Schemes and the Corporate Mentality.

It appears the government has a scheme running, the purpose of which is to persuade large companies to pay their small suppliers more promptly. When small suppliers aren’t paid promptly they have a habit of going bust, and then the proprietors face the prospect of losing more than their livelihood; they can also lose their homes, their self-respect, and even their families. We’ve been here before, during the greed-is-good Thatcher years. I was working for a revenue department at the time and witnessed it first hand.

The issue surfaced in the news today when some minister or other said the scheme isn’t working, even though several large companies have signed up to it. So here’s my question:

Why do we need a scheme? If several large companies have signed up to it, then it follows that they must be willing to pay their small suppliers promptly. In that case, why don’t they just do it, and then there wouldn’t be an issue or any need of a scheme. And those who aren’t prepared to pay promptly won’t be joining any scheme anyway.

What this boils down to is an old problem: the soulless corporate world wants to run the culture for the benefit of its few high earners, whilst being unwilling to take responsibility for those ethical dimensions to which the culture is surely entitled. There was a time when men died because greedy mine owners weren’t prepared to put some of their profits into making the mines safer. It might not be quite as serious, but it’s the same principle.

And on a related note, the news today reported that Branson has finally left Britain to go and live in his tax haven. Not much of a personal recommendation is it, given the economic situation currently pertaining. But then, being a close friend of Tony Blair’s for all those years was never much of a character reference either.

I must try to get back to being silly later on. Wish me luck.