Broken promises wasted words and general incompetence!

After more than a decade of Labour governments, Britain was ready for a change. Unsurprisingly, without any clear leaders, the vote was split resulting in the current coalition government. And following the global economic meltdown, the fledgling government faced a monumental challenge. This was met with an inauspicious start focusing on 'The big society' which sounded like abdication of responsibility. We voted the government in to make changes; their initial response was to pass responsibility and ownership of this change to the public. And notably, this former defining concept has already faded to obscurity. And with good reason. Instead of focusing on strategies to implement necessary austerity measure in an equitable manner, the coalition have chosen to target health care, education, charity and public security to protect the wealth of the minority. And it has become all too clear that the imposed austerity measures were merely a strategy for oppression by class dominance.

Perhaps the goal of the coalition was social devolution? Protecting those who offer the least benefit to society at the expense of those who account for the most. And having cut funding to those with most ownership of 'The big society' (the general public) and by granting absolution to bankers, expats, tax exiles and tax evaders, the coalition appear determined to destroy Britain forever. If this continues, there will be no recovery from this incompetence within our lifetimes.

In addition to poor strategy, Cameron appears to be switching tact to no strategy, directing his energies to blaming Labour for all of the problems we face. After the duration of previous labour governments, this is wasted rhetoric to state the obvious. We voted for change. Apparently we got muppets. I've never seen a muppet with testicles. I've never seen a government that so desperately needed to grow a pair. If the coalition cannot man-up to the task of imposing difficult but necessary austerity measures in equal measure across society, or to accept ownership for the problems we face regardless of the source of blame, we are truly doomed.

Cameron and Clegg: Please God grow a pair and impose austerity measures with equanimity! Stand up to the wealthy minority to save what is left of Britain, or face the legacy of having ruined it forever. Or if this task is simply beyond you, then step aside for those who are!

Iranium

Surely I cannot be the only one who believes that discussing Uranium enrichment with Iran is something of a ‘shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted’ exercise? Lax accounting of enriched nuclear material by the former Soviet Union has left a dangerous legacy of opportunity for would-be terrorists and non-nuclear states to join the nuclear league.

Some references which have information of relevance: http://www.bellona.no/bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/nuke-weapons/nonproliferation/24099, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1697907.stm, http://nuclearmangos.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-much-uranium.html

Even in the US which has comparatively stringent accounting of nuclear material, there are frequents accounts of the loss of radioactive material.

These are in addition to confirmed losses from former Soviet republics where the destination of the nuclear material remains unknown.

With such a valuable commodity on offer, it seems likely that unaccounted nuclear material was subsequently sold on to the highest bidder; a bidder that was cash rich, but nuclear poor. Like Iran. But radioactivity is by definition unstable. Continuous decay ensures that it doesn’t last forever; that there is a definite shelf-life. Thus it must be maintained; topped up periodically with fresh material to maintain the dosage. This would require the ability of enriching Uranium. Not massive amounts as the core stock would remain in situ. Therefore enrichment capacity to generate sufficient material to establish a nuclear weapon would not be necessary, only enough to top one up as required maintenance.

And perhaps this would explain the impetus to develop uranium enrichment capacity by Iran. After all, following the time and money invested in acquiring a seed sample for nuclear capability, it would only make sense to maintain the value and functionality of their investment.

And one could easily imagine how a bit of power could alter perspective. Perhaps this explains the hawkish posturing of the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in recent years? And perhaps the threat of nuking Israel wasn’t idle talk. Perhaps the capture of British forces in International water was a display of nuclear inspired bravado?

Either way, perhaps it is time to stop discussing Uranium enrichment with Iran with respect to developing a potential nuclear weapons programme and to start treating them as though they already possess nuclear capability? As terrifying as this prospect remains, surely dealing with a probable reality is infinitely more productive than further dalliance with delusions?

Double digit fare rises in future for rail fares?!?*”!@!

According to the news, in addition to the obscene rail fares imposed on the suffering public this year, we will face additional higher than inflation fare increases in future to assist the rail companies to fund the required engineering works.

Are you kidding me?? The public purse is not the Carlsberg bank for fatcat rail company bosses! Profitability should be dependent on investment in infrastructure and good management. Not a guaranteed profit margin regardless of managerial incompetence. If the cost of engineering works and maintenance is simply to be shouldered by the public purse, then how exactly has privatization benefitted anyone? It’s hardly as though there is an effective open market to enable competition. You take the train or you don’t. If you want to change rail operators, you move to another part of the country.

