An average day for an average single man - one hell of a tax bill

The taxpayers Alliance have just released this video it shows how long each day an average worker spends working for the tax man. Adam is a single man earning £26,000 a year he works from 9am until 1.21pm to pay tax, and only gets from 1.22pm to 5pm to work for himself.

 
 

Welcome to working in modern Britain.
Best Wishes
Will

Same trough different pigs

It pains me to write the heading for this post but it is the truth and it needs to be said.  David Laws seemed to have all the makings of an excellent first secretary to the treasury, but he has to go.  We cannot have a government minister implementing policies that inflict hardship on the electorate whilst at the same time insulating themself from painful economic realities by making generous payments out of public funds to their own domestic arrangements.

It will hurt him, it will hurt the coalition, in the short to medium term it may even hurt the taxpayers but for the long term good of just and fair governance, he must go.

More later
Best Wishes
Will

Democracy in Danger

It is time for a root and branch clean up of our electoral system. Yesterdays Independent reported on a Halifax police investigation into thousands of suspected fraudulent postal votes cast during the recent general election. Linda Riordan (labour) held Halifax from Philip Allott (conservatives) with a majority of 1,472; there are 4,000 suspect ballot papers.
 
In modern times it is six years since electoral fraud raised its ugly head, prior to that you need to go back over one hundred years to find serious examples of electoral corruption. Following allegations of fraud during the Birmingham local council elections of 2004, the Electoral Commission published a damning report that called for all postal voting to be scrapped. The labour government ignored the electoral commission. Then in April 2005 Sir Richard Mawrey QC found six labour councillors guilty of fraud “that would disgrace a banana republic”. During the intervening six years, nothing has been done to clean up the electoral system despite repeated cases of vote rigging.
 
While David Cameron is busy cutting the number of MPs and equalising the size of constituencies I hope he is going to find time to take action against electoral corruption it is an unsightly blight on our democracy.
 
It is no exaggeration to say labour have left the country is a terrible mess, and it is not just a financial mess.
Best Wishes
Will

An important day

Today work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith will be setting out his plans for reforming the welfare state.  In my opinion today will be one of the most important days during the life of this government.  Welfare benefits account for about one third of government spend.  Six million adults of working age do not work but instead live on benefits.  I think the term economically inactive is inaccurate, they are economically active, but in the wrong direction.  They are takers and not givers; they are doing the economic equivalent of burning the candle at both ends.  Everyone of working age who is able, should contribute to society, to pay for the education of our young, the care of our elderly, the care of our sick, the defence of our country, the building and maintenance of our country's infrastructure, etc.
 
I do not believe that there are six million people of working age in this country who are either in transition from sickness or unemployment back into employment or who are permanently unable to work due to long-term mental or physical incapacity.
 
We can and must make cuts to big spending departments’ such as education, defence and health; but without reform of the biggest spending department -work and pensions- we are not going to succeed in bringing this economic disaster under control.
 
In addition to the direct financial impact of benefit scroungers, there are also the indirect effects.
 
On one side, the indirect effect is that many working people simply do not understand why successive governments have continued to take money out of their pockets and give it to able-bodied men and women who are capable of work, but who choose not to work.  It destroys their belief that this is a society worth having, worth working for, and worth participating in.
 
On the other side the indirect effect is that those who do not work are more likely to suffer from physical and mental illness, more likely to engage in criminal activity and more likely to live on the fringes of acceptable society.  The indirect effect on the children of those who choose to live on benefits is low self-esteem, poor educational achievement and lack of aspiration.  The children of those who live permanently on benefits are more likely themselves to choose a life on benefits.  We have children living in our country who have never known either their parents or their grand parents get up in morning and go to work.
 
These indirect effects are a major contributing factor to the breakdown of our social fabric.
 
We cannot hope to build a more cohesive society of motivated and inspired people, who contribute to their local and national community.  Unless there is a widely accepted view that everyone is contributing, that there is opportunity for all and that broadly speaking there is a sense that life is fair (you get out in proportion to what you put in).  The age of the scrounger must end.
 
George Osborne and his treasury team may think they have the toughest job in the government, for on them rests the economic recovery; it is a tough job but in my view, it is not the toughest.  Iain Duncan Smith is the man in the hot seat, his department’s contribution to the economic recovery is of necessity substantial, and in addition, he has to shoulder much of the burden for repairing our broken society.  

