.….. .………..……This is the dilemma facing many low paid workers and unemployed during this roll up to a full-blown recession. Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg is calling for a drop of 2p in income tax, which would be recovered by closing the loopholes in the tax system  which allow many wealthy  people to play the system and avoid taxation. The LDs would also increase tax on the most polluting activities.

…….Thomas Jefferson said this in 1802.

‘I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.’
 

…..Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats is encouraging us to be Proud to be British and in order to  help kick-start the economy consumers should be proud to ‘buy British’ and ‘buy local’ this will stimulate demand for UK businesses. Nick Clegg said “Economic recovery starts at home.”

Read more at: http://beta.libdems.org.uk/news/clegg-proud-to-buy-british-32550988

………I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility…

These words are as relevant today as when they were written and it is good to see the world of finance pulling together to bring this current crisis to a satisfactory conclusion. Vince Cable, LD Shadow Chancellor has spoken very eloquently on the strategy needed to address and solve this problem, which is touching all our lives.

You can read what the Liberal Democrat leadership has to say on the matter by logging on to the LD website at http://www.libdems.org.uk/

……It would be a much fairer system; abolish Council Tax as they are planning in Scotland, where they aim to replace it with a levy based on income tax, according to plans announced yesterday by First Minister Alex Salmond. He said: “Abolition of council tax will lift 85,000 individuals out of poverty. It will save the average Scottish family between £350 and £535 a year.” 

This further highlights the raw deal received by the English. It would be terrific if the English Government followed this fine example of fairness for all. (Don’t hold your breath! I don’t see it happening here!)

……giving the lie to the Think Tank who poo-poohed the north as a loser in the ‘Where to live’ stakes. This Think Tank advised everyone to move south because the north was an area unlikely to improve!

Check out the link below to the Financial Times, to read the full story:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/288befaa-794f-11dd-9d0c-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

…when people are having their homes re-possessed and looking for a way out is this the best the Labour Government can come up with?

Gordon Brown is set to usher in a new era of council housing by helping local authorities to buy repossessed and unsold properties. Cash and powers will also be made available so that town halls can intervene in the housing market.

There must be somewhere, within the labyrinths of government, a financial whiz who could come up with a more workable solution to the woes of people who put a lifetime’s work into owning their own homes. The young people of this country who have put a first step on the housing ownership ladder deserve better than to have their home being put into the part-ownership of local councils.

It’s time for this Government to wake up and smell the coffee and get off their collective backside.

……….I have been holding off with an opinion about the thinktank that has advised northerners to move south, because they in their ‘infinite wisdom’ have arrived at the conclusion that there is little or no chance of things getting any better for anyone living north of Watford.

I have taken a few deep breaths and still can’t get beyond the thought that the people who are members of these so-called thinktanks appear to know little about life beyond their own back yards. If they want to get a true grasp of life ‘up north’ they should live the life and walk the walk. There is, apparently, a great negativity about these people, that could be changed by their mixing with the wholesome people of the north. OK, so I am in the Midlands, but am neither so blinkered, nor so inexperienced in life’s hardships as to be unaware of the difficulties  that exist for people in the terraces and back streets. I have lived the life and walked the walk. I have gone from a well to do family, to living in a 1 bedroom flat, to owning a two up, two down semi and I have run the gauntlet of life through good and bad times.

To say that there is no hope is tantamount to throwing in the towel and that is NOT what we British are about. We are a proud race and those up north are perhaps the proudest, even though they may be considered by southerners to be of least importance in the scheme of things.

Success is all  relative; not everything in life hinges upon material success and prosperity. I know full well, from experience, that money helps to grease the wheels of life and to live a life in poverty is not a happy existence. 

However, by this Thinktank publishing such tosh, they are insulting some of the strongest people in this country. To survive whilst sucking on a silver spoon is a simple task; to survive without a spoon at all is a monumental task and those who do so should be admired.

……..we British are renowned for our sense of fair play and the proposed price rises by ‘British’ Gas are far from fair. 

On 30 July, commenting on the British Gas decision to raise gas prices by 35% and electricity prices by 9%, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg said:

“For many families, and particularly for the elderly and the vulnerable, this will be a devastating price rise.

“The announcement may have been made in a hot spell in July, but when winter comes round thousands will be forced to choose between heating their homes and cooking their meals.

“British Gas has thousands of customers paying fixed rates, but when those terms expire they will be hit with staggeringly high bills.

“Instead of fighting over who should be sitting in Number 10, ministers need to be dealing with the real issues that are causing real problems for people across the country.

“Energy companies are benefiting from a £9bn windfall yet continue to hike up their prices on the Government’s watch. This is unacceptable.”

…..has been moderated and approved. It reads as follows:

The removal of the 10p tax rate has, as we are all aware,
     brought much distress to those who are most in need of tax
     fairness. There has been an attempt by HM Government to redress
     the balance, but surely a change to the income limits for
     meeting the criteria of the Tax Credit Scheme would be a far
     more appropriate way of compensating those people who at the
     moment fall outside these required limits. Please sign up to
     this petition to bring a change to the Tax Credit Scheme.

To sign up to this petition, click on this link - http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/TaxCreditScheme/

Your support is much appreciated. Thank you.