Why do we accept this?

Every year we accept more and more cuts because we’ve a government which says they are needed. It’s the deficit you see, we have to make these cuts, continue austerity because of the deficit.

Yes, all well and good but, why suddenly now are we concerned about a deficit?

We’ve had deficits this high many times in our history and no government worried about it because, it sorts itself out over time. Generally they happen because of large public sector spending projects, investment for the future which eventually pays back but, not this time. Now we are borrowing to get out of debt whilst dismantling the backbone of the country. Huge cuts to the NHS and Police are starting to show. Literally people are dying because of it. Gang Culture, knife crime, 8 hour plus on an A&E trolley. 

People seem to think that the NHS is really OK, that claims to the contrary are just a myth, sadly not the case. They are very real. Factual reports of people dying whilst waiting to see a doctor in A&E exist and becoming more common. Anyone visiting A&E now from an ambulance will have the experience of seemingly endless waits on a trolley conveyor belt in corridors before ever seeing a doctor. Once they get ‘admitted’ they are left waiting a great many hours again waiting for a ward bed.

Police numbers have been hugely cut. The Tories tell us this is not the reason crime is escalating, it is, apparently, drug use and social media. All the criminals need is to be shown a better path to choose, nothing to do with lack of police at all.

 

 

Fuel at the pumps are at record highs. Our government has no incentive to tackle the issue because they have so much tax collected on every litre, the more the base price, the more tax they collect and, what does this tax get spent on? You’d think the roads, I mean, it makes sense right the same as the revenue from road tax which has also seen a huge rise recently but, let’s just look at the roads …

Not a pretty site and, we laugh about it and tell jokes but, it’s not a joke at all, not really. If the money raised from motoring is not spent on making sure we have safe, quality roads, where is it going?

The problem with roads like this is that they cost motorists more money with increased repairs, it can’t be good for emergency vehicles either!

 

National Minimum Wage is being increased but nothing is done to close the loopholes which allow companies not to pay it. Let’s end zero hour contracts unless they are genuinely working and, it’s easy to tell the abusers. If a person regularly does 30+ hours a week then, they are not genuinely on zero hours, they are doing 30+ hours a week so give them a contract which reflects that and stop messing about. Large companies like Tesco put their staff on tiny hours, maybe just 10 or ll hours a week core hours yet they regularly do 40+. But, because of their low core hours, when they take annual leave they get just those few small hours paid. When it suits them, such as January, Tesco cuts the hours right back giving a 75% cut in salary to staff. Other retailers are not investing, no doubt scared of an uncertain future with cuts. With the lack of investment, with the low wages paid to staff they become vulnerable and, we know where they leads

Yes, countless companies, retails the most easily noticed, are going bankrupt under this government unable to keep going in a climate of uncertainty where low pay seems to be the obvious answer. Reality check here is, if you treat staff badly then what you get is bad staff. When the staff respect their employer they will do willingly what their employer needs often more than their contract asks for but, under pay staff, inflict loopholes on them to reduce their pay packet and the employees have no respect for their employer and it all goes belly up.

Some of these stores have gone bankrupt because of issues with their parent company in the USA but, they were all set up that the stores in other countries should still be viable if the conditions are right whereas, clearly in the UK of 2018, they are not right.

Rich Conservative donors are allowed to run their company into the ground with pensioners losing out, staff made redundant and, they keep their knighthood, such is the way this country of ours works. For the people at the top there is no reason to act responsibly because there are no consequences. 

So many of the bosses in the UK are actually tax exiles, they don’t pay UK tax at all, they’ve no responsibility to this country or the people of this country. It is proof, were it needed, that the Conservative argument of top down property doesn’t work. The theory being that if you pay vast fortunes to the men (it nearly is always men) at the top, the profits will filter down into the workforce. Who at the bottom of the company can quote any realistic percentage comparison between their minimum wage and the £millions the boss gets?

Many CEO’s, even of local authorities, get paid more than the Prime Minister. Indeed, in my own county of Northamptonshire (effectively bankrupt and in special measures) the CEO gets in excess of £150,000 pa, about the same as the Prime Minister. The current role of SEO is vacant so the salary quoted is for the deputy position. This of a council which is failing, correction, FAILED but, this is not, apparently, down the £billions of cuts by central government, this is just bad management. Many other county councils are similarly badly managed then!

Back in the day we got our bins emptied once a week, now it is once a fortnight (2 weeks) with the latest proposals to be once every three weeks and garden waste not collected at all but a fee levied on anyone wanting to dispose of it. Huge reductions and costs yet, the council tax is going up by a lot in 2018-19. 

Every year, because the government pays less to the local authorities, they have to make cuts whether they are sustainable or not. Social Services has seen one of the biggest cuts nationwide. Many authorities now admit they do not have an effective social service department any longer and cannot fund assessed needs. Thousands of social care placements have been cut, budgets have been slashed on home care and this then bumps up the cost to the NHS as they have patients filling beds who are physically fine but have nowhere safe to go.

Spending on social housing has gone too and with house prices growing ever faster than inflation there are just not enough properties to go around. The Conservative party encourage this because they were founded on one principle, sell to the aspirations of the working man. Get people owning homes and they feel they have aspired to the next class up and then become more likely to vote Conservative, the party of aspiration. The reality is, what they’ve really achieved is a nation of people in huge debt they cannot afford.

