HS2 is the High Speed 2 railway to Birmingham from London. It is going to cost an estimated £32 billion and possibly start running a service in 2026. The idea behind this project was Labour peer Lord Adonis who first proposed it.
We are told it will knock 30 minutes off the time it takes to travel from London to Birmingham. We are also told it will bring massive economic benefits to the UK; commercial lobbyists have claimed it will be worth £55 billion to business, I don't know where they get their figures from. You would think if big business thinks it is such a good idea they would be investing in it themselves, but of course not, every penny will come from British tax payers.
You might think that by what I am saying that I am against investment in our infrastructure and particularly our railways, but I am not. It is just I cannot see the benefits of this 'vanity project'. On top of the fact it is going to cost a huge amount of money, it is also going to cut its way through some of the most beautiful parts of England's countryside. And this really bothers me.
The government states it will cut 30 minutes off journey times, is this strictly true? It is if you take the figure from the longest journey times, but when you factor in the quickest rail journey between London and Birmingham, you can knock ten minutes off that figure. Then add to this the time it will take to get to the centre of Birmingham from the new station they are going to build outside the centre. You can then take at least another ten minutes off the 30 minutes supposed saving. So there you have a possible saving of ten minutes.
The Whitehall evaluation team looked at the benefit/cost ratio of this project last year. They came to the conclusion that for every £6 spent, only £1 would be gained in economic terms. To be remotely commercial it will have to charge very high fares - projected to rise at 27 per cent above inflation.
Lord Adonis stated it will bring '...low cost mass market, high speed transportation'. It will quite obviously not bring high speed travel to the poor masses, as the cost of this project is going to have to be recouped. So the only people who will be able to afford to travel on this train will be the wealthy.
The government has said this project is going to cost £32 billion, but as you can imagine with most government projects it will cost a lot more. Already the government has allocated £750 million even before the decision has been made for the project to go ahead. Governments are very good at wasting our money, the Olympics is a good example. The initial estimate was for £2.4 billion, that figure has now grown to over £9 billion. The Labour governments decision to invest in an NHS super computer in which to store and access every persons medical details ended up costing £21 billion and was eventually abandoned. The Millennium dome cost millions and was doomed from the outset. The governments decision to build two aircraft carriers has already cost hundred of millions and these ships are not expected to come into service for at least a decade.
The idea behind the HS2 sounds good, but does not stand up to simple economic scrutiny, and the question has to be asked why is the government spending so much money at a time when money is very tight? Last week the chairman of the committee on standards in public life, Sir Christopher Kelly, warned that 'preferential access to decision makers by powerful interests was damaging respect for Whitehall'. This is not confined to one particular area, but HS2 is probably the most expensive.
I believe this HS2 project is going to bring no benefit to the UK. It is going to destroy some of England's most beautiful countryside, and before anyone accuses me of being a NIMBY (not in my back yard), I do not live anywhere near the proposed railway. I love the countryside, and Britain is a very crowded country and I want to see what is left our this beautiful country protected.
I do not see that this has to happen. Our infrastructure, both road and rail is under immense strain, and this railway is going to do very little to alleviate this. Surely what would make sense is to invest in what we already have. Britain has some of the highest rail fares in Europe and is ten times more expensive than the European average. We have a road system which is gradually grinding to a halt, with ever more people coming to this small island, this is just going to get worse. With expected population growth to continue at an astronomical rate surely it would make sense to reduce rail prices, invest in improving our under resourced rail network and relay some of the old lines that were ripped up in the 1960's.
The HS2 is going to bring benefits to very few people, the population of this country is spread out throughout this island, and out of a working population how many people travel between Birmingham and London on a regular basis? Is it really going to bring that many benefits to UK plc?
I don't want to always pour scorn on the government, but I can only see this going the way of so many projects. I have written before about how our government ministers do not have a clue, and unfortunately it is these people who make the decisions. A politician who has very little knowledge about his department and is here today and gone tomorrow can be baffled by professionals. They can be told this will benefit their career, give them a legacy, make them look good. They can be told all sorts of things, but they may have very little understanding of the impact their decision will have upon the people they are paid to serve.
David Cameron and his ministers have made a decision that in reality will only benefit a few business men and wealthy people, because that is all who is going to be able afford to travel on this train. It is going to cost at least £32 billion and bring untold misery to the many thousands who live on the proposed route, it is going to carve a knife through some of the most beautiful countryside in England. All this for a supposed saving of thirty minutes travel time (which in the likelihood will probably only be about 15 minutes). I think that sums up the idiocy of those in charge!!
