Here I am, shouting into the void again.
Matt Hancock, among others, has called for Premier League players to take a pay cut to support the effort against Covid.
Good idea I suppose. Makes simple sense. Get paid too much anyway!

But why footballers? Why not, for example, ask some other rich people to do the same thing?

Let’s look at earnings. Kevin De Bruyne was paid ~£17m last year for playing for Man City.
Jeremy Darroch, CEO of Sky, has a £16.3m salary. They both make bank, basically.

So to does David De Gea, making an eye watering £375k per week, working out at about £20 m a year and the highest paid Premier League player.
Compare that to the CEO of Berkeley Group, Rob Perrins, scraping by on only £28m per year.

But this is small change compared to the CEO of Melrose Industries, Simon Peckham, earning just shy of £43 m per year. PER YEAR.
Or Jeff Fairburn of Persimmon, earning slightly more at £47m. PER YEAR.

And all of this is, of course, peanuts compared to the likes of Virgin’s Tricky Dicky Branson, who is worth £4bn and who recently sued the NHS for £82m and who also asked for his airline to be bailed out *with taxpayer* (i.e. your) money.

Persimmon, Melrose Industries Berkeley Group and Branson have all donated money or other donations to the Conservative party. So why is it that Hancock et al are banging on about Premier League footballers?

The reason I’m writing this thread which likely no one will fucking read anyway is because it seems to me now that the government is pretty well versed in making people the scapegoats for their own poor decisions. Working class people, and affordable pursuits, are targeted.

Don’t blame the government for the safety net of millions being shredded for profit. Blame the players for earning so much and navigating tax loopholes which the government will not close.

Don’t blame the government, which has systematically defunded the NHS for a decade leading to some of the heroes that Johnson clapped for having to go to food banks to survive. They clearly don’t work hard enough.

Don’t blame the government for poor corona virus preparation, lack of PPE, testing, specialist equipment and trained (student debt free!)staff. Blame the people going for a walk. Blame The Commoners.

Ultimately, what I’m saying is if we as a country is going to vote in someone who called £250k per year “chicken feed”, then maybe we’ve got our priorities wrong over who should be supporting who.

Thanks for reading my poorly constructed thoughts.