Tax Cuts for the 'Rich', Debt Slavery for the 'Majority' and Wage Slavery for the 'Poor'

The Government has openly demonstrated that we are definitely "not all in this together" again today, as it delivered a "budget for multi-millionaires" ... 'cloaked' with a great deal of spin.

First of all the Government coalition, mostly made up of multi-millionaires (e.g. Osborne, Cameron and Clegg), are taking more money away from the elderly, hard-working and poor (by removing more of their tax related benefits/allowances) ... and giving it to the rich (i.e. by cutting the 50% top rate of tax for incomes over £150,000).

In trying to justify removing the 50% rate, the Government used the argument that rich people, prior to its initial introduction (2009-10), had 'moved' a total of £16-18bn of their income into a previous tax year to avoid paying the increased rate. However this is effectively little more than spin, as this was a one-off opportunity for them to be able to avoid the tax increase (and one they couldn't use again). Worse still, the rich will be able to effectively defer pay into the future in order to avoid the 50% tax rate again now too ... what spin and hypocrisy, and what a failure of opposition/media if they fail to properly point this out (nb Ed Balls has attempted to do this today, but he's unfortunately 'damaged goods' and his attempt was also poor)!

The second argument the Government used was they that are balancing this tax cut by imposing increased stamp duty on the purchase of expensive properties ... but for rich people not looking to buy lots of expensive properties (e.g. Osborne, Cameron and Clegg!) this is great ... as they will not be subjected to this tax at all and will therefore be the big winners - receiving a massive windfall/tax cut (worth £3bn annually).

Not surprisingly absolutely nothing is being done to introduce a tax on land (i.e. a Land Value Tax - a yearly rent on land - not a one off sale tax on property), which is by far the best way of taxing wealth/ unearned income (as by design the ultra-rich cannot avoid it) and a way of progressively moving away from taxing work/jobs. Failure to do this will mean people continue to see effective cuts to pay/allowances, the slashing of public services, and debt slavery for the vast majority (e.g. due to the high costs of housing and the introduction of tuition fees).

And what about the poor? ... well any benefits/support are being slashed ... and people are being driven to work for large private corporations for no extra pay (or lose their benefits) ... which effectively means they are being made to work for £1.50/hour - a small fraction (less than a quarter) of the national minimum wage (which should effectively be illegal)! 

And for the poor it's wage slavery, and if they (and/or indeed the 'middle-class') choose to protest ... well, as raised in previous posts, this Government is looking to arm the police with tear gas, water cannons and tasers, in readiness for potential riots (i.e. turning the police into a para-military force in order to protect themselves, and their rich friends)!

What an unfair, undemocratic, and immoral place the UK is turning into ...

NB Given the lack of democracy, and the level of dictatorship, shown by the Government ... with their pushing through of damaging NHS reforms, with no electoral mandate and despite outright opposition from every professional group, ... doctors are now saying that they are going to stand for election against these immoral hypocritical politicians, due to an absence of any real alternative for people to vote for ...

Destruction of the NHS ... and 'a mockery of democracy'

The current Government are hell-bent on destroying the NHS ... a NATIONAL health service set up in 1948 by Aneurin Bevan and created out of the ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of any wealth, and based upon three core principles:

* that it meet the needs of everyone
* that it be free at the point of delivery
* that it be based on clinical need, not ability to pay.

Prior to gaining office the Conservative party deliberately kept secret their radical plans for the NHS from the people of this country. Their plans for the NHS were cooked up by Lansley over many years in opposition, and yet they failed to tell the people anything about their plans prior to the election (as no-one would have trusted them, and no-one would have voted for them)! 

Worse still, the Conservatives continually lied and made use of copious amounts of spin (nb David Cameron is only trained in PR) to persuade the country that they could be trusted with the NHS and that the "NHS would be safe in their hands". What irony and hypocrisy. The NHS reforms introduced by this manipulative Government therefore had no mandate from the electorate, and on entering Government they have consistently (and deliberately) circumvented any democratic right/process. In summary, they have made a 'mockery of democracy'.

And what about their continual spin ... that the NHS is 'Safe in their Hands?' What a joke! On being told by the Information Commissioner (and the High Court) to publish the risk register associated with these reforms, the Government have steadfastly refused to do so, whilst continuing to rail-road the reforms through.

The reforms are highly toxic and designed to deliberately destroy the very foundations/principles of the NHS. They open the doors to mass profiteering, by commissioning groups as well as private providers, which will taking money out of the system that would have otherwise been spent on healthcare. 

