Morning thoughts 😉
Did you watch any of the Alan Bennett airings last weekend on UK TV? We caught some including replays. A couple of things must have implanted on my brain one being Alan Bennett singing They Fuck You Up Your Mum and Dad, from a Philip Larkin verse, to the theme tune of Last of the Summer Wine, which after an unsettled night I woke up singing Tuesday. The mind is very strange or at least mine is. Bennett talked in a documentary about various things including Miss Shepherd the real Lady in the Van. If you have seen the film or read the book you will know that she was from genteel stock but lived a hand to mouth existence. Turns out she was also a Tory supporter. But she had her own views on who should lead the country politically and politics did not always come into it. Tall herself she thought a shorter person did a better job. So she preferred Harold Wilson Labour to Ted Heath Tory but simply on height - yes size matters to some. This moved my ponderings onto a former work colleague at the NHS. This person tried giving me a friendly lecture of sorts in the run up to the 2010 General Election; she was voting Liberal Democrat as Gordon Brown and the Labour Party was ruining this country and she thought I should too. I asked her what she meant by "ruining the country" and went on to ask her why SHE was bothered after she talked a great deal about our banking system. It was post the financial crisis and it seemed the mainstream media and election campaigners had sucked her in. She was adamant. It was hard not to gloat post election after the Lib Dems agreed to form a coalition government with the Tories. She had put her faith in Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and he had let her down miserably. The point is this person lived in social housing, was a single parent, needed income tops from the DWP and had a child claiming Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). EMA was scrapped pretty quickly and this woman felt the pinch pretty sharpish. She learned the hard way that your vote matters and should never be squandered. That woman faced a tough future but who was to blame for that - in the end herself? But it highlights how some ordinary people with plenty to lose and lots to potentially gain vote in weird, wonderful and lunatic ways at times. We can never take election success for granted. The best person for the role of British Prime Minister at this time is Jeremy Corbyn leading a Labour government. Having to convince those who should already know that may still be a sad fact of life. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/15272526/what-impact-has-scrapping-ema-had http://www.npr.org/2015/12/12/459212329/for-15-years-the-real-lady-in-the-van-lived-in-this-playwrights-driveway Op-ed: As the Tory Party conference gets going the number of personal attacks against Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters highlight many things. When parliament resumes after this party conference indulgent recess, taken so soon after their long summer vacation, it will be business as usual - that is Corbyn bashing remains the Tory Party's main method of staying in power.
Mr Corbyn will not reapond in kind. He does not do personal attacks. Monday George Osborne's replacement Philip Hammond has announced Mrs May's unelected government is set to ditch its 2015 election promise to balance the UK economy any time soon. As expected Hammond is blaming that still unfulfilled British BRexit from the European Union. But it is not. It is the "Jeremy Corbyn Effect." And it is the incompetence of the Tory government running the country since 2010. At the weekend the Tories announced a change to disability assessments. The Independent reported "Medical tests for chronically ill benefits claimants to be scrapped." And about time we say. But there is still a long way to go. At least the government has recognised that such re-testing especially of people with life-long conditions is a waste of money and time but adds an extra level of stress and sometimes financial hardship onto people with disabilities. The Conservative Party pledged to "fix the roof while the sun was shining" in its 2015 election manifesto but that is just another broken promise. In July Hammond announced austerity measures would be scaled back. Translated that means our attack on the poor, vulnerable and middle classes will be less severe. Since 2010 the Tory Party has waged class war and has put young against old, working people against non-working people and helped created a very divided country. Social security benefits and public services have been slashed in the name of austerity while the Tories have handed out financial perks to people who do not need them. So Britain's roof will be left leaking then or will it? The UK remains a very wealthy country with a dozen or so very wealthy people owning huge areas of the UK. One reason people see migrants as 'swamping' cities and towns is huge areas of the country are not "open for all." Add to this the Tories underfunding of local councils, especially in traditional Labour heartlands, and it is easy to see why services are stretched. Monday Mr Hammond's cunning plan is "a £5 billion package to fund the construction of up to 225,000 homes." Although Hammond will declare the Government is still committed to bringing down the deficit so don't expect too many positive changes. Theresa May and her government have no mandate to govern the UK. David Cameron was elected Prime Minister in 2010 but he fled with his tail between his legs following the BRexit vote. Theresa May was shuffled into the role of Prime Minister perhaps for the long haul or to fill a gap temporarily. The Tory Party are all smiles for the camera but a political party with deep divisions especially when it comes to BRexit. As for the UK's leaky roof it will have to wait. ____________________________________________ The Conservative Party conference began Sunday October 2, 2016, in Birmingham and its ticket prices show it is not a party of or for the poor. Sunday people gathered outside to stage an anti austerity protest. Thanks to Alan Mason for images from the protest shown below. |
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