James O'Brien blasts Minister telling struggling people to work extra hours | LBC 

If you voted for the Tories in 2019 because you didn't like Jeremy Corbyn, then i am sorry you were misled, but until working class people stop voting for the people punching them in the face, then our plight will just get worse and worse.

The UK is sleepwalking into a catastrophe of enormous proportions and we're led by people that will never be affected by it.

"Can't afford rent? Just buy a house!" That little gem of an idea is from our (hopefully) soon to be ex-prime minister here in Australia.

Doesn't she think that if people could get a "better" job they'd already have done so.

When someone suggests a solution to this issue that starts with "just," it is important to recognize that you are engaged in conversation with a big part of the problem. If "just do X" was the solution, then the problem would not exist. They're reductive, at best, and exploitative, at worst.

My husband worked extra hours and all that happened was we lost our working family tax credits…. And extra wage he earned was not as much as the tax credits we lost, so we’re worse off and he’s more tired and spends less time with his family. We also lost free prescriptions and free dental care. Working extra hours when you’re on a low wage doesn’t work in the long run.

If she ever had to do an actual days work, she'd soon realise that for many in physical jobs, they are knackered by the end of their regular shift, let alone do more hours. The whole lot of them are completely out of touch with reality.

I was a plumber this morning. Now I'm a cardiologist. It never occurred to me to get a better job before. Life's looking much brighter!

I'm 51, I work for the NHS, have done for 29 years. The last 12 of which I've seen either below inflation wage rises or no wage rise at all. This government are responsible for my current income level, not me. Should I leave? Where will I get a job at my age? Where would I get a new career at my age? How would the NHS cope if folk like me did leave? I'm beginning to struggle through no fault of my own. I work hard at my job, I can't work any harder or put in extra shifts, I'm gubbed after the shifts I have.. I was applauded 2 years ago whilst I worked in COVID wards and COVID HDU. Now I'm told to get a better paid job??? These people are vile and we have absolutely no hope of them helping us. Britain needs an uprising to force change. Would never condone public disorder previously but feel it's the only way to get badly needed change before millions of folk are left ruined

Funny thing is that most of the essentials jobs that needed to be done during the covid mess are poorly paid jobs…. I would like to see what would actually happen if those people did leave their jobs for better paid ones.

It's like telling a sick person to just get better. I can't believe how out of touch these people are. They are meant to represent the people of their constituency but have absolutely no idea how regular people live and the struggles we face on a daily basis

The cost of living crisis is simple to solve. Politicians 'just' need to give up half their salary. Its simple just like that.

When you're surrounded with millionaires, you start believing that everyone's a millionaire.

I got so inspired by her words that I just called a major company and asked for a $1 million a week job... still waiting.

I was struggling on furlough in the second lockdown, eventually thankfully went back to work and set up a side hustle and I'm now suffering burnout it's awful, how people with kids or dependents manage is beyond me.

6:40 One factor that I don’t think is often brought up is that a large number of people in government, especially at the very top, spent a large portion of their childhood in Prep and Boarding Schools. Recent studies have shown that these institutions can be incredibly damaging on a persons mental health in regard to things like forming healthy relationships and developing empathy and understanding for those around them.

I love it when a tory comes out and accidently spills what the whole bunch of them really think, rather than spout the usual "we're doing all we can" non commital response. The whole attitude is that everything will sort itself out, people will work harder, the private sector will step in and fill a need. and dont look beyond what we need to do and say to keep our core voters happy to get us back in next time. they really do only care about keeping themselves in power

I was unemployed 8 years ago and was on basic jobseekers allowance of £74 a week during that time MPs gave themselves a pay rise of over £3700 pound which was more than my entire years benefits and they have the absolute cheek to call us scroungers

If they can convince themselves that the poor are struggling because they’re ignorant, lazy and morally inferior then they don’t have to come to terms with the fact their policies have helped caused this and their wealth is not something they deserve because they are not in fact special

I’m a trained nurse. I’ve already worked nearly full time hours- during my annual leave. Am I supposed to work every day of the week in an emotionally draining job? I’m livid they won’t give us a fair payrise. They are destroying the NHS with underfunding and privatisation.

Sadly, there is a never ending conveyor belt of these numpties

The problem is unpaid extra hours are already a part of many people's lives.

When they (MP’s) just waft around having high paying consultancy jobs thrown at them for no discernible reason and with little or no effort on their part attaining them, it’s hardly surprising they have no idea what ‘just getting a better job’ in the real world entails. Neither do they understand how the conversation with most bosses/managers will play out when you simply ask for more hours.