It is a massive job and I wish him good luck, he will certainly need it.
Best Wishes
Will

Diane Abbott for Labour Leader?

Diane Abbott has announced her intention to run for the leadershhip of the labour party.  Does she have a vision for the future and the clarity of thought that the job demands.   I don't think so, I don't even think she is the best woman for the job, in fact I don't even think she is the best black woman for the job.  Watch the video and see what you think...
 


Constance Brisco is not running for the leadership of the labour party, as far as I am aware she is not even eligible to run; but Constance provides a useful comparission by which we can measure Diane.

How do you think Diane measures up?
Best Wishes
Will

UPDATE
Constance Brisco talks about Britains Social Problems

UPDATE 2
Diane demonstrates her grasp of economics

Expenses Again!

Blogging MP Tom Harris (labour) has been moaning about the way that IPSA (The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) is operating the new expenses system.  It may well be the case that IPSA is just another over staffed, expensive quango and Iain Dale has made some good points regarding IPSA recruiting three press officers and a marketing manager at a salary of £85,000.  If that is the case then it needs sorting out along with many other quangos.  Having said that, I would like to offer Tom some advice.  MPs whinging on about how their expenses are processed is not really a good idea.  So you have to pay rent for office space out of your own pocket and claim it back.  As an employee, I used to purchase flights and hotels every week out of my own pocket and claim them back.  Welcome to the real world!
 
MPs had their opportunity to sort out the expenses system and failed.  Initially they sacked Elizabeth Filkin who worked hard and thanklessly, to save the greedy pigs from themselves.  Then they fought tooth and nail, to avoid freedom of information requests.  When that did not work they tried to tell us it was ‘all within the rules’.  Finally they tried publishing redacted expense claims: basically black boxes arranged on a white background.  MPs had their chance to put the system right and they blew it.  Tom, now is the time to shut up, stand up and take it on the chin.  Taxpayers deserve nothing less.

Baby cots and bottle sterilisers are not allowed.
Best Wishes
Will

Election cures brainless spineless man

Last week in The Times  Jack Straw wrote:

‘Getting back the vote of “decent hard-working families” is imperative... we had not been listening enough on issues such as immigration, benefits and fairness.’ 

Let me assume for a moment that Jack Straw uses the English language in much the same way as the electorate as a whole, for whom the phrase “hard working” means those who chose to work or to seriously look for work when they are unemployed, rather than those who chose a life on benefits.  “Fairness” to most people means getting back in proportion to what you put in, while taking account of those who are genuinely unable to contribute.  For most of the population, fairness does not mean everybody gets the same, regardless of their contribution to society.
 
I wondered why Jack Straw had not voiced these views during the past thirteen years and I could think of only three reasons.
 
1. He had lost his brain and was therefore unable to understand that contributing to society is essential for every able person..
2. He lacked the courage to tell his colleagues in new labour the true meaning of the word fairness.
3. He does not believe in hard work and fairness in the same way that most of the electorate do.
 
I reject the third option on the basis that it is entirely improbable.  I have therefore concluded that elections are good for politicians, they restore brains to the brainless and backbones to the spineless.
 
My thanks to Janet Daley
Best Wishes
Will

It's a fine line

Since the election MPs have met just once in the chamber of the House of Commons where they managed to re-elect as speaker of the house John Bercow, a man who less than a year ago was considered by most conservative MPs as wholly unsuitable for the job of leading the clean up parliament.  In contrast most labour MPs considered him totally suitable not for the job of cleaning up Parliament but for the job in their own words, ‘of stuffing it to the conservatives’.  Bercow’s own record in the expenses scandal was far from unblemished having claimed the maximum allowable in second home allowances and then flipped his designated second home in order to avoid capital gains tax.
 
I cannot understand the determination of MPs to do the absolute minimum they can get away with and not an iota more when it comes to cleaning up politics.  It seems to me to be a dangerous game to play with the electorate.
    
The process of swearing in members of parliament is not yet complete and already Labour MP Eric Illsley has been charged with three offences of false accounting over his parliamentary expenses.  A year ago MPs decided first of all to brazen it out – it’s all within the rules- and when that did not work they then chose to do the minimum possible to get away with it – who could ever forget the redacted expense claims.  My own view was that parliament had lost the moral authority to govern and that MP’s should have been man enough to face the electorate; they took the cowards way out and chose not to.  As they hoped the fury of the electorate subsided during the intervening twelve months and probably less than ten casualties at the general election could be put down to the expenses scandal.  Many MP’s took generous pay offs by standing down but inevitably some crooks were re-elected and are still sitting on the green benches.  For that the party leaders must take a considerable portion of the blame.
  
