Danny Alexander has been a pretty fortunate man, he is a member of a minority political party which is unlikely to return to political power again for the next 70 years. I say 70 years because it was 70 years prior to now when they were last in power. He has had the backing from the people of Inverness, but his power in parliament has been disproportionate to his actual authority. At the next election the people of Inverness will decide whether he continues in power. Quite frankly it would be terrifying if looking at the Liberal Democrats record to think he can return. This is a man who should never be allowed back into politics again and should be booted out for good. In effect the Liberal Dems have supported a nearly completely Tory government to power and to let them stay in power.
People of Inverness a vote for Danny Alexander is a vote for David Cameron, you might be liberal minded but you have to ask yourself are you actually Tory minded. Were I living in Inverness I would support the party which most represents me, and it is far away from London's seat of government. I'd vote SNP, don't be a tory by proxy be your own person and wave good bye to Danny Alexander.
Sunday, 22 February 2015
Virgin Trains now monopolise all rail into Scotland
I once went on a Virgin train to Scotland, they have the West coast line. It was a flashy new train and at first I thought it was good but as the journey progressed I realised some pretty awful shortfalls existed. I never travelled on another Virgin train again, instead ensuring I took the East Coast line. What I didn't like was the lack of luggage space, the lack of seating room there was no refreshments trolly, the very inferior upholstery of the seat, hermetically sealed train doors and cramped, cramped conditions. It felt like the European version of what getting on a train is like in India. Virgin trains were designed not for passenger comfort, they have been designed for making money for Virgin. However in future I will have no choice, as there will be no other method of travelling to Scotland than being sat on uncomfortable and ultimately unsafe Virgin train. For all the old rolling stock which is presently quite spacious will be scrapped for new chicken farm rolling stock to ferry passengers from one destination to another at a price.
This is ludicrous! Virgin have a monopoly on travel to Scotland by rail and it should not be allowed, there has got to be something absolutely fundamentally wrong with this. It has got to be illegal, why has it been allowed to continue? Why has this not been looked at? Is this Tory government nothing but a corrupt group of toffy nosed rich lads scratching each others backs and any other itch they find needs revealing? For the way I see it they have failed the people they represent on many fronts. They have allowed what has got to be an illegal monopoly to take place.
Something should be done about this!!!
This is ludicrous! Virgin have a monopoly on travel to Scotland by rail and it should not be allowed, there has got to be something absolutely fundamentally wrong with this. It has got to be illegal, why has it been allowed to continue? Why has this not been looked at? Is this Tory government nothing but a corrupt group of toffy nosed rich lads scratching each others backs and any other itch they find needs revealing? For the way I see it they have failed the people they represent on many fronts. They have allowed what has got to be an illegal monopoly to take place.
Something should be done about this!!!
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Iain Duncan Smith and his porkie pies
Today Iain Duncan was invited to the Sunday Politics show and quizzed by Andrew Neil on the Universal Credits new benefits system. Now if you were to take this interview and listen just to what IDS was saying you would of thought the UC idea was all his own, he Implemented it and with the help of some outside experts he brought it all was fine and dandy. However, the reality is there is a lot more history to this than what he is saying. The words which came out of IDS' mouth were as close to telling porky pies and you can get. It is as if IDS has got Korsakov's syndrome and doesn't know the true facts of what has happened before. He even makes it sound as if the reset for UC was all of his idea and he was the one behind it because he decided the Big Bang of UC was not going to work as it was the old traditional way. Why is it the Secretary of State for the Department of Social Security can say these things and think the world is naive and believe everything he says. For it is just a matter of a few clicks on the internet and there you can find the true reasons about what happened. The turning point and reset can all be put down to a rather embarrassing grilling at a Public Accounts Committee meeting, and the many other meetings since have all brought to the surface a lot of disturbing facts about the costs of UC, the maladministration and the poor management headed by IDS himself.
Points of interest
The write off, of IT costs at the start it was £37 million now it has risen to £697 million.
The current claimant figure of 40,000 when it should of been one million by 2014.
The fact only simple claims (single claimants) can be done automatically.
Claimants get paid on a monthly basis with the emphasis of payments direct to claimant.
The frightening prospect of UC being rolled out to families shortly.