Friday, 13 January 2012
Monday, 9 January 2012
The Big Issue and Romanians
If you have walked through any town or city in the UK you will find people selling the magazine - The Big Issue. This magazine was set up by John Bird about twenty years ago to help homeless people. Its vendors, who buy bundles of the magazine and keep the profits when they sell them, are required to declare themselves self-employed with HMRC.
What has happened over the last year or so is Romanians have been coming into the country and exploiting the tax system. They are able to claim welfare payments such as Housing Benefit and Working Tax Credits if they register as vendors of the Big Issue - and then declare themselves self-employed.
The issue has been a particular problem in Manchester; Simon Ashley, a councillor in Manchester said: “I believe The Big Issue in the North is allowing itself to be used as a gateway to benefits dependency. “Fundamentally, these people aren’t homeless – they are all in houses. But because they’ve found a loophole which gives them access to benefits, selling the magazine is now an end in itself and not about genuine self-employment.”
Self-employed status is particularly valuable to Romanian immigrants, as it entitles them to start claiming benefits they would not otherwise receive since the eastern European country only joined the EU in 2007.
This is no longer an issue just for the north of England, but has spread further south, as we have two Romanian Big Issue sellers in the town I live in and I saw another one in the town of Southwold in Suffolk.
I have a major problem with this issue, and the authorities should be cracking down on this problem. I have written before a number of times about my concerns and anger of the issue of mass immigration. I see that for many this issue is not a problem simply because it does not affect them. But for many the impact of immigration has been huge.
Without going into detail, those at the bottom of the social scale are the ones which are affected by the problems in our society. The majority of crime does not impact upon those living on a nice estate in a suburb but impacts upon inner city areas where the poorest live. Finding a house is not an issue for those with plenty of money, for those at the bottom it is; as the vast majority of migrants live in houses which the poorest would live in, those at the bottom of the socio-economic scale then struggle to find a house. Joblessness does not impact upon middle class and upper class people because they do middle class jobs like; doctors, solicitors, bank managers, etc. Those at the lower end of the economic scale are the ones who do the cleaning jobs, catering jobs, caring jobs, factory work, etc. These are the jobs that the vast majority of migrants do, they do not, on the whole do skilled work. This has been borne out by home Office figures which showed that of the 3 million immigrants who have come to this country since 2004 only 18,000 have taken skilled work.
What is now happening is that those at the very very bottom (the homeless), are now being affected, which to be honest makes me very angry! Those who legitimately need the money are now seeing that one area of guaranteed income now being taken away and being handed to those who are do not need it. Those who argue in favour of this idiotic policy of open door immigration do not understand the damage being done to so many lives. For many the Big Issue was a lifeline which gave them hope, but that hope is now being taken away.
As the Manchester councillor says, these Romanians are not homeless, and thus not desperate for the money. They are just exploiting the system to get money out of the British tax payer. This then has a knock on affect upon one of the most vulnerable groups in society.
For years many in the seats of power accused anyone who raised their concerns about immigration as being racist. This is clearly not about race, it is about so many issues which impacts upon this country. I have written many times about this issue and all I can see is that our politicians do not really care, if they did they would close the door and stop all immigration into this country.
This one issue in itself highlights the idiocy, inhumanity and immorality of a system which is destroying the lives of so many people, particularly those at the bottom of the social scale. Unfortunately these people do not have a loud voice and so they are never heard, and their situation can only get worse.
The Big Issue was set up to give people hope, unfortunately this one beacon of hope is now going out.
What has happened over the last year or so is Romanians have been coming into the country and exploiting the tax system. They are able to claim welfare payments such as Housing Benefit and Working Tax Credits if they register as vendors of the Big Issue - and then declare themselves self-employed.
The issue has been a particular problem in Manchester; Simon Ashley, a councillor in Manchester said: “I believe The Big Issue in the North is allowing itself to be used as a gateway to benefits dependency. “Fundamentally, these people aren’t homeless – they are all in houses. But because they’ve found a loophole which gives them access to benefits, selling the magazine is now an end in itself and not about genuine self-employment.”
Self-employed status is particularly valuable to Romanian immigrants, as it entitles them to start claiming benefits they would not otherwise receive since the eastern European country only joined the EU in 2007.
This is no longer an issue just for the north of England, but has spread further south, as we have two Romanian Big Issue sellers in the town I live in and I saw another one in the town of Southwold in Suffolk.
I have a major problem with this issue, and the authorities should be cracking down on this problem. I have written before a number of times about my concerns and anger of the issue of mass immigration. I see that for many this issue is not a problem simply because it does not affect them. But for many the impact of immigration has been huge.
