It's been ten years since the London bombings and there has been coverage of the remembrance services happening today. It was a dreadful event and lots of people are still living with the after-effects of that tragedy.
Yesterday I saw that the government has handed off responsibility for free TV licences for the over-75s to the BBC. That is a bit of a surprise, as it will add almost a fifth to the BBC's annual costs. It will also reduce the costs to the government; I wonder what they're going to do with that £650 million? They're also talking about decriminalising not paying the licence fee. Currently the licence fee is classed as a tax, hence it is a criminal offence not to pay it. If it changes and it is not a crime not to pay the licence fee, then it will be more difficult to collect and the BBC will have to spend more to get the revenues it is due.
At the same time the govt is now proposing that the cap on household income from benefits will be £20,000 outside London. Well, they've already abolished child poverty so if they sort this out then they can probably call it a day for this parliament and sold off to the golf course for the rest of the term. Let's hope they don't implement any further policies to "help" the British public.
Oh, but wait! There's the first Tory budget tomorrow, which is expected to cut tax credits and allow more Sunday trading. So now the plebs can work seven days a week for less money than ever before. Way to go, fellas, gotta keep the general populace subjugated.
If the amount that the government is spending on people who need it is going down, I expect that they are planning a tax rebate of some mammoth proportions. Or maybe they are going to use that money to plug the gap caused by the reduced funds received from inheritance tax? That's right, they are intending to stop taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Still, they are the rich, so that's only to be expected. The trouble I think they'll find is that the poor voted for them, and it is the people who put them into power who will suffer due to the cuts in tax credits and withdrawal of other benefits.
I still don't really see an up-tick in the economy, I don't think anyone is getting better off. I'm alright, I don't get tax credits and i don't rely on the govt to ensure I have a living wage, but I'll tell you something, I'm bloody scared that one day I might, and then where will we be?
Just a thought...
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