They will also destroy the 'doctor-patient' relationship and any trust patients have in their doctors, due to clear conflicts of interest (made clear by the Royal College of GP's) that have not been addressed! Doctors will now have to balance any diagnostic decision (and any decisions about subsequent treatment) with reduced budgets and a new found ability to profiteer (e.g. from withholding/limiting any diagnoses/care provided). The reforms deliberately try to bribe GP's to ration healthcare (e.g. by offering them bonuses for doing so). Yet despite this, the vast majority of GP's directly oppose the bill and want to see it dropped, some out of 'principle', and some from the fact that they know they are going to effectively become a scapegoat and the focus of people's anger (as people realise that care is effectively being withheld by them, unless they can afford to pay). 

Indeed, this Government has been careful to deflect any blame on the future lack of healthcare provision away from themselves and onto local groups (a divide and rule strategy). GP's are clearly the main target but the Government have also effectively removed the world NATIONAL from the term 'National Health Service', as there will no longer be a national standard for the type, or level, of care offered across the country (with no-one taking overall responsibility for this). This will result in a "post code lottery" health service; destroying the concept/principles of a NATIONAL health service ... And if anyone thinks they'll be able to simply move doctors if they're not happy, think again, as the Government have not allowed this (you will effectively have to move house to change your GP surgery - and even then, it will still depend on you being able to find a different, and more caring, commissioning group)!

If offered treatment, patients are also seeing waiting times dramatically increase, with Government officials desperately trying to remove any remaining waiting time measures/targets (n.b. people are also seeing appointments offered, but repeatedly cancelled too). Increasing waiting times are also a crucial (but toxic and hidden) ingredient of these reforms, as they are needed to pressurize people into paying for health insurance and/or paying to queue jump (NB they will now be able to jump the queue, as NHS hospitals will be able to allocate up to 49% of their time/resources to those who pay, and those willing/able to pay will be treated first, by exactly the same NHS doctors and nurses ... which in turn will make waiting lists/times even longer).

This destroys the very foundations of the NHS, in that healthcare should be "based on clinical need and not the ability to pay". With these reforms this will clearly not be the case in the future. Indeed, it is noticeable that Government ministers are always careful not to use this particular phrase when defending their reforms, and only say the NHS is about care still being 'free at the point of delivery'.

With the destruction of the core principles of the NHS, what we are seeing is the dismantling of the NHS ... and a list of 'the guilty', who should be charged with 'crimes against humanity', can be found below, along with their respective roles:

David Cameron, for his lies, deceit and hypocrisy. Andrew Lansley, for cooking up this immoral plan to destroy the NHS. Both parties are guilty of pressing on regardless, ignoring fundamental issues/concerns raised by every healthcare professional group, and systematically manipulating/ circumventing democratic processes (e.g. publication of the risk register).

 

Nick Clegg, for allowing these reforms to progress at all (with no electoral mandate) and forcing Liberal Democrats to ignore all concerns/principles in order to vote for these reforms. Shirley Williams for selling her soul to help Clegg and switching from 'protector' to 'cheerleader' (NB Lord Owen, a previous Democrat along-side Shirley Williams, is still desperately trying to stop the bill without the publication of the risk register demanded by the Courts). 

 

Ed Miliband for 'throwing a sickie' and not attending a rally against NHS reforms, so he could accept a VIP invitation to watch Hull City play football instead.

Andy Burnham (and John Healey), for failing to articulate a clear (and proven) alternative to these reforms ... based on engaging and empowering the workforce to radically improve the service ... and in the process making the NHS more seamless and efficient (i.e. 'lean') ... n.b. the complete opposite of this Government's approach, which focuses on fragmenting (and destroying) the service, ignoring any advice and/ or concerns of healthcare professionals, and handing over the money to those seeking pure profit (e.g. McKinsey's, commissioning groups, insurance companies and private providers), and not those on the front-line who are passionate about the NHS and want to create better healthcare for all (i.e. the healthcare professionals).

and finally, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, for ditching socialism (in favour of crony capitalism, self-interest and 'spin') and for abandoning all the 'ordinary', hard working, people they were supposed to represent. Their failures (e.g. bank deregulation, bank bailouts and the subsequent pressure to slash public services to pay back all the resulting debt) in effect created an 'open door' for the Conservatives to step into, impose a slash and burn strategy, and blame the Labour party for having to do it! 

RIP NHS ... a casualty of self-interest and greed, and a lack of real democracy ...

and why ... well this is down to a combination of ignorance and apathy.

RIP Britain ... and watch out for impending riots.

Aristotle once said ...

"Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers"

"In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme"

Those currently in power are desperately trying to ensure that this will never happen ... and indeed the opposite remains true ... by wielding all the power at their disposal (including the deployment of paramilitary forces armed with water cannons, tear gas, tasers and plastic bullets) ... and the answer to this ... mass protest ... withdrawal of labour ... and the use of 21st century technology.

BMA rejects health reforms - for the second time!

David Cameron and Nick Clegg were quick to call their 'listening exercise' a 'success', and point out how much the NHS reform bill is being changed ... however, doctors and the BMA have been just as quick to reject it! 

In its annual conference this week the BMA overwhelmingly rejected plans to reform health and social care in England, saying the government could not be trusted.

Hamish Meldrum, head of the BMA, who recently referred to the Government's 'slash and burn' approach to NHS reform, was also quick to point out one particular area of concern ... potential conflicts of interests resulting from proposed payments to GP's (known as the 'quality premium'). 

He said the "Government's plan to reward GP's for 'doing well' in commissioning, in arranging services for their patients, will damage the trust patients have if GP's are seen to be paid for just organizing their services, or maybe, in patients minds, being paid for restricting access to services because of the financial problems" ... and went on to say "it is unnecessary and potentially damaging to pay doctors in this way".

His comments follow on from a recent debate at an annual conference of GP's, where a Bedfordshire GP said that "payment by results" was a "hideous undercurrent" in health secretary Andrew Lansley's health bill, describing it as a system that "threatens patient trust". He went on to say that if the government's plans are implemented in their current form, delicate decisions will be "corrupted by financial decisions" and would "result in no trust whatsoever between patients and doctors."

During a speech at the event, Dr Iona Heath, president of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), also said that GPs need to "badly put our house in order to acknowledge the extent of conflicts of interest pervading the context within which we work".

"We need to make it clear that there is a limit to which we will respond to ethically dubious financial incentives. Only then can we begin to provide the urgently necessary critique of the pervasiveness of financial conflicts of interests within policy making in the NHS."

Indeed so ... and well said! It is heartwarming to see there are still trustworthy honorable GP's (and doctors) prepared to expose the clear conflicts of interests and making equally clear their unacceptability (on ethical grounds) ... let's see if the Government are going to try 'listen' ... second time around !

Can we have 21st Century Democracy Now

Given the current state of Politics, and the need to engage/involve people in order to create a 21st Century democracy, the time for change is now ... and no single person(s) should/can ignore the will of the people.  Protests are growing demanding change and this will continue to increase until change happens.  It's a referendum we need, giving people real choice, not yet another hand selected committee to pontificate for years and whose conclusions are only ignored in the end anyway.  

Groups such as Power2010 and Take Back Parliament lobbied Politicians in London today, handed in a petition, demanding change and for Nick Clegg not to 'sell out' (to those who are used to Power and misuse that Power).  Clegg came out to talk to the groups, and made it clear he came into to Politics to reform Politics.  Let's hope he continues to demonstrate 21st Century values (e.g. Trust, Honor, Respect), staying strong and true to his word ... and taking responsibility for heralding in a new 21st Century democracy.

To Petition the New Prime Minister you can sign the e-petition requesting People Democracy here too (open for signing once they take office).

Potential and Fairness

To release "potential" and "give everyone chance to live the life they want" ... we need to "take power away from those who hoard it, to challenge vested interests, to break down privilege, to clear out the bottlenecks that block opportunity and block progress" ... and the simple word behind all these ... "fairness", a message Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader made clear today as he launched his parties' manifesto (a plan to "hard-wire" fairness into British society) ... which includes 4 steps to a fairer Britain, including 

i) fair taxes (e.g. by introducing a £10,000 tax-free allowance)

ii) a fair future (e.g. creating jobs by making Britain greener)

iii) a fair chance for every child (e.g. by reduced class sizes)

iv) a fair deal (e.g. by cleaning up politics & introducing a fairer voting system).  

He also highlighted the need for trust, stating in detail where taxes will have to rise to pay for tax cuts (as well as to cut the deficit).   With the "Seven Principles of Public Life" in mind (which all UK Politicians are meant to sign up to  - see above picture) straight forward honesty is key. Speaking at the same event, Lib Dem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the issue of the deficit had to be "confronted" ... but said Labour and the Conservatives had "banished" the subject from their manifestos. 

With trust in politicians at an all time low the Liberal Democrats were one of the few parties wanting to tackle this head on (nb they do not have disgraced MP's currently heading to Court and trying to use 'parliamentary privilege', as well as taxpayer's money to pay for their defence), with the Liberal Democrats leading the way during the expenses scandals but getting little support from the other parties (they all wanted to go off on their long summer break and/or stop it by changing the Freedom of Information Act).  

21st century leadership and management will fundamentally change how enterprises operate, how economies will prosper, and how successful democracies will work in the future ... it will also change people's lives for the better ... by challenging the misuse of Power*, releasing  'potential' and creating a "fairer" society ... are we about to see this occur at little faster in the UK ...?

We shall see in the next few weeks ...


