Unemployment.

It's huge. A massive problem facing todays society. But do we as a nation have a distinct lack of jobs or is it just that some people cannot be bothered to go out and earn a living? Well I believe it to be a combination of both. No doubt the education system has failed a number of people and therefore they are left in a state where employment seems a difficult and unachievable prospect. In these instances we need to be helping people, providing jobs and attempting to get people into work through a social development scheme or something similar.

However we as a society also have people who simply see unemployment benefit as a way out of working. Those who sit around playing video games and in essence not even bothering to consider employment simply because the benefits of being unemployed are greater than that of a low paid job. It is important to remember that while not only receiving unemployment benefit these people are also gaining from other implications which kick in when one enrolls or undertakes a term of unemployment, including have there council tax paid etc.

I've been criticised and sent comments in the past whereby people accuse me of hating the poor, however this is not what the Tories are about. They tax the rich at almost the same rate as labour, leaving many middle class families with crippling taxes and to an extent earning a lot but getting back very little. I truly believe that many (not all I must say) of their policies are progressive and in order to fully see the extent to which they benefit the poor critics need to read deeper and actually see the way in which they operate. What I mean by this is not just believing the media and for once looking into a policy and actually noticing its progressive nature, ,maybe not entirely agreeing with it but accepting it as a reality.

Enough. Rant over. I guess only time will tell how the unemployment rate develops but I believe more than six months are necessary in order to see the full extent to which the Tories cuts will affect society...

The bandwagon of oppurtunism...

Barely a day goes by anymore without my ears hurting, probably from the incessant whingeing and complaining about the Tory implemented cuts. It’s crazy. In fact it’s far worse than that, its typical British labour derived idiocy. I’d just like to get one thing clear before I go off on one of my aptly described “rants”. My political views sway much further to the right than most people my age, however I do agree with a few more liberal policies and indeed I might go as far to say that labour have the occasional good idea or two…

The fact is we now as a country are in debt to the tune of over 1 trillion pounds (an amount unimaginable to most of us), how we got to this point is another matter. Labour deny all responsibility “Do you accept that before the crisis happened, actually Labour was spending too much?” “No I don’t.” (Ed Milliband’s response to a question on the Andrew Marr show). Obviously I do not blame Labour whole heartedly for the entirety of the deficit yet they are in sincere need of a leader who can justifiably accept a portion of the responsibility. No doubt Labour supporters put the deficit down to the financial crisis (and rightly so) however there naivety in thinking this was the sole cause is what irritates me. A combination of public service overspending and trying to inject the public sector with ridiculous and pointless services is what contributed to the deficit on a long term basis. Take for example EMA (educational maintenance allowance) which is in principal an excellent scheme, it’s just a shame Labour decided to give it to everyone under a certain income boundary without considering its implications. Just the other day I heard a friend complaining about the fact it’s been scrapped, at which point I asked what he spent it on “oh I use it to pay for my Iphone contract”. His response shocked me yet it is one I have heard from a number of similar receivers. Therefore cutting this and instead channelling the money into other schemes (which is currently under investigation) is the way forward. In essence what I am trying to say is that people need to embrace the cuts and put a little faith in a government which has been left with a very sorry state of public finances. Then when they do proceed to scrap widely abused schemes they need the support of the people and not some unorganised rabble complaining that they can no longer afford to pay their “phone contract” let alone live comfortably…

Just a little note, before anyone comes back with an opposition argument maybe just have a look at what Ed Milliband has come up with to combat the deficit, and then maybe you’ll realised why he’s just jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism and once again providing an opposition without any such policy to match.

Do Labour not quite comprehend the mess they’ve left behind through their public overspending and immense naivety throughout the economic boom?

I was browsing the internet earlier today, looking for some political provocation for thought and a little stimulation for my next blog post when I came across this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jan/09/william-keegan-tory-policy-on-tax

An article on non other than the so called “oppositions website” although, being a fair person I enjoy reading what those that have somewhat more left wing political views have to say for themselves.

The article seriously angered me for various reasons. Firstly it seems that Labour are trying to state that the current economic situation is not their fault, which in my eyes is not a particularly realistic claim. After all if anyone is to bear the brunt of the blame it has to be Gordon Brown with his huge public spending increase right?

It is important at this stage to look at the economic crisis as a whole, indeed it occurred on a global scale and I am certainly not saying that Labour are responsible for the entirety of the situation, because, certain events would have undoubtedly happened regardless of the decisions Labour made. However it was the way in which they reacted to the situation that caused the most harm.

But for people to criticise Cameron and Osborne for making cuts and trying to install a sense of some security within our economic system is unacceptable. Of course nothing is going to happen immediately and it will take years for our economy to recover from such a insurmountable deficit, but the media and especially the labour party need to give the Tories chance to at least try and implement changes. Unfortunately cuts are necessary and nobody is supposed to like or relish in such changes but they are for the benefit of our long term economic growth and recovery.

I mean its not like the labour party would be doing a better job if they were in power at such a time…