UK Citizens seeking justifiable improvement

Democracy
The word democracy comes from the Greek words “demos”, meaning people, and “kratos” meaning power; so democracy can be thought of as “power of the people”.

Democracy is therefore intended to have at its core ‘a way of governing which depends on the collective ‘will of the people’, in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy, in which the reigning Monarch (the king or queen at any given time) does not make any open political decisions.

The United Kingdom is governed within the framework of a parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy in which the Monarch is the head of state while the Prime Minister is the head of government. Typically Governments are ‘elected’ for duration of 5 years. If given a comfortable majority, they become more or less unshakeable whether making right or wrong decisions; government is a ruthless machine in such a position.
All political decisions are taken by the Government and Parliament. We pay Tax for Government to provide services to us. Political Parties write their own ‘Manifestos’ (Intended plan of action) but there is little public remedy should it fail to achieve the manifesto objectives upon which it was elected or any public accountability, other than giving thumbs-down at the next election, Local or General.

We have just endured 13 years of concerning Government with yet more hardship to come. It is the highest level of inflation for 70 years, inflation is not under control and higher interest rates are a real possibility. 

Government repeatedly tries to convince its UK Citizens that both the Covid 19 Pandemic and the war in Ukraine are to blame, but that is untrue. To March 2020 at the start of the Pandemic, Government Debt had already increased to more than £2,000,000,000,000 (2 Trillion GBP) and Russia didn’t invade Ukraine until February 2022, two years later. Government Debt has increased by 50% in the last 3 years – now 3 Trillion GBP.

In part we have ourselves to blame, for as citizens we hand control to both Councillors’ at a local level and MP’s, none of whom we know very much about, and once elected (swallowed up by the system), it has become apparent, can prove unreliable and become increasingly difficult to communicate with when it suits them; despite there being:

MP’s – In the ‘House of Commons’ total 650. Annual Salary £86,584 plus they also receive expenses to cover the costs of running an office, employing staff, having somewhere to live in London or their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency, plus pensions. They may also have second jobs and outside earnings. (See PIN – Sky Westminster Accounts)

House of Commons Recess Dates 23/24

RECESS RISE OF THE HOUSE RETURN OF THE HOUSE
Whitsun 25 May 2023 5 June 2023
Summer 20 July 2023 TBA
Conference September 2023 – TBA October 2023 – TBA
November 09 November 2022 14 November 2022
Christmas 20 December 2022 9 January 2023
February 09 February 2023 20 February 2023
Easter 30 March 2023 17 April 2023

Peers – In the ‘House of Lords’ total 777. Life Peers total 685 (appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister), and 92 are Hereditary Peers (Hereditary title is passed from father to son.) Most members do not receive a salary for their parliamentary duties but are eligible to receive allowances and, within certain limits, the travel expenses they incur in fulfilling their parliamentary duties. Members of the Lords who are not paid a salary may claim a flat rate daily attendance allowance of £322 or £166 for each sitting day they attend the House.

Total UK Hereditary Peers – total 807. (715 not involved in Parliament, currently passing title from father to eldest son with no need for achievement or contribution). Some of these Hereditary peers are indeed very high achievers.

Local Councillors’ – total circa 10,200 (Government Employees) paid by the Taxpayer. Annual salary £25,788 plus fixed expenses of £5,160
Councils – total 383 (318 England, 32 Scotland, Northern Ireland 11, Wales 22)
Civil Servants – total 500,000 plus (Government Employees) paid by the Taxpayer.

What’s really going on?
Do WE the citizens really know what or who we are voting for? Can you name your local MP’s or any of the Councillors’ you voted for in Local Elections? When did you last get the opportunity to raise issues of importance with them, or more importantly – get a satisfactory answer?

Do you know what they have achieved since they were handed the power?
Only 70% of us usually vote in any event. Our votes are further fragmented by a multiple choice of ‘Political Parties,’ many of whom have little chance of influencing national achievement. Both Conservative and Labour have dominated throughout the last 100 years.

Could it be that this system is designed and best-suited to government rather than proper democratic rule and accountability to the citizens?

Who Runs Britain?
In his most excellent book published in 2008, ‘Who Runs Britain?’ researched and written by Robert Peston, himself the son of a former Peer (political editor of ITV News, journalist, presenter and author, also host of the weekly political discussion show ‘Peston’), presents a superb overview of workings of ‘The House of Lords’ and ‘The House of Commons’ and activities of both Labour and Conservative Parties, behind the scenes.