Without going into detail, those at the bottom of the social scale are the ones which are affected by the problems in our society. The majority of crime does not impact upon those living on a nice estate in a suburb but impacts upon inner city areas where the poorest live. Finding a house is not an issue for those with plenty of money, for those at the bottom it is; as the vast majority of migrants live in houses which the poorest would live in, those at the bottom of the socio-economic scale then struggle to find a house. Joblessness does not impact upon middle class and upper class people because they do middle class jobs like; doctors, solicitors, bank managers, etc. Those at the lower end of the economic scale are the ones who do the cleaning jobs, catering jobs, caring jobs, factory work, etc. These are the jobs that the vast majority of migrants do, they do not, on the whole do skilled work. This has been borne out by home Office figures which showed that of the 3 million immigrants who have come to this country since 2004 only 18,000 have taken skilled work.
What is now happening is that those at the very very bottom (the homeless), are now being affected, which to be honest makes me very angry! Those who legitimately need the money are now seeing that one area of guaranteed income now being taken away and being handed to those who are do not need it. Those who argue in favour of this idiotic policy of open door immigration do not understand the damage being done to so many lives. For many the Big Issue was a lifeline which gave them hope, but that hope is now being taken away.
As the Manchester councillor says, these Romanians are not homeless, and thus not desperate for the money. They are just exploiting the system to get money out of the British tax payer. This then has a knock on affect upon one of the most vulnerable groups in society.
For years many in the seats of power accused anyone who raised their concerns about immigration as being racist. This is clearly not about race, it is about so many issues which impacts upon this country. I have written many times about this issue and all I can see is that our politicians do not really care, if they did they would close the door and stop all immigration into this country.
This one issue in itself highlights the idiocy, inhumanity and immorality of a system which is destroying the lives of so many people, particularly those at the bottom of the social scale. Unfortunately these people do not have a loud voice and so they are never heard, and their situation can only get worse.
The Big Issue was set up to give people hope, unfortunately this one beacon of hope is now going out.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Responsibility
Let me quote from a letter that was sent into a newspaper:
'This is the tale of two youngsters whom are well known to me.
The first gained nine GCSE passes and completed a plumbing and heating apprenticeship, qualifying as a heating engineer in 2009. finding no employment, he decided to start his own business. Yet despite trying to quote work with very small margins, he's constantly undercut by 'plumbers' from Eastern Europe and by others who, after a two week plumbing course, claim to be qualified and experienced. If he weren't still living at home, he wouldn't survive.
In the last quarter of 2011, every penny he earned went on overheads - diesel, van tax, insurance, regulatory body fees and other necessary expenses. He made no profit and had to resort to making Christmas presents for his loved ones as he had no money. Buying his own home is impossible - he can't even afford to rent.
Then there's a young woman of the same age who failed at school and has relied on state benefits ever since. She has two children from two different fathers, neither of whom is prepared to marry her. Even if they did, it wouldn't help as neither seems interested in working.
This young woman has been given a three bedroom house with a new bathroom and kitchen, and is never concerned about where her next meal is coming from. she has no incentive to find employment.
Both youngsters began with similar opportunities, in the same neighbourhood with comparable education. One did the right thing, the other didn't.
The one who chose the right path has received nothing; the other has been propped up by our tax money and, oddly, is showered with sympathy and support by her family who see her 'plight' as a result of the system'.
When the welfare state was set up, it was set up as a safety net to catch those who got into difficulty. Now we have a system which is a safety blanket which says you need do nothing to help yourself from the cradle to the grave.
I know for many people the thought of being on benefits is dreadful; there are many who would love to work but cannot, either because there are no jobs or are physically unable to. But there is a percentage of people living in this country who have never worked and have no intention of working, they see it as their god given right to money a house and all the other benefits that come with living in this country.
Someone once said 'with rights come responsibility', and I truly believe this. I know there are many people who end up in situations that they wished they weren't in. There are single mothers whose partner has left them and it isn't their fault. But what I find with many who do not work or make any effort to work is, they are simply too lazy and do not see that they should have to work. Why should they? They are not going to starve or go homeless, so what does it matter?
About a year ago myself and another chap helped move a single mother with two children from a perfectly good two bedroom house to an even better three bedroom house. We did this as part of a charity to help vulnerable people, at no point did she lift a hand to help us, or offer us a cup of tea, and when we had finished she did not even thank us. She was not mentally unstable or for that fact did she seem that vulnerable, she had a boyfriend who seemed like a good man who has a good job. This lady, to put it bluntly was miserable, she complained about social services, even though she had a lady from social services who came in and helped her.
