Bad Government - conclusions

So here we are – over the last thirty years and more we have seen our manufacturing industries and our scientific base steadily eroded and many of our national assets disposed of.

Our society has become progressively more unequal with the national wealth being concentrated into the hands of fewer people.

We have been swamped with immigrants and it is anticipated that due to birth rates and further immigration our population will increase by a further 8million by 2040 – that implies we will need to build additional towns equivalent to the size of Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff put together.

Privatisation has been expanded to extremes, further than any other developed nation, including the USA.  This does not appear to have brought any benefit to the consumer or the taxpayer, but it has resulted in many people getting lower pay in order to put money into the pockets of the entrepreneurs.  The railways are a total shambles.

Our education system has been constantly tampered with as has our NHS whilst the professional staff have been struggling to maintain standards throughout the upheavals.

We have a chronic housing shortage.

We have fought wars that have had dubious causes, that have cost many lives and a great deal of our money.

Our governments have dithered over decisions such as whether or not to have nuclear power, a third runway at Heath Row, a high speed rail etc, when what needed to be done was obvious, but they have been afraid of upsetting pressure groups and of lobbying from vested interests such that it might just tip the balance at an election.

We are in debt and our ability to get out of it whilst maintaining our high standard of living is looking less and less likely.

Things are not getting any better with the current government, we get half baked ideas pouring out from our government that are often subsequently changed.

Someone invented a word for it ‘omni-shambles’.

Our nation that was one of the great parliamentary democracies has been discredited by self-serving politicians.  The freedom of the press, that is supposed to safeguard our democracy, has been shown to be corrupt, there is even evidence of police corruption and the banks and the City, pillars of our society, with a reputation to be above corruption, have been shown to be avaricious and totally dishonest.

Surely it is a record of gross incompetence and betrayed trust.

If we look at our politicians today our situation is, perhaps, not too surprising.  Over the last thirty years a political system has evolved totally dictated by party politics in which all participants are professional politicians from a political class with little or no experience in the real world.  They are  only interested in power but not competent to exercise it.  Our current PM’s only experience outside of politics was in public relations, the Chancellor’s only ‘job’ (?)was when he worked for the Tory party, the Foreign Secretary has only ever been a politician as has the Home Secretary.

When a young woman with a degree in English Literature, just three years experience as a junior in an international consulting firm and two years working for the conservatives, can be elected to parliament for the first time and then be appointed as a Treasury Minister within less than two years, is it any wonder that things are in a mess?

Unfortunately if the people do not respect the government they will not respect the laws they make, they will be even less likely to pay their taxes and corruption will spread to every level.

Is there any way out of this situation?

Ron Watts