Election Bollocks...........

Apparently, as if no-one had noticed, we’re going to have a general election on May 5^th. Now back in 1997 this was something that genuinely excited me. After god knows how may years of being governed by the Tories I watched, like a lot of people, helplessly as they single handedly ripped the UK manufacturing industry to bits, destroyed the mining industry despite it being a fuel we could use for over 300 more years and embroil us in a preventable war in the Falklands subsequently claiming the glory for having kicked Argentina’s arse big time. In 1997, the Labour party after many years in the wilderness primarily due to their own in-fighting and radical left wing factions seemed to have finally pitched themselves firmly in the centre of UK politics, a place that frankly captures most of the UK populace. In fact, they had moved themselves into a position of being slightly left wing on some points (public service spending), and slightly right wing on others (free market enterprise). This policy was so successful the Tories were effectively forced even further to the right, making them appear rather extreme for a lot of people, and nothing if not a very old fashioned party that seemed only to encapsulate the views of the blue-rinse, poodle under the arm, Mrs Slocombe/Captain Peacock brigade. Fine for those who wanted Britain to remain in the 1920’s – a society where working people doffed their caps to the upper classes in deference at their superior education and breeding, but an anathema in a disillusioned Britain, where youngsters were disillusioned and disrespectful of the natural order of things. A fresh faced youthful leader of the Labour Party in the form of Tony Blair had changed the face of politics and managed a rare feat, capturing the votes of “middle Britain”, the disillusioned young vote, and former Tories who had discovered they had a social conscience after all. Aligned with the fact that the Tories had stuck with John Major, an incredibly dull and non-inspirational man masking behind a façade of decency but whose cabinet had been whittled down bit by bit by lies and deceit, and in one case a death caused by extreme sexual deviance the majority in Parliament was unheard of, especially for a Labour government. Bunch of fucking hypocrites.

But things have changed in 8 years. We’ve had yet another preventable war, the economy is good but pensions are in decline, the health service is debatable, tax is either higher or lower depending on the stats you read, the roads are undoubtedly in worse condition and more crowed, public transport is still far from perfect, crime is either up or down depending on your choice of newspaper and its political agenda, and education is crap or good and so on and so on. All of which means that the Tories have a real chance of getting into power....god help us. Let’s deal briefly with some of these issues then……

The NHS is always a big feature of any election and usually there is some scandal of some poor soul who’s had to wait an eternity for an operation that features on one side or the other to score sympathy points. My own view is that the NHS is a huge money pit that can never be perfect and that as it stands it does a bloody good job a lot better under labour than it ever did under the unbelievable stupid “internal market” system deployed by Thatcher and successor. I don’t think many NHS staff who worked under the Tory regime would complain that it’s worse today. It MAY not be perfect but it is a lot better funded and run now than back then in the horror days of patients in corridors and underpaid/undervalued staff. Not that they are paid enough these days, but at least this government has tried to close the gap. It still happens of course because patient volume forecasts can be wrong, but very few people complain about the service they receive these days. And I’m of the belief that no matter how much money is thrown at the NHS, it will never be enough.

Education is better now than under the Tories without question. Schools are funded better; teachers pay has not been as neglected. League tables are controversial (as they are with hospitals) but in this performance obsessed society they do provide a measure of public accountability to us, the funding taxpayers. Surely it is good to be able to identify the poor performers? Won’t that allow us to target them for improvement, to the benefit of the pupils (ditto patients in hospitals)? Let’s also not forget that it was the Tories who sold off the school playing fields to developers and deprived them and the local communities of much needed sports ands play areas, to the detriment of today’s kids and future sports people.

Transport is another hot issue. The roads are deteriorating unquestionably. I, as a driver, doing around 15-20,000 miles per year have noticed that. Fuel costs are rising, and the tax burden has increased. There is no easy solution to road usage, but perhaps putting road tax on fuel thus ensuring everyone pays might help. What about the novel idea of spending all of this tax on our transport infrastructure instead of the measly 15% figure being used currently? Trains are still poor and overpriced, and buses…well if you can work out who runs them and when they’re due, and where they go then you’re a fucking genius in my view. However, trains are improving, both in rolling stock and investment in rail infrastructure. It is a slow job, but the damage inflicted on the old British Rail by the Tories inflexibility and hostility to the state run behemoth, coupled with a complex and overblown privatisation which succeeded only in lining pockets of a few institutional investors meant this was a big ship to try and turn round. But turning round it is with safety now being prioritised by Network Rail and the SRA, and less onus being put on profit and more on service. And after all the years of neglect and the refusal of the Tories under Thatch to allow the nationalised company to lease stock and borrow money from banks like any other company (after Thatcher had told them to run themselves like a PLC!) we are finally seeing some decent trains to travel on. The foods still crap and overpriced, but perhaps that’s what we like about it. As for the buses, my own answer is returning them to local corporation ownership, pay the drivers a decent wage, and put conductors back on the buses. That system worked fine for fucking years, why wouldn’t it now?