One major factor was left out is that we are seeing global inflation . I saw it in the news that most countries are all competing for parts , products , food, OIL etc. Even nations that managed their rates better are seeing major issues . The glut of money was an issue sure, but the surging demand from nation that re-opened from covid lockdowns played a larger role . Add to this pandemic-related staffing issues and the intentional global oil supply problems and its a nightmare . I known the intention was to explain inflation but that doesn’t do justice to the current inflation on a global scale......

They have obviously never had to go without ,they have absolutely no idea on the life of the average person

As an engineering consultant we are normally expected to work extra hours to get the work done but with no salary benefit. As such, working ''extra'' hours helps not a jot. Which banana boat did these self rightous prats arrive on?

One of our politicians in Australia (before he became Prime Minister) actually said in an interview many years ago, that the gov't funded private schools because they would become the leaders of the future. Those is gov't schools didn't need a high level of education because they would be working for the private school graduates. Where would their workers come from if they, the poorly educated, became highly educated.

"Do more hours" McDonalds is a prime example of how this won't work, they gave their staff a pay rise in April and then cut the hours of those staff that they class as full time. Full time hours for a 17 year old been about 26 hrs I think ( not 100% sure) they cut them back a couple of hours and then employed more part time staff. WHy?? My guess is NI payments, employees start paying NI at a certain earnings level and the employer also starts paying at that point. This why zero hours contracts are so popular, they companies avoid tax commitments while keeping the plebs on low wages subsidized by universal credit. "Work more hours" chance would be a fine thing

When you thought this government couldn't go lower....

It's simple. The government just doesn't care. They're not going to end up in poverty.

The minister's advice is sound in theory, work more and you'll earn more. In practise, the tax system discourages an employee from working longer hours, as you get less back the harder you toil. This is worsened during an inflationary crisis where increased costs are not reflected in an increase in tax free allowance.

“Get a better paid job” or “work more hours”, said by someone that never worked a day in her life.

What exactly is the job of the 'safeguarding' minister? What does she safeguard apart from her own job???

"If you're homeless, just buy a house" - Generic Tory MP doing the morning interview rounds

As someone who just about remembers the days of the Thatcher regime of 'look after yourselves', 'no such thing as society', 'get on your bike' and so on, it is disheartening to see it happening all over again, 30-odd years later... How did we end up with Boris Johnson as PM? Not just because people voted for him, but also because people didn't vote for anyone else - in other words, they voted based on who they didn't want.....

This proves how out of touch with reality our MPs are. I worked for over 50 years my State Pension per week is less than some people spend on a night out. There were no Private Pensions when I started work at 16.

The contempt these tory ministers exhibit towards the poor is almost palpable.

People have worked very hard to earn the money energy companies are taking from them. They are not lazy. They are just powerless….literally and metaphorically.

I think what the government minister said is absolutely insulting and she should be sacked

I'm going to ring Boris and ask for that ministers job, it's almost certainly better paid than my job. My only hesitation is that I might not be smart enough or I would have thought of it myself.

I did exactly that. Having the qualification, I applied for a better paid job citing this ministerial advice and was told that usually I'd get it no problem, but referencing Rachel McClean as a motivational factor proves that I'm too dumb for it. What do I do now?

I am sure that those in difficulty would love Rachel McLeans job, and would no doubt make a better job of it.

I work in the heritage sector which was decimated by Tory cuts starting in 2010 and further decimated by Covid (over 70% of our visitors are from overseas). The last job I applied for had over 470 candidates apply. So the likelihood of me getting any other job, much less a better paid one, is slim despite having over 12 years experience and a Master's degree. Government has said, after the years of pay freeze, that they recommend a 2% pay rise for us. This works out at a whopping £8.77 a week.

Telling people to get better jobs is despicable. The only time they’ve ever broken a sweat is when counting their money, none of them know what a hard days work even looks like. If everybody gets better jobs… who will clean up Boris’ poo poo when he misses the toilet? Who will fill the positions that have a wage you can’t live on? Everybody has gone and got better jobs!

What about those of us that can’t work due to disability? I’m glad James has hit the nail on the head with regards to workers rights, we know the Tories love a bit of modern day slavery, they want us to serve the rich!

They don’t realise that a job on minimum wage needs working tax credit to make life even survivable. Taking on more hours reduces the amount of tax credit you receive so there is a whole tranche of people that no amount of extra hours would see an increase of income.

One of my biggest concerns with Brexit was our workers rights being flushed, and being flushed they are. We saw this in action a few months ago when there where a lack of lorry drivers, so the government gets rid of the law that prevents lorry drivers from saying "no" to extra hours and the government frames that as 'opportunity'. This is now going to becoming common place, in almost all industries. People will struggle, be forced to work additional hours and have no choice but to take second jobs. It's an absolute and complete disgrace. Mental health will become an even bigger issue, people will become less productive and our industries will suffer. It's that simple. We need protection from this government and we need it now. Our workers rights are about to be absolutely shat on.

