This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jun/05/other-side-new-elizabethan-age
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| The other side of Britain's new Elizabethan age | The other side of Britain's new Elizabethan age |
| (8 days later) | |
| Your report (Jobless bussed in to steward pageant, 5 June) captures what was felt by many of us who would not succumb to the diamond jubilee's self-fulfilling PR. It reminded me of going to church when I was younger. The merry music, the pseudo-sense of community and deference to higher authority. It's meant to feel good. It does feel good. But it is a chimera. The reality is that many workers involved in the event were "paid" £2.80 an hour by a private company, bussed in and left stranded on the side of a road at 3am, with only a wet, concrete floor for a bed. Perhaps those in the royal box might care to top up those workers' wages to the minimum and thank them for helping make their evening so jolly. Land of hope and glory? Plus ça change. Stuart Emmerson London | Your report (Jobless bussed in to steward pageant, 5 June) captures what was felt by many of us who would not succumb to the diamond jubilee's self-fulfilling PR. It reminded me of going to church when I was younger. The merry music, the pseudo-sense of community and deference to higher authority. It's meant to feel good. It does feel good. But it is a chimera. The reality is that many workers involved in the event were "paid" £2.80 an hour by a private company, bussed in and left stranded on the side of a road at 3am, with only a wet, concrete floor for a bed. Perhaps those in the royal box might care to top up those workers' wages to the minimum and thank them for helping make their evening so jolly. Land of hope and glory? Plus ça change. Stuart Emmerson London |
| • As a 62-year-old, I have been told all my life that we are living in the new Elizabethan age, but this shows that much remains of the old one – one set of arrangements for those at the top and another for those who do the donkey work. The company describes what happened as an "unfortunate set of circumstances". Still, they have spent £220 a head on licences and more than £100 each on boots and trousers. So that's all right then. Janet Jobber Huddersfield | • As a 62-year-old, I have been told all my life that we are living in the new Elizabethan age, but this shows that much remains of the old one – one set of arrangements for those at the top and another for those who do the donkey work. The company describes what happened as an "unfortunate set of circumstances". Still, they have spent £220 a head on licences and more than £100 each on boots and trousers. So that's all right then. Janet Jobber Huddersfield |
| • What sort of country is Britain becoming that forces the long-term unemployed to work for free on a pageant designed to celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee? Why are taxpayers in effect subsidising the private profits of a security company? As an ex-human resources professional, I always assumed it was part of an employer's responsibility to pay staff while training them. What an indictment that training and equipment costs are now being used to justify non-payment for work. If working for free is an important part of getting the long-term unemployed back to work, as the charity involved suggested, perhaps it should be limited to non-profit-making or charitable activity to ensure that there can be no question of people on benefits being used to inflate private-sector profits. | • What sort of country is Britain becoming that forces the long-term unemployed to work for free on a pageant designed to celebrate the Queen's diamond jubilee? Why are taxpayers in effect subsidising the private profits of a security company? As an ex-human resources professional, I always assumed it was part of an employer's responsibility to pay staff while training them. What an indictment that training and equipment costs are now being used to justify non-payment for work. If working for free is an important part of getting the long-term unemployed back to work, as the charity involved suggested, perhaps it should be limited to non-profit-making or charitable activity to ensure that there can be no question of people on benefits being used to inflate private-sector profits. |
| Do we assume that the Olympics will also reveal a similar ugly use of workers beneath all the supposed celebration and fun? Jenny Budden Exmouth, Devon | Do we assume that the Olympics will also reveal a similar ugly use of workers beneath all the supposed celebration and fun? Jenny Budden Exmouth, Devon |
| • In July, perhaps the Guardian will report just how many of the jobseekers used by Close Protection UK to work as unpaid stewards actually obtained paid jobs with the firm at the Olympics, as it appears they have been led to believe. Beverlie Drewitt Redditch, Worcestershire | • In July, perhaps the Guardian will report just how many of the jobseekers used by Close Protection UK to work as unpaid stewards actually obtained paid jobs with the firm at the Olympics, as it appears they have been led to believe. Beverlie Drewitt Redditch, Worcestershire |
| • This company should be immediately stripped of all its contracts working with the unemployed as a clear signal to other companies that such behaviour will not be tolerated. Valerie Crews Beckenham, Kent | • This company should be immediately stripped of all its contracts working with the unemployed as a clear signal to other companies that such behaviour will not be tolerated. Valerie Crews Beckenham, Kent |
| • I hope none of the unemployed who worked as unpaid stewards for the Queen's jubilee were Britons, as all over the country this weekend people loudly professed such people "never, never, never shall be slaves". Paul O'Kane London | • I hope none of the unemployed who worked as unpaid stewards for the Queen's jubilee were Britons, as all over the country this weekend people loudly professed such people "never, never, never shall be slaves". Paul O'Kane London |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. Enter your email address to subscribe. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |