Budge it

[glenatron]

I'm annoyed by the budget, specifically the claim that putting another 2p per litre on petrol makes it a green budget. I'm sorry, Darling, there is no point saying "making people pay more for tax will force them off the roads" because it won't. People won't drive less than they are now because we have no choice. No british government has invested in any kind of transport infrastructure aside from roads in my lifetime. How the hell are we supposed to get anywhere if they keep ramping up fuel prices and refusing to offer any alternative services? Oops they privatised the railways so they can't ask them to reduce fares. Oops same thing goes for the bus system. The only people doing any significant work on putting together a national network of cycle paths are a sodding charity because the government will do nothing to help. It's almost as though we are ruled by a gibbering coven of duplicitous lackwit dolts.

What they, our labour government, the people's party are saying is basically that poor people aren't allowed to live in rural areas. Which probably suits them fine because then they can knock down those unsightly cheap houses and build more second homes for the fuel-rich to replace them.

And in spite of the cash they shall be rolling in every time we make a journey for which they offer us no alternative the vile degenerate scum that make up our government are still using bare faced lies as they try to privatise the NHS through the back door. And don't even get me started on the enormous amounts of money we, the taxpayers, will be throwing away because of the Blairite obsession with Public Private Partnerships, the perfect way to buy something now and spend the next thirty years paying for it twenty times over.

Unlike most people you'll hear whinging about fuel taxation, it's not even that I hate the environment- hell, I even live in it, but this isn't an environmental budget, it is an increasing the divide between rich and poor budget. It's a "here is a problem and - bad news! - we have no solution to offer so why not give us all your money?" budget.

It's enough to make you wish there were some good guys in English politics.

Comments

[fleefloodle.livejournal.com]

I don't know what they're like where you are, but here public transport prices are ridiculous. Some of my friends can easily be paying almost £10 a day to make the hour journey to and from uni. You can reduce it by getting Zonecards, but it's still absolutely extortionate.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Round here if you live in any of the local villages and you need to get to town you can usually catch a bus.

If you're lucky you'll be able to catch one back again the next day.

[fleefloodle.livejournal.com]

With where I am the only way I can really get to the station is lifts/taxis. The nearest bus stop is a mile away and I'm not walking that in the rain/snow/hail with all my uni stuff. Public transport is bloody ridiculous.

[evil-c.livejournal.com]

We have cycle paths where we live, but, they are in the strangest places and they dont join up at all! The council do the whole "we have put in X miles of cycle paths" but theya re all in short strips of about 200 yards to most and literally weave in and out across lanes of roads including one that crosses from one side to the other of a DUAL CARRIAGEWAY!

Oh look, I dont have kids, so then I shouldn't get a tax break? Just because somebody breeds more humans doesn't mean they should be congratulated with MY money!

God I hate this government!

[bunting.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately the issue largely generated by the fact that modern British politics has become about the generation of a rich poor divide. Efforts to assist the poorer cohort rely on debt generation, which wholeharted unsustainable. The fact that British politics has become less about the policies and more about the spin and propaganda has resulted in a massive cash requirement meaning that parties have to satisfy the more wealthy cohort to ensure that the cash is there come election time.

It's shame that a country with a rich vein of political talent over tha ges, has become reduced to a second tier USA.

I lost alot of faith in British politics the day Tony Benn stepped down from the commons. He was one of the last true politicians, who tried in the 70's to reverse the decline of public services, and create a better place for standard briton, and had fight for it.

I'll have more faith in British politics when a proper socialist party emerges.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Is that a "when" really, though?

Wales and Scotland both do better with slightly more left wing traditions and inclinations so even your labour parties have some recollection of where their roots are. Here in england we got nobody interested in looking out for the majority. Which seems ridiculous, given who does the voting.

[bunting.livejournal.com]

I think it is a when really. The traditional socialist labour split from the liberals and formed a good socialist group. There are already grumbles of a left wing socialist cohort within the commons displeased with all of the parties represented.

I see it as something that will emerge post-labour government. I imagine Hilary Benn will have alot to do with it.

My problem is that modern politics has become so bland that regardless of party in government it will be the same output, on the whole. Worst of all, people don't really want to do anything about it, and at worst, can't even be bothered to vote.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

The blandness seems like something increasingly anodyne and yet it is deeply sinister- a systematic disempowerment of the british public by rendering them utterly disinterested so the ruling elite can get on with their own activities without having to worry about public accountability.

[spirithorse21.livejournal.com]

Wow. I didn't realize that your situation was so similar to ours. I thought Britain was doing a better job than that.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

We were, once.

Turns out, politicians are politicians whatever background they come from and they all bow to the same masters behind the curtain.

[spirithorse21.livejournal.com]

They're filthy little buggers like that. :-/

Sometimes I wonder if things would be better if we had younger politicians. I don't just mean younger, I mean that the younger ones have true influence and the ability to get things done and make a difference. Because, once they are older, they seem to fall into the same rut as everyone else. That's part of why I'm rooting for Barak Obama to be America's next president. I think his young age just might be an advantage, but of course, only time will reveal to actual truth.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Interestingly our local MP said to my parents when he was talking to them that wanting more green policies was relatively non-partisan but very much generational- the younger MPs wanted to do more to look out for the environment, the older ones had other concerns.

He belongs to the wrong party, but he's not a bad MP as far as I can tell.

[life-of-tom.livejournal.com]

I reckon British party politics has turned into a pointless soap opera where two sides are presenting the same policies- We seem to have politics in the same way that two people going for the big promotion in an office is politics. There's a job spec, those who want the job spend a lot of time making themselves look like the right person for the job and talking about efficiency, and there's never any real possibility of change. It's sad.

It's interesting what you say about public transport- up here we do actually seem to have a really good system- buses that are cheap, and plentiful. I wouldn't be surprised if that was a lot to do with the fact that the Tories never really got a hold on power up here, and so Scottish Labour didn't get so terminally terrified of losing to them that they blanded out entirely. The Nationalists are taking this even further, now- they've decided what has to happen is that all the roads of Edinburgh should be dug up and made into tram lines. This seems to have a lot to do with the Nationalists wanting a success to parade when they're up for re-election, more than anything else. It is nice to see that public transport can actually work, though. I didn't realise Buses could be useful and reliable things until I moved up here.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

Apparently Ken Livingston has done something similar- every pound he gets from the Congestion Charge goes directly into public transport. That is pretty awesome.

I think most cities do it a lot better than most rural areas, mostly because it's possible to do it better in a city.

[stu-the-elder.livejournal.com]

You're a musical man.. the time sounds ripe for a side project in the vein of the Three Johns (but oviously not with the same sound)..

Three Crumps sound any good?

- Crumpwright

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

I'm working on it now. I've got the artist name, the album name, even half a song written and a whole lot of concept. I could use a knowledgeable keyboard player with a decent goth image, mind.

[glenatron.livejournal.com]

In terms of genre I'm wavering between doom-ragga and helldisco with just a hint of handbag industrial for good measure. In attitude it will be music for arms fairs, "First We Take Manhattan", "End Of The World News", "Everything's Cool" and "The Future" are obvious reference points in terms of lyrical content. I'm experimenting with synthesizers and ways of making the most brutal noises I can squeeze out of them. It's entertaining but progress is slow.

[stu-the-elder.livejournal.com]

I'll add the Johns' "The World By Storm" to that list of influences.. you can hear them taking the piss at http://www.emusic.com/album/The-Three-Johns-Live-In-Chicago-MP3-Download/10827249.html thanks to the preview tracks. I particularly recommend their mangling of Madge.. McDonna..

- Crumpwright :D