Thursday, December 07, 2006
For what we are about to lose ...
The Times reports here on the latest Brown tax and burn scheme. I'm sure it will come as no surprise to my readers that it's "for the children" under a "four-year plan to refurbish all 21,000 primary and secondary schools, and bring immediate rises in the amount head teachers can spend as they see fit". Leaving the Stalinist vocabulary aside, quite what's immediate about a 4-year plan I don't know. There's no mention if all the primary schools actually need refurbishment, and I don't suppose it matters when the Chancellor as his money to waste. Oh wait a minute it's our money, so it matters even less then.
We have a "1.25p a litre inflation rise in petrol duty", but remember this doesn't mean you already pay by the mile and it isn't a good enough reason not to introduce road charging at some future point.
We also have a doubling on "air passenger duty from £5 to £10 on most short-haul flights and up to £80 for long-haul flights ...". There is no mention of whether extra revenue is needed, but I'm sure he'll have no problem wasting it on some so-called public service.
The Times tells us that: "Gordon Brown laid down his battle lines with David Cameron yesterday by announcing a £36 billion outlay to rebuild schools, and portraying himself as the leader who would rather spend without shame on the public services than cut taxes." Well if only, he's given Cameron a golden opportunity to really have a go at him, but when it comes to taxes Cameron is as much use as a beached whale.
Actually he's not too hot on the environment either, there's a separate article in The Times interviewing Rebecca Gold a recent graduate, who isn't convinced: "His environmental concern seems fake to me." Cameron you'd be better off being honest about these things, take a strong line, say there's no evidence of man made climate change, and therefore any taxes under the excuse of combating it are just oppressions in disguise. None of these greenies are going to vote for you no matter what you do, and if you're going to lose you may as well lose with Conservative votes than without them.
All in all it's a pretty poor show, no one's even making the case for small government, for less tax, for greater freedom. The people are probably paying more tax in percentage terms than under King John, and our so-called democratic parties are doing nothing about it. Why is the modern politician so distant from those he/she is supposed to represent? History shows us that this sort of situation doesn't go on forever, but quite where and how it will end, who knows?
We have a "1.25p a litre inflation rise in petrol duty", but remember this doesn't mean you already pay by the mile and it isn't a good enough reason not to introduce road charging at some future point.
We also have a doubling on "air passenger duty from £5 to £10 on most short-haul flights and up to £80 for long-haul flights ...". There is no mention of whether extra revenue is needed, but I'm sure he'll have no problem wasting it on some so-called public service.
The Times tells us that: "Gordon Brown laid down his battle lines with David Cameron yesterday by announcing a £36 billion outlay to rebuild schools, and portraying himself as the leader who would rather spend without shame on the public services than cut taxes." Well if only, he's given Cameron a golden opportunity to really have a go at him, but when it comes to taxes Cameron is as much use as a beached whale.
Actually he's not too hot on the environment either, there's a separate article in The Times interviewing Rebecca Gold a recent graduate, who isn't convinced: "His environmental concern seems fake to me." Cameron you'd be better off being honest about these things, take a strong line, say there's no evidence of man made climate change, and therefore any taxes under the excuse of combating it are just oppressions in disguise. None of these greenies are going to vote for you no matter what you do, and if you're going to lose you may as well lose with Conservative votes than without them.
All in all it's a pretty poor show, no one's even making the case for small government, for less tax, for greater freedom. The people are probably paying more tax in percentage terms than under King John, and our so-called democratic parties are doing nothing about it. Why is the modern politician so distant from those he/she is supposed to represent? History shows us that this sort of situation doesn't go on forever, but quite where and how it will end, who knows?
Tags: tax, budget, Gordon Brown
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
Labels: tax