Mainstay allegation that UC would ensure people in work are better off - not true.
Grievous doubts held by the Major Project Authority over the entire UC program.
UC now becoming a tool to help government reduce the Welfare Benefits bill.
The DWP now have £2 billion reduction in costs since 2010 - at what other costs?
JSA claimants now have a 7 day waiting period than a 3 day waiting period till entitlement begins.
IDS believes the Welfare Benefits bill has been reduced by £6 billion over the parliament - not true.
The OBR yearly Welfare Benefits projects since this government has been lower than the actual spend.
Those of working age and in work claim more in benefits than those out of work.
A factor in the fall of unemployment is the increased use of sanctions (also reducing the benefit bill).
Welfare benefits are subsidising those workers on low wages or minimum pay.
Single people are expected to live in a shared accommodation until the age of 35.
The march onwards of doomed UC continues, as the DWP have released dates for new tranches of Job Centre Plus where claims can be made. The death-trap to this is related to the dates. They are after the general election, effectively whatever government is in power will either stick with them or have to make a radical decision in a short period of time. In the meantime we see IDS yet again being interviewed on the Andrew Marr show (15.02.15.) during which it can be witnessed IDS gives away his "tells" each time he states something he doesn't believe in. Or simply, to put it pretty bluntly a lie. He has sharp intakes of breath and frogs in his throat. When I see him talk it is a person who is divorced from reality, a person who does not have any connection at all with poverty, someone who has in many respects had a charmed life. A complete hypocrite. He stated UC had saved 600 million, he of course was not asked any difficult questions because Andrew Marr is a pussy of an interviewer who should seek a job writing children's stories rather than hard core political interrogation, he is not up to the job. But the BBC is too polite to give Andy the boot, possibly on account of a sympathy vote which is unspoken but tacitly recognisable.
Only if we are lucky will the Tory speed march to economic doom will be allowed to continue. If there was a god it would be time to pray, but there isn't, it's better to spend your efforts on lottery tickets. Things will continue to get worse in the UK and there is not a single political party with enough forward out of the box thinking able to take us out of it. As for IDS, just maybe in a few months he will not be on the front bench, mind I'm sure he would do well keeping one of the shadow or back benches warm. Getting all twisted up inside as his record on UC is examined in greater detail or as the changes destroy more lives. This may seem pessimistic, but watch this space.
Points of interest
The write off, of IT costs at the start it was £37 million now it has risen to £697 million.
The current claimant figure of 40,000 when it should of been one million by 2014.
The fact only simple claims (single claimants) can be done automatically.
Claimants get paid on a monthly basis with the emphasis of payments direct to claimant.
The frightening prospect of UC being rolled out to families shortly.
Mainstay allegation that UC would ensure people in work are better off - not true.
Grievous doubts held by the Major Project Authority over the entire UC program.
UC now becoming a tool to help government reduce the Welfare Benefits bill.
The DWP now have £2 billion reduction in costs since 2010 - at what other costs?
JSA claimants now have a 7 day waiting period than a 3 day waiting period till entitlement begins.
IDS believes the Welfare Benefits bill has been reduced by £6 billion over the parliament - not true.
The OBR yearly Welfare Benefits projects since this government has been lower than the actual spend.
Those of working age and in work claim more in benefits than those out of work.
A factor in the fall of unemployment is the increased use of sanctions (also reducing the benefit bill).
Welfare benefits are subsidising those workers on low wages or minimum pay.
Single people are expected to live in a shared accommodation until the age of 35.
The march onwards of doomed UC continues, as the DWP have released dates for new tranches of Job Centre Plus where claims can be made. The death-trap to this is related to the dates. They are after the general election, effectively whatever government is in power will either stick with them or have to make a radical decision in a short period of time. In the meantime we see IDS yet again being interviewed on the Andrew Marr show (15.02.15.) during which it can be witnessed IDS gives away his "tells" each time he states something he doesn't believe in. Or simply, to put it pretty bluntly a lie. He has sharp intakes of breath and frogs in his throat. When I see him talk it is a person who is divorced from reality, a person who does not have any connection at all with poverty, someone who has in many respects had a charmed life. A complete hypocrite. He stated UC had saved 600 million, he of course was not asked any difficult questions because Andrew Marr is a pussy of an interviewer who should seek a job writing children's stories rather than hard core political interrogation, he is not up to the job. But the BBC is too polite to give Andy the boot, possibly on account of a sympathy vote which is unspoken but tacitly recognisable.
