'What You Call Austerity' - I Call A Poisoned Patient!

The Prime Minister said last week:

"What you call austerity, I might call efficiency"

He was appearing in a carefully stage managed re-launch of his badly bruised coalition with his trusty Lib Dem deputy, Nick Clegg, at his side.

For some reason, this 'show' was staged at a tractor factory in Essex. I wonder if such a strange choice of location was made because of a desperate attempt to gain street cred on the back of the much hyped TV show The Only Way Is Essex or because tractors are often used for transporting bullshit.

Either way it was nauseating to watch such a show, especially when, as if on cue, Cameron removed his suit jacket revealing his crisp white shirt before taking questions from his carefully selected audience of bored factory workers and tame journos. This sad attempt to portray an image of 'I'm just like you; I'm one of the lads' was about as convincing as The Archbishop of Canterbury opening a branch of Ann Summers.

However, I have strayed from the point.

What our PM might see as 'efficiency' has caused an ever rising number of families to face repossession proceedings on their homes, over two million workers to lose all hope of employment in the coming years, waiting times to increase (again) at hospitals and the buying power of a state pension to decrease to an all time low. Added to which, it is costing even more for companies that are struggling to stay afloat - and provide much needed employment - to deliver their goods to their customers whilst maintaining a reasonable return due mainly to the increasing cost of fuel and related taxes.

So, what I would say to the coalition is save your 'efficiencies' for another time and, instead, try something new to promote sustainable growth and employment. Medical practitioners have long ago got over the theory that an amputation is the only cure; arrogance is no substitute for common sense.

It is now time for our government to prescribe a more palatable medicine before patient UK is beyond recovery!

A Bloody Nose For The Bully At The Polls!

There are few things in life that generate as much pleasure as watching a bully being given a bloody nose.

That's how it felt last Friday as the final results came in from across the UK, following the local elections on Thursday.

The 'Tory knows best party' which listens only to the views of their own members and the self interest of big business, took a well earned, and painful, drubbing.

Their partners in our present coalition government (lib dems) who, like most gang members who follow a bully, stand back and watch while the bully does his work, took more than their fair share of the punishment too.

Of course, there are the usual lame excuses of a 'poor turnout' and it's the 'middle of the parliamentary term' but even allowing for the conveniently forgotten fact there was also a poor turnout at the election two years ago that gave them the chance to govern, the latest result was like a rabbit punch to the body of arrogance that has been lecturing us on the 'error of our ways, for the last couple of years.

Let's not, however, get too carried away by forgetting that the ones who gained most on Thursday (labour) were themselves the bullies of yesteryear. Their own attempts to make us subservient to their attacks on personal freedom and democratic process, were similarly dealt with by facing them down at the polls and removing the bully's threatening posture.

While it seems many eligible voters in our country have fallen into apathy over the inadequacy of our political leaders, there are, thankfully, still many who will not accept the threatening taunts of the bully and not hesitate to deliver him a bloody nose at the polls.

Education may be perceived to be in decline but long live the lessons once learned in our school playgrounds!

Just 'Cause It's Legal It Doesn't Make It Right!

Chancellor George Osborne has today announced he is “shocked” by a fact most of us have been aware of for years – the richest people hang onto their wealth by organising their financial affairs to minimise the amount of tax they have to pay.

Apparently, according to a study by HM Revenue and Customs, the richest people pay an average of only 10% of their income in tax.

However, it is also a fact they are not breaking UK law, but using it to its maximum benefit.

Instead of paying money to the country, they are employing armies of accountants and financial advisers, whose role it is to find legal loopholes, and exploit them for maximum personal gain.

Osborne said:

"I was shocked to see that some of the very wealthiest people in the country have organised their tax affairs - and to be fair it's within the tax laws - so that they were regularly paying virtually no income tax. And I don't think that's right."

Of course, it has only recently become fashionable for politicians to question the morality of legal tax planning (avoidance) measures but it really does pose the question:

Why, has it taken almost two years in office - and even longer as shadow chancellor - for Osborne, to publicly 'wake up' to the fact just 'cause it's legal it doesn't make it right?

Could it be connected to the latest dire opinion polls?

