CALEDONIAN COMMENT

In the UK the Conservative opposition finance spokesman, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (pictured above – he’s not delivering his speech in the street, that’s the backdrop to the stage of his party’s annual conference) announced yesterday that if elected a Conservative government would impose a 1-year pay freeze on over 4 million public servants earning more than £18,000  a year as he vowed to tackle Britain’s debt crisis. Mr Osborne  also said he would reverse the effects of the government’s move to end tax relief on pension funds, would abolish the national child trust fund for the rich and remove tax credits from families earning more than £50,000. And he warned that he “reserved the right” (which means he won’t) to tax bankers’ pay further if their bonuses got out of hand. The pay freeze “is the equivalent to saving 100,000 public sector jobs”, Osborne claimed and went on : “I say to every public sector worker: it is the best way to try to protect your job during this period. We are all in this together,” he expostulated, in a rare moment of mock communion with the peasants he seeks to rule.

Yeah sure. We’ve now had 3 party conferences in the last 3 weeks and all of them have told us how bad things are – if not how it was politicians and their banking friends that caused it. But as usual, their targets for cuts are mis-directed. It’s not the low-paid classroon assistant, garbage collector or school meal lady that should be penalised. It’s the council Chief Executives earning £250 grand a year – the £100 grand a year Heads of Department – the “Diversity Officers” –  the “Lesbian Creche Co-Ordinators” – the “Inclusivity Monitors” - the “Ethnic Transexual Social Workers” – the “Recycling Compliance Officers” – it’s all that crowd of no-good jobsworths that needs removed – and nobody would miss them at all. And there hasn’t been a word from any party on the massive public spending of £100 billion to prop up greedy banks, followed by another £175 billion in Quantatitive Easing (QE) which has also disappeared into banks’ coffers and never seen the light of day again. That money could finance a hell of a lot of public sector workers who don’t rip off the country with fat bonuses.

But as usual our politicians – all of them, regardless of party – grasp the strategy but fail dismally when it comes to thinking through meaningful tactics. So Mr Osborne’s speech, like the ones from other parties in the preceeding weeks, is yet another pathetic example of an incompetent politician trying to formulate policy “on the hoof”. All these mediocrities are equally naive and ineffectual as they compete with each other in their puerile “My cuts are bigger than your cuts” schoolboy contest. Maybe if some of them (or indeed ANY of them) had work experience in the REAL world instead of being nothing but professional windbags we’d get some coherent policies instead of juvenile one-upmanship with no real substance.

 

The leaders and policy-makers (if there are any) at the Conservative Party annual conference have urged their delegates to be “humble” and to avoid being “complacent” in order not to offend the public. In particular, they’ve been advised to appear “frugal and restrained” during this recession when the ordinary voter is feeling the pinch, particularly when their party leaders are making speeches telling us how many government spending cuts they’d introduce if elected. But if these Conservative activists (pictured above), who were seen partying hard at the bar in Manchester’s Midland Hotel are any guide, the advice isn’t being taken too seriously. As usual with these people it’s ”don’t do as we do – do as we say”. What a bunch of hypocritical bastards these politicians are.

 

The former head of the British Army yesterday accused the government of making British forces in Afghanistan fight “with one arm tied behind their backs” by refusing a request for an extra 2,000 troops. General Sir Richard Dannatt (pictured above), who stepped down from his post in August, castigated Downing Street for not giving enough support in terms of men and equipment to the increasingly troubled Coalition war effort. An outspoken commander whose frankness sometimes irritates the government, Sir Richard has spoken before of his frustration with the government. Now no longer head of the army – he has been succeeded by General Sir David Richards – Dannatt has dropped the diplomatic niceties and said : “If you’re going to conduct an operation, you’re doing it for one reason – to succeed. Don’t let’s do it with one arm tied behind one’s back.” Well, taking the poor state of the equipment our brave lads have to contend with as well, that must mean that both hands are tied behind their backs. The sooner we pull out of there, the better.

 

A prominent African Roman Catholic cardinal says there is no reason why the next Pope couldn’t be black, particularly following the election of US President Barack Obama. Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana (pictured above) is playing an important role in guiding a 3-week meeting at the Vatican on the challenges of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa. At a news conference the cardinal was asked whether he thought the time was right for a black Pope, especially in light of Obama’s election. ‘Why not?’  Turkson replied. He argued that every man who agrees to be ordained as a priest has to be willing to be a Pope, and is given training along the way as bishop and cardinal. “All of that is part of the package.” Perhaps if the cardinal stopped putting himself forward as a potential candidate to replace former Hitler Youth and Nazi anti-aircraft gunner Pope Benedict XVI, and instead concentrated his energies of tackling the poverty, ignorance, AIDS and child molestation that his corrupt church instigates, the members of his deluded flock might be better served.

 

As the recession continues in Ireland and the government there tries to plug the black hole in the country’s public’s finances, a school in Cork, which declares itself strapped for cash, has asked its pupils to bring in their own lavatory paper (above). Parents with children at St John’s Girls’ national school, in Carrigaline, County Cork, received the request last week. The school’s Principal, Catherine O’Neill, wrote: “Dear parent, from time to time we will request your daughter to bring in a toilet roll to her class teacher. These rolls will be specifically for your daughter’s class and will be dispensed by the class teacher. We would also request that your daughter has tissues in her sack at all times.” Time was when the Celtic Tiger was flush.

 

Tiny pigs the size of coffee cups (pictured above) are the latest UK pet craze. The Micro-Pigs have become so popular that they’re now very hard to get hold of and can cost up to £700 each. They’re much smaller than a standard farm pig – even when fully grown they weigh only about 50 pounds and stand 14 inches tall. They can live for up to 18 years, are quiet, low-maintenance and “surprisingly clean”. At £700 that’s a very expensive bacon sandwich. Surely even a rabid Islamic fundamentalist couldn’t be offended by such porcine cuteness ? Mind you, Osama the cat doesn’t look too impressed !

-

Tags: afghanistan, barack obama, british army, cardinal peter kodwo appiah turkson, carrigaline, catherine o'neill, celtic tiger, conservative party, cork, county cork, george osborne, ghana, hitler youth, ireland, manchester, micro pigs, midland hotel, nazi, pope benedict xvi, public sector cuts, qe, roman catholic church, sir richard dannatt, sis david richards, st johns girls school, toilet rolls, uk, us, vatican

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 12:02 am and is filed under Daily Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.