The stiff upper lip syndrome is here to stay. It doesn't matter that Alister Darling and his bunch of thieves slap yet more taxes on us. We just take it. It doesn't matter that Gordon Brown stole from all of our pension funds to support the "Champagne labour" lifestyle. It doesn't even matter that soldiers getting killed everyday in Iraq and Afghanistan have been relegated to the final segment of the news over how much Heather Mills earned in a divorce settlement today for being a one legged tart.
We sit back and take it. "We are British". What a bunch of idiots we are for taking it. Take it on the chin.... It should read something more like this: Take it up the bum! Again and again!
While the above might sound like a bit of a rant, I have spoken to people recently who have become so angry and depressed about the whole state of affairs, that they have resorted to not paying their council tax, because they cannot afford to feed their kids! In the UK I hear you say? That cannot be the case. Well I can assure any readers of this little blog that it is indeed the case.
Bristol City Council spent £7,000,000 on statues for the city centre last year to "to enhance the view and esthetic feel of the city" and yet people are living on the streets after being thrown out of their council houses for not paying their council tax? Is this right? Of course it's not! Where is the social justice in this? Where is the promise of "people first!" or the famous New Labour saying "Things can only get better"?
I have lived in the UK on and off since 1989 when as a young 19 year old straight off the boat from Ireland I looked at England as my land of opportunity. It really was like that. I made a decent wage and I was able to support my long standing habit of getting absolutely pissed on a Friday night. Ohh happy days. I didn't mind the fact that I had to pay rent or indeed even the dreaded income tax, because I knew that the government were in some way looking after my future, or so I thought.
A few months after arriving in the UK I passed an army careers office and thought, well go in and have a look ...you never know you might get to shoot someone. Of course as an Irishman, the army assumed that I could shoot already anyway! I met with the recruiting sergeant and asked him what were my options? "The infantry for you my boy!".. and so it began.
Some time later, considerably thinner and a little wiser, I realised that the Army was all about going to war and decided it wasn't for me. Dangerous work.. you could get killed doing shite like this!
When I left the Army I was able to kill people in about 459 ways, however in "civvie" street it was a bit frowned upon to open fire with a heavy machine gun on Tottenham Court Road, so I decided that I needed to get a job, to support my undying love of getting pissed on a Friday night. Interview after interview followed and the realisation that I needed to either bribe the person interviewing me (again, a bit frowned upon here in UK) or get qualified at something. I decided the way to go was computers, however I still needed to get a job. Finally after much rangeling and bribing (only joking..aaahem) I got a job with a security company providing security to empty building in the West End of London. I can honestly say that this was the most meaningless, boring and ultimately mind numbing experience I have ever had, however because I was working nights, I was able to study. 12 months later and again considerably wiser I decided it was time to do the exam, which I am pleased to say I passed with flying colours (literally!) The same day I got on a flight to Tenerife for 1 week and was pissed as a fart before I even left Gatwick!
1 week later and severely shattered from vodka shots and San Miguiel beer, I arrived back at my flat to find my results posted saying "pass with merit". Bearing in mind I had no job to go to I called my boss at the security company and left a message on his answering machine as follows: "Hi David, I won't be coming in tonight as I can't be arsed". Needless to say I never heard from David again. I wonder why?
The following day, certificate in hand I literally went to almost all of the agencies I could and registered with all of them. That day about 5 pm I got a call to say that there was some contract work available and that I should go for an interview the following morning. Luckily the guy interviewing me was also ex-army and I was promptly offered the role of "IT Support Technician" on the grounds that I promised not to let the interviewer down! The money was complete crap, however I loved the job. Within a few months I was promoted to supervisor and following yet another interview was also given a considerable pay rise.
After what seemed like an eternity of working in London, I decided to go back to Ireland to see if things had changed. As it turned out I met a girl, fell madly in love and then this too went tits up. So it was decision time again:- back on the boat, back to London, but on the way saw a sign for Bristol and I also had a relative that owned a pub in Wiltshire and he was desperate for staff. It turned out I needed a job too PDQ as I was fast running out of money, so for 3 months I pulled pints in Wiltshire and made loads of new friends. A few months went by and I suddenly found myself thinking time to get the hell out of Wiltshire as pulling pints as a fulltime job is nearly as bad as that security job I told you about earlier and the fact that the relative I told you about had a wife who was (and still is) a mental case who thought that I "was a bad influence". Moi? Never! Thanks to one of the nicest families in the world, I stayed on a couch for a few weeks until I got sorted with a place of my own! Thanks to Natalie, Mark, Marcia, Wayne and not forgetting Pesky! Because of the kindness of this family I was given the start that I needed and will never forget it.
