Labour's Youth tax

Today has been a day of mild confusion for me. I've read the link so kindly given to me by Medway Labour with Ed's announcement of the removal of jobs seeker's allowance for under 21s. It says a lot but also not much.

I agree that the benefit system is bloated and needs redress. I know that the budget is shafted and there are cuts that have gone the wrong way such as the cuts to the Coastguard. I also agree that we need to get people out of the benefit trap.

There is, however some serious issues with Labour's new policy. Overall unemployment is down (last I checked) and the overall number of Apprenticeships are up with Coalition policies to encourage large companies to take on people. However there is, naturally, a saturation point where no more can be taken on.

I take the point that we can't all be astronauts and that sitting on the dole waiting or the England call up or for Simon Cowell to snap them up and actually getting off your arse and working and there should be incentives.

My concerns are that not everyone will be able to get into this training. As I said earlier, there is a saturation point and ultimately if we train say 500,000 electricians a year - where are they going to go? People are working later in life to top up their near worthless pensions. This means posts are not opening up as much. Trade jobs such as Electricians, plumbers, carpenters also require a building projects and housing projects, something that is very slow to get off the ground especially with Councils not willing to invest in a lot of regeneration projects of the dire urban centres. The same is true for so many other careers, the Labour motion is trusting that the job market will be able to support all of these apprenticeships and training and that they will have job spaces for the qualified at the end of it. Seems like an awful gamble with our young's lives. This isn't the late 1930s where the population was small enough and an economy that could support growth and workers in factories. Even then my grandfather was forced to become an apprentice and into the army by his father and he always resented the choice being thrust on him. 

I fear as well that with such a large workforce the employers can be "competitive" with their wages i.e. pay them less. If ten people with similar qualifications apply for the same job you hire the one who will work for less. It is good business. 

It also makes me wonder about the fate of older workers in society. In a perfect world no one is ageist and that you get a job on your merits. In reality though employers make business decisions and are more likely to hire a you g back rather than an older applicant who may have family commitments.

It seems to me, as an observer, that between the major parties, things have got really rough for the young. The Coalition took away the education fund, tripled tuition fees to screw up further education, successive governments have made it harder and harder to get a house so now they're stuck living with their parents and now we're taking away the safety net of job seekers allowance and forcing them to pick a trade.

It would be better to put the money into the education system to support A'levels or towards Further education rather than bribing people into a career and life choice or find yourself cut off by the state.

It is just so illiberal, ill thought out and patronising that... I just can't get behind it.

Campaigning for Europe in Gillingham

Catherine Bearder on the Streets of Gillingham

Last Saturday the Medway Liberal Democrats hit the streets of Gillingham - but this was not an average street canvassing or leafleting it was a special occasion.

The upcoming elections for the European Parliament are exceptionally important and as we are the only party of In and in full support of Europe we had to hit the streets and talk about the excellent work the party have achieved but we weren't doing it alone.

Standing with local party stalwarts like Councillor Diana Smith and Councillor Geoff Juby as well as regular activists and newbies was current standing MEP Catherine Bearder and candidate Antony Hook.

Whilst Nick Clegg has been standing up to Nigel Farage and the generalisations and lies about the European Union we took to the streets to try and dispel the myths on our doorstep.

There was quite some interest with many people drifting by on the bright sunny day and taking leaflets and others stopping to talk to our candidate and representative about specific issues like crime, immigration, economy and jobs.

The European Union is not the most perfect organisation in the world, there are a lot of questions that need answering and reform that needs to be done BUT the only way to reform it is to be inside it. I am a fan of Gillingham FC but I have serious questions about how the club is run and of the Chairman Paul Scally. The only way to have an input on this though is to be a shareholder - so I sit at home and mutter to myself. Should the UK leave the EU it will have to deal with them in the same way that Switzerland and Norway do but without any input into the trading agreements or how they work - so we will be sat at home muttering to ourselves.

The EU also provides money to worthy causes and projects including money for projects in Medway and regeneration of the Dock yard as well as charities - who is to say that our government, who have cut services and make massive efficiency savings would still invest in them as well?

It was a privilege to meet Catherine and Antony and to watch them talking with ease with the public in Gillingham High street and talk passionately about their work in the field and what the EU has to offer and the people we spoke to were impressed too.

The Public sector take another bullet for the team



Hard working Museum staff left without a good pay rise again



I was most despondent when I heard the Chancellor's speech yesterday with yet another attack on the Public

sector workers.

