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Prem Sikka

@premnsikka.bsky.social

45K followers 40K following 2.4K posts

Emeritus Professor of Accounting. Member, UK House of Lords. If with all your effort and might you do not reach the mountain top that is not failure; failure is that you did not even try.

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Prem Nath Sikka, Baron Sikka is a British-Indian accountant and academic. He holds the position of Professor of Accounting at the University of Sheffield, and is Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex. .. more

Business 56%

Economics 31%

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 4h

And ASda, Vets, hospitals, GP surgeries ....

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Reposted by Melanie Simms

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 6h

Private equity wrecked UK high street, says Iceland Foods boss

PE model - low wages, cut staff/investment, high debt, profiteering, tax abuse.

PE devoured Debenhams, Maplin, Byron Burger, Cath Kidson, Comet, Flybe, Poundworld, Toys R Us.

Controls care homes, vets, supermarkets.
archive.ph/tJVkV

Private equity has wrecked the high street, says Iceland boss

Richard Walker says private buyers take out costs and fail to invest then sell to the highest bidder in a cycle that makes retailers steadily worse

www.thetimes.com

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 7h

Greater Anglia rail passenger operator nationalised.

Govt will rent carriages.

Lucrative freight and rolling stock companies remain privatised.

3 Luxembourg-based companies control 87% of rolling stock, paid £1.3bn dividend in last 3 years which bears no UK tax.

Gravy train rolls on.

Rail operator Greater Anglia transfers to public ownership

Greater Anglia describes renationalisation as a step towards a

www.bbc.co.uk

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 7h

High street slot machine shops, owned by Merkur, are paying their staff bonuses linked to how much gamblers lose.

Companies chase profits by spreading misery, exploiting vulnerable people

Gambling Commission must shut down these parasites.

High street slot machine shops pay staff bonuses linked to how much gamblers lose

Exclusive: MPs and campaigners condemn ‘appalling’ reward scheme for Merkur venue managers

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Roger Morgan

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks

Govts of Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Cayman, China, France, Germany Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Qatar, Singapore, Spain, UAE, US would like to thank UK for letting their entities own UK infrastructure.

Vast profits exported, Britons stare at sewage in rivers.

If the government wants economic growth it must bring essential industries into public ownership

Successive governments clobber households and small businesses by hiking interest rates to manage inflation, but don’t inconvenience corporations.

leftfootforward.org

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Reposted by Molly Scott Cato, Gary Sheffield

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 1d

Farage/Reform and the Trump playbook.

Mass sackings of unsympathetic civil servants
Promise to reduce workers's rights
Inflict spending cuts - hit the poor, old, sick, disabled

Now claims teachers are “poisoning our kids” - just as Nazis did to control education.

Power grab by dividing society.

Nigel Farage accuses teachers of ‘poisoning our kids’ on race issues

Exclusive: Reform UK leader’s remarks at event for private US college criticised as ‘grossly irresponsible’ by NEU leader

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Prem Sikka

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Mark Priestley

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 1d

Former PM Boris Johnson breached rules designed to stop abuse of contacts made in public office.

Secretly lobbied the UAE for a billion-dollar private venture,
Used senior contacts in the Saudi govt to pitch for a consultancy firm.

Lust for private wealth is the main cause of UK decline.

Boris Johnson breached rules designed to stop abuse of contacts made in public office, watchdog finds

Johnson found to have breached rules after refusing to answer specific questions about allegations published by the Guardian

www.theguardian.com

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2d

NHS England waiting list hits 7.41m appointments, 6.26m patients; lower than the Tory legacy.

Billions sucked out of the NHS through PFI, outsourcing, profiteering; more privatisation planned.

Thousands die awaiting hospital appointment.

Save lives, not fiscal rules.

Doubts over Labour promises as NHS waiting lists rise for third month

LABOUR’S NHS waiting list promises look increasingly unlikely after data published today showed a third consecutive rise in delays for planned hospital treatment in England.The number of treatments wa...

morningstaronline.co.uk

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2d

Labour Party deputy leader contest.