The same people who tell others to go and get better paid jobs are the same people who would walk into a Tesco and complain that there’s not enough on the shelves because there isn’t enough staff. The reason they can be so out of touch is because they aren’t facing the issues that they are talking about

"Move to a better job" Here in the US we are seeing that play out in the food service industry........people got sick of the way they were treated, quit, got different jobs......... Now the "move to a better job" people are complaining "no one wants to work" because restaurants are understaffed. Buch of lampshades........

MPs got a raise of £2,212 this year whilst pensioners (like myself) got a raise of £289. Most MPs have not got a clue what it is to work for a living! They're getting a gold-plated salary, with a gold-plated pension for talking for a living. They need taking down a peg or two. One way would be that before you could become an MP you would have to do at leas 6 months manual work, just so that you know what it is like for people in the real world! 🤬

What about those of us that already buy the cheaper food and work two minimum paid jobs and still struggle. Suppose I answered my own question I should be working two better paid jobs. What's the next mind blowing fact going to be "Walking to work to save petrol", "Turning off appliances if you are not using them to save on electric"

This is straight out of the Therese - I've Had The Time of My Life - Coffey's school of glib stupidity. She said much the same when the rate of U.C. was slashed by £80. Just work a couple of extra hours, that'll do it. And, what if you're not in work? The level of disconnect from the lot of them is beyond staggering!

The more hours you do the less tax credit which is higher than low wages & on top of that you are expected to pay more rent & council tax. It’s the poverty trap!

I'd also like to point out that a lot of value range food is either seriously over processed (and therefore really bad for you, creating long term health issues) or just barely fit for human consumption.

James is always spot on. I live in America, and former First Lady, Barbara Bush, was once asked what Americans should do that don't have health insurance. Her response was "just don't get sick."

I'm a gardener for well-off private homes and one of my clients (a rich, head boy from a private school) actually said "Brexit will only cost the average person 2-3k a year in rising costs, but I'll save 100's of thousands".

MP's can get a better paid job each year, by giving themselves a payrise. They also all expenses paid well over their earnings. They aren't qualified to answer the question.

I work for the microbiology department in the NHS but somehow I need a better job to have money after I've paid my rent and council tax? Yeah.....

Been the case in the US for 30+ years, it can't possibly be the system/government is broken it must be those of us just aren't working hard enough, disgusting. About time working folk shut it down.

In renovations I regularly have people ask, ‘Can’t you just.. ?’ without any real knowledge of the problem. Like I hadn’t thought of that 100 jobs ago. These are legitimate questions especially on an individual basis, ‘How can I get a better job, or save money?’, but like he says, it’s not the question, it’s thinking that it hasn’t already been asked a million times. So out of touch. Unfortunately, it appeals to the ‘boot straps’ people who need to blame the individual in order to feel better about their own privileged situation. We had a politician here in a right leaning area, who every election time, would be caught on camera ‘accidentally’ telling people in a homeless shelter to ‘get a job’..

We voted for them, we are to blame, well not I personally but we all know someone who did, don't let them forget it.

There was a court case a long time back involving a guy who couldn't pay the then new child payment scheme ( C.S.A ) who said he had to pay something like £ 30 a week, his Solicitor argued that the salary his client earned wasn't enough to warrant that amount, and left him hardly enough to live on. The Judge disagreed and said he had read in the paper that the National average wage was £ 500 a week, and that left the client with more than enough to live on ! Needless to say the Solicitor had to point out to the Judge what the National Average meant, Just goes to show how out of touch these people are with reality !

If workers can't afford to live on 40hr pay, then they need higher wages, not longer hours. REGISTER TO VOTE.

My partner works 2 jobs for a total of 60 hours a week, i am on disability benefit , and we still are on the breadline.

Hi, Jame's not sure if you read these comments but, you forget when you get a better-paid job employers will fire you at the drop of a hat and replace you with cheaper labour. Just ask those 800 staff at P&O that had well-paid jobs. So much for high skilled high wage economy

It's time that people with ESSENTIAL jobs (food production and sale, haulage, medical field, garbage disposal, hygiene etc.) got paid a sum that actually reflected what they are doing for society and the economy at large. And it is high time that classism was laid to rest.

So people should both be working more jobs/more hours, but also should be cooking everything from scratch and scouring the supermarket at the right times to get reduced food.

imagine telling an NHS nurse working 40 hours a week to get a better paid job or work more hours..........they're so out of touch, they give themselves pay rises every single year along with their expenses which they just pass the buck on to us

Maybe… MAYBE corporate profits shouldn’t be as high as they are and some of that money should make it’s way back down… but no. No that shouldn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t happen.

Those who voted Brexit/Tories are to blame for the utter mess we are in now! And don’t come back saying what about Labour?!

