Wednesday 30 November 2011

Come on, Ed, do the sums

This is not a political statement, just a comment on the numbers involved!

What was Ed Miliband on about today when he claimed he was speaking on behalf of low-paid public-sector workers who earn in a week what the Chancellor spends on his annual skiing holiday?

According to the newspaper headlines at the time, the Chancellor spent £11,000 on that luxury skiing holiday earlier this year. I wouldn't call myself a low-paid worker if I earned £11,000 a week!

Even a modest skiing one-week holiday at a good resort mid-season is likely to cost £1000 a person. So, according to the Miliband formula the low-paid public-sector works he is shouting about must earn £52,000 a year. Not bad for a hospital cleaner?

Actually a hospital cleaner earns about £300 a week. So, is that what Ed thinks George spends on his annual skiing holiday?

2 comments:

  1. When I heard this I assumed that Ed had mistakenly said "week" instead of "year". It would not be unusual for, say, a teaching assistant to earn £11,000 pa.

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  2. yea I agree about the year/week thing. just a mix up.

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