I won't vote for Bridget Phillipson or Lucy Powell.

Both are right-wing.
Supported two-child benefit cap, disability benefit cuts.
Snooping on benefit claimants' bank accounts.

In the words of Billy Connolly, “Don't vote, it only encourages them.”

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Reposted by Prem Sikka

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2d

Can't rebuild economy without increasing worker share of GDP.

Some suggestions:
Join a union
Strengthen collective bargaining
Need real Living Wage.
Worker-elected directors on company boards
Worker vote on exec pay
Exec bonus schemes must apply to workers
Limit corporate tax relief on exec pay

The government must ensure fair distribution of income

'The average real wage of workers has hardly moved from the 2008 level whilst bosses never had it so good.'

leftfootforward.org

10 47 160

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2d

Fears rise over $3tn shadow banking crisis.

Private equity is a big part of unregulated shadow banking, and has it's tentacles in every sector.

Empires built on high debt, asset stripping, tax abuse, profiteering can't last.

And who will bail them out?
archive.ph/tbKt0

archive.ph

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2d

EU steel tariff hike threatens 'biggest ever crisis' for UK industry.

Crisis deepened by Brexit, Trump tariffs, trade wars, privatisation and lack of investment. Huge subsidies continue.

It is now either nationalisation or death of the industry.

EU steel tariff hike threatens 'biggest crisis' for UK industry

The EU is the destination for 78% of steel products made in the UK for overseas markets.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2d

Pubs could stay open longer under Starmer plan to revive British night out

Who will provide extra police, staff, public services?

Nights out restricted due to cost of living crisis

Govt can help hospitality industry by cutting energy/water bills, rents, improving public transport.

Pubs could stay open longer under Starmer plan to revive British night out

PM’s initiative, which could lead to ‘bonfire’ of old licensing rules, aims to ‘bring the buzz back’ to high streets

www.independent.co.uk

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Reposted by Martin Paul Eve, Gráinne McKeever

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 2d

UK Universities cut 12,000 jobs, more on the way.

40% of Unis in financial crisis.

Major exporter destroyed by successive govts

Obstacles for foreign students.
Low fees in England, lack of govt funding.
£267bn student debt.
Home student numbers down.

How will the UK compete with other nations?

Thousands more university jobs cut as financial crisis deepens

University workers will vote on national strike action this month over a 1.4% pay offer made in the summer.

www.bbc.co.uk

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Reposted by Prem Sikka

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 3d

Every year 100s of employers are named and shamed for failure to pay the statutory minimum wage.

2016-2023: over 3m workers denied the minimum wage.

Puny fines do nothing. Fines must equal the remuneration of the board of directors. 50% personally payable. Imprison persistent offenders.

The government must ensure fair distribution of income

'The average real wage of workers has hardly moved from the 2008 level whilst bosses never had it so good.'

leftfootforward.org

13 91 230

Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 3d

Water bills for England households to rise even higher.

Bills already up by 36%. Competition regulator permits another 1%-5%, £556m hike

No curbs on exec pay, dividends, sewage dumping as companies raise capital from customers, shareholders get returns.

End the Scam. Nationalise water

Five water firms provisionally allowed to raise bills by further 1% to 5%

An independent group appointed by the competition watchdog rejected nearly 80% of increases sought by companies.

www.independent.co.uk

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 3d

Urgent winter clothing appeal for UK baby banks.

In 2024 charity distributed 6,752 coats, 14,163 pairs of shoes, 2,857 blankets, 1,472 items of bedding and 45,220 pairs of socks to families in need.

Low wages/benefits; high energy, water, grocery costs; unchecked profiteering take toll.

London baby banks appeal for urgent donations ahead of winter

Baby banks in London say supplies are running low due to more families facing increased financial pressures.

www.bbc.co.uk

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