By the way, my first introduction back to Bristol was getting a parking ticket on Baldwin Street for being 10 minutes late back to the car. I hope traffic wardens sleep well at night. Wankers.
After paying my ticket, I saw that there was loads of work available in Bristol, however the money was obviously no where near what I was earning in London, however I thought I might as well see what it's like here as the cost of living is considerably less. Again, after a few interviews I was offered a role as an IT trainer with a drinks supply company
and I can be totally honest here and say it was by far the best bunch of people I ever worked with. I made some fantastic friends, who I now consider to be life long compadres.
I know that I started this blog with a rant about the government and believe me, I have tried, time and time again to speak with the "Powers that be" about having a person to person chat as to why the economy and British way of life has gone completely tits up. Some blame immigration, which to me is complete rubbish, but all the same, they are entitled to their opinion. It makes me laugh when people say things like, "they come over here, taking our jobs"...etc etc. They take the jobs that no one wants. when is the last time you spoke to a British/Irish/N. Irish chap or girl in McDonalds serving or in a main pub in a city? When is the last time you saw a Brit working in a hotel? On a plane? On a bus? Even the dreaded traffic wardens are eastern European. The reason for this is that they WILL do the jobs that none of US want to. Others say things like they go "straight on the welfare!" Again complete and utter rubbish.
Most immigrants to this country have "no recourse to public funds" stamped on their passports when arriving legally into the UK. You might say well what about illegal immigrants? The fact is, as an employer you can now get HUGE fines and even a prison sentence for employing illegal immigrants, so most employers will stay away from these like the plague.
So with all of the above in mind, why has and is the UK worker being taxed out of all control? Some say it is the "credit crunch", while others say to avoid inflation, tax needs to go up to curb spending and avoid inflation. This was the excuse for raising duty on fuel almost every time. It is interesting that the UK government still pay for fuel in US dollars and with the present rate of exchange against the pound, 1 litre of petrol is now CHEAPER than it was 5 years ago. The average cost of a litre of petrol is now £1.07 but should be no more than 68p! Of course the fact that Alister and his bunch of thieving bastards slap over 64% on the price also contributes a hell of a lot. If duty is applied at such a rate, why do I still have to also pay VAT @17.5% on top of the 64% I have already paid to Alister & Co? Interesting isn't it?
During the 1990's and in the later part of 2000s, we were assured by Mr. Brown, (as Chancellor) that the UK economy was "growing year after year". He said this because indeed it was, but for all the wrong reasons. Mr. Brown, in his wisdom, decided in the later part of the 1990s to raid the pension funds to "finance the development of the economy". In other words, he walked in from the treasury, unlocked the safe while no one was looking and shifted my money and yours into the government coffers, hoping of course that no one would ever notice. Unfortunately they did notice, and many of my own personal friends suffered a complete loss of pension funds that some had being paying into for over 25 years. Their compensation? £5,000. Criminal.
Then of course we had the war in Iraq that Tony Blair said was necessary to "get rid of a tyrant" and to get rid of "WMDs". Ok, the first one worked, Saddam is now brown bread, but WMDs? Where Tony? I suppose you can always make it up. Oh ya, he did and adding insult to injury, when Mr. Blair "retired" as Prime Minister (after bombing the shite out of Iraq) he then became a "Middle Eastern Peace Envoy"! You couldn't make this shit up! Of course as an ex-soldier I cannot blame the military as they were "only following orders", however as in the military code of conduct: Was it a legal order in the first place? A bit like the Nuremberg trials defence of war criminals saying "I was only following orders". The question of was and is the war in Iraq/Afghanistan legal will continue to baffle people long after you and I are "brown bread". I have the greatest admiration for ALL soldiers, sailors and airman and hope they all come home safely... soon.
We are now in the situation where the worlds policeman (America...fuck yaa! The immortal words in Team America) under the inspired dictatorship of George "cant spell to save my life" W. Bush has his hand on the red button, and is considering invading Iran! Why? On the pretext that they also might "also" be developing WMDs through a "nuclear power station building exercise". What? Is he having a bubble bath? (that's laugh to all you Americans out there!)
You know, the more I think about it, the more I get depressed. Think of it this way; if you or I ran a private company the way the present UK government are doing, we would all be fired for gross misconduct and gross negligence & possibly end up with a very long time to think about the mistakes we have made in prison.
Think about this for a minute with reference to "our" government: Can you imagine going to your boss and demanding £10,000 for a new kitchen and up to another £10,000 for expenses, without producing a receipt? I for one, know my boss would give me a quick kick in the arse and I would probably be sectioned under the mental health act. Yet as ludicrous as the previous sentence sounds, this is happening everyday! Indeed the labour MP Nigel Griffiths a Trade and Industry minister no less, claimed over £40,000 in "unwarranted" expenses over a 4 year period. When questioned off the record he stated "and?" Well there you go then, must be ok!?
£40,000 in expenses. How many hard up families that struggle to pay their council tax would have benefited from this? Quite a few I hear you say. A lot of people that are living on the streets would benefit.
This country has become a haven for "Non-domicile" tax evasion experts. Recently it emerged that a multi-millionaire living in Chelsea, West London, pays less tax every year than his cleaner! He doesn't even have to pay council tax! Is this right? Is it just? No. What can be done? Not a lot really unless you vote with your feet and your pen at the next election.
Can anyone explain for example why MPs can do one term in office (4 years) and then receive a pension of over £35,000 a year for life? Could it possibly be the "gravy train" pulling in at Parliament? Next stop ... bankrupt, followed by a short stopover at re-possessions and then on to .... well who knows. ...Families being forced to sell their parents houses to support them in their old age, even though they have paid tax for most of their working lives? A state pension that gives less than £140 a week in 2008? £140 a week!! That's £7280 a year to feed, clothe, heat and pay rent and council tax. Ex MPs get £2212 per month! Social justice eh? NOT!
Will Britain still be here or will it be ruled from Brussels? The latter I fear is the case and it seems they are more corrupt than the rest of the governments in Europe put together!
The UK once prided itself on being an open, caring democracy that welcomed everyone that could make a contribution. After the July bombing in London, the government introduced law after law to combat terrorism, however all this has done is to take the civil liberties of EVERY citizen of this country. ID cards that no one wants, CCTV cameras almost everywhere you go.... does it sound familiar? George Orwell's 1984 coming to fruition! All these laws and measures have done is the let the terrorists know that they are having an impact and destroying our way of life and yet the government cannot see this. Jackie Smith our beloved Home Secretary has introduced ID cards by "Stealth", now requiring airport workers to have them for "security reasons". Now for me, I would have assumed that ALL workers at airports would have been screened BEFORE being employed at any airport and not after the fact? Hmmm, makes me think Mrs. Smith is telling porky pies (again that's lies to all you American readers). Mrs. Smith says that the ID card scheme is voluntary, however when you renew your passport after 2015, you will also have to get an ID card. She also says it will not be compulsory to carry one? What's the point in having one then??!!!?!?!
Then of course there is fact that the government want all of our details stored on a "central database". Judging by the loss of data that this government is prone to, I don't think I would like ANY of my details being stored on ANY government run database. Mrs. Smith says that it will be "hacker proof". Well that is a complete and utter lie. Anything with a cable can be "hacked". What stops anyone "burning" details to a disk? Nothing.
Of course all the above won't matter anyway as I reckon if anyone was idiotic enough to vote Labour in again, they are one of 3 things, 1. An idiot, 2. A complete idiot, 3. Gordon Brown.
Ask yourself this question: what good has the government done over the past 11 years? Has it benefited your family? Has it made you feel safer? Has it made you feel confident for your children's future? If any of the answers are no, get shot of 'em.
So with all the above in mind, who do we turn to? Well, I honestly don't know. I would love to say that a magic answer could solve this dilemma for you, but unfortunately that is for you to make a decision on how you want to progress or digress in your life.
