Action on economy and environment is essential

What has increased in Britain since 2020? Inequality of wealth and income, mainly: in 2022 alone the incomes of the poorest 14 million fell by over 7% while the incomes of the richest fifth increased by over 7%.

As the poor have got poorer and the rich have got richer, the public services on which we all depend – but the older and the poorer especially –have been trashed. Health, welfare, social services, education, public transport, policing, the courts, have all been gutted. Cutting public sector pay over a long period makes recruitment and retention increasingly difficult, understaffed services struggle to function and eventually collapse entirely in some

By CLAUDIA SORIN West Dorset Labour Party

locations, and as a result poverty and lack of opportunity become increasingly deeply entrenched.

The wealthiest countries – like ours – need to make real sacrifices to help bring human activity back within sustainable planetary boundaries, and an increasingly large majority recognise the realities of the climate emergency.

But given a choice between the urgent and the important, most people necessarily focus first on the urgent especially when that includes keeping the family fed and housed, getting a GP appointment, or educational support for a child with additional needs. We will not get out of this mess without decisive collective action by all of us, led and supported by national and local government, and in global partnerships. Action both to fix and reshape our failing economy, and to fix our broken world.

Public action is needed on both fronts, and Labour’s vision puts sustainable economic growth alongside its environmental aims. Our economy is faltering, our public services are in disarray; to be able to do what the nation and the planet need we must have better economic opportunities for all, which in turn will generate the revenues on which decent services and innovative

public investment

depend. And part of this economic growth will come from the mission to become a world leader in clean energy; Labour’s green prosperity plan is intended to drive job creation, lower energy costs, and help to mitigate climate change.

Green Growth may prove to be an illusion. If by growth we continue to mean the continued accumulation of vast quantities of consumer goods and waste, then it is clearly a contradiction in terms. But if we can define growth not as increasing consumption of resources but as increasing value, expressed in terms which accurately capture social impacts and shared prosperity in a stable world, then I believe it is possible.

Freelance copywriter ANDREW KNOWLES is based in Wyke Regis. He helps to support and train hundreds of small business owners.

What’s the one resource that you have in equal quantity to business leaders Elon Musk, Karren Brady and James Dyson? Time.

Each one of us has the same number of hours in the day.

Yes, those three leaders can ‘buy’ time by hiring others, at levels impossible for small business owners. But, like you and me, they can only apply themselves to their work for a limited number of hours a day.

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They don’t want to waste their time, and neither should we. Here are some of the biggest time wasters that I see small business owners getting into.

Enquiry Time Waster

Do you return every missed call, because it might be from someone important? By important do you mean a potential new customer? All small business owners are familiar with people who call or email to ask questions. They want to help themselves to our knowledge and insights. They sound like they might become a customer, but don’t. I’ve wasted a lot of time talking with people who ask lots of questions but don’t spend a penny. I’ve since learned tactics to help me quickly assess the likelihood of someone paying for my services.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s not all about money. It’s great to be helpful without expecting payment. I love talking to other business owners, hearing their stories and giving advice. But we need to protect our precious working hours by restricting how much we do for free.

Business Name Time Waster

You decide to launch a small business – it’s just you, working from home. To help you get established you spend

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Most of that is a waste of time. It might feel like useful work, but when your freelance business is new, spending time thinking of a name is not work.

Take note that I’m talking to freelancers here – oneperson businesses. For you, time is particularly precious. Spend it on finding customers, sharpening your skills and doing a good job.

I’ve seen too many freelancers (me included) waste time on choosing names and the like. When the business is just you, most people will use your name, not the clever wordplay you spent ages concocting.

Training Time Waster

I’ve done it. I know others do it. They put time into attending course after course. It feels like the right thing to do because you’re learning. You may have been hooked by course marketing, with promises of breakthrough secrets. I’m a trainer and I’m an advocate of training. But it can be a distraction from the real work of running your business. There will always be more to learn, but when you’re tempted to sign up for yet more training, ask yourself if it really is the best use of your precious time. These are just three areas where I’ve wasted precious time, and I see others doing the same. You’ve invested a little of your time in reading this article - are you going to get payback on that investment by making changes to how you protect your own time?