I do not know whether our politicians have done enough to put the matter behind them, only time will tell, but the last two days are a timely reminder that it wasn’t just the abuse of the expenses system that damaged our democracy, it was the way parliament dealt with it.
  
There is a very fine line between doing just enough and doing too little.
Best Wishes
Will

No Kidding

That was good of Liam Byrne the outgoing Labour chief secretary to the Treasury to leave a welcome letter for the incoming  chief secretary liberal David Laws: it was short and to the point

'Dear Chief Secretary,
I'm afraid to tell you there is no money left.
Kind regards and good luck,

No kidding and we all thought a national debt totaling somewhere between £50,000 and £80,000 per household was just good economics.
 
Now we know the meaning of prudence.
Best wishes
Will

Saying Goodbye to Gordon

Gordon said his goodbye to us some days ago, my reaction to his farewell speech has troubled me ever since. He stood outside number ten with his wife and two young children in the background, graciously thanked us, told us how honoured he had been to serve us, explained that it was only the second most important job in his life, the first being his job as a husband and father and so it went on. I am afraid I just did not buy it. I wish I could believe in his sincerity as it just does not feel right to be less than magnanimous to someone in their defeat. But that is how I feel, troubled and less than magnanimous, I simply do not believe in his sincerity.
 
He leaves office having destroyed the retirement dreams of hundreds of thousands of people, he leaves behind higher child poverty, higher unemployment, less social mobility, an increased gap between the rich and the poor, higher numbers of economically inactive people, higher taxation, debts the like of which this country has never seen, and so the litany of failure goes on.
 
You might imagine that my abiding memory of Gordon Brown would be the awe-inspiring spectacle of a labour prime minister taking taxes from some of the lowest paid members of society, shop workers, hotel staff, and people on minimum wage and giving them to some of the richest and least deserving members of society. I speak of Sir Fred Goodwin and his kind.  You would be wrong; my abiding memory is of Gordon Brown meeting the embodiment of a labour voter in Rochdale high street. I could have told him in the blink of eye that he was right when he said Mrs Duffy was a good woman, and that she had worked hard all her life, the difference being that I would have been sincere and he was not. Gordon was right there was a bigot in Rochdale high street that day, but it was not Mrs Duffy.  That was the day when a new labour prime minister meet the living, walking, talking embodiment of a core labour voter and he didn't recognise them, neither did he listen to them, instead he patronised them and insulted them.
 
For thirteen years that was new labour a high taxing, spend thrift government unable to coax more than the smallest improvement from the public services into which it poured our taxes. The rich got richer the poor got poorer, the middle classes were crushed under the burden of taxation and finally the prime minister didn't even know who it was he claimed to have gone into politics to help. He met her face to face in Rochdale, patronised her and insulted her.  Mrs Duffy is no doubt a kind woman; I do not know whether she has forgiven Gordon and wished him well; for myself it disturbs me greatly but I just cannot find it in me to either forgive him or wish him well and unlike Gordon, I do not fake sincerity.

Will Standan.

Labour know the coalition will last

We all know the conservative liberal democrat coalition will have downs as well as ups but I think it will run the full five years.  That is a good thing and despite the problems our country faces, I am full of optimism .  If you have any doubts about whether the coalition will last then just consider who is not standing for the labour leadership.

Harriet Harman 59, Jack Straw 63, and Alan Johnson 59 have already ruled themselves out, I expect Alistair Darling 56, the only other serious contender over the age of fifty to rule himself out soon.  Leaving just the fourty somethings, David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and backbencher Mr John Cruddas deciding whether to slug it out for the labour leadship.  They know it will mean a minimum of five long hard years in opposition, before they get a chance to run for real power at the next general election.

A full five years of Conservative Liberal Democrat coalition is good news.
Best Wishes
Will

A moment of real hope

Apparently, the liberal democrats did not overplay their hand.  I felt certain that conservative strategy was to drive the liberal democrats into the arms of labour and then to wait for the inevitable chaos that would ultimately result in a conservative landslide.  It was not to be and I continue to be astonished at just how much was ceded to the junior party.
   