For another year our pay is frozen at 1% increase, which effectively results in a pay cut yet again as prices rise by 4% and rail fare could rise as much as 8% next year if we're truly unlucky.

I understand that the Public sector is often seen as bloated and in need of trimming but it always comes to us plebs at the bottom rather than the Sir Humfrey and fellow Mandarin types at the top. I have worked within the Public sector in various capacities since 2004 and have managed to get myself to a grade 2 position within my current organisation on a modest salary of £19,000 p.a which currently loses £4000 on train fare a year getting to London. At the moment my wage covers half our out goings with my wife's covering about a third and tax credits helping to top up the other areas such as child care (which allow my wife to work at all). With another 1% rise I find the family tightening the belt another notch and we start to look for something else we can afford to do with out. Thankfully we are not a greedy people and our luxury budgets are almost non existent and clothing comes from bargain basement shops and charity stores, my books are mostly second hand or free Kindle editions and we do our food shopping from Aldi.
Still the fear that it will become uneconomical for either of us to be working is constantly with us. If childcare prices do rise next April - and with Medway Council's cut of 40% to the nursery budget it is most likely, and/or if the train fare rises by another £320 a year then we are spending more than we are earning.

I find it disheartening when I look at areas of the Service and see the amount of middle management and project supervisors etc compared to staff with a ration of almost 1:1 in places. The Pyramid of power is now more of a diamond with a bloated middle management, who rake in up to twice what I earn depending on seniority, and then a small upper management group. Unfortunately when it comes to cutting jobs or toupee-ing out departments to a private contractor it is always conducted by this same middle management sect who get rid of us at the bottom.

Also, and let's take Museum's as an example, when you cut budgets where does the internal axe fall? The new exhibition they were going to install? The New Media touch screens? The high tech security system? Nope its the dogsbody stood at the door taking tickets or providing a security presence. Maybe it is the staff member in the shop or the cafe? Or in the Police force will the amount of Squad cars be cut? Will the chopper be grounded more often? Will it be the PCSOs and Coppers on the beat that will go - probably. People and families will suffer.

The Public sector is not what it once was and there are many of us on low incomes like teachers, museum staff, immigration staff, prison workers all working long hours for not much income (in comparison to some similar jobs in the Private sector) who are being asked again to go without or to lose their jobs.

We're all in this together but the MPs can still vote themselves a payrise!

Other sources of income have to be looked at and legal loan sharks like Wonga are likely to see families like mine turn up to get a bit extra cash just to tide them over to payday.

I sort of see the point about pay awards after longevity of service - it may not seem fair to many that after a certain amount of longevity in a job you receive a pay rise as a reward but when you are front line staff dealing with the public for long hours for little pay you should get a reward for making it to ten years or twenty or even thirty. The Civil service is the front of the government and we give our time and energy for not much money, to administer all it's menial tasks and for the benefit of the public. Why shouldn't there be a reward?

The nation forgets how much of their services are run by the Public sector and they do have a false image of all Civil servants having golden triple locked pay packets and pensions which is in fact untrue and the headline grabbing - We're cutting back our expenditure on Civil servants, actually has a massive impact on many of the nations hardest working and their families who are already on lower funds.

Cllr Juby: Where is our money safe?

Cllr Geoff Juby's recent column in the Medway Messenger:

The recent crisis in Cyprus, where the more you save the more you lose seems to be called

for by the EU, is putting another nail in the coffin for ordinary people who struggle all their working lives to save for retirement, only to find that their savings are practically worthless.  At the moment it seems that if you are elderly you either have to have a very large savings pot, or none at all. Too many people find that their savings are not giving additional income because of low interest rates, yet they are deprived of benefits because they have a few pounds put by for a rainy day. We are trying to encourage young people to make independent pension arrangements, but what incentives are there for them?

We used to trust our banks, but events over the last few years mean that anyone with decent savings has to juggle money so that if a bank goes bust they don’t lose too much, and now we have the added worry that governments might just decide to help themselves to our cash to pay off debts which were partly incurred by bailing out the banks in the first place.

  Whatever budget steps are taken it always seem that the very rich seem to be protected (like the reduction to 45% tax on high earners). Small local businesses fold because business rates are at an unsustainable level for all except the massive high street chains. They force down the prices they pay for goods to a level which enables them to crowd out independent retailers and still return massive profits.

We can no longer trust in money investment in property, small business enterprise or gold – we will all end  up keeping our rapidly devaluing twenty quid notes under mattresses!

Letter from the leader: Behind the budget

Dear Chris,

Agreeing the Budget is a long and painstaking process.