I could give at least half a dozen similar examples of situations like this, and this sums up much of what is wrong with our society. The phrase 'nanny state' has been used to describe the government and how it tries to involve itself in every area of our lives. Some people see this as a good thing, I do not!
Today a news story came out stating that rickets in on the rise in this country; this disease, which is seen as a disease of the poor which basically effects bone strength and is caused by a lack of vitamin D. A lady from some organisation was speaking on the news saying 'the government should be doing something about this', and I thought why should government be doing something about this? Why can't people take responsibility for themselves and their own families?
As a parent I want my children to grow up as well rounded individuals, and eventually I will want them to leave my home and make their own way in life. As they are young, I will instill in them; good values, protect them, feed them, provide for their needs and make sure they are safe. But when they get to a certain age I want them to take responsibility for themselves and their families. I hope they grow up healthy and do well, I hope they get a good job, and do well in life, ultimately I want them to be happy.
For many this way of thinking is alien, they expect to be treated as children all their lives. They expect the government to; feed, cloth, house them and to provide their every need. The government has become, in essence a parent to so many people. As a parent I will always help my children if they need it, I will always be there if they get into trouble, but at some point they will have to take responsibility for themselves. I will encourage that, and that is the behaviour of responsible and good parent. The government is not acting in a good and responsible way, and until they stop treating people like children they are never going to change and take responsibility for their own lives.
'This is the tale of two youngsters whom are well known to me.
The first gained nine GCSE passes and completed a plumbing and heating apprenticeship, qualifying as a heating engineer in 2009. finding no employment, he decided to start his own business. Yet despite trying to quote work with very small margins, he's constantly undercut by 'plumbers' from Eastern Europe and by others who, after a two week plumbing course, claim to be qualified and experienced. If he weren't still living at home, he wouldn't survive.
In the last quarter of 2011, every penny he earned went on overheads - diesel, van tax, insurance, regulatory body fees and other necessary expenses. He made no profit and had to resort to making Christmas presents for his loved ones as he had no money. Buying his own home is impossible - he can't even afford to rent.
Then there's a young woman of the same age who failed at school and has relied on state benefits ever since. She has two children from two different fathers, neither of whom is prepared to marry her. Even if they did, it wouldn't help as neither seems interested in working.
This young woman has been given a three bedroom house with a new bathroom and kitchen, and is never concerned about where her next meal is coming from. she has no incentive to find employment.
Both youngsters began with similar opportunities, in the same neighbourhood with comparable education. One did the right thing, the other didn't.
The one who chose the right path has received nothing; the other has been propped up by our tax money and, oddly, is showered with sympathy and support by her family who see her 'plight' as a result of the system'.
When the welfare state was set up, it was set up as a safety net to catch those who got into difficulty. Now we have a system which is a safety blanket which says you need do nothing to help yourself from the cradle to the grave.
I know for many people the thought of being on benefits is dreadful; there are many who would love to work but cannot, either because there are no jobs or are physically unable to. But there is a percentage of people living in this country who have never worked and have no intention of working, they see it as their god given right to money a house and all the other benefits that come with living in this country.
Someone once said 'with rights come responsibility', and I truly believe this. I know there are many people who end up in situations that they wished they weren't in. There are single mothers whose partner has left them and it isn't their fault. But what I find with many who do not work or make any effort to work is, they are simply too lazy and do not see that they should have to work. Why should they? They are not going to starve or go homeless, so what does it matter?
About a year ago myself and another chap helped move a single mother with two children from a perfectly good two bedroom house to an even better three bedroom house. We did this as part of a charity to help vulnerable people, at no point did she lift a hand to help us, or offer us a cup of tea, and when we had finished she did not even thank us. She was not mentally unstable or for that fact did she seem that vulnerable, she had a boyfriend who seemed like a good man who has a good job. This lady, to put it bluntly was miserable, she complained about social services, even though she had a lady from social services who came in and helped her.
I could give at least half a dozen similar examples of situations like this, and this sums up much of what is wrong with our society. The phrase 'nanny state' has been used to describe the government and how it tries to involve itself in every area of our lives. Some people see this as a good thing, I do not!
Today a news story came out stating that rickets in on the rise in this country; this disease, which is seen as a disease of the poor which basically effects bone strength and is caused by a lack of vitamin D. A lady from some organisation was speaking on the news saying 'the government should be doing something about this', and I thought why should government be doing something about this? Why can't people take responsibility for themselves and their own families?