On the positive side, new labour has gone and we should all be grateful for that.  We have a coalition who have promised: 

1. To tackle the deficit immediately with six billion of spending cuts this year.
2. Not to join the euro during the lifetime of this parliament.  With the first of the PIGS countries on the verge of economic collapse, just how hard can it have been to agree to that.
3. To protect the commitment to a unilateral nuclear deterrent.
4. Not to cede further powers to the European Union, without a referendum.  I assume this was also not to difficult to agree given the current situation with hedge fund legislation, the Greek economy and the Lisbon treaty.
5. To raise the threshold for income tax to £10,000.  This is excellent, as it both disproportionally helps the less well off and makes a life at work more attractive relative to a life on benefits.
6. To clean up politics.  I am wondering what they talked about for five days, they must have agreed this item in less time than it takes to make a cup of tea. 

This is classic middle England politics.  Sound financial management, defending the country and helping the less well off who are trying to support themselves (a hand up not a hand out).
It is true to say that not everything is perfect, it is however, an order of magnitude better than it was a few short days ago.  I shall monitor progress closely but I am signing up to this contract with the conservative liberal democrat coalition.
 
I commend it to you all
Best Wishes
Will

A real voice for those on active service

I think I am right in saying that for the first time in many a long year the cabinet now has at least one member with experience of active military service.  I am thinking of Iain Duncan Smith the new Work and Pensions secretary, he saw active service in Northern Ireland.  For a country at war, that sort of experience round the cabinet table has got to be good news. 

With special thoughts for all our service men and women.
Best Wishes
Will

Congratulations David Cameron and the conservatives

I have so many thoughts on David Cameron becoming prime minister and labour going into opposition; I will write more later, but for now congratulation to the conservatives.

Best Wishes
Will

Proportional Representation at Work

I always think Matt from the Daily Telegraph is a class act.  Even though I have quite a bit of sympathy for the PR cause, this cartoon really did make me smile.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Making people smile during such troubled times is a worthwhile achievment.

Thanks a lot Matt.
Best Wishes
Will

Liberal Democrats overplay their hand

Unusually for someone who is politically right of centre I have considerable sympathy for the issue of electoral reform; though I do feel that the Liberal democrats have over played their hand.  The electorate made the liberal democrats king makers; it was/is an opportunity for them to show the electorate that balanced politics can work.  Instead of grasping this opportunity with both hands the liberal democrats seem intent on demonstrating all the problems that proportional representation brings.  The loser wins, fringe issues take centre stage, unstable government etc.

Let me put it quite bluntly; if you do not have the courage to make electoral reform an issue during the election (especially when a hung parliament is widely predicted) why should the electorate thank you for making it an issue after the election?  It will seem to the electorate like naked opportunism.  The issues at the election were, the economy, taxation, public sector spending, immigration and cleaning up politics.  What gives the king maker the right to make it all about electoral reform after the ballot has ended?

In reality the hand given to the liberal democrats by the electorate was not that strong.  Working with labour is not a realistic option, the electoral arithmetic does not add up to stable government.  It certainly will not last long enough to put proportional representation on the statute book.  Labour lost the election, propping up the loser is not the most obvious way of endearing the electorate to balanced politics.  Working with the conservatives and demonstrating to the electorate the advantages of balanced politics is their only realistic option.

You can not be both king maker and king.
Best Wishes
Will

Playing the long game

I wonder who tipped off the media that the liberal democrats were talking to labour as well as the conservatives.  It has crossed my mind that it may have been a tory tip off.

  
Glegg is pretty well now in a situation where if the conservatives will not budge on electoral reform then he will have to do a deal with labour.  He has walked into a situation where he will appear to have propped up an unelected and unpopular PM who is presiding over an economic catastrophe, an unwinnable war and any number of domestic problems.  The electoral arithmetic of such an alliance simply does not add up.  The conservatives with a smidgen of help from one of the smaller parties, can bring the whole pack of cards down pretty well at a time of their choosing.  If David Cameron is patient, he could even force labour and the liberal democrats to drink long and hard from the poisoned chalice of public spending cuts.  On top of that, the chances of the liberal democrats getting electoral reform on the statue book before it all falls apart are close to zero.
 
An election with a conservative landslide could be less than a year away.  Cameron may just have played an absolute blinder.
 
Shame about the electoral reform though
Best wishes
Will

Let them drink from the poisoned chalice

In line with my previous post, the conservatives should also remember the words of Mervyn King governor of the Bank of England, who told the U.S. economist David Hale that

"whoever wins this election will be out of power for a whole generation because of how tough the fiscal austerity will have to be."