Crime is another hot potato. Crime is either up or down depending on your agenda and the paper you read. But undoubtedly the rise in petty crime can be attributed to the boredom of kids and teenagers, coupled with a total disrespect for the police, inherited through behavioural influences from friends, parents and relatives. There is no easy answer here but a greater police presence might help as long as it is based on engaging the disenfranchised. We need to provide things for youngsters to do. There should be adult supervised meting places (youth clubs?) like we had, but not of the type that will interfere and nanny them. The one I used to attend had pool, darts, table tennis, music etc. It was place to meet friends, chat up girls, and smoke fags stolen from parents. Not exactly healthy pursuits, but not forced pursuits with moral agendas either. We were treated as young adults, responded as young adults, made mistakes, got into fights, learnt painful lessons in love and war. But we’re here, relatively unscathed, having dabbled in right and wrong and for the most part having chosen right. In my village and the surrounding towns, no such thing exists. Youngsters group into gangs, peer pressure rules and with no occasional adult guidance or moral boundaries, they resort to crime. Drugs are available via unscrupulous adults, or other kids being run like Fagin’s pickpockets, but peddling their nasty product instead. All it takes is for some moral, but not nagging or heavy handed, adult guidance and protection. The police can play their part by engaging the communities they apparently serve, They can join in, run things for the kids (we have a police sponsored Disco for teenagers called SNAP which is very popular and works because it is run with a very deft touch), engage the adults and instead of nicking people for broken indicators on their car and other trivial shit, they can issue “yellow card” type warnings, giving the unintentional criminal a chance to rectify their mistakes. Wouldn’t this help people to help the police, wouldn’t the relationship become collaborative instead of adversarial?

Finally tax. I pay my taxes like any other PAYE person. However, I am fucked off about inheritance tax which now penalises so many more people. I am pissed off that my investment in shares will be taxed through Capital Gains, despite it being my money I risked. I take the risk, the government creams off some of my profit. Unfair! I am also pissed off with the gloating self employed who get good accountants and end up paying a fraction of the tax I pay by associating costs with their “companies” and exploiting every tax loophole available. Any government should review the system to ensure that we all pay our share, whether employed or self employed. The next self employed twat who brags to me about how little they pay in tax (thus cheating me and the country) will likely end up with a fistful of knuckles down the back of their throat and some pickled testicles they used to own in a jar. It isn't big, or fucking clever you wankers. You're essentially fucking everyone who pays tax in the arse! Add to that the heinous burden of Council Tax, very soon to rise in England as properties are “re-valued” without any proportionate change in the bandings and I am a believer in radical change. The revaluing exercise means that local authorities will be able to put everyone’s property up a band or two because as we all know house prices have rocketed in recent years. Next to the airlines, the local authorities are the biggest robbers of all, and this exercise is another example of blatant daylight robbery going. The Lib Dems are the only party brave enough to state that they will change this unfair tax by the introduction of a local income tax, thus relating the tax to the alleged ability to pay. Under this scheme I would pay more, but it would be less painfully removed direct from my salary – you don’t miss what you don’t have. My own view is that local sales tax system as used in the US would be better. This tax is applied to everything you buy, including food. The rate is set either nationally, and then redistributed from central government, or it is set locally by the county council. Everything purchased is then taxed at that rate and every checkout is clearly marked with the rate you will pay and receipts will itemise the product price and the tax contribution. Obviously the Internet purchasing trend throws a small spanner into the works, but perhaps a central rate could be set for just that. Come to think of it…..could income tax be replaced by such a system? That way, if you want an expensive item then presumably you can afford it and will contribute accordingly; paying more tax because you want the dearer item. Fuck me, even the bragging self employed couldn’t avoid that!

Go to this web site called Who Should I Vote For, answer the questions as honestly as possible, and find out who you should vote for. I answered all in my best Champagne Socialist way….and apparently I should vote for the Lib Dems! Strangely enough I may have been tempted that way anyway, because I Live in a Tory stranglehold, where any Labour vote is wasted until we get a Proportional Representation system in place……something I won’t see in my life I think.

Later, GrocerJack