As a parent I want my children to grow up as well rounded individuals, and eventually I will want them to leave my home and make their own way in life. As they are young, I will instill in them; good values, protect them, feed them, provide for their needs and make sure they are safe. But when they get to a certain age I want them to take responsibility for themselves and their families. I hope they grow up healthy and do well, I hope they get a good job, and do well in life, ultimately I want them to be happy.
For many this way of thinking is alien, they expect to be treated as children all their lives. They expect the government to; feed, cloth, house them and to provide their every need. The government has become, in essence a parent to so many people. As a parent I will always help my children if they need it, I will always be there if they get into trouble, but at some point they will have to take responsibility for themselves. I will encourage that, and that is the behaviour of responsible and good parent. The government is not acting in a good and responsible way, and until they stop treating people like children they are never going to change and take responsibility for their own lives.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Desperation
The EU is in a very desperate and parlous state. Over the past couple of years the world has watched as politicians within Europe try to sort out the disaster that is the euro. France and Germany are going to meet yet again for a summit on January 9. President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel are meeting up so regularly now they may as well move into together. If anyone was under any illusion that the EU is about twenty seven members making decisions together, this highlights that it is not, the other member states do not have a say, whatever Germany and France say (particularly Germany) goes.
Greece is about to run out of money again, Spain is set to miss their debt target and the European Central Bank (ECB) continues to buy Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Irish bonds because no one in their right will buy them.
The thing that bothers me about all this is the ECB does not have money of its own, it is European tax payers money that funds the ECB. So the European tax payer hands billions to the Greeks who then hand it to the banks to pay off their debts, so who is really benefiting, the bankers of course.
The whole thing is such a mess and EU politicians do not want to admit that the only way out of this mess is if the Greeks, Italians, Spanish etc left the euro. They are so desperate for them to stay in they will destroy the lives of millions of people to keep their dream alive.
The French and Germans will do anything to keep the euro going, France's Europe Minister has revealed that a Financial Transaction Tax will be in place by the end of the year. The proposal for the levy would incur huge and disproportionate costs on the City of London.
France's Europe Minister, Jean Leonetti, announced on French TV that the tax would be in place by the end of 2012. According to Leonotti, France and Germany were in agreement and all bar two countries were against this tax. It is no surprise that the only other country apart from Britain which is unhappy with the Franco-German proposal is Sweden. After all they are the only country to have introduced an FTT. This is what their Finance Minister, Anders Borg had to say on the subject in September: 'When Sweden began taxing financial transactions in the 1980s, between 90%-99% of traders in bonds, equities and derivatives moved out of Stockholm to London. The impact was basically that we did not get any tax revenue. It brought in very little tax money while moving most of the businesses outside of Sweden'.
This sums up these people and their desperation to take money from wherever they can, they will potentially destroy the City of London and put tens of thousands out of work to keep this idiotic dream alive. THEY DO NO CARE, they only care about their dream of a united Europe. Isn't it obvious that it just is not working! Isn't it obvious that this dream is destroying Europe!
Now you would think that David Cameron and George Osborne would be shouting and saying no to this tax, not a murmur! Imagine if Britain put forward a proposal to tax the German car industry out of existence, or the French wine industry to this degree, do you thing the Germans and French would let it happen? OF COURSE THEY WOULDN'T!!!!!! Our dear BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, who is supposed to represent BRITISH interests is going to turn over and let the Germans and French shaft Britain and make us pay for their inhumane, morally and financially bankrupt dream.
If you thought that David Cameron had at last stood up for British interests when he supposedly vetoed the French proposal to destroy the city of London, don't be too sure, he did nothing! As you can see the French and Germans are going to push ahead anyway.
You may have noticed that I am little angry about this. The financial sector is the most important industry in Britain, it employs 2 million people, not just in London but 150,000 in Birmingham and 200,000 in Scotland. It contributes 12 per cent to our GDP, which last year was £62 billion. The French have used the excuse that it was the bankers who got the world into this financial mess so they should be taxed and regulated. There may be some truth in this, but this tax has nothing to do with altruism and righting a wrong, it is about envy, pure and simple.
The French have been wanting an excuse to destroy the City of London for years and now they have it. If you think this tax will benefit the people of Europe, not a chance. These businesses will leave Europe, and even if they stayed and were happy to be taxed out of existence the money will just go to pay off the debt that is accumulating in Greece, Spain, Italy, etc, which they will hand straight to the banks who will then pocket the money. So it will go from one bank to another, and the only people who will benefit are bankers.
The whole mess in the worlds financial markets happened for a number of reasons, not just bankers greed. The mess in the euro is purely and simply down to politicians; the euro was never going to work but the EU's dream of complete political union overruled any of this and now we are paying the consequences of this folly.
