Health, Welfare and the People

Interesting isn't it - we've had a pretty generous social welfare system for years, where people have been able to tap into it without much questioning, and whilst the money has been flowing around the system, no-one apart from the Daily Mail readership has really been that bothered.  Cue the worst financial collapse since the 1930s, and all of a sudden the apparent generosity of the state (on our behalf) is coming under scrutiny.  It doesn't take the brains of an Archbishop (or does it?) to work out that we simply can't afford the same level of profligacy.  The trick now, which I believer their Lordships have missed, is to ensure that those who are in genuine need of our support are not penalised.  Having more checks in the system can only benefit those deserving cases: it will add evidence to their case, and therefore legitimacy.  Therefore, those who continue to be in receipt of such allowances will be utterly genuine, and able to hold their heads up high as equals, whom we are rightfully helping on their way back to full employment, or helping to maintain a decent standard of life.  There is a lot of scaremongering from various campaign groups (arguably not all are as altruistic as they'd have you think - some groups/organisations are an industry in themselves), but let's proceed with the reforms, ensure that there are proper safeguards to protect those who might fall through the cracks (I'm not fully confident in the bureaucracy myself!).  But, the gravy train has got to stop, it's not a lifestyle choice, it's a safety net for those who through no fault of their own, need our help.

The Post Labour Hangover - Revenge of the Unions

Well, we all knew it was coming - the constant spending of the previous government had to be reigned in.  Sadly, there are those who still think that it's all a bad dream, that will go away once the current government caves in, and just borrows it's way out of this crisis.  Sadly, that borrowing tactic was already played out, with the public insulated from the wider effects of the credit crunch by a vast overdraft that now has to be paid off.  Ironically, it could just be repaid as we say good bye to ConDem in 10-11 years time, only to be replaced by the financially illiterate re-vamp New New Lab/Green coalition, who go and blow it all again like some deranged scaled up equivalent of the Duchess of York.  Sadly, we are all going to pay the price - in terms of employment, financial security, and happiness.  But, we can't blame the bankers - controversial as that may sound, we were all happy when they were making billions for our pension pots, and claiming relatively generous bonuses in the process.  Their risky behaviour was just a reflection of our generally care free attitude towards finance and borrowing, where hair dressers were making more money by "flipping" flats and houses then by doing perms and conditioner infused head massages.  Everyone became a property magnate, seduced by the lure of easy profit and even easier finance, so we are all complicit in this rather shabby affair.

The last lot to really not get it at all seem to be the more militant and less pragmatic trade unions.  Seemingly, they do not fully comprehend that when the money dries up, there really is no more to be had and shared around.  All their rantings that somehow the honest hard workers are paying the price for the bankers profligacy seem quite antiquated and from a different era.  Rather than be grateful that at least most of their members seem to be protected from the most swingeing of cuts, and the market forces that affect the majority of the non-unionised private sector, they seem hell bent on causing massive unrest, coupled with bringing us back to some kind of communist/socialist workers utopia.  Well, it was never equal or fair even at the height of the Soviet Union - some comrades were always a bit more equal than others, so how the unions can claim that the egalitarian socialist utopian way is the alternative to unbridled capitalism and the systemic exploitation of poor(?) workers is beyond me.  The true path lies somewhere in between, where the tension between the two systems remains in balance.  For the time being, the ConDem coalition seem to be winning the moral argument - we must pay the price for the excesses of the 90s and the noughties.  However, it is only a matter of time before the spirit of collegiate austerity gets pushed aside in favour of outright selfishness and un-civic behaviour. 

Don't Mention the Footie!

Could this be the start of another dark episode in the nation's hysterical love affair with 11 players and a round ball?  The lacklustre performance against Algeria could just be more evidence that all is not quite right with the country as a whole.  There is no doubt about the talent of the squad, or the pedigree of the manager; we are also in no doubt about the size of their paypackets.  But, what they have delivered so far is nothing short of mediocrity - kind of an allegory for our beloved nation, and it's current status as not far above several well known banana republics (harsh I know, but work with me on this one).  Whether or not the England team is precipitated out of the World Cup early, there are definitely some lessons to be learned, as opposed to identified.

Lesson 1 - football is only game.

Lesson 2 - throwing money at a problem is not a solution, just a waste of money.

Lesson 3 - if you really want to have a national side that is truly awesome, you must nurture talent at all levels.  It's no good having a really good feeder system for football, when at the top of the league, you can't get a game as the club's gone and bought in all it's talent from overseas.

Lesson 4 - hope is just that, hope!