It started at the beginning of the year, with a presentation by the Chancellor to the Quad (that’s me, him, the PM and Danny Alexander). The information is confidential enough that everyone in the room –even the PM – has to give back the print outs at the end of the meeting for them to be locked away in the Treasury again.

And the discussions on the fine details of our policy plans went right up to the last minute with a succession of emails and phone calls between our offices agreeing changes to the small print.
The series of meetings in between were, as ever, all absorbing, as we traded proposal and counter-proposal and, slowly, a consensus emerged. The one that sticks in my mind most of all was held on a Sunday evening, in an otherwise deserted 10 Downing Street, right after our Spring Conference.
It being a Sunday evening, when most of us would have given anything to be at home with our families, someone laid on dinner. We all had cottage pie as we pored over the figures and agreed the plans.

And at the end of all that economic analysis, confidential briefings and cottage pie, I think we put together a Budget Liberal Democrats can be really proud of.

We cut taxes for people on low and middle incomes: ensuring that from next April no-one will pay tax on the first £10,000 they earn – a total £700 tax cut for millions of working people.
We stopped a planned rise in fuel duty, helping people with one of the biggest worries they face: how to afford to fill up the tank to get to work.

And we’re backing people who want to buy a home with a new scheme called Help to Buy which effectively makes the “bank of mum and dad”many first time buyers have had to rely on available to everyone: an equity loan, on favourable terms, to make your deposit money go further and help you get a mortgage.

This Budget has Lib Dem credentials all through it. Bringing forward the date for Steve Webb's flat rate pension and the cap on care costs for the elderly put forward by Paul Burstow and Norman Lamb. And the cut in beer duty my Yorkshire colleague Greg Mulholland has fought so valiantly for in his campaign to save the local pub!

Of course the Budget wasn’t all good news. The economy is still struggling to emerge from the massive shock it suffered. That's why we sensibly decided to let the debt target slip another year - sticking to our overall plan, but not dogmatically so. As I said at our Spring Conference, we've got to be unflinching but not unthinking in our approach.

That's why we are doing everything possible to get the economy moving, and balance the books. Even in these difficult times, more will be spent on infrastructure in this decade than Labour managed in the last - even though they spent money hand over fist on almost everything else. This budget announced investment in the construction of social and private rented homes, a new £2000 employee allowance to cut the cost of National Insurance when businesses take on staff, and an industrial strategy that has already put £1bn into Britain’s world-beating aviation industry.

This Budget does exactly what I hoped: it delivers on our core objective to build a stronger economy in a fairer society, enabling everyone to get on in life

Government money to pay for childcare

Hopefully good news from today's budget.

My two monkeys - Sophie & Ollie

The Government are set to announce that working families, such as mine, will be able to claim money towards child care costs up to £1200 a year.

This will be somewhat invaluable to those on low incomes.

Taking my family as an example, in July we'll have both of our children in day care for three days a week allowing Sam to go back to work and add to our income and then split our days off so that one of us will look after the kids on four days a week. The problem is that it will cost around £300s a month each.

With train fares, rising food costs and utilities that will leave us pretty much cleaned out at the end of the month. Child tax credits do help endlessly but if we could have extra money we could spend money on other things including much needed house repair (stop our bathroom ending up in our kitchen or double glazing or central heating that sort of thing). Without this we may have seen Sam have to give up work as it becomes more uneconomical to work.

This will be true for many across the country who are in a similar boat.

Though as Sam pointed out - it is ok to say people can go back to work but does that mean there are jobs to go back into...

Any way, here's what Nick had to say:

The Liberal Democrats set out in Government to help the millions of ordinary families that face crushingly high childcare costs each year.

Today I have announced that these families will soon be able to get up to £1200 off the cost of childcare for every child.

I'm sure you will agree that's much needed relief for many in these difficult times.
It will help parents make their own choices about how and when they return to work. Figures show that more than half of stay at home parents would rather work if good quality and affordable childcare was available. Many more would be able to increase the hours they work too.

That's the kind of fairer society we are fighting for.

The scheme is simple. The Government will pay 20% of your childcare costs – up to an upper limit of £6000 of total costs, i.e. £1200 per child per year. Parents simply need to open an online voucher account - For every 80p they pay in, the Government will add in an extra 20p to within the limits set. 20% is the same as the basic rate of tax – so we are effectively offering tax free childcare.

To ensure we help everyone – people on low as well as higher incomes – we've also announced that many working families receiving universal credit will have 85% of their childcare costs covered in future (up from 70% in the benefits system today.)  Those who earn enough to pay tax will be eligible for this extra support so we can make sure work pays. A great boost to help parents on low incomes back into work.