Forget April - Are We Just Fools?

Yesterday was April Fool's Day when traditionally the papers publish a fake story to tease the reader over something that isn't real.

Having scoured the online editions, I thought I had found the BBC's attempt when I read that our coalition government, who spend so much time spouting on about 'The Big Society' are planning to resuscitate a policy which was buried by the previous Labour government - following severe opposition – advocating the state monitoring of our internet usage and email activity.

Sadly, it was a genuine article!

Of course, it's all because of those nasty terrorist people who cost us so much money and provide the perfect excuse for nosy intelligence agents to expand their remit.

Much of the opposition to the previous government's attempt to invade our privacy came from a smooth talking Conservative calling himself David Cameron (he has since changed his name to Prime Minister)

In 2009 he said:

"Today we are in danger of living in a control state. Every month over 1,000 surveillance operations are carried out. The tentacles of the state can even rifle through your bins for juicy information."

Of course, his coalition partners, the Lib Dems, were at the same time just as vocal in their opposition to the proposal, but have since been seduced by the spoils of political prostitution.

It seems bizarre that politicians have recently been raising merry hell over a few celebs being phone-tapped by a group of tacky journos, but are not demonstrating too much outrage at a government that wants to sift through the electronic equivalent of a dirty laundry basket.

A spokesperson for the Home Office tried to justify the government's new stance by saying:

"It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public."

If I was a terrorist, or a criminal, I would be insulted by the assumption I was too stupid to use avoidance tactics or encryption when communicating with others. But, we all know that in reality it is about nothing more than controlling us all through the use of fear.

Conservative David Davis, who previously ran against Cameron for the Tory Party leadership summed it up thus:

It is not focusing on terrorists or on criminals, it is absolutely everybody,"

and he continued

"Historically governments have been kept out of our private lives. Our freedom and privacy has been protected by using the courts by saying 'If you want to intercept, if you want to look at something, fine, if it is a terrorist or a criminal go and ask a magistrate and you'll get your approval'. You shouldn't go beyond that in a decent, civilised society but that is what is being proposed."

It seems Cameron's speech writers inadvertently missed a word out of his 'Big Society' speech. It should have read 'Big Brother Society'

Fuelling A Panic?

 

If ever there was an example of our coalition government's lack of understanding of 'real' people, it's the latest debacle over a possible strike by tanker drivers who deliver the much needed fuel to our forecourts.

Following on from its attempts to promote negative public opinion on benefit claimants, students, pensioners, pasty eaters and anyone else who doesn't live in the 40 percent tax bracket, government 'spinners' thought they would turn us all against the members of Unite union who, apparently, threatened to strike over changed working terms and conditions. Please bear in mind, a strike had not been called; it had only been optioned.

I should point out, I have no knowledge or interest in the rights and conditions of the drivers, or the fact they earn a larger than average wad of money by seating themselves on top of a potential bomb whilst navigating the M25 and other possible roads to hell.

Time for the coalition's manipulators to bring on the clown....

Enter, stage right, government minister Francis Maude who, like a member of Dad's Army, told us not to panic about a possible shortage, but to go and fill up jerry cans with petrol and store them in our garages.

Personally, I don't have a garage and wouldn't know a jerry can from a tanning salon.

It seems, though, I am not the only one without a garage, as someone made the headlines today by setting themselves on fire whilst trying to transfer petrol, between cans, in her kitchen – all while the cooker was working! I should probably now be writing about the decline in the standard of science education but I am still in a state of disbelief.

Of course, when someone from the government says “don't panic” we 'real' people all DO panic. Predictably, we rush to sit in queues waiting to fill any available container we can find to fill.

Those in society above the level of 'real' people send their chauffeurs and nannies to sit in the queues on their behalf – well, this is the big society!!

After three days of extra panicking, queuing and an increase in petrol sales, it appears the tanker drivers' union is going to start negotiating, via arbitration service ACAS, on Monday and any 'strike' won't be 'struck' in the immediate future.

So... panic over?

