Ms Baillie has put the number of jobs at risk variously at 13,000 and 11,000. The actual employers, the MoD put the number at 520. A small difference of no great import if you have a political agenda.
Ms Baillie has defied the party leadership over this and yet is standing for Labour at the election as a constituency member for Dumbarton,and a regional member for the West of Scotland. Of course as a constituency member it's not unreasonable for her to differ from the party line from time to time. Less so, perhaps, as a list member.
Co-incidentally, the number of job losses from the collapse of BHS is estimated to be around 11,000 across Ms Baillie's beloved united kingdom. And we all know that Labour espouses solidarity with the working classes all over England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. (Anyone know why not across the world?)
So will we see Jackie campaigning hard for the retention of British Home Stores across her united kingdom? Or are 11,000 workers (or 520 depending on your source) only worth her effort when they are tending the weapons of mass destruction that make Jackie Baillie's Britain great?
Aside from that, I think there are questions to answer. What do you think?
Philip Green, that great Monegasque tax payer, owned BHS until 1 year ago.
I can safely say I've never bought anything (except breakfast) from them in my life, despite there being a huge store in Dundee. The reason? They are the kind of store your granddad might buy stuff from.
Given that he was a great entrepreneur with his finger on the pulse of retail in Britain, could he not see that the store was losing its place in the retail world? Why did he run the business into the ground?
He sold it to a group of financiers for £1 last year. They took money out of the business and failed to invest as they had promised.
Are they culpable? Did they never have any intention of making a go of the brand?
There is a massive black hole in the pensions fund. Should the tax payer pick up this shortfall? Should the financiers? Given that Green owned the company so recently, should he be held partly responsible?
And, given that we have a Tory government, who will end up paying for this mess?
I used to shop at BHS. But then, I'm a granddad...
ReplyDeleteWell there was a woman commenting on one of the papers' coverages of the story today, who professed herself to be elderly, but not elderly enough for British Home Stores. My mum said that they appeared not to know that crinolines had gone out of style!
DeleteBaillie's Hame Shame
ReplyDeleteAh... that would explain a lot!
DeleteB H S used to be an actual store, now it has become a dump of a shop in shop. Well at least the one in Edinburgh is. Now I am rarely in Edinburgh so I notice stuff like that. I am sorry for the people who work there and listening to the radio this morning many had at least a couple of generation's who worked there. I could see it's demise happening when I was in in February. Philip Green, another of David Cameron's failures, so like MM. Helena
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry too for the people who work there. That's the only thing that is terrible about it. 11,000 more people on the dole and not much hope of anything other than a minimum wage job.
DeleteGreen knew what he was doing selling it off for a pound. He knew they were never going to make a success of it. He knew they'd asset strip and close it.
But, as you say he's a friend of Cameron's and a party donor.
There are at least two BHS stores in Edinburgh, Princes Street and Ocean Terminal. Could see Marks and Spencer taking over the BHS store in OT where they only have a pokey wee shop at the moment, but Princes Street could be a problem.
DeleteSorry I missed your comment Anon. Has anything happened about the take overs?
DeleteTris
ReplyDeleteBaillie and double dipping on the constituency and the list, I have moaned before about this, it should not be allowed. If you are rejected in the constituency then you should not get to stand on the list. Likewise Dugdale and Davidson jumping to what they hope are safer lists would piss me off if I were a member of their parties in the areas they leave and jump to. The system is broken.
Baillie will do nothing other than find a way to blame the SNP. She is a clown, and a nasty piece of work, and as a taxpayer I am sick of paying for her to be honest. Labour members need to get a grip, but saying that, like the Tories those left are getting older and this will impact on them as things move forward.
BHS, I am sorry for anyone who might lose their jobs across the whole of the UK, but esp in Dundee. We just cannot keep losing jobs in the city and the broo will just up the sanctions even further to cover the additional costs. BHS as a buisiness though has been out of touch for a long time. I will admit to going there in the past as they actually made trousers of varying inside leg sizes for short arses like myself but over the years it has become the poor mans poundland but without the cheap prices. It probably needs to be investigated as Greene has jumped ship with a tidy lump sum, as Tories do. But as it's just poor folk losing their jobs and some in jock land the Tories won't care and the SNP at Holyrood can't do much, although I would like to see something happening in Dundee other than the waterfront which I fear is a huge white elephant.
Sad day though for the staff and I really feel for them, UK Plc is sinking fast and those in London pretty much don't give a shit.
Bruce
I see that Green paid himself £1.2 billion and bought himself a third luxury yacht. Who needs three luxury yachts? Who needs, or can spend, a salary of £1.2 billion?
DeleteAnd what kind of man could take that while people are starving or cold?
If he has that much money, why wouldn't he simply fill the gap in the pension fund? I couldn't sleep at night if my staff had to go without their pensions, when I could afford a third yacht...
Despicable.
Mr Green's £1.2bn will not be taxed as it will be paid to his wife, Tina, who lives in Monaco.
Deletehttp://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/oct/21/executivesalaries.executivepay?CMP=share_btn_tw
tris
ReplyDeleteLast time I looked Nicola Sturgeon was first minister of Scoltand the
question should be what is Nicola going to do to help the jobless Scots .
After all the snp if they could be bothered can at least help .
The problem is the snp/nats love to see Scottish people suffering as much as possible
if they can smear the English and or Scottish Unionists ....
oh dear were you bitten by a nat when you were young
DeleteErm steel jobs Niko?
DeleteBut I really resent the notion that I would enjoy people suffering if I could blame it on "the English"???? or Scottish unionists.
I don't blame things on the English, however much you'd like me to. I'm blaming this on a Monagasque... you know from the country where they don't pay tax at all. And I'm saying he will be as safe as houses, because he's in with Cameron...as thick as thieves as the expression goes.
http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/24dash-media/image/2010/10/11/29414/380_Image_PA_david_cameron_philip_green.jpg
Must have been bitten by something methinks. He's a crabby as a very crabbie thing that's hurt its pincers.
DeleteWhat the feck happened to better together? You would think that most Scots would have had more sense than to vote for the continuation of rule by successive unionist government who don't give a toss for Scotland and have to attempt to appease their maximum source of votes. I don't blame Labour or Tories for that - the blame lies solely with those who voted for their retention.
DeleteSeems it was a lie start to finish.
DeleteThey were going to be truthful and call it 'Worse Together' but Alistair thought it was a crap name...
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DeleteWhat a load of unionst rubbish ! !
DeleteIndeed!
DeleteNiko, Last time I looked you were still the deluded,Labour-loving bampot you always were. Still, why change the habits of a lifetime?
ReplyDeleteIndeed... I should think Niko will never change... *sighs*
Delete