Excellent article...
- 11 August 2010 08:4164925...for once in The Guardian by Simon Jenkins.
He really does say it as it is. Here is a flavour of it followed by a link to it.
""""The British left is a disgrace. In order to stabilise public finances, the coalition prime minister, David Cameron, clearly intends to challenge the ideological basis of our public services. Few corners are to be immune. The Liberal Democrats are riding the tiger. The left is nowhere. Like an arthritic Colonel Blimp, it merely cries, "Yah boo. All is well. The old ways are best."
Cameron has recently said the unsayable on two tenets of the welfare state. Today he questioned the £5.2bn being ripped off the taxpayer by benefit and tax credit waste and fraud. He is hardly the first to do so, but he may be the first to mean it. Last week he also questioned the static "deserving poor" concept of public housing, adumbrated by Octavia Hill and long adopted by Labour to benefit its electoral base.
This is on top of Andrew Lansley's bid to dismantle tottering NHS bureaucracy. He wants to do it not by slicing budgets, which seldom works, but by removing layers, which might. He has decided to give money for hospital care to frontline GPs, saying to the public: your health is your business; here is the money, but discuss with your GP how to spend it."""""
The article is an easy and entertaining read and I recommend it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/10/cameron-radical-labour-planet-1945 - 11 August 2010 08:4564926Thought we had a blog page for Barry's one sided views,it bores me and I am a politician.It must be frustrating only being able to talk about one thing,day after day after day.If you knew what I know,we would both be in trouble!
- 11 August 2010 08:5664927Do cheer up John. It must be hard being a Labour supporter and having to face up to the disaster created by your government.
This is about the views of Simon Jenkins in the Guardian, not me, I just happen to agree with an excellent and well written article and think it deserves a wider audience. - 11 August 2010 13:2464945Surprised to find you of all people reading that left-wing rag, Barry.I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
- 11 August 2010 14:5964951Ahhh but Peter, even there you can get a good and intelligent article, rare but it does happen. I exclude anything and everything written by Polly Toynbee from being characterised as intelligent, however.
- 11 August 2010 15:0264953next thing barry you will be wearing thick colourful jumpers, corduroy trousers and sandals.
you are now on the slippery slope. - 11 August 2010 16:0964956Are those rope sandasls, and without socks?
Tax cheats lose us more than benefit cheats each year, BTW.
- 11 August 2010 17:5864984Bern define tax cheats,....
Sadly some on the left define that as those who do legal and legitimate tax planning as advised by people like me.
The real 'cheats' are those who break the law and they are perfectly catered for in prison when they get caught! - 11 August 2010 18:4664994a world of difference between tax evasion and tax avoidance.
let us have an imaginary case scenario here.
say for arguments sake someone lived in belize, paying no tax whatsoever here but sits in the house of lords and donates to a political party.
wonder what heading that would come under?
any relationship between anyone living or dead is entirely coincidental. - 11 August 2010 19:2464998Another scenario - someone works and pays tax of 15% in Switzerland but in order to claim the residency needed to buy a house and support his wife's political career claims to live in Denmark where tax is up to 63%.
Any relationship to someone called Kinnock was all over the papers last week. - 11 August 2010 21:0865019Howard
- 11 August 2010 21:1365021Howard - and exactly what did your character do wrong in that scenario? No law broken, not even those on political donations. Brown, while at the Treasury, could have done something about that over the last 13 yeasr but did not, I wonder why not?
We of course all know exactly who/what you refer to and it is a case of left wing demonisation and hypocracy. Ask Labour Peer Lord Paul. - 11 August 2010 21:5965031They daren't ask him Barry, the guy is a Class A tax dodger. Oh sorry, you wouldn't catch socialists behaving in such a way. As if!!
- 12 August 2010 07:0165058I agree, it is left-wing hyprocisy. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Must be something to do with short-term memory loss - either that or they are just in denial (or some other river !).
Roger - 12 August 2010 09:1665081i will have to read up on lord paul, never heard of him.
- 12 August 2010 12:5465124tracked him down, certainly a bit of a lad, back in 1993 he was calling for more transparency in politics and business.