market anyway. The Regional Growth Fund is the most obvious culprit, but it is not on its own.

Our man in Manchester Michael Taylor has restated Downtown’s belief that we need a regional investment bank in his blog here and it would certainly be on the menu of change that is required if we are not to be talking about an even bigger North-South gap in 2025.

But a much bigger infrastructure spend than Osborne has announced, with house building and improving the regions motorway network at the centre of the plan; a drive within city regions to focus at least as much attention on growing our own talent as we do on inward investment; and a new range of genuine financial incentives for small companies who have ambitions to grow, with tax credits for those who take on more staff are just a few possibilities to be considered.

As we approach the General Election in May, Downtown will be agitating for change and suggesting as many new ideas as we can. Join the conversation and let me know what you think could begin to close the North-South economic gap.

You want to get fit this year? Hire a PT

Personal Trainer

Of the many New Year resolutions that friends and colleagues appear to have committed to in 2015, ‘getting fit’ is among the most popular.

After the debauchery of Christmas parties and the consumption of vast quantities of food and drink, it is perhaps inevitable that your personal health, and weight, with be foremost in your mind; but as we approach week three of this new year, I wonder how many of those who wanted to ‘get fit’ have done anything about it?

The usual pattern for those that do, in my experience, is for a gym subscription to be purchased. You can see in Gym facilities up and down the country at present the huge surge in gym memberships, as regulars become increasingly agitated as the ‘new year resolution’ brigade hog the treadmills, bikes classes and other equipment.

By mid-February, the vast majority of these people will have started to make their excuses (not enough time, a minor injury, a sick pet to look after at home) disappeared, and abandoned the notion of fitness – probably until two weeks before they hit the beach, when they will desperately try, and fail, to create a Baywatch like body for their holidays.

Having studied this cycle for over twenty years now, I have a suggestion for those who have started on a new health and fitness regime; and would genuinely like to stick with it. Get some Personal Training sessions booked in.

A trainer will tailor your training sessions to your fitness level. They will not let you ‘go mad’ on day one, only to find yourself too sore, or too injured, to return for session two.

Having a PT will allow you to learn from a qualified expert what exercise will work for you and your body type. They will allow you to hit your targets quicker – saving you time.

And, most importantly, a good PT will motivate you. Motivate you to keep going through what will, and should be, challenging workouts; and motivating you to come back for more.

I have been going the gym for twenty-five years now, religiously, 2-4 times a week. Vanity has most probably been my main motivator if I’m honest.

During that quarter of a century of running, cycling, punch bag and weights, I have often altered my training regime to account for age, injuries and just to prevent boredom setting in. I’ve had to alter my diet massively during that time too. Super fit mates, Men’s Health magazines and the odd tip from a social media site has provided me with all the support, advice and guidance I wanted. Until last year.

In September I got myself a Personal Trainer. He has taken my training to another level, pushing me to places that I didn’t think I could get to, bullying me into doing that extra set, but most importantly tailoring a programme that hits the parts of my body that other exercises can’t reach.

Even those of us who are experienced trainers need a lift now and again, so if you’re new to training, or a bit of a ‘veteran’ like me, do yourself a favour and seek out a good PT who can help you maximise the benefit of your fitness regime.