Low Pay, No Prospects: The Legacy of Socialism in Britain?

A TUC report has declared that there are around 2 million people in Britain trapped in low paid jobs with no prospects of advancement.
After eleven years of NuLabour claiming to be improving the lot of working people in this country, their failure to address the issue of those trapped in low-paid jobs is testimony to their betrayal of the working class.
On the bright side, summer seems to have arrived in our little corner of South Gloucestershire, and by lunchtime Nosher and I were glad to stop working on our little allotment plots and relax in our old deckchairs in the shade by Nosher's shed. Chilled fruit juice refreshed us, and, as usual, we started putting the world to rights.
'Of course, it should surprise no one that NuLabour has failed to improve the lot of the poorest workers' said Nosher 'because our membership of the EU means that there's always millions of even poorer people from EU countries willing to work in this country for minimal wages. They're still better off than they are in their own country, but they are classified as low-paid in Britain, and therefore living in poverty.'
'Well, I suppose they make up for the millions of people in this country who'd rather live on welfare benefits than work' I responded 'although they too are classified as living in poverty'.
'We'll be watering tonight' Nosher announced suddenly. 'If only the sun shone all day and it rained only at night, this would be an ideal country in which to have an allotment.'
'When you think about it' I said 'Labour's aim to banish poverty is nonsense, especially in the context of our membership of the EU. In effect, by imposing a minimum wage and paying generous welfare benefits, whilst allowing uncontrolled immigration, NuLabour has created a problem it cannot possibly solve: permanent and growing poverty in this country. There'll always be people living in poverty - that's the way of things - the important issue is: do they have a route out of poverty if they wish to take it?'
'The minimum wage imposed by NuLabour on businesses has hardly helped' added Nosher 'because now all businesses pay the minimum wage whenever market conditions allow, and since it's so low anyway, it has in effect forced average wages down for much of the lower paid.'
'So what's the solution, Nosher? I asked, more in hope than expectation.
'Leave the EU, remove minimum wage restrictions, but impose a requirement on all businesses that employees should share a reasonable proportion of the profits of the business for which they work' Nosher was unusually emphatic. 'And then change the benefits system so that the unemployed cannot sit on their backsides for years doing nothing. The fact that we import labour in large numbers to do jobs the unemployed refuse to do demonstrates that the system is all wrong in this country. Unemployment benefit should be conditional upon participation in retraining schemes or voluntary work. That way there's be incentives for everyone to better themselves, instead of the current situation in which many people expect the State to provide for them.'
'Well, the first two aren't going to happen' I replied 'and although the Government claims to be reforming the benefits system, I doubt whether the reforms will be effective. Too many people in our society now believe they have a right to State support, so any proposals for radical change would be political suicide. Electorally, there's now too few people in this country committed to the idea of self-responsibility and self-improvement for such ideas to win elections these days. Sad but true.'
'Aye, we're doomed, laddie' said Nosher, imitating Private Fraser from Dad's Army 'Doomed, I tell ye, doomed!'
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