Penny finally drops as Austrian newspaper admits ‘great Brexit success’ of ‘rising wages’

Brexit: France needs to 'speak language of strength' says Beaune

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In an article published in Wochenblick on Wednesday, the online and weekly paper stated that there was no need to listen to “fairy tales about Brexit,” criticising analyses of “the economy reaching its limits, a shortage of skilled workers, petrol stations without petrol.” It continued: “The truth is quite different: never in the history of present-day England have workers’ incomes risen more strongly and faster, and handicrafts have never been more important than they are now. Because: The UK economy is booming like rarely before.”

It continued on to exclaim: “Now demand and supply are finally working again!”

This rebalancing was attributed in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw “around 1.3 million EU citizens left England, of these 700,000 have left the capital London.

“Now there is a shortage of 100,000 truck drivers, amongst other things.

“What is happening now exceeds the wildest dreams of even radical trade unionists: the industry outperforms itself in wage increases – and is many times higher than the unions had ever dared to demand.”

The article mentioned the increase of wages for UK public sector workers, with Chancellor Rishi Sunak announcing in his Budget and Spending Review on Wednesday that the “pay freeze” which was instituted in 2020 would be removed.

The Chancellor told the Commons that the National Living Wage will also increase next year by 6.6 percent.

The new National Living Wage will be £9.50, compared to the current rate at £8.91.

The Wochenblick editorial commented: “Who would have thought this until recently: Ironically, a conservative (!) Prime Minister is pushing for a massive increase in British minimum wages.

“Accordingly, an unskilled worker in Great Britain would get at least 11 euros an hour (i.e. 1,900 euros gross per month).

“The business association “Confederation of British Industry” is raging.

“And it warns: the higher wages could lead to higher prices.

“But the bosses’ prophecies of doom are too transparent.

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“In fact, higher wages could lead to a huge surge in modernisation.

“Rationalisation investments only pay off if workers’ wages remain high over the long term.”

The article then suggested a booming post-Brexit UK economy is one envied by workers in France.

They detailed: “The French unions are already calling for wage increases similar to those across the channel. About 43,000 drivers are missing in France.

“But the French hope in vain – because in France that the euphoria is also finding its way into London: where the rent level is slowly coming back.”

Additional reporting by Monika Pallenberg.

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