A sense of betrayal - by Richard... Tuesday, October 11, 2011

A sense of betrayal - by Richard... Tuesday, October 11, 2011

You can understand how the man feels, and then look with growing dismay at the posturing of The Boy. Wiittering is dead right when he observes how, unable to address the more pressing problems, the government indulges in displacement activity, while the tacky little charade of 13th Century Fox goes on.

It is unlikely that UKIP will provide an answer for Lord Hesketh but, by comparison, anything is better than the not-the-Conservative Party, proximity to which leaves one feeling soiled.

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Reality bites - by Richard...

Families are suffering an "unprecedented collapse" in living standards as high inflation and low wages wipe £2,000 off typical household incomes, says The Failygraph. It bases its report on work done by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, but we didn't need this to tell us. We can see it all around.

But what the report does not mention is taxation and council charges, which are also adding to the burden, plus the diverse green levies that are adding to the costs of home energy and transport.

For some families, there is also the very real burden of the youth unemployed, with figures out tomorrow expected to confirm the worst youth unemployment figures for nearly 20 years.

For the million NEETs, it is the lack of hope, as much as the lack of jobs, that is dangerous, saysThe Independent. For families trying to maintain a degree of cohesion, the raids on the bank of mum and dad weaken the financial base. – as private sector pensions become increasingly unaffordable and the value of savings plummets.

What is terrifying though is that our masters – in central and local government – have not joined the dots. People who have less money have less money to pay in taxes and charges. Further, they are likely to be more resistant to increases in charges, and are less resilient when it comes to dealing with financial shocks.

Yet local councils in particular seem to be loading on charges as if there is no tomorrow. Their actions are provocative and asking for trouble. And they are going to get it. People are running out of patience – and tolerance. The good times are over and the mood will get steadily uglier as reality bites.

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Only half the story - by Richard... Monday, October 10, 2011

Typically, the MSM – spoon-fed by a special interest group - tells only half the story. Different papers run the story, but they are all variations on the same theme. It is ironic really. If you want the big picture, you won't get it. You have to read Booker, go to the blogs, and read EU Referendum.

Unsurprisingly, some of the commenters are far better informed than the journalists. Says "James", "The Tory government has frozen council tax, meaning greedy unelected bureaucrats in councils have to get their hands on more money and what better way than the proven cash cow of motorists and their cars, it is just another way round the council tax freeze, start questioning the reason we have local councils and give some serious thought to what benefits you get from them being there ...".

Parking charges and penalties are indeed an issue, but they are only one part of the picture, and by no means the largest part. There is wholesale looting afoot, across the board. And it takes James to identify the reason.

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A scent of rebellion - by Richard...

"By ignoring the party conferences, we committed a small but important act of rebellion against the oligarchy. More and better acts of rebellion will be required". So writes Brendan O'Neill, who, with a bit of effort, might catch up with us. Even trailing in our wake, though, he is right in advocating more acts of rebellion.

It is a pity that Spiked thinks of itself as unique. If it looked around a bit, it would find that there are a lot of people out there saying the same things. The scent of rebellion is already in the air.