Happy St George's Day?

In most countries there is a carnival atmosphere on the day of their patron saint. Here, in the UK, it isn't a Bank Holiday which means that the British, apart from the 2.03 million unemployed as at January 2009 (probably considerably more by now), the 1.39 people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in February 2009 see stats here and Benefits Claiments, will be working their normal hours.

I've listed the unemployed, Jobseekers & Benefit Claimants separately because although you or I might reasonably consider that they would be the same people this is not necessarily so under Labour's creative accounting - they 'massage' the figures a lot more than Maggie Thatcher ever managed.

Oh, and the pensioners will be having a holiday too, I'd almost forgotten about them. The pensioners who can afford to retire that is, after Gordon has raided their Pension Funds & refused, despite the Labour Manifestos of 1997, 2002 and 2005, to restore the pensions link that Maggie destroyed. The government say poverty level is an income of £165 per week. The basic State Pension is £95.25 per week. How many people do you know of 60+ who are still working? A rather high percentage I think.

So, as we take stock of ourselves and our country on this special day, what do we see? - a government that has run the country into the ground & that is mired in scandal. How incompetent does a Chancellor or PM have to be to bring a country to it's knees financially? A country that actually had money 'saved' by the Torys in our 'bank acount' for the proverbial rainy day, in 1997 when Labour took over. Now, 12 years later we have widespread unemployment, horrific house repossession rates and debt that equals - what is it? - 84% of GDP. The legacy of a 'prudent' Chancellor? I think not! Of course, according to Gordon, all these problems started in America - I hadn't realised America had set up the FSA? I hadn't realised America had allowed such slack supervision by the FSA (working as a branch of H.M. government) that we had the scandal of Equitable Life? .....and Northern Rock ...... and RBS ......and HBOS.

A government that promised us an EU Referendum, then said that as it was now called the Lisbon Treaty, we didn't need to vote - they'd decide what we wanted.

We have MPs - no, we have Cabinet Ministers - whose trotters are so deep into the trough that they claim 88p for a bath plug from the electorate on expenses - oh yes, and their porn films. And a PM who says that MPs expenses must be reformed and that he will remove the Second Home Allowance and instead provide an Attendance Allowance - which may allow MPs to claim even more than they've previously claimed on their Second Home Allowance........ A PM, incidentally, who has had the finger of suspicion pointed at him over one of his flats & his Second Home Allowance.

We have a police force that has been politicized, a private company, ACPO that decides police policy & one branch of the force that has received 145 complaints over their handling of G20 policing - including the death of one man.

We have had better St George's Days in the past & I hope we will have better St George's Days again in the future. Use your vote - if you sit home on election day how can you complain about the government we have? If all else fails, vote for the Party that you dislike least. And, in the meantime, you might like to join in the the Libertarian Party 'Taking the shirt off your back campaign'

Happy St George's Day to you all.

The Budget - Fiscal Competency?

I'm no great fan of David Cameron's but I think he hit the nail on the head today when he said that this government could no longer claim to have any financial skills. As ever, Darling was shoved out front to perform like a tame monkey while behind him Gordon the Great Gurner sat & gurned & pulled the strings. It must be galling to have to admit to your errors of judgement in the very public view of the House of Commons. It must be even more galling to have to admit to the fatal errors of your boss and pass them off as yours. Yet another day when, as the country fell about his ears, Gordon sat & muttered his mantra 'It wasnae me, it wasnae me - a big boy did it & ran away'.