The Budget

[Feedback]

Yes I read your post and it took me back to many wasted hours arguing the toss with you years back.

You have an entrenched 'ideological' view of public and private sector jobs that is often unrelated to reality.

Basically you seem to think that: private sector = good = productive = tax generating; whilst public sector = bad = unproductive = tax consuming.

I've not indicated that at all in any of my post. What I did say was that if we don't have the tax base to pay for the 75k jobs, then the private sector will have to pick up the slack. No mention of whether the private/public sector was productive or not. You're creating a straw man.

Years back I asked you how this applied to a Council plumber or a hospital cleaner who one day are tax paying, public sector, productive workers (one funded by local tenant rents and the other by general taxation) and the next day are TUPE transferred to a private sector contractor. They are still productive, tax paying workers doing essential jobs. They are both funded by tenant rents or general taxation (via a contract fee to the private sector company). The only difference is that (generally) their pay and conditions will be worse - if not immediately then after a few years - and any surplus in revenues will go to private sector shareholders and not into improved service.

you say I'm dogmatic then immediately claim that pay will be worse in the private sector. There is no evidence of that whatsoever.

So the answer is no - we don't need to replace public sector jobs with private sector jobs. It would be better if insecure private sector jobs were transferred (back) into the public sector.

more dogma. there is no evidence that the public sector or private sector can deliver all services that are required. The public sector will be more geared in certain situations, whereas the private sector will be in others.

what you cannot grasp is that my point is not about transferring jobs from public to private, is the fact that without the tax base to pay for it, we are going to lose 75k public sector jobs. If the private sector does not pick up the slack, then 75k workers - 5% of the workforce - will be unemployed.