Don't forget, we couldn't have done this without you.

Together we are making the Liberal Democrat voice in Government stronger and more effective than our critics ever believed possible.

Whether it's on childcare, Ed Davey's work to cut energy bills, Steve Webb's work on a flat rate pension of about £140 a week or Danny Alexander cutting income tax bills by £600, we are making a real difference across Government.

Party failed us (except Sarah Teather et. al)

Sarah Teather stood against the BUB

Last night the headsman's axe fell missed the target and hacked at the body rather than a clean slice through the neck. This Government has taken a step to far in freezing benefit rise.

Don't get me wrong, there are elements of this bill that I think are just and fair. For example drawing a line where income exceeds a certain point and then scaling back child allowance, tax credits etc.

Boris Johnson was quoted as saying that he could have spent his child allowance etc on expensive holidays and champagne and estimated that his wife had received around £50k over the years for their children. Although a flippant remark, it is illustrative of the point that certain incomes don't require assistance. The level the government have is using is £50k PA which seems a fair amount to begin scaling back but it is also arbitrary in the fact that if ONE parent is earning 50K then they are eligible but two parents earning £49K each are not eligible - this is madness!

Although I do not subscribe to the scroungers vs. Strivers point that Iain Duncan Smith has put out on the whole, I do agree that such a "Scrounger" culture exists - just not in the scale that the Government and especially the DWP are suggesting. Moreover I think that the Government should go through an extended process of reform and legislation to combat this culture, the minority of people, and get them in work. Instead of cutting out the tumour with careful incisions they have attacked the whole damn system like Leather face in Texas Chainsaw massacre and everyone has been hit.

It seemed fair to us to distribute some of the pain in a more equitable way.

I agree, I also agree that the welfare bill cannot be insulated and should not be insulated. The problem is the way this bill seems to go about it.

Statutory Paternity/Maternity pay, Sick pay, Jobseeker's allowance, income support, family tax credits, adoption leave pay, couple and loan parent allowances - all frozen at a 1% rate in line with the public sector pay freeze of 1%.

Sounds fair... it isn't.

Inflation is still higher than 1% a year which means, before you get out of the blocks you are already losing when prices go up by inflation. You are then penalised if enterprising companies decide to make a little extra ON TOP of inflation. Look at train fare rise for example at RPI +1 or Sophie's nursery bill which went up by 5% and yet my pay stays at going up by 1% a year and now, the Child tax credits that low income families like mine rely on to help pay the way are also getting frozen at a 1% PA.

According to the IFS if the groups were sorted all of the groups were equal in size the averages work out thusly:
The lowest earning 10% will see 1.6% of their income lost,
Those on £9k a year will lose 1.67% (£150s a year)
The richest 10% will only see 0.03% of their income lost --> This percentage isn't entirely clear as the richest 10%, the Rio Ferdinand and Boris Johnson's of the UK earn so much that they aren't always eligible for certain benefits like income support and earn so much that the 0.03% is lost in a sea of other income.

Low income families are dependent on these little wavers of help from the government - it gives freedom to live and do things, spend money on other goods that generate VAT like days out, more expensive food stuff, alcohol or Cigarettes, electronics etc. The Government need the people to spend money to help the economy. Our family put the child tax credits straight into the nursery fund which alleviates the pressure from our wages and gives us financial freedom to take the children out, buy things for their education like books and educational toys, or to treat ourselves and for both of us to WORK. I don't remember the last time Sam and I went out to dinner, just the two of us because we simply can't afford it.

Those at the bottom are getting crushed by those who do not know what it is like to live at the bottom, £150s a year doesn't sound like much but that extra £10 is a lot when you don't have it. People are going to find themselves priced out of simple things and the only winners will be budget supermarkets and charity shops as people tighten their belts even further into a Warlike rationing or Victorian lifestyle of wage slavery, working under the lash of our betters until we fall into the dust.
It also further gets up my nose that some MPs are still working the expenses system (Helen Grant is an example) and getting away Scot free yet those of us who go to work and have always worked are getting screwed over by having our much needed support held back.

I'm also further disappointed that my party didn't stand up on this, other than Sarah Teather,(Read her comments as to why here) Julian Huppert, John Leech and David Ward with abstentions from Andrew George, Charles Kennedy and Adrian Saunders. We are supposed to be the listening party and this time the pleas of countless people across the UK and in communities such as Gillingham and Chatham where the average wage is well below £20K people are getting forgotten and ignored. Hard workers have been whitewashed as "Scroungers." In a very Victorian discipline;

The Innocent will suffer with the guilty.

