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Having worked hard during my life and made provision for an independent
retirement, I feel sure Andy Burnham believes I belong to the hapless cohort
with the “broadest shoulders.” I am, therefore, bracing myself for “paying that
little bit extra” to ensure the provision of services and security which I had,
hitherto, expected my contributions to cover.
It is speculated that the Budget will shy away from
discussion the disagreeable subject of how stuff is to be paid for and
concentrate on the much more politically advantageous subject of what’s in it
for me. Well, not me, as I explained
above but you know who anyway. We shall
probably hear lots of warm words about pathways and roadmaps to sunlit uplands meantime
financed by cunning changes to rules and accounting procedures.
Beneath the glossy surface, we could be forgiven for feeling
a few pangs of anxiety. With civil
unrest, particularly in France, out of control national budgets, and
ineffective political leadership, it would only take one of the dominos to tip
to set off a devastating chain reaction in the Eurozone. We should not kid
ourselves that our Brexit status would give us any special treatment or
protection – we are in the giant debt Ponzi scheme up to our necks.
There are a few honourable voices that sense the danger we
face and the measures necessary to recover stability. You can read what these people have to say in
magazines like the Spectator, hear what they have to say on news media like GB
News, or hear them disparagingly name-checked on BBC programmes like Have I Got
News for You. Most of all, however, you
will hear from the Government that these dreadful people are preaching “austerity,”
– a shorthand for Thatcherism and a complete anathema to all fair-minded and
caring people.
But let us get one thing clear as we lurch further into the
cost of Government crisis: austerity is not a political policy chosen by
governments or oppositions: austerity is a regime, unmistakably, imposed by
creditors. If you want to avoid
austerity, the remedy is simple – don’t give your creditors cause to worry that
they will not get their money back.