Greece is about to run out of money again, Spain is set to miss their debt target and the European Central Bank (ECB) continues to buy Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Irish bonds because no one in their right will buy them.
The thing that bothers me about all this is the ECB does not have money of its own, it is European tax payers money that funds the ECB. So the European tax payer hands billions to the Greeks who then hand it to the banks to pay off their debts, so who is really benefiting, the bankers of course.
The whole thing is such a mess and EU politicians do not want to admit that the only way out of this mess is if the Greeks, Italians, Spanish etc left the euro. They are so desperate for them to stay in they will destroy the lives of millions of people to keep their dream alive.
The French and Germans will do anything to keep the euro going, France's Europe Minister has revealed that a Financial Transaction Tax will be in place by the end of the year. The proposal for the levy would incur huge and disproportionate costs on the City of London.
France's Europe Minister, Jean Leonetti, announced on French TV that the tax would be in place by the end of 2012. According to Leonotti, France and Germany were in agreement and all bar two countries were against this tax. It is no surprise that the only other country apart from Britain which is unhappy with the Franco-German proposal is Sweden. After all they are the only country to have introduced an FTT. This is what their Finance Minister, Anders Borg had to say on the subject in September: 'When Sweden began taxing financial transactions in the 1980s, between 90%-99% of traders in bonds, equities and derivatives moved out of Stockholm to London. The impact was basically that we did not get any tax revenue. It brought in very little tax money while moving most of the businesses outside of Sweden'.
This sums up these people and their desperation to take money from wherever they can, they will potentially destroy the City of London and put tens of thousands out of work to keep this idiotic dream alive. THEY DO NO CARE, they only care about their dream of a united Europe. Isn't it obvious that it just is not working! Isn't it obvious that this dream is destroying Europe!
Now you would think that David Cameron and George Osborne would be shouting and saying no to this tax, not a murmur! Imagine if Britain put forward a proposal to tax the German car industry out of existence, or the French wine industry to this degree, do you thing the Germans and French would let it happen? OF COURSE THEY WOULDN'T!!!!!! Our dear BRITISH PRIME MINISTER, who is supposed to represent BRITISH interests is going to turn over and let the Germans and French shaft Britain and make us pay for their inhumane, morally and financially bankrupt dream.
If you thought that David Cameron had at last stood up for British interests when he supposedly vetoed the French proposal to destroy the city of London, don't be too sure, he did nothing! As you can see the French and Germans are going to push ahead anyway.
You may have noticed that I am little angry about this. The financial sector is the most important industry in Britain, it employs 2 million people, not just in London but 150,000 in Birmingham and 200,000 in Scotland. It contributes 12 per cent to our GDP, which last year was £62 billion. The French have used the excuse that it was the bankers who got the world into this financial mess so they should be taxed and regulated. There may be some truth in this, but this tax has nothing to do with altruism and righting a wrong, it is about envy, pure and simple.
The French have been wanting an excuse to destroy the City of London for years and now they have it. If you think this tax will benefit the people of Europe, not a chance. These businesses will leave Europe, and even if they stayed and were happy to be taxed out of existence the money will just go to pay off the debt that is accumulating in Greece, Spain, Italy, etc, which they will hand straight to the banks who will then pocket the money. So it will go from one bank to another, and the only people who will benefit are bankers.
The whole mess in the worlds financial markets happened for a number of reasons, not just bankers greed. The mess in the euro is purely and simply down to politicians; the euro was never going to work but the EU's dream of complete political union overruled any of this and now we are paying the consequences of this folly.
Monday, 2 January 2012
Living in a fantasy world!!!
2011 proved once and for all that politicians really do not have a clue. I genuinely mean that! When I look at the mess the UK, Europe and the USA is in, I really do not think anyone could do a worse job.
We trust these people to make good on their promises, but when they get into power they reneged on much of what they promised. They make excuses for their complete ineptitude, incompetence and lying. But unfortunately these are the ones who are in charge.
I look at Jose Manuel Barroso - President of the EU Commission, the Council president Herman Van Rompuy, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and so many other politicians and I realise that they are cut from the same cloth. They love power, but in reality do not have the ability to use that power in a genuinely intelligent way.
Much of what they decide is either based upon party politics or just some idiotic ideology, it isn't based upon what is good for the people they are paid to serve. The euro is one very good example of this; I don't need to go into detail about this idiotic excuse for a currency. Suffice to say it was never going to work and it isn't working. Whether the politicians like it or not the markets will force the destruction the euro. This will mean social misery for millions on a scale that has not been seen since the Second World War. We can already see this happening in Greece, this has, of course been the fault of politicans and their dream of a unified Europe.