When you can't run you walk, when you can't walk you limp and when you can't do that you need someone to carry you and that is where the Welfare system should come and help - those who can't keep up (though not those who won't).

January Southeastern Fare rise

With the new year comes a fresh fare increase to Southeastern train's customers. Hard pressed commuters will be asked to fork out RPI +1 % on their tickets.

Indeed my ticket, a monthly season ticket from Gillingham to London not valid on the tube or HS1 will rise to something like £352s or roughly £4200 PA which is 20% of my £20.000 PA wage.

As a commuter and someone on a low to medium income with a mortgage and two children it is more money that I can ill afford and something I have consistently campaigned and written about on these very pages. I've also written to my MP, Rehman Chisthi who passed it to Theresa Villiers as well as Medway's other MPs Mark Reckless and Tracey Crouch.

RPI+1 is not a great outcome but it is an acceptable outcome. I've got a 2% breathing room which is better than a kick in the proverbials.

I'm not a Tory (no really!) but I know that the current incumbents fought hard over the last year to lower the fare increases that had been announced at the budget as RPI+3 to a more affordable RPI+1 and for that I give thanks.

Despite the other debacles that rocked the Department of Transport, such as the West Coast line franchise and blooper and with the state of the economy RPI+1 was the best we could hope for on the grand scale of things however much I, and many others on low to medium income prayed for a freeze or just an RPI rise!

RPI+1 was the position that the MPs in the Coalition (Both Conservative and Liberal Democrat) agreed upon and something that the Labour party put forward at an Opposition day motion and one that was very hotly debated and watched by commuters like myself with great interest!

Although I am confused as why the current PPC for Labour in Chatham and Aylesford whose press release stated:

Regular commuter and Parliamentary candidate Tristan Osborne has attacked the SouthEastern fare rise as a another Tory tax rise on low and middle income working people, and calls on Conservative MPs to stop the constant lip-service and call for the Department of Transport to sort out the fare and franchise mess

Even though it is by the amount that Labour wanted - I -

Y'know, bugger it, I'm not making any political point here, partially because I don't need to, words have failed me so I'm just going to skip on by.

What I am saying is, that RPI+1 was the best I guess we could have hoped for, not the best solution for people like myself but the best the Government and the companies were willing to offer and I would like to thank my representatives for fighting as hard as they did just to secure this little victory.

I echo Cllr Osborne's call for the Franchise to be sorted out, many suffering commuters will agree with me that Southeastern are far from perfect and that there are certainly big gaping holes in their customer service and state of their trains. stations and facilities which do not offer value for money and I would like to encourage local representatives of ALL parties to work together in our interest and try and sort this mess out.

I agree that the railways could end up becoming a rich man's transport and this is something that needs to be reversed before those on low incomes who commute to the capital find themselves forced to give up work because they simply cannot afford the price of transport.

Libdems back Airport works in Medway

It was announcement last week that there were plans to expand operations of the Rochester Airport with the laying of a concrete runway and facilities that give opportunities for up to a thousand new jobs in the area.

Rochester Airport has been blighted by bad luck in the past. Seven years after Short bros. and Pobjoy engine manufacturers moved to the site it was devestated by the Luftwaffe (15th April 1940) putting production back by a year and scattering production to sites across the UK never to return. Then followed the Channel Airways flights from Rochester in old Dakotas only to be cut short by stringent requirements of the Civil Aviation society. The rolling lease problems (that they have been too short for any real developement) and other issues saw an end to the microlight fleet who moved to Upminster and the once popular airshows grind to a halt.

However now a new beginning may be in the making. In these dark economic times, nationally as well as longterm local issues, it is a welcome move to generate income and business for the towns. More importantly there has been consultation with local residents over the issue and the move has been made together.

Cllr Geoff Juby on Taxation and TV liceneces

Liberal Democrat group Leader, Geoff Juby's column from this week's Medway Messenger - Needless to say I agree with Geoff on the Taxation!
<hr>

In recent months there has been a lot of publicity given to the subject of taxation and benefits.  Are we in danger of following Greece, Spain and Ireland in running into massive deficits because of an inability to actually collect the taxes due? 

Major multinational corporations pay little or no UK tax – and many of the members of parliament, and the House of Lords,  who should be addressing this problem are themselves in a questionable situation with regard to their own tax payments.

