I once worked in the now demolished Tayside House in Dundee.  This multi-storey block was situated at the end of the Tay Bridge and housed the HQ of Tayside Regional Council in those days.  My 9 to 5 used to drag on out a bit some days, so it would be around 6 or 6:30 before I’d head off.  What caught my attention was that the security guard at the main door would have been there the whole day.  I got to talking to him and he told me that he needed to do 70 hours or more a week, because at GBP2.50 an hour he needed that many hours to get by.  He saw that I looked alarmed when I heard his hourly rate.

“Dinnae worry, if some nutter wants to charge right in here, I’m no exactly gonna bother stoppin’ him.”

Just how loyal do you expect people to be for peanuts and no job security?  Is that really a valid business model?  We’re told that (failed) bankers still require their million pound incentives, but a nurse or care home worker should keep smiling and slog away for a pittance.