Not quite, as the poor old oil speculators now have to worry about how they are going to manipulate their financial planning to minimise their exposure to tax, whilst our beloved coalition government will have to pay out enormous amounts of overtime to the civil servants who will burn the midnight oil counting all the additional tax revenue gained from the extra fuel sold during the 'panic'.

Prepare yourself to hear the chancellor pronounce good financial news next month.

Do you get the feeling we've all been taken for a ride?

Another Sorry Excuse For A Minister!

On the same day Dr Fox finally resigned his post in the cabinet, after realising the ‘sorry’ excuse didn’t work, another minister is forced to try the same tactic.

Oliver Letwin, a minister in the Cabinet Office was observed by the Daily Mirror, on at least five separate occasions, disposing of paperwork in the wastebins of St James Park which is nearby to Downing Street.

According to Letwin, the paperwork was not of a sensitive nature and only concerned correspondence from his constituents.

According to the Daily Mirror, whose jouralists retrieved the torn documents, he is being economical with the truth, and the documents referenced security matters, rendition, David Cameron and George Osborne.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

“Clearly, it’s not a sensible way to dispose of documents. Mr Letwin has agreed he will not dispose of documents in this way again.”

Oliver Letwin has, predictably, activated the ‘sorry’ tactic in the hope of avoiding the inevitable questions concerning his lack of brainmatter.

Perhaps, though, now it has become common knowledge that government ministers frequent the public parks of London, their increased vulnerability to terrorist attacks will make them wish Letwin had been sorry earlier!

MPs Just Clowning Around!

I was playing around with an idea of comparing the antics of parliament with a circus, when I came upon a website called clown-names.com

I just couldn’t resist the temptation to feed the following names into the clown name generator to see who their clown alter egos would be:

• David Cameron = Baron Noogstein
• Nick Clegg = Sir Blink
• Ed Miliband = Miss Hoggins
• Ed Balls = Doctor Tulipa

Suddenly, the images I carry in my head, of those normally dreary faces, have taken on a new dimension.

Everyone loves a clown.............

Try it for yourself!

Pensioning Off Our Right To Retire...!

The Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has unveiled details of his plan for reform to the welfare system.

While he is correct that the present system is ridiculously complicated and needs simplifying, he is wrong in his assumption that most people want to stay in work indefinitely.

He claims that most people want to work up until, or past, the age of seventy when what we all really want is the choice to work beyond the present retirement age and not to be forced into a longer working life.

Of course, it is convenient for members of the government to take this view, as the longer we all work, the longer we are paying taxes and the longer they can delay paying out the pension. Mismanagement of the pension pot, the increase in our expected lifespan and the larger numbers of those of us who are eligible to claim, means there is a huge black hole in said pot.

Employers, though, do not want to be forced to keep people employed at an age when they are often not as productive as they once were. Healthy business needs new blood, with new ideas and enthusiasm. Most employers will, therefore, work around any legislation by finding loopholes like misdemeanors as a method of dismissing the aged employees. This will cause understandable friction and lack of trust in what were once loyal workforces and happy companies.

If people stay working for longer, the young remain unemployed - and often on benefits - for longer. The assumption there are jobs for all is totally flawed.

So, at one end of the equation we have people paying taxes for longer, while at the other, the government are paying out benefits for longer.

With a reduction in benefits also becoming part of the reforms, it is less costly to pay young people the benefit than it is to pay retired people the state pension. It is nothing more than spreadsheet politics.

Labour MP Stephen Pound summed it up by saying:

‘Forcing people to work on indefinitely condemns young unemployed people to the dole and destroys the life chances of older people who have spent 30 or 40 years working for a productive retirement – it is pretty cruel.’

and

‘Perhaps if you are a hedge fund manager you do not have the same level of exhaustion as a panel beater, but most people have had enough after 40-odd years.’

Well, I am neither of the above but I definitely know when I have had enough!!

The Lame Excuse For Action In Libya

Announcing the commencement of military action against the Gadaffi regime’s refusal to capitulate to the wishes of the UN our PM, David Cameron, said:

“We should not stand aside while this dictator murders his own people”

It seemed to be a rather strange and weak reasoning for entering into what could well escalate as a long and full blown military occupation, given that successive UK governments have been happy to ignore similar unsavoury behaviour from Robert Mugabe or China or Syria (the list goes on and on) for decades.