Isn’t it time that companies took a pride in publicising their tax contributions instead of trying to avoid them?  Public opinion is a powerful sales tool – how many of us would actively support a commercial company who boasted of the millions paid into the exchequer each year!


The poor and disabled are suffering humiliating interviews and loss of income because of the publicity around a few false claimants, and it’s costing almost as much as the savings to fund the appeals and administration.  Apart from a very limited number we all pay what is now an unnecessary tax calling itself a television licence! 

Sometimes I wonder whether the BBC might be better accepting advertising like every other television channel – I have not been able to discern any particular commercial bias in the multiple channels available to us. Now nearly everyone has access to Freeserve, and I don’t think I am the only person to comment that the BBC news coverage can fall short of that provided by other channels. 

Proportionately the licence fee falls very heavily on low income families who may rely on television more than those who can afford foreign holidays, theatre trips and other entertainments.  Let’s hope that the Christmas telly is good, and in spite of current hard times, we all manage to enjoy the festive season.

PCS and Unions barking up the wrong tree

On Saturday I saw the protesters forming up for their march through London in the Geraldine Mary Harmsworth park that surrounds my work place, the table of Socialists with their slogan Get the Tories out! and General Strike now! 

I even had to personally evict five young people in the process of disguising themselves as Ninja from Museum property - interesting garb for a peaceful process. 

Within work there were several PCS leaflets scattered around and I got to reading one of them and found I disagreed completely with it but as I hadn't got anything else to read I cracked on and jotted down some notes.

First off...The Government's plans are not working

I admit the results are not orgasmic however the latest figures show employment and apprenticeships are up and may keep rising. Inflation and interest are kept low and the world banks have still got confidence in Britain's economy and business. Times are tough but they aren't Spain of Greece TOUGH.

270,000 Public sector jobs axed in the last year.

In all honesty, and talking as a public sector worker whose future is far from secure and has been living under the shroud of redundancy for sometime, the public sector is bloated. The Labour years saw the bubble expand and expand at the same time as technology such as Internal Emails and greater automation would have replaced some traditional posts. CCTV and sensor alarms in museums mean that you no longer need to stand a person next to the Picasso painting for hours on end and save yourself the man power.

Too many place were running on "What we like" staffing levels rather than "What we need plus."

Now Government has asked its departments to streamline and save costs so that they continue to put money into other things like NHS, care groups, education etc... After all, as the Sun's headline read once; What is more important Hospitals or museums? Seriously ask yourself the same question, would you rather well paid nurses or two people stood guarding the same wing of the art gallery?

Other government departments with giant behemoth bureaucracies needed to thin their numbers and ask serious questions as to who was needed and who was surplus, the same as any business. The simple fact of the matter is that the Coalition inherited an economy that just simply could not longer support all of these jobs however much it may or may not have wanted to.

The Government, like a business had to do one of two things - cut its size down by streamlining and getting rid of sections that were wasteful or increasing its' income by taxation. 

The PCS are, in my opinion barking up the wrong tree. Especially when the TUC got Ed Miliband to speak at the rally. It was he who stated that Labour wouldn't change the cuts if they got into power in 2015, the leader of the party whose dithering and lack of controls on the banks got us in this disaster in the first place, whose own shadow Chancellor stated he would be tough on public sector pay, both of whom were at the treasury as the good ship Economy sailed full speed into this Iceberg. Just reeks of hypocrisy.

Yes these are hard times, I know they are, I feel the tightness of the noose and I worry daily for my family and friends but this is the situation we find ourselves in - lest we forget.

I do agree that cuts need to be done with the deft of a surgeon and not a drunk headsman. Indeed the Liberal Democrats are doing this in Coalition, steadying the hands of the axe and getting the poorest out of income tax, Clegg has promised to safe guard housing benefits, Pupil premium, paid apprenticeships and pressing for a mansion tax on Britain's wealthiest to help pay for those who need it. We are listening and thinking of those in need and not politically grandstanding or point scoring. 

Whom to tax?

In a Tale of Two Conferences there seems to be a desparity of thinking between the two Coalition parties.

George Osborne has proposed saving another £16bn from the budget by 2016/7 harvesting from the Welfare system in savings rather than rising taxes.

Vince Cable and the Libdem conference voted in favour of Mansion taxes to hit homes valued over £2m as rich internationals can hide their money abroad but they can't move their houses.

Which one is more in line with the public view of things?

Fair enough the Conservatives are not talking about rising taxes BUT if you are cutting benefits and people's income then they will still end up at the same destination - less money in their already depleted pockets.