Cost of rail travel in the UK is already among the highest in the world. If the public are obliged to continue to pay for the necessary upgrade and maintenance which is required, then private contracts should be rescinded and the rail should be returned to nationalized control.

SouthEastern Rail Rant

Or maybe S@*tEastern rail would be more apt? For as many years as I've endured the S@*tEastern commuter service into London, there seem to have been ongoing engineering works. In a timeframe approaching that by which most former British colonies managed to establish their entire National rail systems, S@*tEastern rail have spent Sundays performing engineering works that appear to have had no tangible effect on the frequency of signalling problems. Amazingly, their performance managed to exceed the required target by 0.04% ensuring that long-suffering commuters were unbelievably ineligible for a season ticket rebate. Even more incredible was the fact that S@*tEastern rail were entitled to impose an inflation busting 12.5% fare increase onto their long-suffering commuter base. As both of these events beggar belief, one is left wondering who could possibly be responsible for such obviously partisan oversight. Perhaps our wonderful politicians possess some vested interest in keeping the profit margins of Southeastern rail topped up? I of course refer to the same honourable types of politicians who claimed porn and moat cleaning as valid expenses to be borne by the public purse. Who knows, perhaps during the great rail-privatization fiasco stake in the rail companies was also an allowable MP expense? After all, how else could the poor gravy-sucking swine commute between Westminster and their sprawling country estates?

Yet, having suffered the eye-watering, belt-tightening 12.5% rail fare hike, I still find myself writing my blog aboard a crowded and delayed train; one which has now also been diverted due to signalling problems. And from the daily news I see that one year on, bankers have returned to the same bonus culture which caused the current economic disaster in the first place. Furthermore, it would appear that not only have they not changed their evil ways, but in addition they alone find themselves completely and utterly sheltered from any form of accountability or responsibility for their actions. So while the vast majority suffer hardship and privation, the morally corrupt few are granted carte blanche to repeat the exercise.
  

So now it can only be a matter of time until history repeats and the economy collapses for a second time. Except that now that the public purse is bankrupt who will bail the system out the next time? Apparently not the bankers as they have been granted absolution for any accountability for their actions. I try not to think of the future as I can't imagine one that exists.

What Does 2011 Hold for Britain?

Labour was obviously both overeager in their frenzy to bail out the banking fiasco and too reactionary to establish appropriate recourse for their actions. However this disastrous action has now been infinitely compounded by the ‘austerity measures’ of the coalition. Obviously severe measures are required to repair the economy, but sadly the coalition has chosen to impose sacrifice onto the many. So now non-domiciled expats enjoy undeserved tax breaks, bankers remain sheltered from further taxation and the burden of economic recovery is to be shared by the masses to spare the affluence of the few.

In the last election the Lib-Dems were the protest vote. And as anger is not a light-switch to flick on and off, simmering tensions from betrayal fester like cancer. The student protests are merely the first salvo in the pending class war which threatens to ignite Britain. Charities, healthcare, police forces also all face cuts. And as unemployment, rail fares, petrol, VAT and inflation increase, wages and tolerance will fall. So in addition to undoubted further protests from all quarters, threatened labour strikes will likely spread across the country. And the budget cuts to police forces will only increase their inability to chase the vapour trail of the flash-mob generation thereby increasing the national risk to terrorist attack.

And how will the government respond to further protest? To quote New Statesman columnist Laurie Penny, "Peaceful protest is utterly ignored in this country, what the government wants is for people to be docile". And now the door for potential use of water cannons has been opened, where next - Army deployment, Challenger tanks?  As the images of Tiananmen Square were etched into public memory for the 20^th century, will similar images of student protests in Trafalgar square be the 21^st century legacy of the coalition? Many disturbing images already exist from recent protests in the UK and it seems likely that future demonstrations will be more rather than less volatile.

So to misquote Churchill, perhaps this is not the end of the beginning, but possibly the beginning of the end - of the Britain that we currently know. And never before will so few, undeservedly, owe so much to so many.

