With enough vision, the leave scheme could have become a lifeboat for the industry | Economy

It seems inevitable that the Treasury will reject union demands to maintain the leave scheme as a permanent safety net beyond the fall.

The TUC said it would be a step forward for the UK to have the kind of income foundation that German workers and many others enjoy in the richest countries of the world. the Part-time work The income protection regime that Berlin has maintained through thick and thin since 1924 still grows in importance during a major crisis, but it is in place to cope with a mini-crisis as much as a major crisis. .

It was entirely reasonable of Frances O’Grady, the head of the union’s coordinating body, to ask the Treasury to reconsider the end of her leave on September 30. As she pointed out, 23 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – the Paris club of mostly wealthy nations – have permanent regimes that protect workers during tough times.

O’Grady called it a lifeline that kept people out of the unemployed queue and something that could be used in the future without any bureaucratic barriers. She said the lack of support for the steel industry – where a subsidy system could allow short-time working in times of stress without workers being made redundant – was preventing companies in a highly cyclical sector from investing more.

Unlike the unloved apprenticeship tax, which is rarely mentioned today, such a subsidy could serve as a springboard for training. The unions are not asking for an extension of the current leave scheme – crudely put in place in the first weeks of the pandemic to pay 80% of workers’ wages – but a scheme with training as an integral component, deadlines for using the subsidy and employers’ commitments to waive dividends and bonuses while the plan is in effect.

Yes: he should be watched. Some officials should be deployed to verify employer claims. But the TUC estimates that the program in all its aspects would cost no more than 10% of the current £ 67bn operation.

However, Rishi Sunak rejected all proposals to breathe new life into the leave. The Chancellor is not in the mood to add additional costs to the tight budget he is expected to provide in 2022, even if this budgetary restraint is called for.

In 2008, the Labor government relied on tax credits to increase income permanently in good times and like a lifeboat in bad. The scheme’s generosity – which supplemented the wages of people working part-time, just like the current leave scheme – pushed its costs from £ 13 billion to £ 30 billion during the recession following the financial crash.

George Osborne axed tax credits when they reinvented them as the now-mocked universal credit scheme. A temporary £ 20 per week increase in UC last year is expected to be reduced by Sunak in September.

It is this cutoff that tells everyone that a permanent replacement of the leave is unlikely. Yet without a fully functioning universal credit system or a replacement for leave, the UK is once again lagging behind in the OECD.

To some extent, the decision depends on Sunak’s perspective on workers – whether he thinks they are primarily workers and seek to gain an advantage where possible, or whether they want to work and be self-employed, and retrain if the opportunity arises. To return his due to the Chancellor, he has put in place a £ 2bn youth jobs scheme. But Kickstart is not integrated with existing programs and, for this reason, has been slow to start.

O’Grady is right that Britain should have a permanent safety net in place. Not to consolidate outdated roles, but to succeed in a crisis, from the start of the problems.

Return of the Rings to UK highlights TV talent

Amazon’s decision to postpone filming the Lord of the Rings in the UK is the latest sign that the UK film and television production industry is reaping the benefits of a post-pandemic boom.

The show is possibly the most expensive ever – the first series, shot in New Zealand, cost $ 465 million – and is hoping to join The iron Throne and The crown in the ranks of British productions which become world successes.

Amazon has not revealed where in the UK the next five series will be filmed, but Scotland, which narrowly missed when New Zealand was chosen in 2019, appear to be the frontrunners. But wherever it’s filmed,

the billion dollar franchise symbolizes the allure of the UK, with its highly skilled production workforce, world-class studios and equipment, and attractive tax incentives.

A £ 700million drop in UK film and television production spending over the past year is a distant memory as Hollywood studios, streaming giants and traditional TV companies battle to meet demand for content.

Ofcom research found that subscriptions to streaming services such as Amazon, Netflix and Disney + climbed 50% to 31 million last year as Britons sought to ease the boredom of the lockdown, with more households now subscribing to Netflix than pay TV.

This is fueling a boom. Production expenditure of The witcher To Mission: Impossible 7 reached £ 878million in the first three months of 2021 – the highest on record for the first quarter of any year. And

Britain could become a victim of its own success. A report last month warned of a “space race” as the UK needs the equivalent of four new Hollywood-wide film studios to meet demand.

For Amazon, desperate for its own all-conqueror The iron Throne-style fantasy hit, the biggest battle could be to make the series.

Takeovers aren’t just about price, but do shareholders understand it?

The next deadline for the bidding battle for the Morrisons supermarket chain falls on Friday. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, the US private equity group considering its options and financing, must make an offer or withdraw.

If he’s ready to fight, however, one point seems clear: he’ll have to match most of the promises on wages, pensions, and headquarters – and possibly sale-leaseback agreements – made by the consortium currently in the lead. . . The Fortress-led group’s £ 6.7 billion offer has been agreed with the Morrisons board.

CD&R does not have a formal obligation to honor the commitments, but it would be wise to do so. It is assumed that the Morrisons board will push for similar wording after hailing Fortress as a “responsible” potential owner. Channel president Andrew Higginson would have a problem if CD&R refused to play ball, but presumably the bidder would have a harder time dealing with the external flak.

There is a similar dynamic at Meggitt, a Coventry-based aerospace components company. The American Parker Hannifin offered “legally binding” commitments on employment and investment when he accepted his offer of 800 pence per share. If rival TransDigm surpasses 900p, Meggitt’s board has said its other commitments will be weighed against Parker’s.

This attention to non-financial measures is long overdue. While the promises made by Fortress and Parker can’t be called demanding, they are at least an acknowledgment that acquisitions aren’t just about price. This has always been explicit in some areas, like defense (where Meggitt has an interest), but the net now appears to be turning into mainstream.

The unanswerable question is whether City shareholders, when things are going well, are registered. What if a board refuses a large acquisition bonus on the grounds that it does not trust the bidder to run the business in the right way? We still suspect that the directors would not last long.