A lack of choice makes this serf angry.
During debates they try and remember the name of the questioner while they think of which answer they had rehearsed for this line of question. They promise much but the promises only sound real when they are empty of substance.
Do they listen?
If my workplace is anything to go by, the politicians listen to us about as much as we listen to them. In a week, the population of the UK are going to vote for a new MP. The day after if enough MPs elected are for one party, that party will form the Government. Change or the ‘plan’ will be in charge. Change is more of the same, only the language will sound pleasant. And the ‘plan’ is more of the same, and the public-school boy becomes celebrated by his kind.
I have already voted. As soon as my colleague put the postal vote through the door, I selected my candidate and sealed my postal vote. The next day, I ‘collected’ it, and put it in the system. I expect the system then gave me it back (the next day?) and I delivered it to my local council office charged with counting the votes.
I will not say who I voted for. If you think I did not vote for change or the plan, you may think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment.
British Politicians are less trusted by the populace than ever before, according to a recent survey. A survey, I would suggest, conducted among the middle-classes. The working class have never trusted their politicians.
As a class – and I hate generalities – we are the least trusting of those in authority. We are the class that endures the most of Government policy. Cuts in welfare, cuts in services are cuts to the working class. Increases in VAT, food prices and inflation in general make the working class poorer than any other class. Spending more of their income on these increases and making the tough choices have a real effect on us. Not the fake tough choices that politicians talk about when they roll out an unpopular policy.
Taking the blunt hammer of Government policy and carrying on is all the working class can do. Those of us at the bottom are never listened to, never have policy designed to improve our life, yet we are always expected to sacrifice for the good of others. Whether they want to erode our working conditions, cut the help for living in a low pay economy, or forced into food banks just to feed the family, those with the least power must sacrifice for those with power.
Here in the UK, the main party leaders love to tell us they are ‘ordinary working people’ and they come from humble beginnings. To be frank, I do not care if your father was a tool maker, or your mother worked in the NHS. Whether your grandparents benefitted from the lax immigration that you want to deny to others, or the feeling you felt taking your keys for your first home, are just irrelevant. Once you enter the bubble of politics you lose touch. Only hearing what you want to hear, only seeing the errors of your opponent. I want my politicians to be about the future of all the people of the country, not about your past.
More importantly I want a politician that is going to hear my calls. Design policy that will aid my life, help me achieve my goals. Giving tax breaks to corporations, the already wealthy, and making life easier for growth does nothing for me. I want my public service funded well whether we grow or not.
I want my grandchildren to have a wonderful education, go to a university and obtain a degree without the debt my daughter had, but my sister did not. I want my doctor to be available for when my family are ill. I do not want my son-in-law told to make his own way to hospital after a heart attack because there are hundreds of people waiting for an ambulance.
If I must pay a few more percent on my income tax, I am prepared to do that, for the sake of the nation. If those earning the most have the tax rises too, so we are all in this together. It is fairer on all if we have a progressive tax system. Close loopholes and take the full extent of the law on those that greedily look for ways to defeat HMRC.
When I started work the basic rate of tax was 33%. That is right. You did read that correctly: In the working life of this author, the basic rate of tax has gone from 1/3 to 1/5 of income and as wages have increased the thresholds have risen too. The services we all need have declined through most of those years also.
It is quite simple, during my working life the services provided by the tax income have slid to the point where nothing works in Britain. If you complain about potholes, be prepared to pay more tax. If you complain about not being able to see a doctor, be prepared to pay more tax. If you want better services: you know what I mean, pay a few more percent in tax. A better education system, better health care, better connections, better police force, better everything else that they promise when the GROWTH comes, simply paying a few percent more in tax can change those without the mystical growth. And face the fact that if Conservatives are in power, they will use the growth to cut taxes like corporation tax, inheritance taxes, and the top rate of tax and then sell us the line that they are spending record amounts on services.
Those thresholds that the Conservative government has frozen are the only reason they are talking about Britain’s high tax. It is frankly (expletive) ridiculous.
The only difference between the Labour Party and the Conservative Party is the name and the Labour Party will not prioritise tax cuts, but you can bet they will start raising the upper thresholds before public spending increases.
Change: there will be none, not in this election.
The only change that will have any effect on British politics is a change in the electoral system.
Only when the Conservatism of Labour or the Conservatives winning is not a guarantee will we see any change in this country.
It is time we said: NO.
Thank you for reading Nigel Hare.com. It is always heartening to know someone reached the bottom of the page.
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