Robert leaves no doubt in his Chapter entitled ‘Democracy For Sale’ how the Political Parties attraction to the ‘Super-Rich would lead to where we are now and how if political parties had to conform to normal business practice, then they would likely have been filing for Bankruptcy at the time of his writing. He recommended change and greater transparency.

Successive UK Governments have had in the last 100 years every opportunity to get this Nation on a very sound footing. To have earned our trust and justify 100 years of faith that UK Citizens have put in them. To have harnessed the outstanding Citizens expertise that exists – they have failed on all counts.

At times, Government appear clueless and treat us like fools, yet it always has been and always will be the people of our nation who put the ‘Great’ in Britain, all 68 million of us. Could this be why we are where we are today?

Where are we exactly?

National Debt – Remember the note the Labour Party left 13 years ago to the incoming Conservative Government, ‘I’m afraid there is no money‘. It was to get a lot worse. When David Cameron was Prime Minister the National Debt was circa £600 Billion, those 13 years have seen a 5-fold increase in Government Debt to what is now a staggering National Debt of circa £3 Trillion. (3,000 Billion GBP) Interest alone (without any capital repayment), an unsustainable £12 Million per HOUR – £106 Billion per annum. (See PIN – National Debt Clock)

Yet week commencing 1st May and pre Local Elections on 4th May, PM Rishi Sunak in PM Question Time reminded all and jeered the opposition, whilst conveniently forgetting the 5-fold increase in that debt and the crashing of the economy by this Government. That’s an additional increase in Government debt of £2,400,000,000,000 since they came to power and down to this Government alone. Without a firm foundation a house can start to crack and eventually falls over. This was not a satisfactory basis to build Brexit or anything else upon.

Levelling Up or Levelling Down?

Sadly it’s Levelling Down – if levelling at all
WE are all getting poorer under the current Government and in a May podcast from the ‘Bank of England’ it seems that WE are all being asked to accept the fact that WE are all going to get poorer!

National Debt – of circa £3 Trillion has to be re-paid from what would need to be exceptional GDP earnings, or by the UK Citizens in increased future taxation. You are going to get increasingly poorer as each year passes, unless WE change things. Government has had 13 years, has dug a deep hole and is still digging, pushing greater numbers into poverty and poorer productivity in the process. A weakened base does not make it easier to work or increase disposable income. (See PIN – Fortune & Freedom)

Economic activity – GDP (Earnings) is not good, our Country’s total income is at best flat-lining or falling.

Strikes – Leading employment lawyers have in April this year warned that the government’s proposed new ‘Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill’ aimed at the TUC and their Union Members, will give the ministers “unfettered power” (unrestrained) to restrict the right to strike. They are following this, rather unwisely with further legal action and verbally threating loss of Registration to Nurses. As the ‘Right to Work’ is sacrosanct, so should be the ‘Right to Strike’. WE must support both Nurses and Teachers in finding a satisfactory solution. Government relies upon us having short memories. (See PIN – TUC) (See PIN – Strike Dates)

Currency – Since 2015, the GBP has fallen in value versus the EURO by circa 15% from 1.35 then to 1.14 today.

Inflation – The cost of living in the UK is rising for us all like never before; financial robustness has been abandoned (that wouldn’t be so if Government Debt of £3Tn was a Government Surplus of £3Tn) and is the cause of the increasing crisis and extreme hardship for UK citizens, hardship now and well into the foreseeable future. Disposable income and quality of life are in increasingly short supply. Food Inflation is reputed to be running at 17% an important family expenditure.

Repeatedly quoted by Government as hovering around 10.1% may not convey the true position. ‘Which?’ found that overall inflation on food and drinks at supermarkets continued to rise in March 23 to 17.2% up from 16.5% in February.

The UK has the highest level of inflation of all the G7 countries and sits at the bottom of the league table. (The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, USA and the EU.)

Population – Government partly forecasts its future revenue generation on the continuing growth of its working population. A growing number of ‘workers’ to bring in the money. In 1922 the UK population was circa 43 million, today it stands at 68 million a 58% increase, yet birth rate has declined from 2.1 children per family to 1.9 and that’s not surprising, given the pressure being applied to individuals and family life. Could this be why Government is so slow at stopping illegal immigration?

Uncontrolled Immigration – figures suggest that there are 140,000 known illegal immigrants, they won’t all fit on the one barge and there is no end in sight, its of increasing concern to the public. One or more barges won’t be the answer.