* Poweromics = People using position and power for their own personal gain, based on poor moral values, self interest and greed. 

Masters or Servants?

Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat party leader, unveiled five proposals to control "the bonus culture" in the City. Clegg said there should be "no rewards for failure" and called for a "top-to-toe" overhaul of the British banking system (including an end to "morally obscene" salaries and bonuses).

"The problem started with the banks so the solution must start with the banks too," he said at the party's daily news conference yesterday, and he said the public should feel that "never again are your everyday savings held "hostage" by people in the City.

The Liberal Democrats' five-point plan to reform the banking system would:

1. Limit cash bonuses to £2,500 annually, with any bonuses in excess of this figure to be paid in shares which could not be sold for five years
2. Ban board directors from receiving bonus payouts
3. Extend the Financial Services Act so loss-making banks were not allowed to pay bonuses
4. Ensure the names of all banking employees earning more than the prime minister were published
5. Lead to directors of banks being fined if their institution broke the industry's code of practice

These five steps would "transform the culture of greed which continues to disfigure the banking industry in this country" and ensure the banking system became "the servant, not the master", Mr Clegg said.  

The party's Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, said the UK was "still in a major economic disaster" and that "The country is now poorer than it was before the banking crash and what we need to be focusing on is how we prevent it happening again” (echoing many of the posts on this blog).

Mr Clegg said it would reveal a "new approach" to a financially-stable economy, based on equity not debt, "where we learn as a country to build things again, not just bet on things on computer screens in the City" … from a leader who may well yield significant influence/power in a few weeks time this is good to hear, but he will need to think more carefully about the steps needed to successfully transition from an outdated and flawed economy (Poweromics) to a 21st century value adding economy (Leanomics) … and just like President Obama made clear, we must ensure the banks pay taxpayers every penny back (and make sure investment banks are separated from commercial/high street banking too).

In my humble opinion, Vince Cable appears to be the closest to identifying what a successful 21st century economy needs, having also hosted sessions promoting the introduction of a Land Value Tax (to replace unjust/unfair taxes) for instance. The Liberal Democrats also want to completely overhaul the archaic (19th Century) voting system, so MP’s properly represent (and are held accountable to) the people they are supposed to serve. 

If you’re relying on others to help you – good luck – you’ll need it. Labour are relying on spin and clearly cannot be trusted e.g. this week Brown stood up to tell us there will be no more income tax rises … but he said that last time, and watch out for National Insurance everyone, which is just another name for the same thing (n.b. they’ve given no guarantees on this one and Brown has also raised it before) – why did the press (e.g. the BBC) not ‘press’ him on this…?  As for the Tories, Cameron has said he wants to give people ‘power’ (e.g. by letting parents set up their own schools – more of a gimmick than a practical solution), but at the same time has no desire/interest in changing how MP’s are given power or wield (e.g. profit from) power.  Instead the Tories want to slash public spending, change inheritance tax laws to favour the rich … and would vehemently oppose changing/removing unfair taxes and replacing them with a Land Value Tax (as the Tories represent, and are heavily backed by, all the rich land owners/bankers profiting heavily from land without adding any value at all). 

The election provides an opportunity to allow a little more common sense to filter into our Economic/Political System (e.g. values, fairness, justice) and if this happens our failing economy may actually start to turn around.  If it does not it will simply continue its downward spiral (don’t be fooled by any apparent ‘recovery’ – as the Government simply postponed all the ‘pain’ until after the election) until the situation gets so dire that people finally decide to do something about it – but at this stage it’ll probably be too late to successfully turn things around (NB I do not support any political party and like most people hold the vast majority of MP’s in contempt – however I do care about people’s future, the state of the economy and the level of democracy in the UK).

Let’s see what the next few weeks hold …

As the Titanic sinks - will the 'Captain' take a nap ?

With the chaos engulfing the UK economy, the fiasco of MP's expenses, and the total lack of trust in Politicians & Parliament, is now really a good time for them to take a long holiday and hope it all blows away ? 

Anyone who applies Leanomics* would so 'NO', but those who apply Poweromics** will see it as a great idea ... let's see what happens ...

Nick Clegg has already made his position clear ... by saying to "cancel MP's holidays" and to "barr the gates of Westminster until the crisis has been sorted out",  ... he has also set out a clear plan of action ...

Who'll be next to state their position ... the 'Captain' perhaps ?

* Leanomics = People taking responsibility for adding value and continuously improving the situation for others (e.g. customers, communities, overall environment), based upon fundamental values such as trust, honor, responsibility and respect.

** Poweromics = People using position and power for their own personal gain, based on poor moral values, self interest and greed.

Posted on the Panorama blog Is Your MP Working for you?  No 4 (leanomist)