The Scottish Parliament: will they ask why they’ve run out of other people’s money?
Hi there, guys ‘n gals! Now go and register me with the speech ‘n gender police. Must do as our sacred NHs does, mustn’t we! They have just ‘given guidance’:
“Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children advised not to use the terms ‘boys and girls’ – Staff told to avoid words such as ‘guys, gents and dudes’ when talking to groups and stop using ‘gendered language’ in new guidance document” (paywalled link)
That headline was all I needed to kickstart my day. How cash-strapped must our Sacred Cow be to have to pay for such guidance! The guidance-producers clearly haven’t been on strike, else such medically important guidance couldn’t have been produced.
The compilation of print edition front pages had ‘staff’ come up with this headline: “Newspaper headlines: ‘Terror suspect escapes’ and ‘hottest season’.”(link). I have to congratulate good old staff for getting ‘hottest season’ in, when there’s only the Star and the FT who have that on their front pages.
It’s a very transparent ploy, relying on the faulty memory of people who have been sweltering for days now and will have forgotten the wet and cold weeks in the previous months.It’s useful because the costs for Net Zero, ULEZ and the rest must be justified.
Speaking of costs … after the one-day uproar about ‘bankrupt Birmingham’, there’s a lovely article on Scotland’s plight. The DT reports:
“Humza Yousaf has raised the prospect of imposing a wealth tax to help fill a £1 billion black hole in his spending plans for 2024. The First Minister said “we shouldn’t rule wealth taxes off the table” in the upcoming Scottish Budget thanks to the “extraordinary pressures” his government’s finances are under.” (paywalled link)
Clearly, the bad English Tory government didn’t hand out enough English taxpayers’ money to Scotland. Mr Yousaf is not only thinking out loud about raising taxes on “Teh Rich” – he is, after all, ‘unashamedly anti-poverty’ according to his own words. He has also
“[…] raised fears he was planning more income tax hikes for Scotland’s middle classes, ordering Shona Robison, the Finance Secretary, to “further progress delivery of the most progressive tax system in the UK”. Ms Robison admitted in May 2023 that the Scottish Government’s day-to-day spending “could outstrip our funding” by £1 billion in 2024/25 rising to £1.9 billion in 2027/28.” (paywalled link)
Blimey – what are the Scots doing with all that money? The D helpfully provides some numbers:
“Anyone in Scotland earning more than £27,850 pays more income tax than if they lived south of the Border. Those earning a £50,000 salary pay almost £1,500 per year extra. Mr Yousaf has previously promised to consider introducing a new 44 per cent rate charged on income between £75,000 and £125,140 with the aim of generating an extra £200 million per year.” (paywalled link)
Blimey again – these extra charges are eye-watering! Note well however the general attitude of the ‘ruling elite’, especially when socialists: a hole in a budget must be filled by raising taxes. Never ever must there be any attempt at dropping costly schemes – schemes which the people haven’t asked for and which are generally put up to make the politicians from First Ministers to Mayors ‘look good’.
Moreover, these governing ‘elites’ never produce a proper audit to show where the money has gone, on whose fingers extra sums were stuck. As long as the taxpayer is still there, to be squeezed, all is well. Mrs T, bless her, was correct when she said: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”. ‘ Indeed so, and I think we can be certain that the Uniparty will keep on trotting down this path. I’d call it ‘levelling down’, something socialists are very good at.
I leave you with ‘news’ which are involuntarily hilarious because surely by now we all know this was going on:
“How doorbells, smart speakers, TVs and washing machines are spying on you: Research reveals how household appliances are capturing and sharing private data with firms such as Google, Amazon, Facebook and TikTok” (link)
It’s hilarious because this research doesn’t mention with one word the government-approved spying ‘device’: smart meters. These are of course not spying on us – whatever gave you that idea! Since the Police doesn’t use data from private CCTV cameras which are spying on us, perhaps we ought to ask Alexa, Siri and the rest to please protect us inside our homes: should we be robbed, especially after having been taxed to the hilt, we cannot buy their products any longer … not a good business model.
That’s all I have for today, guys ‘n girls. I shall now go and swelter, pondering the fact that the Met Office hasn’t produced one single ‘yellow warning’ about the dangers to our health caused by the heat. Funny, innit … Have a good day.
Surely by now someone has noticed the insidious way in which Computers have made even the simplest task difficult and dangerous and costly, Made worse by Self Appointed Committees, and a constant stream of new goodies without economic benefit. Even Consumables, disposables, foolish are better than games, and virtuals, and mindless gossip in the hand.
I haven’t mentioned Organisation yet. Incidentally I heard Tice lose his cool on telly today. Reform looks a little bit better to me now. Still the same basic problems of snide shareholdings though.
