It's rare that I can find any plus points to any of the current government's policies but after today's horrific chain of announcements and decisions, I'm pleased to say I've found one. Its that, amongst this horrible, dystopian privatised future that we can so look forward to as a 'progressive' and 'democratic' nation, at least the racists will not be able to say 'Britain's our country' as they'd be both morally and now factually wrong.
Within a few years it seems so little of the UK will be actually be remotely owned by the public, that paying taxes will be a boring version of sponsoring an animal at a zoo you never go to. The money, often extortionate and unaffordable, would regularly leave your account, with no gratification that its actually reached where its meant to apart from once yearly notification where someone pretending to be a road you've paid for writes you a letter saying thanks. Not that we'll get any thank you letters though as it may at least sweeten the bitter pill if I occasionally got a crayon drawing from 'David The Hospital'. Increasingly it looks as though the HMRC revenue will be going to services that we won't get and haven't had a choice in, as well as paying back debts that aren't ours. Sometimes I think the UK governing system is only referred to as a democracy to keep those who are apathetic from feeling concerned that they may have to do something at some point about anything.
So far the NHS (as of today's awful decision by Lords who have stakes in its privatisation), the police, and now the roads are being put into the hands of companies and people who never use our healthcare service, possibly don't even live in this country and rarely find themselves at the Leigh Delamere services on the M4 will be dictating how they all work. We could easily find ourselves being the victims of a crime privatised police failed to prevent because we couldn't afford to get them to protect us, before paying to get into a life saving ambulance, which we pay extra for depending on treatment, and then forking out another lump of cash for said vehicle to travel across toll roads to get to your local Bupa hospital. You'll wake up in a £40 a night hospital bed thinking that it was probably cheaper to die in the first place.
Cameron said today, in his speech on infrastructure, that he hopes to have a legacy like 'the Victorians.' An interesting comparison considering they didn't have a nationalised healthcare service in the 19th Century either, hence the high death rate. They also had highwaymen which are not dissimilar to toll roads in my opinion only I think those in working the booths may actually be more fun with a dandy Adam Ant get up on. But also like our ancestors, the government are relishing in exploiting the work of the young. Today a minimum wage increase was announced, with those under 21 exempt from such a rise. The Victorians had small children lose limbs from machinery and bronchitis from chimney sweeping. We surely will have young people die of boredom and dissent from working in jobs they hate with no future prospects for any money at all. In a way losing an arm in churning metal cog is somewhat more glamorous than getting an infected toe from stubbing it on an Argos package you kicked with sheer frustration.
On Wednesday Osborne is set to announce cutting the 50p tax rate, allowing those who earn most to pay less tax in a move that once again proves he either suffers from dyscalculia or is unwittingly elitist.
At least pretend this isn't what you're doing, and give some pretence you actually care about the people that vote? I say this, but in today's Guardian/ICM poll the Conservatives are up 3% in popularity since February and I can only assume we have become a society who no longer want responsibility for anything. A nationwide suffering of Stockholm Syndrome where most now have given in and decided to lie back and take it, having never shouted 'no' in the first place. It's far easier than having to think about anything ever. If the government are cashing in their responsibilities then why should we remotely do anything about ours to stand up for our quality of life and how it's dictated by those who just don't care? Well, I don't know about you, but I don't fancy donning a flat cap and shining shoes while people throw their faeces out of the window and dodging the plague. Things absolutely have to change, even if it means giving the racists back a saying or two.