I have been gemused with how all of the main political parties would have us believe that a vote for "the other lot" would cause financial chaos.
Well, that has been rather blown apart by the unsurprising revelation that none of the main political parties are being entirely "honest" (politics and honesty do not go hand in hand) with the long suffering electorate.
It seems that were the political parties to actually implement their manifesto "promises", wrt cutting the deficit and not raising taxes, then we will see cuts in public expenditure the like of which have not been witnessed since the Second World War (if Tory) or the dark days of the Labour government of the 70's (if Liberal or Labour).
Were the parties inclined to minimise the cuts, if they want to get the economy back in good shape, then they will have to raise taxes to unprecedented levels.
I could of course point out that had Brown not frittered away the surplus revenues during times of plenty, on hiking public sector pay and on the fees of consultants, we might be in better shape now.
However, we are where we are and we cannot put the clock back.
Either way given that the tax payers are already massively overburdened, and that the country as a whole seems totally reliant on the state to wipe its collective bottom, the results of the cuts and tax rises will provoke civil unrest not seen since the 70's.
For what it is worth, I don't think we should get too stressed out by the debt levels. They are manageable.
What is actually required is a whole scale restructuring, and re design, of the public sector ie:
- public sector pensions
- pay
- what it is actually meant to do
- simplification of the tax system (see www.hmrcisshite.com for my views on what needs to be done)
- simplification of the benefits system
- a return to self responsibility and a recognition that actions have consequences
However, none of the political parties have the stones to do that.
I predict a riot whichever bunch of BS artists gets in!
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Two things occur to me, concerning this. Firstly, local government should concentrate on providing its 'core' services, such as schools, refuse collection, street cleaning, swimming pools and other sports facilities etc, and save money by abolishing the various political correctness motivated coordinators and outreach workers, not to mention their elf'n'safety industry.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, pay and pensions (especially for those at the top) in the public sector should be cut back to affordable levels, and much greater scrutiny applied to the allowances and expenses claimed by M.Ps and councillors. Questions should also be raised about the amount that has been / is being spent on new offices etc.
I can’t imagine why the average, working, taxpaying citizen would be anything but delighted at the prospect of drastically cutting public spending.
ReplyDeleteBesides the obscene amount of money paid out to the bone idle, in order to fund their alternative lifestyle, would anyone care or even realize if councils stopped employing people in jobs such as Street Football Co-coordinator and Enviro-Crime Enforcement Officer. To mention just two of the thousands of useless jobs currently being funded.
Does anyone care if quangos such as the British Potato Council cease to exist?
Watching the news last night I also noted that dustbin men in Birmingham are paid an average of £51,000 a year.
51 billion pounds a year in savings would be easily achievable, and the effects almost unnoticeable if properly targeted.
I have never known politics in this country to be in such a mess.
ReplyDeleteWith all the parties currently on about 30% each, it suggests to me that none of them really have policies nor ideas that the public want.
All three parties use the same type of market research companies to canvas the electorate, each comes back with similar answers and thus, all parties say basically the same thing to attract the most targetted voters.
Given the way our nation has been governed down the toilet in recent years by Zanu Labour, I would have thought it would have been easy to come up with policies that would attract a large number of votes....My own party has been destroyed under Mr Cameron and I feel I nolonger have a Conservative Party to vote for......What we need now on the ballot papers is a "None of the above" box, and if this box was the most popular on May 6th, it should send the parties back to the drawing board to come up with policies that are both commonsense and appealing to the majority in this country.
Mr Cameron showed me yesterday by sacking someone because they had an opinion that he is just as PC as Labour.
This is exactly what the blogsphere has been saying for months. How come it's only made it into the MSM with a week to go to the election?
ReplyDeleteI've long thought that Dave would never risk telling the truth, for fear of becoming instantly un-electable. Sadly I don't think that he will dare carry out the savage cuts of wasteful public services that are really needed. If he gets in, that is...
"Watching the news last night I also noted that dustbin men in Birmingham are paid an average of £51,000 a year."
ReplyDeleteYep, and street cleaners are paid £32,000 a year.
It's astonishing, isn't it. No wonder council tax keeps surging upwards if occupations that are completely without any skill whatsoever can command these kinds of salaries. But only in the public sector, of course...
And from what I understand from today's news, anyone who questions your government's policies on immigration, welfare benefits, or pretty much anything else, can expected to be branded "a bigot" by the ruling party.
ReplyDeleteDemocracy in action!
Soon you will not be able to deny climate change nor criticse the EU as the EUSSR is working to make that a "hate crime." Do carry on voting like sheep for the lib/lab/con EU sock puppets or make your vote outside of the main three telling them all to get stuffed.
ReplyDelete