We in Britian cannot gloat, and pat ourselves on the back and thank our lucky stars that we did not join this ill thought out venture. Britain may not have joined but we must not forget that the government continues to borrow £2.5 billion every week. There has been talk of cuts for over a year now, but the simple fact is the government has not cut anything. They continue to spend at an unprecedented rate and our national debt will soon top the £1 trillion mark.
Add to this the government is heading for complete disaster in its utterly idiotic dream of a totally green future, this is being led by the liberals under the increasingly idiotic figure Chris Huhne. This man wants to defile our beautiful country by covering it in 32,000 wind turbines. This is so insane I cannot believe that someone hasn't called the men in white coats to take this nutter off to the nearest mental asylum. The saying 'the lunatics have taken over the asylum' comes to mind.
It does not matter whether Chris Huhnes dream becomes reality the simple fact is the government will have to spend billions on building power stations to back up these turbines when the wind does not blow.
The government has decided to follow a green path with this completely misguided green policy. In the last 20 years CO2 emissions have risen by 50 per cent, and up until the end of 2011 global temperatures measured by NASA satellites stood barely above a 10th of a degree Celsius higher than their average throughout the 32 years since satellite measurements began.
Britain is becoming more and more isolated in its desire to cut carbon emmissions. Whilst the rest of the world ignores any target we carry on regardless of the consequences for our economy.
I started this post by stating that politicians do not have a clue and the more I watch them the more I realise that they really do live in a bubble so far removed from any sort of reality. Unfortunately for you and me these are the people in charge and they are the ones who make the decisions.
We trust these people to make good on their promises, but when they get into power they reneged on much of what they promised. They make excuses for their complete ineptitude, incompetence and lying. But unfortunately these are the ones who are in charge.
I look at Jose Manuel Barroso - President of the EU Commission, the Council president Herman Van Rompuy, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and so many other politicians and I realise that they are cut from the same cloth. They love power, but in reality do not have the ability to use that power in a genuinely intelligent way.
Much of what they decide is either based upon party politics or just some idiotic ideology, it isn't based upon what is good for the people they are paid to serve. The euro is one very good example of this; I don't need to go into detail about this idiotic excuse for a currency. Suffice to say it was never going to work and it isn't working. Whether the politicians like it or not the markets will force the destruction the euro. This will mean social misery for millions on a scale that has not been seen since the Second World War. We can already see this happening in Greece, this has, of course been the fault of politicans and their dream of a unified Europe.
We in Britian cannot gloat, and pat ourselves on the back and thank our lucky stars that we did not join this ill thought out venture. Britain may not have joined but we must not forget that the government continues to borrow £2.5 billion every week. There has been talk of cuts for over a year now, but the simple fact is the government has not cut anything. They continue to spend at an unprecedented rate and our national debt will soon top the £1 trillion mark.
Add to this the government is heading for complete disaster in its utterly idiotic dream of a totally green future, this is being led by the liberals under the increasingly idiotic figure Chris Huhne. This man wants to defile our beautiful country by covering it in 32,000 wind turbines. This is so insane I cannot believe that someone hasn't called the men in white coats to take this nutter off to the nearest mental asylum. The saying 'the lunatics have taken over the asylum' comes to mind.
It does not matter whether Chris Huhnes dream becomes reality the simple fact is the government will have to spend billions on building power stations to back up these turbines when the wind does not blow.
The government has decided to follow a green path with this completely misguided green policy. In the last 20 years CO2 emissions have risen by 50 per cent, and up until the end of 2011 global temperatures measured by NASA satellites stood barely above a 10th of a degree Celsius higher than their average throughout the 32 years since satellite measurements began.
Britain is becoming more and more isolated in its desire to cut carbon emmissions. Whilst the rest of the world ignores any target we carry on regardless of the consequences for our economy.
I started this post by stating that politicians do not have a clue and the more I watch them the more I realise that they really do live in a bubble so far removed from any sort of reality. Unfortunately for you and me these are the people in charge and they are the ones who make the decisions.
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Happy new year, and a few thoughts.
A new year beckons and the outlook for many it seems is quite bleak. With the uncertainty within the eurozone and the likely breakup of this currency it looks like hard times are ahead. Much has been said about David Cameron's so called veto and Britain's supposed isolation from the the EU and the catastrophic impact this is going to have on the UK's economy.
