Hi good children, if you never read this, did it really happen? Did the tree fall in the forest? I didn’t hear it. Or did I?
This is 1st June – a late contribution, I’ve been ill for a while so I’ve got some catching up to do- the matters referred to here are a bit, a few months, out of date but still very real. As a topic, it will be around for a while.
The government- are you bored yet? – are continuing with a colonial Neo capitalist approach to not caring about this country, the UK that is, beyond it being a Monopoly board for fat cats making money.
They, our leaders, are cheating and lying, being appointed then when dis-jointed, getting sacked for lies, fraud and downright dishonesty. If you can be bothered, – try to be guys, – the world needs people to care a bit more than we all are at the moment. Have a look at the’ what happened in government in 2022 – look at the names of Truss, Quartering, Johnson and more. Prepare to be sick!!
*The chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s big idea was mass borrowing on the never-never and £45bn of tax cuts squarely aimed at the rich. It means someone earning £1m will get a £55,000 tax cut – twice what a typical worker brings home a year. I’m pretty sure disabled people can just wait for the wealth to “trickle down” to their prepay meters this winter.
Indeed, no further help was announced for low-income or disabled families who will be left to spend almost half of their disposable income on energy bills, poorer folks are being told to work more hours, take on more jobs.
Ask your mum, auntie Flora and Dad, Stuart who are working hard doing multiple jobs to get by and meantime you’re putting on your coat indoors this Christmas to keep warm. As food banks prepare for unprecedented queues and parents skip meals to feed their children. There was one ‘bank in the Borders two years ago, now I hear there is 18-20 in different settings.
Now the news is that they are struggling to get enough food to support those who need.
How old are you now? Old enough to do something? – as a saying goes, you can’t change the world, but you can change the parts of it close to you! Good luck with creative reactions. Give it some thought if you can. What can be done?
*The Conservative party protecting the interests of the wealthy is hardly new territory, but to do it on this scale as millions of families are set to fall into poverty takes a particular commitment to acting shamelessly. This is a budget that benefited banks more than babies.
People are afraid they won’t be able to keep their children warm this winter and the prime minister is making sure bankers get bigger bonuses. It is obscene. That’s the thing about class war. Sometimes it looks like a diamond-encrusted crown. But it can also be a tax bill and a cold front room.
- Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist