Labour came to power in July. The Chancellor finally revealed her budget this week and it has been met with dismay. They will be imposing inheritance tax on farmland with a value of over £1million, and raising the NI contributions. The money will be spent on public services, but there is no plan to grow the economy. Indeed, they seem to be doing their best to destroy businesses. The markets are worried, borrowing costs are already increasing. A mood of pessimism has settled over the country. The Government is made up of people with no experience of business or farming, with little or no aptitude for the challenges that face the country. This could be a rocky few years.
My hunch was right (Two Pence). The General Election on 4th July saw the Tories wiped out. Labour won a huge majority in Parliament, but with only 34% of the vote share (source: BBC).
Not a particularly convincing outcome, and they can hardly say they have a mandate from the British people. It would appear they won because Tory voters simply stayed at home. Unless Labour can make a significant difference on the cost of living crisis, immigration, house prices, et al, I can't see them lasting more than one term.
As it is, they are already struggling on the economy, they have handed out bumper pay awards to their buddies in the unions, they have no cogent plan to tackle immigration, and to cap it all they have withdrawn the winter fuel allowance from the elderly.
An article in the FT confirms what I have long suspected, that our current economic travails can be traced back to the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Since then the economy has stagnated. Productivity per head of population has dropped, in part due to the ridiculous levels of immigration since Brexit. All the while the cost of living continues to rise. The upshot is that most people are no better off than they were in 2008, indeed many are worse off.
Buying a house is out of reach for many people. Paying for basic utilities is becoming ever more expensive. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, children will be worse off than their parents. Is it any wonder the young are rejecting capitalism and looking to communism for answers?
Meanwhile in Parliament, Jeremy Hunt knocked 2p off national insurance. That was it, that was the highlight. The Tories will be wiped out come the next election, whether that is in May or November. They have nothing to offer and do not deserve to remain in power.
Yesterday evening, the PM Rishi Sunak stood outside number 10 and gave an unexpected speech in which he voiced his concerns about the growing menace of extremism.
The speech was full of dire warnings but no concrete proposals for dealing with the issues of Islamism and far right groups. Which far right groups he might have had in mind wasn't made clear, but there are none which pose a threat that matches that of Islamism.
Sunak said;
Now our democracy itself is a target. Council meetings and local events have been stormed. MPs do not feel safe in their homes. Long standing Parliamentary conventions have been upended because of safety concerns.
Each of those issues arise from the activities of pro-Palestine campaigners, many of whom have celebrated the actions of Hamas, a proscribed terrorist group. Looking back over the last twenty years name virtually any terrorist attack in Britain and Europe and it will have been undertaken by Islamist terror organisations or adherents of the religion of peace. It is quite apparent where the real problem lies.
Whether his speech will make any difference, only time will tell. I am not however overly optimistic.
We woke to the news George Galloway had been elected MP for Rochdale yesterday. This is for Gaza he proclaimed. As if the poor folk of Rochdale could give a fuck about Gaza.
The furore concerning Lee Anderson's comments continue but still the problem that lies at the heart of the issue is not mentioned. Nonetheless, some backbench MPs, both Labour and Conservative, are so concerned about their safety they have been provided with bodyguards.
Following the chaos in Parliament on the 21st, Suella Braverman has voiced her belief that Islamists have taken over Britain. Yesterday, another Tory MP, Lee Anderson disagreed. He said they hadn’t taken over Britain, but Islamists had captured Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London. Naturally he is accused of racism and Islamophobia, but perhaps now we are getting to the point where those in positions of power are prepared to openly accept there is a problem with radical Islam.
Or maybe not. Anderson has been suspended by the Tory party. His intervention may have been less than subtle, but rather than discussing the real problem, namely the growing menace of Islamic fundamentalism, they decided to shoot the messenger.
Parliament is in uproar. Yesterday the Speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, broke convention and allowed the Labour Party to submit an amendment to the SNP motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Hoyle was formerly a Labour MP and some Tories are suggesting he failed to act impartially as is required of the Speaker. They have called for a vote of no confidence in him.
However I read today that Keir Starmer had asked Hoyle to allow the amendment because he feared that without it some of his MPs would be at risk of attacks by Muslim extremists. If that is true, it is very worrying. If a minority of extremists can bully MPs into a particular course of action, what becomes of democracy?
Prince William has waded into the Israel – Hamas conflict, calling for a humanitarian cease fire. Whilst his statement has no doubt been made with the best of intentions he really should steer clear of the subject. It is a toxic debate, and he will upset people on both sides of the argument.