In a book published back in 2012 called Britannia Unchained, future UK prime minister Liz Truss and her Conservative party colleagues characterised British workers with these words: “Once they enter the workplace, the British are among the worst idlers in the world. We work among the lowest hours, we retire early and our productivity is poor. Whereas Indian children aspire to be doctors or businessmen, the British are more interested in football and pop music.”
Insulting workers as lazy in the country that you hope to lead was a peculiar political strategy for Ms Truss, but somehow it worked. A decade after the book appeared, she became prime minister (famously lasting just seven weeks in office).
Those words about British “idlers” have an echo right now. A policy initiative from Ms Truss’s successor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, seeks to change the way in which family doctors assess whether a person is fit for work. Those declared unfit may qualify for taxpayer-funded state benefits. The others either find a job or receive no state money.
Mr Sunak attacked what he called the UK's “sick note culture” suggesting that not working for some is a “lifestyle choice”. “Hardworking people” are paying higher taxes to support a “spiralling” welfare bill.
There is nothing new in this. Politicians worldwide, particularly on the political right, often claim that lazy scroungers benefit from the hard work of you and me. Back in the 1970s, then-US presidential candidate Ronald Reagan used the term “welfare queens” to stigmatise some women – black women in particular – who, he claimed, were paid taxpayers’ money to do nothing.
Of course, some people do abuse the system, but this same trope reappears time after time in the mouths of politicians who clearly believe that it’s a winner with voters. But what is their solution?
Sunak does not dismiss mental ill health, but says we need to be 'honest about the risk of over-medicalisation of everyday challenges'
Mr Sunak says that if his party wins the next general election, he will make it harder for patients to obtain a doctor’s sick note. He will take decision-making on fitness to work away from overstretched doctors, in a proposed “crackdown” on benefit fraud. He does not “dismiss or downplay” mental ill health, but we need to be “honest about the risk of over-medicalisation of everyday challenges”.
So, who will decide if you are too sick to work or are just lazy, if it’s not your doctor? Mr Sunak says it will be unspecified “specialist work and health professionals who have the dedicated time to provide an objective assessment of someone’s ability to work and the tailored support they need to do so”. Well, possibly.
It’s certainly true that since the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a bump in sickness of one sort or another in the British workforce. According to the Office for National Statistics, “an estimated 185.6 million working days were lost because of sickness or injury in 2022; this level was a record high, but the number of days lost per worker, at 5.7, was not”. There was more recently, in February, a record unemployment high of 2.8 million people out of work.
Mr Sunak concludes that “there’s nothing compassionate about leaving a generation of young people to sit alone in the dark before a flickering screen watching as their dreams slip further from reach every single day”. That is certainly true, although whether these words are relevant as a realistic characterisation of young British people in 2024 is debatable.
Employers do report a worker shortage. That is one reason immigration to the UK is so high. But the key question is whether Mr Sunak has hit on a problem requiring a change in the kind of people who sign “sick notes” or whether – as with the Britannia Unchained slur on workers – all this is just standard political rhetoric in the run-up to an election.
Scope, a British disability charity, says that Mr Sunak is mounting “a full-on assault on disabled people” that was “driven by bringing costs down rather than how we support disabled people”. Mental health charities also raise questions about the Sunak announcement. Others say that the real problem is a lack of training, lack of an educated workforce, lack of well-paying jobs, and difficulties in obtaining hospital treatment and medical care for those “signed off” as sick.
There is, in other words, no magic bullet solution. But as I travel round the country talking to diverse audiences – last week I was in Yorkshire – I hear some very different stories, and they focus on money. The people I meet often speak of hardship and the rising cost of living. Some say hard work does not pay enough.
A skilled craftsman I spoke with recently told me that he goes to the local supermarket just before closing time every Saturday night because that’s when they discount meat and other costly foods. He works hard – often six days a week – but finds paying the bills increasingly difficult.
Instead of dividing us into “hardworking” people and “idlers” or “welfare queens”, maybe governments could figure out how to pay workers a fair and decent living wage for a hard day’s work. I’d vote for that.
Juvenile arthritis
Along with doctors, families and teachers can help pick up cases of arthritis in children.
Most types of childhood arthritis are known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. JIA causes pain and inflammation in one or more joints for at least six weeks.
Dr Betina Rogalski said "The younger the child the more difficult it into pick up the symptoms. If the child is small, it may just be a bit grumpy or pull its leg a way or not feel like walking,” she said.
According to The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in US, the most common symptoms of juvenile arthritis are joint swelling, pain, and stiffness that doesn’t go away. Usually it affects the knees, hands, and feet, and it’s worse in the morning or after a nap.
Limping in the morning because of a stiff knee, excessive clumsiness, having a high fever and skin rash are other symptoms. Children may also have swelling in lymph nodes in the neck and other parts of the body.
Arthritis in children can cause eye inflammation and growth problems and can cause bones and joints to grow unevenly.
In the UK, about 15,000 children and young people are affected by arthritis.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
57%20Seconds
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rusty%20Cundieff%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJosh%20Hutcherson%2C%20Morgan%20Freeman%2C%20Greg%20Germann%2C%20Lovie%20Simone%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
Napoleon
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Ridley%20Scott%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Joaquin%20Phoenix%2C%20Vanessa%20Kirby%2C%20Tahar%20Rahim%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
More from Neighbourhood Watch
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who are the Soroptimists?
The first Soroptimists club was founded in Oakland, California in 1921. The name comes from the Latin word soror which means sister, combined with optima, meaning the best.
The organisation said its name is best interpreted as ‘the best for women’.
Since then the group has grown exponentially around the world and is officially affiliated with the United Nations. The organisation also counts Queen Mathilde of Belgium among its ranks.
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
More Iraq election coverage:
The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
