Rapid responses
Cost of care
[Re: The real reasons why living costs are still going up, yesterday]
As someone who has used childcare for the last seven years, I feel qualified to comment on Ryan Bourne’s article. There is a deep irony in the sector – although childcare itself is very expensive (as Bourne says, due to a great deal of red tape and market distortion), the workers themselves are often highly-qualified but paid very little. And this discrepancy does working parents no favour. There is often no clear reason to go back to work after having a child. According to the OECD, the average cost of childcare in Britain is 27 per cent of income for a couple earning double the UK average. It’s a strange state of affairs.
Dame Hyndman
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Wind farms
[Re: After energy minister John Hayes criticised UK wind farms, should Britain build more?, yesterday]
Clare McNeill’s assertion that onshore wind creates 9,000 jobs is foolish. These are 9,000 jobs bought by huge taxpayer subsidy. And she fails to account for the manufacturing jobs lost overseas due to the overly high cost of producing electricity in the UK.
Chris Emannuel
Wind farms are inefficient. They don’t work when there’s no wind and they have to be unplugged when there’s too much. They will only ever contribute a tiny proportion to our national energy requirements.
David Peddy
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TOP TWEETS
The US election is still uncertain. 13 per cent of likely voters are undecided, five days before the polls open.
@pewresearch
Part of the reason for Comet’s troubles is the economic climate – a reminder that the business environment is still choppy.
@ChukaUmunna
Comet is going into administration. Where will I go now to test my products before by buying them on Amazon?
@tomcooksey
Why does Nick Clegg not want to repatriate powers from Brussels? I thought he was in favour of accountability – like Lords reform.
@TomCurragh