TG Spokes, welcome back. Have you recently visited the dark and dismal 14th century again? Insofar as Tice losing his cool on TV today, I don’t know anything about that, but he certainly lost his cool on Talk TV last week. Losing his cool and and being forthright and strong and speaking sense are two separate things, and I was not convinced with what he he had to say. Whatever way one looks at it, Reform UK is not a democratically run political party, does not have a membership and the supporters cannot remove the leader in favour of somebody else, and have no say in the creation of policies. In my book at least, a political party cannot in all honesty preach about reforming the country when its own house isn’t in order. As much as you may disagree with me, I would suggest that you give the UK Independence Party another try.
Colin you are right of course about Reform UK being the personal fiefdom of Tice and Farage. I may have told you that Reform Derby are a registered political party in their own right and it seems other groupings of ReformUK up and down the country have sniffed a rat and are doing the same. If Farage and Tice feel inclined to lose their appetite to destroy the Tory Party and withdraw their candidates at the last minute in 2024 due to a media campaign by the Mail and the Telegraph accusing ReformUK of giving the keys of No 10 to the Starmer then Reform Derby, Reform York, Reform Southhampton etc. can put forward their own candidates. Maybe this development will prompt Tice and Farage to make their party more democratic. UKIP is indeed the worth keeping going. They are getting their act together again principally in the cities for now. Sadly, non activity in my area but my local ReformUK party has an active cell and I feel I have to help them as they are hitting the streets, they are young (compared to me) and they are social media/internet/marketing savvy. They are also moving towards the Reform Derby model of their own bank account and giving themselves regional game. Come on Tice and Farage play the game or focus on your media careers.
That’s interesting Jake. Nothing seems to be happening in the potteries, which was a ukip stronghold.
Jake @ 7-18. Correction. ‘They are also moving towards the Reform Derby model having their own bank account and giving themselves a regional name combining 5 constituencies”
Colin, I should add that I am a member of three challenger parties! I live hope they will unite either unite together for 2024 or, at the very least, do some kind of deal to avoid standing in the same constituency. At least if I am a party member I can express my viewpoint.
Ben Walker, the chairman of UK Independence Party announced this week that the party would not be putting up a candidate at the forthcoming by election in Scotland and has recommended that UKIP members, and voters vote instead for the Reform UK candidate. This is a clear sign that UKIP is prepared to work with other parties to ensure that a centre right challenger party candidate gets as many votes as possible. However, if the boot had been on the other foot and there had been a UKIP candidate I wonder whether the leadership of Reform UK would have done likewise. Somehow, I think not.
Obviously Colin. However there is potential there and swift response if needed… Ukip has too much inherited and unchangeable baggage, dangerous with power, which they seem unable to understand is even there, never mind changing. As it stands neither is votable. I shall probably go for the Raving Loonies.
TG Spokes…….I think you are failing to grasp the nettle here. Over time people change and political parties change as well. And of course political parties are made up of those people who change over time. To a degree I would agree with you that the UK Independence Party did have some baggage, and at one time I supported the total rebranding of the party, but now I believe that it was right for the party to have retained the name ‘UK Independence Party’ because it is a brand that most people recognise, and most people know what it stands for. On the other hand apart from from those like me and others on this site who keep abreast of political developments almost on a daily basis, the gross majority out there do not keep abreast of what is going on and quite a lot don’t even know what time of day it is half the time. The fact of the matter is that most people believe it or not have never heard of Reform UK and don’t know what it stands, and for that matter nor do I, and I was involved with it for a time before I became an Independent election candidate. Some of those people who have never heard of Reform UK might have heard of The Brexit Party but think it fell by the wayside after we sort of left the European Union in 2020, and the majority of those who don’t know what Reform UK is and what it stands for, see the name on their ballot sheets at election time and think who are they. And that is all down to the fact that they rebranded which probably wasn’t a very good idea in the long run. And of course most people have heard of Nigel Farage because he is/was synonymous with the European Union, was an MEP and the leader of the UK Independence Party, and if you were to ask the average person in the street now who the leader of UKIP is, they will still say ‘Nigel Farage’ and have never heard of Neil Hamilton, and what is more have heard of Richard Tice even less. So coming back to the UK Independence Party I think now the party is in an upward trajectory because a couple of weeks ago a local councilor in Wales defected to the party due to it stance on the governments policy of housing illegal migrants in local hotels, and the party has seen a significant increase in membership in that part of Wales. The moral of the story is that this councilor chose not defect to Reform UK, and why was that I wonder…..
We are mostly in agreement. How to stop the quarrelling. Organise. If they still quarrel, reorganise. Organisations have to change because people and circumstances change. Hence abandoned mini orgs, ( Quangos ).
Break up of organisations occurs with wrong leaders and/or wrong of or in the organisation itself. A fundamental of all organisations is the laws of Authority and Responsibility. Most natural leaders understand this by instinct. But, the popularity and seeming success of committees does not fit, and undermines , but is easy. Until/ or organised
Once you give someone a job you have created an obligation. If you parachute there is instantly an implied debt.