One of the brave strategems is the cutting of housing benefits for the under 24s making people stay at home and save up for a deposit rather than just finishing school and demanding a house. In a way it sounds very good but at the other end of the scale - if you can't get a job, you become a drain on your parents pocket.

Although there is a feeling of entitlement that has swept through this nation - The state HAS to do this for me etc, that should be overcome, there are also lots of genuine cases of welfare. It is easy to weild the axe and say that people don't need this and that but it should be weilded with campassion and thought like a surgeon with a scalpal not a drunk headsman.

So who is going to stand up for the working family?

Ed Miliband? He couldn't stand up if his seat was on fire.

Nope, our hope lies in the hands of the Right Honorable Nick Clegg MP who is frankly a little confused and angry by the Chancellor's announcement.

According to his Radio 4 interview the other day the Deputy Prime Minister says he hadn't agreed to the Housing allowance change - a fact backed up by Simon Hughes on BBC's Question time who when asked about it said; We don't agree with it and we'd scrap such a move.

Nick went on to say;

The idea that of the £16bn we're going to scoop out £10bn from welfare - which will inevitably hit the poorest before asking anything of the wealthiest -no. Flatly, no.

I start from a very simple principle that when we're all having to make sacrifices... you ask people at the top and then work down. You don't ask people at the bottem and work up.

I think it's unrealistic to assume that you can't make any more savings from welfare... but it hasn't been agreed in Government.

I certainly don't agree with the idea that you just pluck a £10bn figure out of the sky and say 'that's what we're going to do' without asking how you can do that more fairly.

These will be welcome words for many people in the same boat (and indeed the many who are worse off than I) as my family across the nation, many living in Medway and other urban areas.

It seems that the Conservative element want to wring blood from a stone and countless administrations have tried it before and run up against a brick wall. As the Wealth gap appears to grow more and more distant with each passing year can it not be said; Enough is enough?

I understand that it isn't fair that the "Sucessful" are stung more than the "Unsucessful" but the simple fact is that people are at the end of their bank balances and unable to support themselves or their families and the rich well...

It seems to me that for the "Duration of the economic emergency" we should look to the Haves rather than the Have nots for more money and why a Mansion tax has been ignored is beyond me.

In the spirit of World War One, whose centenary is up coming they should ask; Not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country and if we're truly in this together Dave and George... why do the many who have less have to suffer more than the less who have more?

Workers of the world unite to lose rights

I must admit as I read George Osborne's plan for the future of our workforce I became frightened, angry and then laughed at the irony.

The basics of stage one is good. Offering employees the chance to buy shares in their companies and so they get a say in its direction. For smaller companies it means there is a definite togetherness and ethos that if this ship sinks we all go down and must pull together. For larger companies it offers the chance for those in the frontline to voice their ideas and concerns, something that a lot of us in the trenches feel should happen as some managers have lost touch with what is going on and are happy to ignore their workers concerns as nothing more than "Nay saying." Indeed I know of one manager who said "You can't have the staff dictating to the managers" but at times I really think there needs to be a two way dialogue and managers should listen to their foot soldiers a lot more as our livelihood is dependent on the business being successful to.

Any way - that's ok. I like that. I understand its a Libdem proposal too which makes it win win...

Now comes the bad thing.

Employees will be offered £2-50,000 shares in the company and no Capital gains tax on any profit you make that way at the expense of.... their rights.

Yes that's right. No more unfair dismissal tribunals, extra notice for returning after maternity work, no more redundancy money, no more time off for training.

Here's what George said in his speech;

Workers: replace your old rights of unfair dismissal and redundancy with new rights of ownership. And what will the government do? We will charge no capital gains tax at all on the profit you make on your shares. Zero percent capital gains tax for these new employee-owners. Get shares and become owners of the company you work for. Owners, workers and the taxman, all in it together. Workers of the world unite.


I don't want to sound to reactionary or knee jerk and hopefully this will be explained more over the coming weeks but my instant response is; WHAT? HOW HAVE WE SIGNED OFF ON THIS??

It seems like a return to Victorian working, we are all to be worthless drones that toil on with no rights.

Don't get me wrong, I've worked with some really inept staff that management haven't been able to get rid of and as an employee who pulls their weight I do get cross that they're hands are tied and some dead weight is getting paid the same as I am and doing a third of the work. However, in genuine cases there will be no recourse for unfair dismissal. If the company goes down the pan and has to let you go you could get nothing for your years of toil. It seems an awful gamble.