But, we maintain this illusion that the Conservative party and only them know how to protect the economy and as long as we do, everything I have mentioned above escalates and there is nothing can be done about it.

 

Wheeler Dealing

This week the mini is on eBay hopefully getting me a figure slightly more than the scrap price, what a mistake this was even though in so many ways it’s a lovely car, the darned thing don’t work! I drove it back from Luton earlier, got as far as Newport Pagnell before I admitted defeat and called out the rescue truck!

 

Next to go will be the one I will sorry to see go, the Chrysler Grand Voyager which is so ‘me’ but, it’s no good for work, too expensive to run (25 mpg).

It’s been a good workhorse and has had some nice upgrades but, needs must.

I really would have loved to have done one family trip to Disneyland in her though … maybe I’ll get another one some day!

 

 

Driving me crazy!

Still trying to, at the last minute, decide what is the best way to resolve the mini issue. I have blown £650 on a car which doesn’t work. I have been offered £125 for it scrap value. It’s currently in Luton (40 miles) and I am unable to drive it that far, it will likely not go more than 5 miles and driving with a damaged engine really isn’t overly sensible. If I get it back to Northampton I can possibly put it on eBay and make more than £125 if I get lucky. 

My plan at the moment is to drive it to the M1 and stop either ASAP or maybe at Toddington Services. I am quite convinced that if I turn it off it won’t start again. There I could potentially blag the breakdown service into bringing it home on the back of a truck. It might not make it to the M1 though, even though it’s only a couple of miles to where there is a hard shoulder and 4.5 miles to Toddington. If that is the case, we won’t be classed as an urgent call and the mechanic might just get it going and send us on our way telling us to call back when it breaks down again. (worst option),

It might, of course, blow up, that’s rather drastic but, I got to get it back home.

Now, I hear tell of products which get poured into the tank which can seal a head gasket failure. For about £40-50 that might be worth it. If it works I could sell the car as a runner and make more money, if it doesn’t, I’ve just chucked more good money at the car for no good reason. I honestly do not know what to do for the best.

Winter into Spring

One thing or another has conspired to a bit of a mess. The main issue has been my continued faith in the goodness of others. I am proud to feel that way yet, it bites me so many times when I am wrong. This last few months have been that. Companies who have not paid me or Dennis as they perhaps should have creating a huge debt for us on top of that which we already had. In my case, it lead to me making a terrible decision designed to reduce our outgoings which actually resulted in even more debt. Because the remuneration for travel time has not been forthcoming from my work to cover the costs I decided replacing my Chrysler Voyager, which I love, with a smaller, more economical car would make more sense and, to that end, I did all the research and decided upon a mini like this one:

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Alarm bells should have sounded with the price tag but I trusted the seller. He was forthcoming with the issues the car had. In his opinion there was a head gasket issue. He had spoken to the BMW dealers and they had quoted him £350 for the repair. Me, being trusting as always, took him for his word and we agreed the sale. I paid £650 and eventually got the car to the dealership for diagnostics. Long story short, they assure me that at their prices it would initially come in at least £950 assuming they found nothing else but possible way over £1000 and advised it would be an uneconomical repair. If it were just the head gasket then I think perhaps this could be done for £600 raising the total outlay at £1250. That’s still not a bad price for the car but, if it needs more I am just adding more good money to a bad situation and I personally cannot afford to take this risk.

The car was bought down in Luton and there it remains right now until I can find a way of getting it back to Northampton. I doubt it would make the journey as it barely goes a mile without over heating. But, back here it must come. My plan is to put it on eBay, warts and all, and see what happens. I can scrap it for £125 so, perhaps if I put that as a starting price I can get more, who knows, it’s what I feel is my best shot unless I know someone prepared to undertake the work for parts cost only and, I don’t think that’s a fair ask.

To fund this mistake I need to sell the other car ASAP. So, I have had to borrow some money to buy a third car I can use for work whilst I sell the other two. Hopefully, unless the planets are conspiring against me, I can make enough money back to cover the mess, if not then we’re screwed really. 

I am going to buy the most reliable car I can find for the price. It’s impossible to know what the future of a car will be but, hopefully it will work out this time.

This one will come from a garage. Have a fresh MOT and I know it’s history in every respect. Yes, I did a lot more research this time!

It’s not the sexist, most racy car on the planet but, it doesn’t need to be. I also went for a manuel this time around even though I’d prefer an automatic. I am going to upgrade the in car multimedia and navigation too as I need something for the amount of hours I spend at the wheel every day.

With each mess like this our travelling around Europe and getting back to the Philippines for Christmas seems less likely. I want that to happen so much. Worse yet, whilst I’ve been sorting out this mess I have been spending less and less time with Dennis and that makes me really miserable as well.

Today I was on my second call when a migraine hit and it totally floored me. I had to cut short my day and because I’d made myself Mr Unreliable, the company quite rightly covered all my shifts for tomorrow so I have lost even more money in lost work.

Am in need of a U-Turn on our fortunes I think, life isn’t being very OK about this.