Pensions – The retirement age has risen to 66 and further rises are planned; WE all have to work longer and wait longer for our pensions and inflation has eroded their value by the time we receive them. Future pensioners are likely to face great hardship, should Government raise the retiring age to 70.
Our Rights – ‘Individuals Rights’, ‘Ability’ and ‘The Family Unit’ are being systematically undermined. The very basis of strength and productivity. (See – PIN)

Homelessness – New research from Shelter shows at least 271,000 people are recorded as homeless in England alone, including 123,000 children. More than 1,300 people died while homeless in UK during 2022.

NHS – It’s in a precarious position, on the point of collapse. Designed initially to support the working population. Sadly 500 preventable citizens’ deaths are currently occurring each week unnecessarily, caused by Government. Just doesn’t make sense. There are already 7,800,000 citizens waiting for appointments or treatment and it’s increasing. How will the NHS cope if a new Pandemic descends upon us?

Prescription Charges – In 2023 prescription charges have been increased from £9.35 to £9.65

Dentists – Not just the NHS but dentists are in short supply, and it is not a free service under the NHS.

High Streets – Both High Streets and Modern Shopping Centres are increasingly deserted by shoppers and shops as each day goes by.

Rent – becoming unaffordable, growing rent arrears, with multiple occupancy on the increase.

Mortgages – A 10% or 20% fall in house values could see many mortgaged -owners in a negative equity situation, at a time when both borrowing and interest rates have risen sharply and mortgage arrears have increased also. More than 700,000 UK families missed mortgage or rent payments in the month of April 2023. Not good news, anything to say about that Chancellor?

Taxation – How heavily taxed are we? Increasing and greater use of ‘Stealth Taxes’ (these are hidden tax increases) In March 2021, the Chancellor froze the income tax personal allowance at £12,570 until April 2028 (for another 5 years yet, 7 years in total currently) meaning likely ‘hidden’ tax increases for most including pensioners.

Corporation Tax – Increased from April 23 of 6% for any Company making a profit of £250K (An increase from 19% to 25%) Not a timely additional burden for business. 149 senior MP’s and Business Leaders pleaded in writing with the PM not to implement this, to no avail.

Value Added Tax – VAT is added to most items at the rate of 20% whether purchased in the UK or purchased in the UK from abroad.

Interest Rates – Rising on all borrowing with 5% base rate being possibly in sight. (Base rate increased by BofE to 4.5% May 23)

Water Rates – Should water not be free by right? We can’t survive without it! It’s like putting a tax on air or the land that we walk upon! Not all European countries charge for domestic water supply. Given the recent serious disclosure of widespread dumping of sewage at sea (which has been going on for the last 20 years), Government now intends to charge all citizens an extra £10,000,000,000 (£10 billion) in order to stop the illegal practice.

Council Tax – going up by circa 5%, not all countries charge a ‘tax’ on domestic property.

Energy Costs – hasn’t Government heard of ‘what if?’ planning to ensure critical future needs are met. We need affordable heat, light and energy supply always.

Crime – on the increase with some 88,000 UK citizens currently imprisoned. A sad reflection on our Government and one must ask the question, should they all be there? Government is actively encouraging neighbours to ‘spy’ on their fellow neighbours and report them to Government, appalling. In a speech to ‘The Prison Reform Trust’ on 9 May 2023 former Prime Minister Sir John Major stated “I was brought up to believe that we, in Britain had one of – if not the – most just and civilised penal codes in the world. Some of what I have learned in preparing this speech has truly shaken that belief.”

Sir John Major summarises his concerns as follows:

“We over-use prison and under value alternative sentences;
too many vulnerable people ‒ including the mentally-ill – are jailed;
education and rehabilitation in prison is inadequate;
much of the Prison Estate is out of date and unsuitable;
too many accused are remanded in prison pre-trial;
the Justice Secretary should not remove powers from the Parole Board;
IPP prisoners should be re-sentenced.

These practices, these problems have grown up over many governments.
In my layman’s view, it is time they were addressed – and put right.”
(See PIN – Latest info. to read his full speech)

Camera Surveillance – watched at every step, a reputed 5 million security cameras in operation, that’s one camera for every 13 people. Police ‘Stop and Search’ powers have also been given increased scope.
Not everything is as it might appear to be.
There is increasing evidence from citizens that Government Departments are unnecessarily frustrating/delaying citizens legitimate support claims, a process that has been increasing over the last 13 years.

