Caller Tells Union Boss To Stop Being So Miserable About Britain

23 January 2019, 13:14

An LBC caller told one of Britain's leading union bosses to stop painting such a miserable picture of Britain.

Earlier in the day, the government had released figures showing a record number of people were in employment.

But during a phone-in with Iain Dale, Dave Ward from the General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union, insisted the figures really just show the increase in zero hours contracts.

Fester called in and told Mr Ward: "I'm sure you're a very nice guy, you come across very well on the radio... you know there's a but coming!

"How can you be so miserable, man?

"The weather is grim, but I nearly switched off the radio because I can't understand for the life of me how you can paint such a horrible picture of this country.

"Given the fact we are nearly at full employment in Britain, we've got an unemployment rate of 4%. We've got more people working than ever before. We've got wages rising, the number of people on zero hour contracts is falling as well.

"You cannot glaze over this. As an employer, I find it very demoralising the picture of this country you are painting."

Dave Ward, the boss of the CWU, was told to stop being so miserable
Dave Ward, the boss of the CWU, was told to stop being so miserable. Picture: LBC

But Mr Ward insisted he was right to be pessimistic on the state of the UK, saying: "Far from it, I'm telling the truth about the world of work today.

"Workers are under more pressure than ever. The way that jobs are being created are not going to give people a chance to bring up a family, to get a decent home.

"That's the reality of Britain today and it doesn't have to be that way. We can change the world of work."