What a choice if there is a UK election!

What choice if ther is a UK election soon. On the one hand Boris Johnson and on the other John McDonnell.
Boris is a maverick who concentrates on Brexit while promising the earth. He gives the impression that he knows what is going on but stumbles over some of the simplest things. He opens his mouth without thinking.
I deliberately did not say Jeremy Corbin but John McDonnell. He is the dangerous man behind the figurehead. He is the politician who wants to turn the UK into another Venezuela! How daft can one get. His policy regarding the rich is designed to give people the incentive to leave. How can we live with an unreconstructed Marxist as chanceller? A question that has to be asked is when has a Marxist government been successful? Wealth has to be created before there can be redistribution.
Of course, the wealthy are partly to blame for moves to set up a left wing government. Many rich people boast of having paid hardly any income tax. They set up tax avoidance schemes. The ordinary tax payer pays their tax and wonders how these people get away with it. In addition executives of companies give themselves msssive pay rises while keeping the wages low. No wonder they are angry.

No deal Brexit.

it is now becoming obvious what I suspected after Mrs May announced her agreement with the EU on leaving deal. One of the main dangers was there would be pressure for a United Ireland. Whether the Irish government and the EU set out to accomplish this is open to question. They both deny there was ever any objective along these lines but there must be a strong possibility. Scotland is similarly poised to look for independence. Even in Wales there are muttering about independence. Is this what the hard Brixeters wanted? We will have to see!

Disadvantaged children and school.

Listening to the news gives me pause for thought. It sounds as though all the schools need is more resources and they can solve the problem of disadvantaged children catching more affluent in educational attainment. From my experience that is not the whole picture. There has to be a change in attitude of many parents concerning learning. There is still a feeling among many working class parents in this country that education is a wast of time. I have heard it said many times the best thing is to get out of school and trying to earn some money. Then the children find their aspirations thwarted by a lack of qualifications and they have few options than crime.
It is still a boast by many working class men that they have never read a book. How depressing to live in a house with no books and no culture. Maybe some of the money should be used to educate parents.
In my novel about growing up and becoming upwardly mobile An Ordinary Life, Caroline says to Tom,  “ Tom Houseman, no matter what you and your brother might say, you were never working class. No don’t protest because I expect you know what I mean. Your parents made sure that the two of you were always striving to better yourselves. As far as I can recall, there was never any talk of either of you getting a working job. You were very well mannered and ate off china plates with linen table clothes. Your mother would have nothing to do with the man selling things on tick. No you were not working class. You might be left wing labour but you are not working class socialists.”

            Tom laughed. “ You might be right, I suppose. Working class and middle class are not about money but about attitudes to the way life should be lived. My Dad was left wing labour but his politics were grounded in the trades union movement far more than in political parties. He wanted workers rights and a fairer share of the financial cake. He actually thought the same way as Mike Pearce about workers earning the wealth and therefore having a right to a bigger share but he was not so dogmatic about nationalisation.”
So part of the trouble is low aspirations of the society around these children making it difficult to rise above their background.
Buy An Ordinary Life by Edmund Gubbins from Amazon or download to electronic devises like kindle.

Wealth creation and poverty

Listening to a leader of business telling us that ordinary people are not happy with business almost made me laugh. Watching  the debate by the Conservative candidates for leader of the Tory party and ultimately Prime Minister of the U K reinforced the impression that Tory politicians and business leaders do not know what life is like for ordinary people. Tax cuts for the rich by the politicians, large pay rises for the business leaders and others like Vice Chancellors of universities by those at the top. The majority of people would not be angry with those at the top if they thought there was a fair share out of the wealth. That is not the case. The working person has been screwed while those at the top use their position to enhance their wealth. Don't tell me there are renumeration committees to vet the pay rises. These committees are made up of a small circle of the same people. It is you scratch my back I will scratch yours.
What most people realise is that wealth has to be created before it can be shared out. Those at the top have to realise that they must make their contribution and not use every devious means to reduce their tax burden. If they are not careful they will let happen the very thing which they most fear a very left wing Labour govern,net.
This is illustrated in my novel An Odinary Life with this extract. This is from the 1980's but the same is being discussed today.
Mike stayed, " In a small country, we cannot afford to let the skills and expertise fade away. If we could only truly politicise the working class so that all became active, they  would take over the unions and make them do what the true working class want the unions to do. That is push for a socialist society. From a position of strength in the unions, ordinary people could then move into the ward and Constituency Labour Parties. I reckon the only way to save the Labour Party from the disaster of another election defeat is to start putting in place a Marxist agenda. There is a newspaper called Militant which argues this.”