Of course, creating an air exclusion zone is a good thing if Gaddafi is using air strikes – but he is not. His followers are still free to launch ground attacks on their opposition or to knock on the doors of rebels and ‘disappear’ them like so many brutal regimes do.

To stop such actions, we would need troops on the ground, and haven’t we been there before?

It seems politicians are slow to learn from historical fact (perhaps we should blame our education system)

The PM finished his address by saying:

“I believe we should all be confident that what we are doing is in a just cause and in our nation’s interest.”

I guess we'll have to wait to hear to whom the cause will be ‘just’ and exactly how it will be of direct interest to our country.

Personally, I shall not be holding my breath!

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Driving Down Taxation Street!

Have you ever wondered just how much you spend on ‘fuelling up’ your car each year?

If you are like me, you deliberately don’t keep a record, as you know it’s going to be a frightening amount of money.

Let’s take it a stage further and work out how much of your hard earned wages you are paying in tax, to the government, on that fuel each year.

According the the FairFuelUK campaign, if you drive 10,000 miles per year:

• Total Cost of fuel to you = £1702

Of which:

• Excise duty = £766
• VAT = £284
• Total Combined Tax = £1049

If you can bear to look, you can find comparable figures for differing annual mileages here

Happy motoring!!

Clegg Reveals 'Complete Bilge'

If, like me, you have ever wondered how two political parties, with differing ideologies, can form a coalition government and run our country, you will be pleased to read that deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, has revealed all.

In an interview in today's Independent entitled ‘I Told Cameron He Was Talking Complete Bilge’ he said:

“Coalition is two leaders and two parties coming together from different perspectives, resolving differences, then arguing and explaining it in their own terms.”

Where ’Complete Bilge’ is concerned, it appears he is a master!!

Fuel Your Anger At MPs Not Road Users!

With fuel prices continuing to rise on the back of the political unrest in the Middle East, it is understandable that fuel users here are becoming increasingly frustrated.

It is tempting for campaigning groups to contemplate taking direct action by staging ‘go slows’ on major roads or blockading oil refineries.

While it may be understandable that some may see this as the only outlet for their anger and frustration, the problem is: they are harming the very people they are trying to help.

We all have to use the roads and none of us want to be part of the disruption or loss of business arising from demonstrations about high fuel costs.

Ultimately, the only people who can help to alleviate the problem are our politicians. Our coalition government can help by stabilising the amount of revenue collected from the fuel we use.

Many MPs are already sympathetic and those who aren’t will not want to suffer the inconvenience of answering a mountain of complaints from their constituents.

The immediate answer, then, is to sign a petition such as this or write/phone/email your local MP asking him/her where they stand on the issue of fuel pricing and the part taxation plays on the forecourt price of a litre.

You can find the contact details of your local MP here

A Long Time Resting.....

It’s been almost two months since I've posted on here and I am ashamed of myself; I needed a break.

I've also been testing new technologies to make my writing life easier but somehow I never got re-started.

A lot has happened in the world in the time I have been away and if I had been writing, it would probably have included the following earth shattering events:

 

The World:

Tunisians demonstrate and get rid of ‘tyrant’

Egyptians demonstrate for even longer and – eventually – get rid of ‘tyrant’

Other Arab countries start queueing to demonstrate and get rid of ‘tyrants’

Daily Mail tries to create hysteria over Muslim takeover of UK and the world

 

UK Politics

Liberal coalition ministers have been noticeably less ‘visible’ in the media

VAT increases to 20 percent

Fuel prices rocket, yet again, as crude oil prices rise, 1p tax goes on a litre of fuel and VAT is added to that

Inflation rises

Jobless total rises

Coalition still using the old “left with a huge deficit” excuse

More troops lose their lives in Afghanistan

Still no-one is brave enough to ask the question: “how much is this bloody war costing?”

Ministers abstain over vote on EU Court ruling that prisoners should get the vote

Cameron still confuses everyone with Big Society

Coalition announce their intention to modernise (a.k.a privatise) the NHS

Multi-million pound Nimrod air defence aircraft get broken up for scrap to save a few bob.