By Jeff Randall


Published: 7:47PM BST 13 May 2010

With the corpse of New Labour's government still warm on the mortician's slab, an inquest into the death of its salesmen has already begun. David Miliband, the bookies' favourite to take over as leader, says he will tour the country to find out what went wrong. At the risk of doing his party an undeserved favour, let's save Bananaman the cost of a trip.
Despite its record of fiscal incompetence, constitutional vandalism and disregard for Middle England, Gordon Brown's administration ought never to have collapsed. It had, after all, created for itself a client class of supplicant voters. As part of a grand plan for permanent office, more than one million immigrants were handed British passports (80 per cent of first-generation arrivals vote Labour) and 900,000 workers added to the public-sector payroll.
More pernicious still, Mr Brown and his ministers were delighted to overlook a grotesque distortion in the make-up of parliamentary boundaries, which meant that a 30 per cent vote for Labour produced about 300 seats, whereas the same percentage for the Conservatives delivered only 200 seats. In short, just about everything that could have been done to bend the system in New Labour's favour was in place by the time the election was called.
The problem, however, was that the project had been constructed upon a moral cesspit. The party's membership had been taken prisoner by a gang of desperadoes who clung to a conviction that honesty and integrity were disposable luxuries, and substance an unwelcome substitute for propaganda. The upshot was a dystopian regime in which Lord Mandelson and Alastair Campbell were recalled from ignominy to orchestrate a campaign of lavish deceit.
Together they became Mr Brown's very own Squealer, the insidious porker in Animal Farm who manipulates language to justify his boss's tyranny, while limiting debate and confusing the lower orders. In extremis, when awkward questions persist, Squealer fires off statistics to "prove" that life is improving, and warns darkly against the return of the farm's previous owner.
Lord Mandelson had twice been ejected from Cabinet over improper conduct. Mr Campbell was a central figure in the work of fiction that masqueraded as a security dossier on Saddam Hussein's "threat" to the United Kingdom. They had stripped themselves of legitimacy, yet were regarded by Mr Brown as uniquely qualified to help him retain the keys to No 10. It was a revolting union of unprincipled, unelected, unloved charlatans.
As the campaign developed, it was soon clear that New Labour was not going to win another Commons majority. After a decade of the government's chicanery, voters had had enough. Ministers, of course, blamed persecution by the press (even The Guardian deserted), but it was Mr Brown's financial mismanagement that hung like a burning tyre round his MPs' necks.

So, is anyone in any doubt why the UK is in such dire economic straits?

Global Events, Local Sheep, Rescued by the Navy

It would seem that some people have truly forgotten how to look after themselves - probably a fault of the welfare state, and an education system that usually fails to encourage any form of initiative and self reliance, and even possibly parents who wrapped them up in cotton wool. The point is that there seemed to be a real lack of any collective drive to "do something". Some people seem quite content to be herded and corralled, relying on the airline to work out how it is going to get them home (without the use of airplanes - there's a clue there somewhere), rather than picking themselves up by the boot straps and setting out for home by all means possible. My brother made it back from Scandinavia with little fanfare and tv interviews/book deals, and at 200 Euros all in, a lot less expensive than John Cleese. It took him slightly longer than the 3 hour return flight, but he just got on with it, grabbed a couple of colleagues, and set out for home.

Thank god for the Royal Navy - at least they'll be able to sort things out - or can they? Rudyard Kipling summed it up best in Tommy "Oh it's Tommy this and Tommy that, and Tommy go away, but it's thank you Mr Atkins when the band begins to play". In the same vein, people seem to think that our Armed Forces have got something up their sleeve, a hidden flotilla that could somehow whisk them all back from their far flung destinations. What seems to be lost in the hype is that only 3 ships can be mustered for this task - still miraculous given the nature of the paltry defence budget, but a really sorry reflection of just how mismatched the general public's ideals of the capabilities of defence are, versus the funds available.

If Dunkirk happened again, then I'm afraid that there simply just isn't enough of the plucky British spirit left, it's been dumbed out of people. And as for the heroic Armed Forces, well, there might just be even less of them left after the next election.

Election Fever 2010

It's been a while since I've been interested in the general election. Sadly the last few have been slightly disappointing in their conduct and outcomes, with no real fireworks, policy gaffes and downright fun political shoeings. After all, having been conditioned by reality? TV and various "Strictly Ballroom/Boredom" programs, the daily electoral diet of news broadcasts, interviews and panel shows is actually quite dull.

I do think that against the backdrop of the economic downturn (understatement of the year), MPs expenses, and the ongoing war in Afghanistan, this could be quite an interesting election period. Ever the optimist, I am hoping that we will see some real political blood being spilt, a few heads rolling and a couple of decent breaches of party discipline.