[OT] maybe French farmers

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Meaning only the UK pays for the French CAP etc payments?

But do the French then pay for the CAP etc payments to UK farmers?

Or are you a feature writer for the Express?

[mechanic]

Economics 101. You're wasted on here.

[Andrew]

You should know that Britain has *always* been a net contributor while France was a net beneficiary until not too far in the past. And they have long been suspected of diverting CAP money to other rural businesses, like rural bakeries.

What is this 'express' that you keep banging on about - Express Dairies, National Express, ExpressFM, American Express, Heathrow Express, TNT Express, Express Vending, ...??

[whisky-dave]

olicitor why should I care, if peole can't afford the fruit then we won't n eed the pickers will we.

Sounds most unlikely. Who would they pay the pickers BEFORE they pick the fruit. I get paid at the end of the 3rd week in a month ,I get paid monthly. So why didn't I f*ck off after weeks working ? would you ?

I would pay those thgat worked the hours specified at the end of their work ing week like most employers do.

Do yuo really believ Charlotte gave the pickers a weeks money after a couok e of hours work, suprised she as any busuness at all if sahe operates like that.

[whisky-dave]

Then I'd take it back and complain, maybe get the car cleaners beaten up fo r not doing a good job, that;s how it works isn't it.

yes I saw that program and there was NO 2 years contributions required befo re yuo get free NHS/education ect you get it from almost day one. The individual in this case said on arrival to the UK that he could do any job, after a few weeks trying and finding it difficult to find work and acc omedation he could afford, he got hos wife and 3 kids to join him in the UK , knowing that socail services weren;t bothered that he was homeless while single gave him a 'free' 4 bed house after he turned up on the councils doo rstep saying he didn't want his children living on the streets.

Someone I knew a portugese amale with a wife and two kids back in portigual was allowed to claim dole money to support his kids, paid at the rate as i f living in London when they lived in portugal with their mum. he had separ ated from his wife before he left portugal that is why he came to the UK to get away.

This was 10 years ago abd this sort of transfer has now been stopped appare ntly you can no longer claim money for supporting kids living in another co untry and claim money as if they lived in the UK.

[T i m]

No, right at the beginning we were a beneficiary so you really shouldn't say 'always'.

Yup, that's how it's supposed to work. The EU gives a 'leg up' to get counties self sufficient and in turn, contributors themselves.

I'm sure there is all sorts of skulduggery going on all over the world. However, it's typically easier to resolve it from within.

Cheers, T i m

[Andrew]

Why not listen to the entire interview on the radio iPlayer ?.

Where did anyone say that pickers are paid in advance ?.

Pickers would be paid weekly, not once at the end of the contract, because that's what HMRC would insist on.

[Andrew]

How would an automatic car wash get into all the nooks and crannies that a set of human fingers can ?.

Is the heat addling your brain today ??.

[Andrew]

That's decades in the case of France then.

[whisky-dave]

Because I've watched these interviews before.

you did here.

really I get paid monthly so does almost everyone here, we don't have a choice. So what's said is that someone from the EU comes over works for a week and earns enough money to disapear, yeah sure I believe that.

Maybe they are beign sexually abused or otherwise being taken advantage off and that is why they left. Of course sometimes they can't leave because their passports are taken away. And it;s not just fruit picking, here 10 years ago out sourced cleaners were treated pretty badlily no holiday pay, no sick leave low pay and treated like shit, perhaps that's why there was such a large turnover in staff. Now the tunrover in cleaning staff is about 1% per year.

Anyone that leave a job has their reasons maybe you really need to ask the fruit pickers why they leave without being paid rather than ask their employers.

[whisky-dave]

p for not doing a good job, that;s how it works isn't it.

They don't, it;s like any other service you get what you pay for there;s a list on the places I see giving prices start at about a fiver up to a hundr ed or so for the full works, but who gets the money the cleaner or his empl oyer.

No but yuo should know that if yuo are really fussy about how clean yuor ca r looks there are quite a few places yuo can take your car. From the basic auto wash to very specail washes and wipes.

Same goes for many services including prostitition from about a tener to h undreds. an ex gf of mine worked in soho and used to temp her 'customers i nto paying over £200 for a non-alcoholic cocktail. Not that I'd go into those places at those prices.

[swldxer1958]

olicitor why should I care, if peole can't afford the fruit then we won't n eed the pickers will we.

A local asparagus field has been left unpicked - lots of free stuff going s pare!

[T i m]

And the problem with that is I believe they need to be picked continuously as they don't all ripen at once. Not like you could hit it with a bunch of migrant workers and then send them on their way.

If you can't get local workers to work cheap or reliably enough, you might as well plough the produce in, buy it in cheaper from abroad and sell the land for housing.

Cheers, T i m

[Andrew]

You need to go to Specsavers then. Nowhere in my comments (based entirely on the R4 farming Today program) is there any mention of the pickers being paid in advance.

Being paid 'more' does not mean being paid 'up front'.

[Andrew]

Actually, this is how it works.

Asparagus is the growing tips which are cut off every day at the start of the growing period, but you can only take a limited number of tips, and then the crop *must* be left to grow to allow the plant to recover. They grow up to about 5 or 5 feet high and are cut down to ground overwinter ready for next years 'harvest'.

It could be that the drought has required the plants to remain unharvested for this season to protect them.

[Andrew]

There are no 'automatic' car washes (ones that have no human intervention) that can open all the doors and clean around the door reveals. Once you need this activity, then the car wash is no longer 'automatic'.

[Andrew]

So, just like our benefit system then, where people can live off their £26,000 tax-free bung and then voluntary get themselves back into work (or not) ?.

[Robin]

I've been mulling that. The only thing I can think off that comes close is that farmers and growers can only pay pickers ("harvest casuals") without operating PAYE if (a) they are employed and paid on a daily basis or (b) if they work for no more than 2 weeks. I'd expect most casuals to want to be paid weekly rather than less often, but I'd be interested in a pointer to anything - from HMRC or DWP or whoever - that requires it.

[charles]

However, we harvested asparagus in our garden in May - well before any drought.

[Andrew]

Yes, but having harvested tips for a month or so, you presumably leave them to grow up to about 5 or 6 feet to recover ?.