Coalition announce plans to sell our forests (it’s the only thing left to sell)

 

Celebrity Stuff:

Katie Price announces split from her cage fighting husband after almost a year.

Meanwhile, Peter Andre (Katie’s previous ex-husband) seriously dates Elen Rives (footballer Frank Lampard’s ex-wife)

Katie Price is spotted (mainly in the Daily Mail) partying – lots!

The world’s 2nd most boring couple Katy Perry and Russell Brand allegedly seek counselling after he tweeted a pic of her without makeup

Elton John and his partner have a baby.

 

More UK Politics:

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor resigns after his police protection officer is, allegedly, overly 'protective' of said Shadow Chancellor's wife.

It is revealed that over 50% of Conservative party funding comes from City finance (highest in 5 years)

Coalition go on using the “inherited with a huge deficit” excuse

Our student protesters are no longer 'revolting' – for now at least

Bankers resume paying themselves excessive bonuses

Wikileaks extradition hearing suspended, once more, after the revelation Julian Assange allegedly applied for a ‘missionary position’ in Sweden.

After ‘outrage’ from the Big Society (that’s you and me – I think!) The PM announces a government U-turn on selling the forests (maybe he has turned over a new leaf?)

 

More Showbiz Stuff:

Daily Mail ‘reports’ on actress Emma Watson’s ‘wardrobe malfunction’ as an excuse to publish a paparazzi shot of her nipple

Prince Philip reaches 90 (years old….not number of gaffes!)

Top Gear presenters offend all Mexicans – apparently!

England Rugby team are playing well this year

Big Fat Gypsies hold weddings in our living rooms

Actress and celebrity Kelly Brook poses full frontal wearing nothing but lipstick – all over!

Coronation Street gets more depressing

Emmerdale gets more depressing

Eastenders ……well it was always…… depressing!

Oh and did I mention….?? Kelly Brook posed full frontal wearing nothing but lipstick – all over?

Apparently, her mum said ‘they’ (I presume she was referring to the pictures) have the ‘Wow Factor’!!

Well, you should never argue with a Mum!!

Happy Days!!



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Dreaming Of A Tough Life In California While Facing The Reality That Is The UK!

Spare a thought for those living in the US state of California who are complaining that a gallon of fuel for their vehicles has risen to the ridiculous price of three dollars (£1.79 in our currency).

While I was shelling out my £1.22 per litre (£5.44 per gallon) in my local Asda this morning, I was wondering how they get to suffer such hardship, while enduring such a great climate too.

I guess the main difference is they do not have a greedy government, who not only place a high percentage of tax on the fuel but also impose a tax on top of the tax!

As for the sunshine.....well I guess we don’t have enough to impose a tax on that quite yet!

If you are reading this Mr Osborne.......forget it!!

Is Vince Cable A Fool Or A Mischief Maker?

Is this the face of a fool or the face of a mischief maker?

Business Secretary, Vince Cable, who has long been respected for his forthright views on the economy and his personal reservations about his party’s power sharing coalition with the Conservatives, has been caught in a ‘sting’ by two journalists from the Daily Telegraph posing as single women from his constituency.

During their recorded meeting, Mr Cable is said to have described dealing with his coalition partners as like “fighting a war” and while talking of his options said: ”They know I have nuclear weapons, but I don’t have any conventional weapons. If they push me too far then I can walk out and bring the government down and they know that.”

Mr Cable is widely known to be disillusioned with recent political events, after being embarrassed by his party’s change of policy regarding the rise in university tuition fees and the resistance of the Conservatives to force action against the banks.

His biggest ‘sin’ however, was to boast he was personally at war with the Murdoch publishing empire and he would do everything in his power to make sure it was blocked from taking control of the BskyB satellite network.

The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have now announced that Mr Cable is to be stripped of his responsibilities for any decisions regarding media and broadcasting, although he will still keep his (much reduced) business portfolio. He is said to be feeling ‘foolish’.

A statement from Downing Street stated:

“The Prime Minister is clear that Mr Cable’s comments were totally unacceptable and inappropriate.”