As an American, we have allowed work to become what defines us. When we first meet someone, the first question is always, “so, what do you do?” Aka “am I better than you?”

I can't even get a job, I hit my mid 50's and suddenly found myself unemployable, so getting a better one is out of the question.

How can someone think like this? Conservatives aren't just a party, it is an ideology.

“Get a better paid job”. Absolute brilliance!! Tomorrow I’ll sign up to the Conservative Party and get elected MP. £85,000 salary and £200,000 a year in expenses. I’ll set up an account at Fortnam and Mason’s next week after I get elected.

Can't believe I agree with James O'Brian. The problem with these MP's is they are career politcians. They have never done a real hard days work.

Superb commentary James. I think you might be a twin of mine that got mixed up and separated at the hospital. It might explain how my thoughts and feelings seem to mirror yours. Please keep holding this terrible cabinet's feet to the fire for their awful lack of direction, strategy, principles, leadership, integrity and honesty. x

Reality; Salaried jobs work 'extra hours' for no extra pay, no such thing as 'overtime'

Have you tried not being poor? - some Minister probably

When people say these kinds of things in public, it is an attempt to convince us that we live in a meritocracy, when we demonstrably don't. For these people, doing this is 2 fold - 1) If they convince the public that a meritocracy exists, then when people fail they will mostly look inward. When you mix that with xenophobia and antiquated drug laws, people will blame their failures on themselves or they will look down on other people to blame, but they will never look up at the people who make the laws and have all the money and all the power. When one politician says something elitist they look silly and contemptible, but over decades of similar things being disseminated in the media from them, it is a very successful way of dividing people so they are too busy or angry or frightened or distracted to place the blame at the feet of the people who actually hold the power and control. It is how they get away with laws that chip away at our standard of living. And 2) If they convince us of a meritocracy, they can convince themselves of a meritocracy. So when they fail upwards, they can sleep easy at night in the mistaken belief that they have earned their successes, and the victims of the system they create are just jealous, lazy nobodies who deserve their poverty. If they have a conscience, they have to convince themselves of this. If they fail to convince themselves and they still don't care, then they are sociopaths almost by definition.

Saddened but not surprised , what a world we have let creep up on us , absolutely heartbreaking

If you were an office cleaner, how many hours doing brain surgery do you need to put in to be able to afford food, say in three months time?

It's easier for them to blame the poor people themselves. It's the whole culture of saying that people who are poor must deserve it somehow.

I have actually had a co worker say those exact words- i was shocked

Pretty rich coming from MPs who awarded themselves £84,000 pa salary. Look at televised debates from the House of Commons most of the seats are empty. Money for nothing.

Paul Ryan said the same thing over here in the USA. Meanwhile he was only working about a third of the year. And then he retired early because he wanted to spend more time with his family.

"how do they end up thinking this?" Well on some level, it's just privilege but on another level, it's deflection from the truth. Which is the Tories are THE problem. "get more hours / better paying job", OR they could just raise MINIMUM wage. They can raise living wage all they want, people don't have to abide by it. They need to raise minimum wage. Instead they are ignoring peoples cries for help and trying to make them think it's their fault they can't afford food and energy. Sickening behaviour.

They're so far removed from reality it's revolting

So ministers are telling people to work extra hours or get another job ????What a bunch of BS ...Why don't we cut ministers salaries by 15% ?Maybe than we would have money to help those in need ????

She has a cheek! So many people have lost jobs because of covid and are still out of work! Not everyone on benefits is lazy. Not everyone can/could claim expenses of that amount. I don't even know how that is possible!

if this country was so full of freely high paid jobs on the doorstep in every single area like she implies . then what use would their leveling up scheme make ..they clearly know their errors

James your so right my friend . im working an 14 to 16 hour a day driving a cab , sleeping in my car and they say get a better job unbelivable

Just think, she gets paid for coming out with solutions like that! What a total joke!

Shows how totally out of touch they really are if they think that it is that easy .

Better paid job, better government, life is so easy

People would rather look at external factors than what they can do themselves.

Most private sector contracts these days say three things: 1) You can't join a union 2) You need to work extra hours to 'get the job done' 3) Your salary is annual, not hourly thus no overtime pay

Well done as always James. Comments are beneath contempt which sums up what they think of us. BJ has truly employed this cabal to reflect his own callous and uncaring attitude to the country he is supposed to be leading. Even more dreadful, is that with the exception of excellent journalists like yourself, the media, in the main, turn a blind eye to it all.

I don't know if it's comforting or disturbing to recognize that this, apparently, is NOT exclusively an American issue. It's a worldwide issue. Conservatives and Capitalism have created a race to the bottom.

We're basically paying back our furlough money which was given to us....

No idea, none at all. It is very disturbing how these ministers come up with these answers!