Family Law – Family Law, unknown to most citizens is a shameful disgrace to our nation. A very serious problem exists with the ‘Family Courts’. Government, through Family Courts are ‘stealing’ our children, more than one million children have been taken from families through ‘forced adoption’, a sad reflection on Government, as if this was justifiable, then Government must be failing all families at a basic level. It’s not justifiable as very few parents ever get prosecuted, children are taken ‘to prevent the possibility of future risk’.
Whatever happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ No Proof or verification needed. Hearsay accepted from so called unqualified experts, those immune from prosecution. Whatever happened to proven fact? It is appalling by any standard, undermining the very fabric of our society and the Countries current and future performance. Government makes big money out of this heinous crime against society; it could be your family next! Don’t believe you can defend such a situation, you can’t! (See PIN – Researching Reform)

Many of these children are descendants of the one million people who gave their lives for the freedom of this country in two world wars. Government annually lays a wreath at the ‘Cenotaph’ to mark the tomb of the unknown soldier, double standards of the highest order. If you have children, never let a ‘Social Worker’ into your house, they are not there to help and have no legal right to be there unless accompanied by the Police. Such deceit and undermining the basis of the Nations strength. (See PIN – Researching Reform)

Dementia/Care – 400 citizens houses a week are being used by Government, ‘sold’ to fund dementia care. Your house should you or your partner be unfortunate enough to contract dementia – irrespective of your Will – would be likely to become a statistic, what you believed to be security for you and your family for the future and will have worked a lifetime for – gone.

Pensions – WASPI (Women against State pension increase) The DWP increased the retirement age from 60 to 65 for women and delayed paying pensions to some 500,000 previously eligible women by up to 6 years. Causing great hardship and the Ministers unbelievable advice at the time ‘get back to work’. It’s all done to take money from the Citizen. Compensation for those still alive being fought for by WASPI – Beware the next retirement age increase. (See PIN – WASPI)

Pensioners Abroad – British pensioners in most Commonwealth and many other countries have their pensions “frozen” – meaning their pensions are fixed forever at the amount they were at when they left the UK. Be warned if moving to a warmer climate. (See PIN – Pensioners Abroad)

Fuel Costs – Hidden taxes PRT (Petroleum Revenue Tax – also referred to as Fuel Duty is applied by Government to both Petrol and Diesel at a fixed rate of 52.95ppl) It is paid to Government long before it gets to the filling station and you also pay VAT at 20% (10.6ppl) on the included 52.95ppl. (Government Taxes you on the Tax!). This accounts for much of the final fuel price. Price of a gallon of petrol at the time of writing in USA $3.70 (equivalent of £2.98), UK £6.70 including total government tax of £3.48 (52%)

Government is extremely good at playing one section of the public against the other. Divide and Conquer. They also manage to divide one section of TUC Members against another. It is the reason they have no desire to ‘Connect’ with the public. It has made that clear in repeated opposition to recent strikes that they have no desire to, being uncommunicative, playing one set of striking employees against another, or the general taxpayer, or citing some spurious reason why any particular group should not be striking. Tactical games in an effort to supress and undermine a consensus of support.

Increasingly, the Government seems to prey upon those they see as vulnerable, the motorist is one such group increasingly targeted as there is money to be made. Double standards, deceit and hypocrisy.

Scandal after scandal has rocked Government, and mistake after mistake has been made by them, the list is too long to be noted here, but will be detailed elsewhere. Wasn’t it Liz Truss and her Chancellor who cost this Country (the Taxpayer) £40 – £60 Billion in her 45 days as Prime Minister? Are Government offering to pay it back (enough to pay the Nurses and Teachers, but not for subsequent years), or Truss foregoing her £100,000 salary for life or pension as an ex PM of 45 days?

Didn’t the Government admit on the Thursday before Easter in a deliberately timed press release, that it had burnt £1 Billion worth of wrong specification PPE equipment purchased for Covid?

We are in very serious times, yet Government thinks it has money to burn in certain directions! Quality of life is in decline, hardship is on the increase. WE are paying the cost of ongoing poor fiscal policy and all getting poorer.
Shouldn’t we have a £3 Trillion Surplus rather than a £3 Trillion Deficit with a competent Government? There would be no need for hardship. However not only is there unsurpassed debt but everything at low ebb also! Schools and hospital buildings in need of urgent repair.

It is timely to repeat the words to Government of ‘Lord Protector of the Nation’, in his time, Oliver Cromwell:
“You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go”.
and of Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst:
“I’d rather be a rebel than a slave“.

and the words used recently by modern day activist Emma Watson:
“If not me – who?, If not now – when?“
Your support is needed now – before it’s too late and they sink the ship. Government has shown its weakness repeatedly and needs our help, please show your support for c22c to reverse the declining standards of Public Service, Freedom and the Values that we treasure and seek, improvement can only be gained collectively. Please invest £2.00 now before Government take it from you. (See Participate)