Depressing reading and I’ve been reading a lot lately about the goings on in Britain. The whole world has problems but my native country, along with Europe seems to be leading the world into a dystopian abyss. I don’t know where to begin with this rant, perhaps with the mass immigration that is turning Britain into an overpopulated fourth world sh*thole. Perhaps with the liberal, left wing wokery that’s driven our country social, financial and economic ruin.
I’ll let you know when I’ve made up my mind where to start but it is apparent to me that the vast majority of Brits are in for a long period of suffering and misery, stuff that was always associated with the third world but is now your lot too. I saw this stuff coming twenty years ago and it’s why I no longer live in Britain, even then I didn’t expect to be proved right so quickly. I’m not being smug at all, I’m just horrified.
Europe too is in for a disaster, its industry is about to be destroyed by an increasingly severe energy crisis, it’ll probably crash the Euro. Well, at least in all of the doom and gloom we can say that the British people got one thing right when they voted for Brexit.
Baled out 20 yrs ago, eh?
I remember the day after the first bliar reign of terror. Three houses up the road to my compact and bijou dwelling, were owned by successful business men who put their houses on the market, whilst the election results were being more or less finalised.
Like you flyer, they saw the writing on the wall. Family, expertise, money, punitive taxes to the exchequer – all gone.
Many since have fled – white flight.
I would not be surprised next year, within a few tax raising months of labour, plus influx of another half million dregs of the world, others may repeat the same exodus as my ex-neighbours. And so, into an ever downward spiral of once, dare I say, ‘Great’ Britain.
This has been happening in Germany since the ‘Ampel’ came in. More and more of the famous small manufacturing firms in Germany are closing down – this is the ‘Mittlstand’, the people who produce most and pay most taxes. The last economic figures from Germany show that the economy is tanking thanks to the insane ‘green’ economic policies. Ah well: they got what they voted for – we however aren’t told by the Uniparty what we will get although those of us who bear the scars of the Blair & Brown years can have no doubts.
Lord Biscotte…..there aren’t any compact and bijou properties in Eaton Square. All have a pillared entrances, a large basement where your butler, valet, cook (Mrs. Bridges great great granddaughter that is) grooms, and maids live, with a very spacious ground floor and two storeys above that served by a grand staircase where the four poster bed is and Drawing Room where you don that smoking jacket after dinner and quaff Port and Lemon. Come on, who are you trying to kid
I have to say I have nothing against any ruling that decrying the use of words like ‘guys’ and ‘dude’. Too much use has been made of these ridiculous terms in recent years. An Americanism too far in my book. I have nothing against the term ‘gents’ however and have never personally used either ‘guys’ or dude(s) when speaking to a group of people. It is always ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ simple as, what’s the problem. We need to get back to a situation where proper English is used, especially in schools but considering the sub standard of teachers these days compared with those of yesteryear no doubt that will take a very long time indeed.
To name but several – to name but a few:-
Burglarised – burgled
Signage – signs
Oftentimes – often
I could care less – I could not care less
Col. Aitch – Colinsky Hussinski
Momentarily – in a moment
Doo-doos – actually Hindustani word for baby milk
Truck – lorry
Many technical programmes I have had to read in past (few now replaced with ‘last several!’) years have read like a Harlan Coben novel – ‘if you will’. Then there is splitting of simple words, like Eye-rack!
The level of English of degree level ‘engineers’:-
Rejuice – reduce
Proformance – performance
One hundred percent of the samples failed – all of the samples failed
I can only think that extending words with meaningless extra letters makes ignorant Mericans
feel less ignorant than their ignorant peers. BUT why would anyone goddamn copy them?
Oh mei miserum.
Lord Biscotte……you missed a couple………
Train Station…….Railway Station.
Lord Biscotte………Lord Biscuit (twice baked) of Eaton Square.
Prior to the invention and proliferation of credit cards, anyone seeking to spend money in the public sector had to complete a purchase order which then needed to be countersigned by a manager then forwarded to accounts where a cheque was prepared. This process inhibited frivolous spending and provided several opportunities for scrutiny. Now, civil service departments and local authorities have credit cards which is how the Home Office, for example, spent £35m on ipads and desks for home working and how flights and hotels get booked without scrutiny. Money is treated like water in the public sector. That is in part out of increasing entitlement but also enabled by the invention of the credit card. The government should ban their use in the public sector.
SY “Money is treated like water in the public sector”. Especially when it’s in the service of the Great Reset, eg newly arrived “guests,” Covid , IT systems to advance CBDC and digital ID (see my comment yesterday with Neil Mc Coy Ward link re Birmingham City Council’s humungeously expensive IT project trial for Digital ID etc. All these things are part of the Great Reset).
Clearly, as expected, devolution has turned out to be a financial disaster. Indeed it seems that anything that the government has a hand in goes the same way…