The BBC and many MP's have spoken out against what he did. But the reality of the situation is Britain would be better off out of the EU altogether. The EU as an economic entity is dying and those who believe in this institution are sailing on an ocean liner heading for the rocks, and ultimately disaster.
There are many who believe the EU is a fantastic organisation that has brought much wealth, happiness and stability to Europe. They believe that if we continue pumping money into the euro it will ultimately continue and eventually things will work out okay.
Well here is the reality. In 1973 the western countries of Europe, that is; Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and various small independent states made up about 36 per cent of the world's GDP. Move forward nearly forty years and the EU (27 nations), that figure has dropped to 24 per cent and by 2020 it is expected to be around 15-18 per cent. So as you can see Europe is becoming less important economically.
In 1973 there were only a few nations which made the majority of goods consumers bought, these were USA, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and to a lesser degree Canada, Sweden, Holland, etc. Things of course have changed massively. In 1973 The Soviet Bloc existed, so they made nothing of any worth, China was a communist country and made nothing. India and Brazil were third world countries with very little skills. How times have changed; China is now the second largest economy in the world, Brazil has now overtaken the UK and is now the sixth largest economy. India is growing quickly and will soon be an economic superpower. Europe on the other hand is getting smaller economically.
The simple truth is this, our economy is being destroyed by the EU. Regulation upon regulation is piled upon British business every year which hampers growth. Why on earth do we stay within this economic strait jacket is beyond me, it makes no sense!
Until politicans in this country take this problem seriously Britain as an economic power is going to die. Those who argue in favour of continued membership should just read these facts; Norway's per capita GDP is $51,959, almost twice that of the EU. Only 3.6 per cent of Norwegians are unemployed, inflation is 2.6 per cent. As members of the European Free Trade Association, Norwegians enjoy full access to EU markets and do not have to abide by their ridiculous diktats. They are spared the calamities of the Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies. Norwegians export more per capita to the EU from outside than Britain does from inside; and their trade with the EU is in surplus, while ours is in deficit.
I know the Norwegians have oil, but I could also use Switzerland as an example. There you have some simple truths. We will continue to get lies, lies and more lies from polticians, commentators and certain media outlets about the disaster that will engulf us if we leave. Of course this doesn't stand up to simple scrutiny, and I would quite happily argue my point with anyone who thinks otherwise.
The BBC and many MP's have spoken out against what he did. But the reality of the situation is Britain would be better off out of the EU altogether. The EU as an economic entity is dying and those who believe in this institution are sailing on an ocean liner heading for the rocks, and ultimately disaster.
There are many who believe the EU is a fantastic organisation that has brought much wealth, happiness and stability to Europe. They believe that if we continue pumping money into the euro it will ultimately continue and eventually things will work out okay.
Well here is the reality. In 1973 the western countries of Europe, that is; Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark and various small independent states made up about 36 per cent of the world's GDP. Move forward nearly forty years and the EU (27 nations), that figure has dropped to 24 per cent and by 2020 it is expected to be around 15-18 per cent. So as you can see Europe is becoming less important economically.
In 1973 there were only a few nations which made the majority of goods consumers bought, these were USA, Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy and to a lesser degree Canada, Sweden, Holland, etc. Things of course have changed massively. In 1973 The Soviet Bloc existed, so they made nothing of any worth, China was a communist country and made nothing. India and Brazil were third world countries with very little skills. How times have changed; China is now the second largest economy in the world, Brazil has now overtaken the UK and is now the sixth largest economy. India is growing quickly and will soon be an economic superpower. Europe on the other hand is getting smaller economically.
The simple truth is this, our economy is being destroyed by the EU. Regulation upon regulation is piled upon British business every year which hampers growth. Why on earth do we stay within this economic strait jacket is beyond me, it makes no sense!
Until politicans in this country take this problem seriously Britain as an economic power is going to die. Those who argue in favour of continued membership should just read these facts; Norway's per capita GDP is $51,959, almost twice that of the EU. Only 3.6 per cent of Norwegians are unemployed, inflation is 2.6 per cent. As members of the European Free Trade Association, Norwegians enjoy full access to EU markets and do not have to abide by their ridiculous diktats. They are spared the calamities of the Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies. Norwegians export more per capita to the EU from outside than Britain does from inside; and their trade with the EU is in surplus, while ours is in deficit.
I know the Norwegians have oil, but I could also use Switzerland as an example. There you have some simple truths. We will continue to get lies, lies and more lies from polticians, commentators and certain media outlets about the disaster that will engulf us if we leave. Of course this doesn't stand up to simple scrutiny, and I would quite happily argue my point with anyone who thinks otherwise.
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