My son's lucrative summer is a warning sign for UK Plc

Our son has had a good summer.

- CHRIS BLACKHURST

Back from university, he's been flat out working as a waiter and behind the bar. His employer is an agency that supplies staff to events. It suits him down to the ground; some days he has a shift, others he doesn't. He's making good money. It's the gig economy, and he's on a zero-hours contract. Except he’s not only been doing parties and weddings. He’s also been filling in at restaurants. Slots that might once have been taken by a staffer are now not. He is doing very well out of businesses that are not hiring permanent workers.

His experience is being repeated everywhere - more and more people are being taken on temporarily. He is a student, and has Rachel Reeves’ hiking of employers’ national insurance and the national living wage to thank for his good fortune. Others are not so lucky. They want proper jobs with career paths, and they cannot get them. They have next to no chance of renting, let alone saving to buy a home, and are stuck.