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!