Thursday, December 02, 2010

The Government's Wasting Money - What?

Well, there we are. We didn't get the World Cup. Oh, never mind, we're spending millions on the Olympics. Debt? What debt?

Oh yes, the Olympics are REALLY good for us. They're encouraging children to do better at sport. Local authoritites and schools are improving their sports facilities beyond imagining, not, it has to be said, just for the benefit of the children or the local athletes, but, certainly in my area of wealthy (ha!) south eastern Britain, because they want other countries to train in them. So, they are spending thousands, nay, millions, just at the time the Government, bless its cotton socks, has cut every budget possible.

No-one has yet explained to me why, when apparently we can lend Ireland millions, spend billions (non-recoverable) on the Olympics and spend a fortune on sending Cameron, Beckham and William to an expensive and failing jolly, the ordinary man or woman in the street, which is most of us, are going to suffer from the "cuts", in some cases to the danger of our health, homes and families.

And education? Fees? Don't talk to me about fees. I have one child who is still in debt - and will be for years unless she wins the lottery - and they want to charge more. And what is it Osborne keeps saying? It isn't a debt? It's just a future tax. Well, that's exactly what student debt is now, and we still call it debt.

Yes, cuts are necessary. But not wholesale. You prune a tree, you don't cut off all the branches at once. It certainly won't leaf, flower or fruit if you do that, not for years, and meanwhile you have disposessed hundreds of creatures, birds, insects and small mammals which will now die. Or just nip off to the next tree, of course, except that we don't have a "next tree".

Nick Clegg and his party have lost any credibility they may have once had, and might just as well fold their tents in the night and be gone. The Conservatives appear to be trying to return us to a class system moribund since World War Two. Labour - well, ants without an anthill.

I'm not a political commentator, but I have never felt this angry before. I'm a traditional English woman who loves her country, by which I mean I love our towns, our countryside, our seaside, our people and, in the main, the way we do things. When we're allowed to.

There was a lot of talk at the last election about "Using it or Losing it" referring to our votes. Well, if using my vote has resulted in this mess, I don't think I'll bother next time.

5 comments:

Nell Dixon said...

Don't get me started on the Olympics. It was supposed to help our kids get into sport but all the small pittance that went to schools to link with clubs etc in afterschool clubs has been cut. They 'buried' that bit of news on the day the engagement was announced.

Lesley Cookman said...

Quite a lot buried that day, wasn't there? Not cynical of course. Not me.

Unknown said...

The Sports partnerships actually worked too. If we throw all the candidates into the air and randomly shuffle them up, then - maybe - there could be some hope for the future.

Miss Moppet said...

Couldn't agree more. I am beyond relieved that we aren't hosting the World Cup, because we can't afford it. I don't understand why the government thinks it is acceptable to pour money away in overseas aid and expensive parties at the same time as they take it from those who can least afford it. A friend of a friend, who has MS with a very poor prognosis and difficulty walking, has just had all his benefits cut because he could pick up a pencil from the floor. How I feel about the coalition government: it makes me ashamed to say I'm British.

Lesley Cookman said...

I'm pleased this has struck a chord. A lot of encouraging comments on Facebook and Twitter, apart from these. It appears I'm not a voice in the wilderness! When do we get somebody in - er - power (hmm) to take notice?