Chairman Ian Brace writes: “As I write this Mrs May is fighting to get her Brexit deal for the UK to leave the EU through Parliament. By the time you read this who knows what will have happened….
We may be on course for a hard Brexit, a second referendum, a general election, a new prime minister or nothing much may have happened at all. Except that we can be sure that the media will still be going on relentlessly about an impending catastrophe for the country/prime minister/Conservative Party/Labour Party/Europe or whomever their correspondents choose to alight on a particular day.
Whatever happens, the catastrophes that the MRBA sees each week happening at a personal level outstrip any discomfort or lost job opportunity of a politician. And catastrophes they often are. We see people’s worlds collapsing through unexpected family bereavement, apparently arbitrary loss of benefits, illness; all sometimes happening at the same time. Here I have in mind a case with which we are dealing now, where all of these have come together; but these issues strike so many people, people who are or once were our colleagues or worked for or on behalf of our organisations. Often these people are not young, so have little prospect of rebuilding their lives, either financially or emotionally. Sometimes they are carers for the sick child who they might have hoped would one day take care of them.
Let the politicians squabble about who gets on Newsnight to have their say, they are unlikely to be wondering where the next meal is coming from, nor feel the weight of taking on the benefits system to restore their income. It is these people who we must be our principal concern and where our money should be targeted. It is people who matter, and the MRBA will continue to do it all it can to help.
Thanks to IQCS for inviting us in to speak at their AGM. MRBA Committee Member Virginia Monk gave the presentation and talked about our new bursary scheme MRBA Skills. If you would like to ask us to present to your staff, please do get in touch by emailing info@mrba.org.uk
Just to remind you that there are other ways to keep in touch with what MRBA is doing and how we are helping individuals in our industry. So please follow us on social media. Links are available at the bottom of this newsletter.
Have a lovely Christmas and we wish you a Happy New Year, free from the worries that lead people to seek the MRBA’s help.