Perhaps self destruction is innately human with national timeframes defined by the duration that the society can sustain the appetite and greed of the ruling class. As the banking bonus culture has already almost returned to prior levels, this sickness is spreading as others savour the smell of greed. In response to an instance where a North-West London comprehensive head teacher received £130,000 in bonuses, Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, insisted there was "no reason" why heads should not receive bonuses. If the bonus culture is to be maintained, then it seems imperative that the public possess some control over this process.

Undoubtedly future clashes in this pending civil war will bring further casualties. At best, hopes and lives ruined, at worst, loss of life and limb. And as the social fabric fractures we will all be losers. Britain has a proud history of peaceful protest and demonstration. But how long can restraint be maintained when politicians continue to ignore the public view and can’t even be trusted with their own expenses?

Today Britain is a tolerant multi-cultural society with charitable traditions, education and healthcare systems to be proud of. However, although these systems have taken decades to establish, they risk being destroyed within a single term of an inexperienced and reckless government. So why is it so hard for politicians to consider a more equitable solution to the current economic crisis? And how can these risks possibly be justified, merely to maintain the affluent status quo?

So, in conclusion, what does 2011 hold for Britain? Seemingly little to hope for - United we stand, but divided we fall.

On the upside, Nostradamus and the ancient Mayans don’t predict the end of the world until 2012…

Apologies for the redundancy from previous posts. Please bear with me as I'm still developing my voice!

Tuition Fees Rant Revisited

I'd like to view 2011 as a year with fresh hope, but hope is for the affluent. Students who voted for the Lib-Dem's have been betrayed by so-called British democracy. Always flawed through implementation, democracy isn't the voice of the masses; it's merely opportunity for accomplished liars and cheats to swindle their fellow humans. Yet, although we are all aware of the expenses shame of the MP's, in the autumn elections the UK public still bought into the fiction that there might be some relationship between what they vote for and what they receive. More fool them. The only way that democracy can be made fair is when changes to law are held to public vote. If MP's could be trusted, perhaps proportional representation can work, but currently all we have is proportional deception.   The coalition was quick to bring in sweeping changes and austerity measures, not the least of which, the massive hikes in tuition fees for students. Shortly thereafter, these changes were given further support from the House of Lords. Certainly too rapidly for any real consideration of the opinions of students who were protesting against these very motions.  However, although swift to impose the burden of austerity measures onto the poor, the coalition has resisted bringing in a new tax on bankers' bonuses. Yet now, even charities are calling for increased taxes on bankers' bonuses to protect their organisations from funding cuts. So the banks which caused the economic collapse in the first place appear to be the most protected from the impact of any changes.  Even worse, according to the new rules, if the student debt is not cleared by 30 years after graduation, it will be wiped out. Banks are loathe to offer Mortgages that last longer than 25 years, yet the government is simply all too keen to impose a lifetime of debt onto the poor and struggling masses.  So what hope do students have now of ever entering the property ladder? And students currently in early years of an undergraduate degree now face being raped of the possibility of even completing their University education as they will likely be unable to afford to even complete their degrees. What hope does 2011 bring them? The reality that they’ve now lost a year or two of their lives? That the student debt they have now accrued will now have been for nothing as the find themselves forced to drop out to enter the workforce, a few years and thousands of pounds behind their peers?  And after imposing a lifetime of debt and ruining the lives of so many, will the increased tuition fees even benefit the system? According to Higher Education Policy Institute, these changes would achieve marginal savings if any at all!  But what is £9000 to a bank? Any self-respecting city worker would be offended by such a paltry bonus. Yet where do the banks recruit fresh applicants? Universities! So for years, the banks have profited from recruitment of graduates whose education has been funded by the tax-payer without any obligation to support this system. (Well, presumably there has always been some moral obligation but the soul-sucking city types can hardly be expected to have morals). So perhaps some of the increased burden of tuition fees beyond the funding capability of the government should be imposed on, and borne by the banks - the architects of this scenario? But the spineless coalition can’t even fathom increasing taxation on bankers’ bonuses let alone imposing some burden of the austerity changes to the gravy train of the city. Apparently change is a burden for the poor.  These new changes are of no benefit; they will significantly damage the UK education system, and instead of being rushed into law, should be thoroughly reviewed to ensure some modicum of equality to the proposed changes. I hope 2011 brings in an air of reflection absent from 2010 because I cannot see any hope for peace in the UK without due consideration. So again, I'd like to view 2011 as a year with fresh hope, but what I see fills me with despair.