Why is our new Prime Minister already swanning off on a holiday? - Sarah Todd

Holidays have been on your correspondent’s mind. These reflections were, of course, prompted by our new Prime Minister swanning off on a holiday after being in the country’s top job for a fortnight.

All the lily-livered left defending Andy Burnham’s family holiday made me think that if it wasn’t for commitments the only sensible option for anybody with a work ethic in this country is to up sticks and emigrate.

How on earth could somebody have the brass neck to take a holiday so soon?

Fair enough for a young lad, a bricklayer say, who is starting a new job but he’s already paid to take his girlfriend on holiday.

So long as he told the boss when he was offered the job, ‘I do have this holiday booked, I hope it’s alright?’, then the chances are everybody would tell him to have a good time.

There would be a bit of teasing probably, from the others on the building sites, but so long as he put in a good few shifts on his return all would be well.

The television has probably never been shouted at as much, as when all these members of the general public - who incidentally all looked like they had never done a day’s work in their lives - came in front of the camera to pander ‘everybody deserves a holiday’.

No, you earn a holiday. You get all your ducks in a row, get ahead of the jobs that need doing, then you take a break.

This whole holiday conversation has made your columnist look back on her entire life and think - with this lot now in charge - we should have not bothered working so hard and had holidays.

When our offspring were little (such was my work ethic only six weeks maternity leave was taken) we had the odd holiday every couple of years to Cornwall, but we didn’t take them abroad until the oldest was 11. She was the only child in her year at primary school who had never been abroad.

We went on holiday last year, yours truly and The Husband, and we couldn’t remember if it was six or seven years since we had last been.

Ten days. A week wasn’t long enough after so long, but a fortnight would have been overly indulgent.

Granted, there had been Covid, but by then we were paying to get our children through university.

Trying to stop them having great big student loans as millstones around their necks.

What idiots we feel now. This lot will have our house and land and any money in the bank off us given half a chance.

One of those subjects that it was probably best not to mention.

A decade on and there will be no pussyfooting around, politely skirting around the elephant in the room. Let’s have it out there.

Any acquaintances who think Burnham’s break is completely acceptable - not at all cocking a snook at the taxpayers who fork out his salary – should consider themselves former friends.

Wonder what President Trump, over in the United States, thought of the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom going on holiday so soon?

Over the pond, a week to ten days is about the average amount of annual paid leave workers get.

Holidays are very much viewed as a reward for hard work and long service; with many employees earing a day’s additional holiday for each year spent working for the firm.

Now there are plenty of horror stories, about people who have had bereavements and ill health, who have no entitlements.

Also upsetting to read that manual workers (those who put in especially long hard days) are the most likely not to get any holiday whatsoever.

Great Britain should be proud that it has safety nets in place, but the pen pushers have tipped the balance.

Society’s scale is now weighted in favour of the grabber not the grafter.

Of course, on his return from holiday, Burham will flutter his eyelashes on his tour of the country.

Releasing social media videos while pulling pints and promising to knock a few more quid off bus fares or similar.

Not, of course, answering any questions.

He needs a little red-headed reporter as his PR advisor (well paid with plenty of holidays please) as his best line ever would have been ‘I did have a holiday booked with my family but decided not to take it while there is so much to do here at home.’