Only if we are lucky will the Tory speed march to economic doom will be allowed to continue. If there was a god it would be time to pray, but there isn't, it's better to spend your efforts on lottery tickets. Things will continue to get worse in the UK and there is not a single political party with enough forward out of the box thinking able to take us out of it. As for IDS, just maybe in a few months he will not be on the front bench, mind I'm sure he would do well keeping one of the shadow or back benches warm. Getting all twisted up inside as his record on UC is examined in greater detail or as the changes destroy more lives. This may seem pessimistic, but watch this space.
Monday, 2 February 2015
Change, death and taxes - guess what can be avoided
I was of the mind these three things were immutable to life, unless you happened to be a gold fish. In which case as doing yet another circuit of your pretty bowl it would all be all seem new again no matter what time of day, due to the existence of an exceedingly short term memory. It was the not very honourable head up his own arse Georgie porgie Osborne who made a budget speech saying he intended to clamp down on tax avoidance schemes. As though startled I recall looking up thinking to myself well that sounded interesting, considering most of his rich friends are probably running those schemes. Or perhaps it was a measure which was going to bring in millions of tax revenues from the likes of Google, Apple, Starbucks or Amazon. Well whatever it was the home front news on tax income from these very wealthy companies is about as informative as the amount of tax they pay. Not much at all. In fact the creation of the General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) may be of benefit to the many tax dodgers there are because it defines in such narrow ways what is an unacceptable avoidance in paying fare tax. It's wonderful. Every fat cat company with a few bob in its pocket can now ensure they are rightfully dodging the bullet of tax. Tax which pays the welfare bill, tax which should be funding schools, paying for the NHS or building better efficient infrastructure stays again in the swelling pockets of the wealthy.
In a similar vein Barak Obama has now decided to get real tough with the multinational corporations who are registered in Luxemburge or anywhere else. He is saying they will be liable for 14% tax on profits made in the US. Again at first sound this comes across and a good idea, whether it will work in reality is another thing. I'm sure those companies will have multiple smoke and mirror strategies to hide away the profit they make. The wonderful phrase "creative accounting" pops in mind. Something mere mortals of the taxpaying world do not know anything about. The news reported the US could have an additional income of $238 billion if Obama's strategy works.
In the meantime the UK with it's offshore crown dependencies has still is unable to lock the safe door and grab back what belongs to the people. This is infuriating, nearly British Islands hold billions in money of which a proportion should of been put back in our very own coiffures. You could say there is an engendered arrogance the rich and multinationals now have. For money can be transferred around the world at the touch of a button and if you have enough of it it doesn't matter where you live most of the year as long as you own a passport to a country where they turn a blind eye and genuflect at your feet.
Death can not be avoided, change is inevitable but taxes the rich and ultra rich can now safely say are a thing of the past and not applicable to them.
In a similar vein Barak Obama has now decided to get real tough with the multinational corporations who are registered in Luxemburge or anywhere else. He is saying they will be liable for 14% tax on profits made in the US. Again at first sound this comes across and a good idea, whether it will work in reality is another thing. I'm sure those companies will have multiple smoke and mirror strategies to hide away the profit they make. The wonderful phrase "creative accounting" pops in mind. Something mere mortals of the taxpaying world do not know anything about. The news reported the US could have an additional income of $238 billion if Obama's strategy works.
In the meantime the UK with it's offshore crown dependencies has still is unable to lock the safe door and grab back what belongs to the people. This is infuriating, nearly British Islands hold billions in money of which a proportion should of been put back in our very own coiffures. You could say there is an engendered arrogance the rich and multinationals now have. For money can be transferred around the world at the touch of a button and if you have enough of it it doesn't matter where you live most of the year as long as you own a passport to a country where they turn a blind eye and genuflect at your feet.
Death can not be avoided, change is inevitable but taxes the rich and ultra rich can now safely say are a thing of the past and not applicable to them.
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