Brexit again?

The question of Brexit has yet another high profile critic. Perhaps I might be allowed to ask a question? These people who are elected representatives of the British people, what are they to represent? Yes, the will of the people. Hmmmm, pretty easy to deduct that I would say. Unfortunately, the reality seems to be that everyone of these elected representatives just follows their own ideas and desires! Now I have just listened to Lord Adonis, interesting chap but completely wrong. First of all he suddenly feels that we are going the wrong way. Well, maybe but is it not his job to see to it that the will of the people is carried out to the best of his ability? No, we now have just another sniper who is mumbling all sorts of untruths about the whole process. Secondly he was part of the government as an adviser. 
Possibly his advice was not accepted because it simply wasn't good enough? So, another MP who is throwing his toys out of the pram? Oh Westminster is deluged by all theses toys on the streets and the discarded prams holding up the traffic. 

Let’s be fair Brexit was never going to be easy, the EU would never just turn belly up. That is why it is important that ALL politicians work together to ensure the best deal for the UK. The old adage about a divided nation never winning battles is true. Divided you fall, united you stand! Frankly the whole thing has just become a farce. Not a single person seems to know what to do. I am now of the opinion that it would be best if we just draw a line under the whole thing and get out. No deal, stop everything, start negotiations with the rest of the world. Let the Germans be the big bosses they always wanted to be with the French supplying the Can-Can dancers and sour wine. Now that’s what I call an idea!

Paid jobs for the boys....Hmmmm

I do receive the posts of 'Unlocking Democracy', a pressure group. Sometimes they say what I can agree with and sometimes I do not. That's what democracy is all about. But as I have been saying in the past on another blog about politicians taking on outside jobs to pay for things like second even third homes, duck-ponds and more it was galling to read about the erstwhile Chancellor, puppy-eyed George Osborne having seven paid positions? One is apparently paying him £600,000 plus per annum for one day a week's work! Makes one wonder when in politics they already started to lay the foundations for their future. Is it not strange then that they are working for precisely these companies and organisations they benefitted from laws and rules they made during their Westminster Palace tenure? Just wondering. And he is not the only one of course, David Cameron also acquired a lucrative position. Perhaps it is high time to investigate these practices. Be aware though that it is not illegal but is it 'kosher'? Another thing, we might begin to wonder whether 'News' such as that is actually fake? There are loads of these 'reports' mostly of a personal nature. Little personal digs at people. Well, it might be true, it might be partially true or it might be false. Interesting how we deal with the IT revolution. 

Making your mind up....

One of the things about making decisions is the ability to enforce them. In the matter of the Brexit question - for those who do not know what that is ‘the decision through a referendum made by the British people to leave the European Union’ - it seems that the decision was made but no-one really knew how to implement it or enforce it. Nor what the implications would be. To any sane observer a decision to leave means, open the door, exit, and close the door. No questions about how to open the door, how long to be spent crossing the threshold and no questions whether to close the door softly or give it a good shove. But of course politics is just that. Endless arguments over the ‘fine’ details. As a result the UK is in an almighty morass. To be fair so is the EU. If we took a good look at the judiciary I would say the UK is quite capable of law-giving and enforcement. For that we do not need the European Court. Also do not forget there was a time before the EU. Personally for me there is no problem.

The UK should say thank you for past endeavours but unfortunately we have outgrown you. You have become a money-guzzling non-entity without standing in the wider world. Thank you but good-bye.

Immediately upon smacking the door closed we must open negotiations with those countries, European or worldwide, whom we trade with now. Cars from Germany? Welcome! Wine from France? Welcome. And so on and on. That’s it in a nutshell. Let’s stop prevaricating, come to our senses and save our money.

Amazing? Yes!

What amazes me is the inability of politicians to think about financial affairs. There is a simple truth. You cannot spend more than you ‘earn’. In government parlance that means you cannot spend more than you get in tax income. If you do, there is only one way to alleviate the shortage, you borrow. In the case of the UK the government(s) have borrowed close to £2trillion. By all accounts the debt stands at some 85% of GDP! All talk of reducing the deficit is just total idiotic and simply means just one thing, we keep on increasing the debt. The deficit talk just underpins the inability to reduce our spending. It also means any government, past, present, future has build up a society that vastly lives beyond its means. Who is to blame? We all are! Simply too many of us are walking along with closed eyes and cotton-wool in our ears. It is worrying to hear on the various news channels the continuing clamour for ever more money. NHS, Social Security. It must be obvious to all except it isn’t, that there will come a time when the whole edifice will just crumble and collapse.

That time will come when the GDP will equal our debt. When it becomes impossible to service the debt without cutting all services to the bone. No matter which government will be in power it will fall.

The following excerpt from 2015 shows the continual rise we see today.

‘The United Kingdom National Debt is the total quantity of money borrowed by the Government of the UK at any time through the issue of securities.

As of Q1 (the first quarter of) 2015, UK government debt amounted to £1.56 trillion, or 81.58% of total GDP, at which time the annual cost of servicing (paying the interest) the public debt amounted to around £43 billion (which is roughly 3% of GDP or 8% of UK government tax income). Due to the Government's significant budget deficit, the national debt is increasing by approximately £73.5 billion per annum, or around £1.4 billion each week.

So even if we reduce the deficit to zero our debt stays the same, we continue to pay the interest charges which today are close to £50billion annually!!! These facts are continually hidden by politicians who blurb happily about deficits which on the whole do not make a jot of difference to the debt! David Cameron in his days actually said ‘We are making payments to reduce the debt’ when in fact he was just trying to reduce the deficit (the difference between the budget set and the actual expenditure). Obviously an abject failure. Today we are facing the prospect of a UK Labour government who evidently have no idea of the debt we are facing and in fact want to increase it dramatically. This might mean we will have to face up to a 1930’s style economic collapse.

In Wales we have still to face the UK economic problems but worringly the Welsh government also wants borrowing powers. It nevers rains but it pours! No talk of balancing the budgets, no talk of how to divide the available money most advantageously. No, just borrowing like there is no tomorrow. It will all end when nations can no longer finance the debt interest without cutting even more of the services they installed. The one thing we all need to remember is this – THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH (unless you're a politician).