But then he would say that. The PM has a lot to thank Rupert Murdoch for; after all, the publishing magnate’s newspapers backed the Conservatives in the lead up to last May’s elections.

So is Mr Cable a fool?

I find it hard to believe that someone of his intelligence and experience in politics would be tricked so easily by an audience of two women he did not know and to whom he was to make such unguarded and unwise statements.

Is he a mischief maker?
 
Well, if he had been sacked from his role in government, he would be free to form a splinter group of Lib Dem MPs; they are known to be tired of the way the Conservatives have been using their party to absorb the public’s displeasure following the coalition’s recent policy announcements. Had he been sacked, Cable could have forced an early end to the Coalition.

Whatever he is, he has now demonstrated all is not well amongst those public smiles portrayed by the Cameron Cabinet in the media.

Leader of the Opposition, Ed Miliband has today commented that these revelations prove the coalition is just “a sham”.

Give the man a cigar! That’s something many of us have known since May!

Can We Really Afford The Cost Of Stealing From The Courts?

The Justice Ministry has announced the cuts it will be making to the courts system following the Coalition’s spending review. Justice Minister, Jonathan Djanogly used the customary LibCon ‘get out of jail’ excuse for the cuts saying the present system is “unsustainable”.

93 Magistrates’ courts will be closed along with 49 County Courts but according to the Minister, at least 85 percent of people would be no more than an hour’s travel away from a court if they made use of public transport. That’s good then!

The only flaw to that argument, is many of those who would be likely to appear in front of a magistrate or a judge, do not have the available cash to be able to afford the fare for an hour’s journey using public transport - they will just fail to turn up! The police would then have to waste their own reduced resources in following up and executing any warrant issued.

Those courts still in operation, will be under growing pressure from their increased workload, causing longer delays before cases can be scheduled for a hearing. Both the accused and the accusers are likely to have to wait much longer before justice can be seen to be carried out. Eventually, the system is in danger of becoming gridlocked and cases of being diluted.

The government has argued it will make a saving of at least £15m a year in the day-to-day running costs of courts and around £22m in maintaining the premises. Of course, they will also be able to claw back a considerable sum by selling off the buildings which housed those courts facing the axe.

Overall, though, the saving seems a pittance compared to the total deficit faced by us all. With jobs being lost daily and repossessions on the increase, crime is likely to be one of the only growth industries over the next few years.

Such ‘spreadsheet politics’ could eventually prove to have a greater cost than that we are already paying!

Are Our Students Becoming Our Teachers?

There must be something about the quality of the lectures on a Wednesday afternoon, for only two weeks after the Millbank riots in London, our students are once again …well…revolting.

All over the UK, thousands of young - and presumably intelligent - folk have decided to demonstrate their immense displeasure and opposition to our Coalition Government’s intent to make further education a luxury, rather than a right, through introducing a massive increase in fees and the removal of the Education Maintenance Allowance.

Sadly, though, many are just focusing on the man whom the Tories have set-up to be ‘cannon fodder’ to the students’ ire, Deputy PM Nick Clegg. While this may be understandable, given that he appears to have been economical with the truth while canvassing for them to vote for the Lib Dems back in May, they need to pause for breath and see the bigger picture.

Admittedly, Clegg appears to be a self righteous, pompous, oaf. He is a man who has no hope of defending the indefensible, how ever many times he appears in the media telling us that he now sees things differently from six months ago. He knew then, as did all his colleagues, the state of the nation’s finances. There was, after all, rarely a day when his party’s Vince Cable was not ‘mugging’ the media spotlight telling us all we are on the verge of bankruptcy. Clegg is, therefore, either a fool, or he deliberately misrepresented the truth to gain the maximun student vote.

Sadly, it is not just the students who were hoodwinked by the false promises of the Lib Dem leader. Many of the extremely hard working and loyal members of his party (including those who stood for election) feel betrayed and will now have to face the anger of the people who so willingly gave them their votes. Clegg, meanwhile, will be protected from such front line hostility, by the blanket of security which surrounds a deputy prime minister.

However, Clegg is in reality, just the ‘fall guy’ for the real villains who are the Conservative Party. They aim to destroy the hopes and aspirations of anyone who did not go to a school where 'having a fag' had a totally different meaning to the same expression used to describe smoking by those in a state school.