It sounds to me like a reasonable assessment, so why swap a few years in coalition with the liberal democrats for a generation in the wilderness. Leave labour to drink from their own poisoned chalice: if Nick Clegg wants to share it with them leave him to it.  Instead, I recommend a glass of Chateau Latour Grand Vin; you have earned it.

I hear 1989 was a good vintage
Best Wishes
Will

A plague on both their houses

In many ways a disappointing result for the conservatives.  In simple terms labour's share of the popular vote was three or four percent higher than I predicted and the conservative's share was three or four percent lower.  The liberal democrat bubble vanished as expected.
  

I wonder if the conservatives should just walk away into opposition and waited; it would not take long, probably less than two years, before the whole pack of cards comes tumbling down.  The major problems for a labour/liberal democrat coalition are:
   

1. Its a coalition without a working majority.
2. There is a monumental economic crisis.
3. The war in Afghanistan continues
4. The social fabric of our country is creaking at the seams. 

These are labour’s problems; if the liberal democrats want to get into bed with all that soiled bedding, let them.  A quick fling amongst the filth and stench might seem tempting to a party thats been out in the cold for a long time but all the liberal democrats will get from new labour is a nasty disease.
 

Perhaps the electorate need to understand just how bad things are and how much worse they can get before they will be ready to elect a responsible government.  My advice to David Cameron is to pull back the bed covers on thirteen years of new labour, invite Nick Clegg to get in and then to turn and walk away. 
 

Your time will come another day.

Best Wishes

Will

Zimbabwe will laugh at us again

Further to my earlier comment, regarding the postal voting farce, the poor state of our democratic health has again been exposed with regard to the conduct of our polling stations. The record turnout was entirely predictable, so how could any of the following situations have been allowed to arise.

1. Polling stations running out of voting papers.
2. Out of date electoral registers.
3. People unable to vote after queuing in the rain.
4. Insufficient polling booths.
5. Insufficient staff

What a shambles. An unelected prime minister, an unelected second chamber, fraudulent postal voting, people unable to cast their votes at polling stations and tens of thousands of voters unrepresented due to a ridiculous electoral system. An unelected cabinet minister Peter Mandleson is currently on the television trying to explain why the party with the largest number of seats and the largest percentage of the popular vote should not form the government.

Does it make you proud to be British?
Best Wishes
Will

My Prediction

I predict a record turnout and a decent working majority for the conservative party.
 

Many potential liberal voters (ex conservatives) will switch at the last minute back to the conservatives.

Some potential liberal voters (ex labour) will just stay at home.

Conservatives will get more than 40% of the popular vote.

Labour will be down to bed rock support mid twenties not more than 26% of the popular vote.

Liberals will poll well but in the low to mid twenties not the mid to high twenties, it could be close but still third.

Constituencies with good independent candidates will deliver shocks.
Ed Balls is a goner.
 

Have a good evening with the pundits

Best Wishes

Will

Where we have come from

It has been a miserable thirteen years, this video captures my feelings and presents many of the issues that have made it such a depressing experience to live through.  Of course not everything is included in the video; the most notable exception being the MP's expenses scandal, others include the new doctors contracts virtually guaranteeing that GP's become millionaires before they reach middle age and of course the humiliation of our postal voting system, opening the door to allow Zimbabwe (of all countries) to sneer at our democracy. 



Watch and weep, I did.
Best Wishes
Will

What a Time to Start a Blog

It's eve of poll, all the excitement is about to end and I decide to start a blog.  Good timing Will!

First, before I forget my manners completely, welcome.  Welcome anyone and everyone, (more likely to be anyone) to Will Standan's Diary.  After thirteen years of utter misery and feeling sorry for myself, a new positive approach is called for; here in my diary I am hoping to engage positively, monitor progress, offer advice and ideas for our new big society.

Away from the keyboard it’s time to find a niche charitable role where I can contribute a few hours a week of my time and new found energy to help build a better Britain.

Tomorrow while we all vote, I will set the scene with two posts on where we have come from and where I hope we are going.  I am confident that by close of polling tomorrow we will have delivered the desperately needed new start.  So confident in fact that I am up and running with my diary twenty-four hours earlier than expected; hope I won't be disappointed.   
 
Speak with you tomorrow.
Best Wishes
Will