Reply To: U-turns

[Bucksiron]

Same old, same old. If anyone truly believes things are worse now than in the 1970s they need their heads examining. Mind you, as a result of net zero we’re likely to be facing power cuts, which is truly ridiculous in the 21st century. I tell you what, Sidey, I’ll arrange for you to live in the UK in the 1970s and we’ll see how you get on. That is if you can get out of your door for the rubbish piled on the streets, afford to buy anything with almost 25% inflation and interest rates at almost 14% (they actually peaked under Thatcher in the early 1980s).

If you want to look at what’s driving poverty, it’s energy costs. The reason for this isn’t down to Putin, although he’s exacerbated the problem, but crazy net zero targets. Energy costs went through the roof because renewables couldn’t cope with demand and natural gas was in very shorty supply due to the Western World failing to protect supplies in order to meet green targets. Putin simply took advantage of this, so not only did this create energy havoc but also played a role in starting a war.

Absolutely nothing frustrates me more than the most needy in society not getting the help and support they need. It isn’t even as though the money isn’t there. It’s a question of whose pockets it’s going in to and it isn’t the most well-off as many of you like to claim. The truth is that getting the richest to pay more will make relatively little difference. The top 10% of UK households already pay around 50% of UK tax revenues and the top 20% pay over 60%, with the top 50% paying nearly 80%.

But, of course, you lot aren’t interested in the facts. If you really were you’d look at where most of the tax money actually goes. A great deal of it ends up in the pockets of the public sector with their gold-plated pension schemes. The public sector pension liability is close to GDP, which is an astonishing fact given this is money from the UK people, including the poorest. But, hey, if it’s going to support our bloated public sector then that’s all OK. I also commented on NHS pensions the other week, which again are grossly unfair on the poorest.

So, would I be prepared to contribute more to help the neediest in society? The answer is a resounding “yes”. The problem is that very little of it would ever trickle down to them because it would be used — in fact it is being used — to cover the costs of those who really don’t need it. Like the consultant anaesthetist I know who is enjoying golf while working part-time for the NHS, which is facing horrendous backlogs created by lockdowns that weren’t necessary in the first place. Or the retired GP couple on a pension income of £96,000 a year.