         “ That is not the way,” Tom put in softly. “ We have to create wealth. My brand of socialism has always been about how we use the wealth to create equality rather than the state running everything. Like you Mike, I fail to see how anybody can justify earning one hundred times more than the ordinary worker but we have to create wealth before we can embark on a socialist agenda. The rich and more fortunate in society have to be convinced that taxes are a way of encouraging the poor and disadvantaged to better themselves.”

         “ In order to create wealth for the whole of society we have to encourage people to take risks and keep a great proportion of their wealth,” Edward shrugged eloquently. “ What is most important, as Tom said, is how we then use the wealth created. There has to be an element of redistribution within the system but more important is that everyone has access to a good health service no matter how rich they are. In addition, the education system should be funded so that every child has a chance to fulfil their potential.”

         “ You would say that, Edward Houseman,” Mike almost shouted. “ You have wealth and a high standard of living. You never have to think about where the next penny is coming from. Your wife never has to make choices between whether to feed all the family small portions or whether to go without herself so that her husband and children will get enough.  There is a lot of poverty out there which the world does not see. All poor people are not slovenly. Some struggle to put on the best outward appearance they can to the world. It is these people we have to help and letting the stinking rich keep more of their earnings is not going to help these people.”

         “ Will it help the poor people of this country if we tax all the rich people to such an extent that they take their wealth and talent abroad and do not pay any taxes at all?” Edward put to Mike bluntly. “ People with wealth spend their money here which helps with employment. We have to stay true to our Labour Party principles while finding a way which allows people to make money while helping those at the bottom of the heap.”

         “ Rubbish!” Mike shot back equally bluntly. “ The wealth of this country is made by those who work with their skilled hands. Could your average managing director make something from a block of metal? Could they stand the heat of the shop floor? Militant newspapers says that we should do away with the management classes as they stand and run our factories by workers councils."
We are once more back to the morality of the rich.
An Ordinary Life by Edmund Gubbins available from Amazon as paperback or Kindle to download as an ebook.

Avoiding taxes

Reading the newspaper the other day and my eyes were drawn to an article tucked away on an inside page. A millionaire was found to have earned what to most people was a fortune but had only paid thirty two pounds in tax. To most people this is monstrous. He and his advisors assured the public that it was perfectly legal and he had done nothing wrong. I thought at the time tell that to all the hard working people who pay their taxes before they get their salary or wage.
It might be legal though in some cases that is stretching the definition of legal to its limits. There is however a moral question. He takes advantage of all that taxes pays for without making any contribution. How does he think there are police trying to protect him or the army trying to protect his country. Because people pay their taxes.
As for the NHS I suspect he does not have to use this except in an emergency. Hang on a minute. How are the emergency services paid for but through taxes? How does he live with the fact that he does not make any contribution? Next time he needs an ambulance will he pay the driver?
Finally there is the moral aspect of helping others less fortunate than oneself. I doubt he ever thinks of this. It is a measure of how civilised a society is to share the burden around in the form of support. It is a continued puzzle to me that those who have more than enough try to make sure they keep their wealth to themselves.

President Trump's state visit

I lay in bed with my morning mug of tea listening to the vitriolic comments from many people concerning President Trimp's visit. Now I do not like President Trump both in the way he conducts himself or his policies. That is not the point. He is here as the Head of Sate of the USA and should be given all the pageantry that entails.
We gave a state visit with pomp and ceremony to the Chinese leader. He does not have to put himself in front of the people. He is so unsure of his position he will not allow anybody to critisise him or his rageme. There is no free press or free judiciary. His cronies kill people. On this anniversary of Tinnemin Square we should remember all this.
For all his faults, Trump will have to put himself forward to face the people. He holds press conferences and faces questioning. There is a free press who question his policies and his judgement. He can be held to account.
If we can give a state visit to the Chinese Leader why all the fuss about President Trump? As I say, he is here as the head of state. How can the speaker of the House of Commons refuse him an address to both Houses of Parliament when that privilege was given to the Chineses leader?

Global warming

I was lying in bed with my morning mug of tea listening to the radio when an item on global warming had a speaker who mentioned the growing population. It struck a cord with me. I have been saying for a long time that one of the biggest problems facing the world is the number of babies being born and adding to the population. As the population increases so does the use of fuels which add to global warming. There is a strong case for spending some of the development money on education about birth control.
There should be a concerted effort to get the leaders of the worlds religions to make population growth halting one of their priorities. I know this will be hard for them but it has to be accomplished. Whenever there are news reports from refugee camps one of the things which stands out is the number of children. Less people less pollution.
Come on you politicians try to address this question.