I sympathise with the students - although not with the violence shown by many - and I hope by their actions they are inspiring other groups, who are similarly under attack from this government’s unfairly targeted cuts, to join the fight against the Tories’ ‘single class’ society.

We are supposed to be a Democracy where opportunity is available to all. Let’s see just how deafening the collective voices of fairness can be!

Help I'm A Prisoner - I'll Vote Me Out Of Here!

I have always been of the view (somewhat naively it now seems) that if someone commits an unlawful act against the society in which we live, they forfeit the right to be a part of our society for a specified period of time set by a Court of Law - they are ‘banged up’

While I can accept - to a point - there might be an argument in favour of having certain ‘distractions’ within a prison  (like flushing toilets, exercise areas and the odd communal television) I am not in agreement that a custodial sentence should entitle you to the same individual rights you enjoyed before being sentenced; I believe prisons should be seen as a deterrent and a punishment - not as Premier Inns with added security.

However, it seems I am now politically incorrect.

The Ministry of Silly Interfering Decisions, (otherwise known as the European Court For Human Rights) has decreed that we, as a nation, must obey a stupid EU court ruling allowing all prisoners within  the UK prison system the right to vote.

No, I am not referring to those expensive phone votes during programmes like X Factor or Strictly Come Dancing, but to a proper vote that elects the very government that maintains the laws that put them all away in the first place.

Of course, our government is saying it is unable to oppose such European madness, so it looks like the next logical move could be to allow conmen, thieves and sexual deviants to stand for Parliament!

Merde!!.... that’s one idea that’s already too late!

Cameron's 'Extravagant' Arrogance Needs Cuts

In politics, there is a very fine line between arrogance and leadership and today, the Prime Minister, David Cameron, came close to proving my point.

He has told opponents of his coalition’s housing benefits caps to “think again” describing the benefits as “extravagant”

He also said:

"Paying over £20,000 a year for the housing benefit of some families is too high. I do not think taxpayers who pay their taxes will understand why we are being so extravagant,"

(I note, however, he failed to mention those in his cabinet who take measures to avoid paying their taxes)

and:

"There are many people who earn less than £20,000 - their whole income is less than £20,000 - who are paying taxes to house people who are getting rents of £25,000, £30,000, £35,000, £40,000. They don't see that as fair and neither do I."

However, it seems he has completely missed a very large point.

Many families, particularly in parts of London, have been living in the same accommodation for many years. They originally moved into areas that, at the time, were seen as being deprived and populated by low income communities.

As the economy has grown over the years, many of those areas have been developed becoming ‘trendy’ with the wealthier bonus culture ‘city types’ splashing their cash and changing the locality into a fashionable and desirable address to have. They have invested their money wisely and as a consequence have raised the rents.

That is not the fault of the tenants who now find themselves living in such desirable abodes. They do not negotiate the rents with the landlords. They should not be demonised as being “extravagant” or “scroungers”

It is, also, worth remembering that Margaret Thatcher sold off much of the available social housing to buy votes and raise capital but then failed to invest into providing more modern, affordable properties, to replace it - she was the Tory leader that Cameron aspires to be.

I guess the real question, though, is will our national conscience (is there still one?) remain dormant, if thousands of long term tenants are moved out of their ‘high price’ rented accommodation and shipped many miles to areas where the rents are more ‘affordable’.

For that matter, do we really want to see a capital city, that is known for its diverse and colourful population, turned into an overpriced and arrogant ‘ghetto’ of monied bankers and lawyers.

I am guessing this will not be an easy ride for Cameron or his coalition partners.

I am also thinking he is arrogant and not yet, at least, a great leader

Boris Johnson's Ethnically Cleansed TV On The Radio!

London Mayor, Boris Johnson's widely reported remarks, criticising the coalition government for their proposed draconian housing benefit reforms, appeared at first sight to be spontaneous.

But, I wonder, if they were that spontaneous, why did he have a television crew filming what was supposed to be a regular radio interview with broadcaster Vanessa Feltz.

It seems his comments might not have been so 'off the cuff' after all!