There is the safety net that existing employees don't have to have it but it will be mandatory for new employees as of April as George rushes all these reforms through the back door after Doctor Vince ruled out these suggestions and said he was against the Hire and fire culture. I can understand the need to may be bend rules so that small companies can try and get rolling and any help they can get in this economic times is worth a punt but this? This seems a step too far in the wrong direction.

I really hope there is some real depth to these proposals that will belay this mild panic I find myself in and if there aren't that the party will stand by the liberties and hard fought rights of this nation's workers and obstruct this if they can. These rights have been hard fought by generations over centuries and now they could all vanish with a flurry of new policy that George is trying to rush through. This should be opposed.

In a climate where I find myself worrying about redundancy, being shipped over to an agency, being made redundant then offered a less conducive contract or rota - these new declarations are adding to my fear for my future and that of everyone else like me. We want to be valued as workers but treated as human beings with rights that help us safeguard our jobs, livelihoods and families.

Dr Cable's speech and my comments

If you attend conference regularly you may remember five years ago. We were interrupted by news of the collapse of a small bank in Newcastle. That was the beginning of a terrible economic storm which rages to this day. It has left behind broken banks, lower living standards, ballooning budget deficits, job insecurity and a sense of permanent crisis.

In a time of crisis what the country needs is national government. That means working with political opponents in the national interest. Indeed, one of our central aims as Liberal Democrats is to show that coalitions work. And Nick Clegg’s major contribution as leader has been to do just that. At a time of crisis, Coalition government was and is still the only way forward – and it required considerable political courage from Nick to make it happen.

For myself, I take pride in the fact that my department in government has two Lib Dem ministers – and I’m absolutely delighted to have Jo Swinson as a minister – and five very able Conservatives, led by David Willetts, working well together as a team.

Many of the decisions we face – on banks, industrial strategy, climate change - go way beyond the limitations of one party or one parliament. That’s why I also make sure that I have good communications with politicians across the political spectrum.

But I do confess that I occasionally lapse into party political tribal thinking. What has sustained me, in my darkest moments, has been the Daily Telegraph poll showing I was the Cabinet Minister who Conservative activists most wanted to evict from Government. Sadly I recently discovered that I had lost my badge of honour to not one but two conservative colleagues.

But more seriously we will ultimately be judged by the Government’s handling of the economic crisis.

I am at heart a realist, and deep down, an optimist. We can’t recreate the fool’s paradise of the pre-crisis era; but we are perfectly capable of sustainable growth in this country.

To that end, I believe we need an industrial strategy – a positive and ambitious vision, built around long-term investment in innovation, skills and science. We are so good at so many things in this country – but for too long the mirage of growth based on property speculation and financial gambling has hidden the harder virtues of making things productively. We must get behind successful British-based firms in vehicles, aerospace, life sciences and creative industries and our world-class scientists and universities.

I have been working at the heart of Government to make this happen. Despite spending cuts, we have increased apprenticeships by over 60%. We launched German-style innovation centres so that British industry can access the newest technologies in advanced manufacturing, bioscience, sustainable energy, and digital. We are bringing lost supply chains back to Britain. The Green Investment Bank is now up and running, financing the green industries of the future.

We have had some real successes. Working with the American chiefs of General Motors and British trades unions to save thousands of Vauxhall jobs in the North West. With the Indian owners of Jaguar Land Rover to create in the west Midlands a global hub for design and vehicle engineering. Boosting research to keep Britain as the second aerospace economy in the world. Working with Siemens and others to develop offshore renewable engineering in Hull: a key low carbon industry.

There are some common threads: understanding that markets fail and that governments can and should sensibly intervene and support enterprise; and a will to fight the British curse of short-termism – both in the corporate world and in government.

Banks

Industrial strategy can only work if finance supports business investment and growth. Currently it doesn’t. Our leading banks are often anti-business especially anti small business. They threw traditional relationship banking over the side and sold useless insurance and dodgy derivatives instead.

Public anger at the greed and stupidity in this industry will continue for a long time. But I am looking forward to and I want to work with the new generation of sensible bankers to support the real economy.

We must now implement the ‘pioneering’ coalition policy of splitting the investment bank casinos from mainstream personal and business banking, as in the Vickers report. Without Liberal Democrats in government you can be absolutely sure this would not have happened.

There is still so much to do. Four years ago only a massive taxpayer bailout stopped RBS from dragging the whole economy over a cliff. Two years ago there was talk of an early sell off. That is history. It has been a drifting, rudderless hulk but is now getting more shipshape. And it needs direction from us – we own it - to get up steam, and to lend more to support British business.

This is no time for the state to be stepping back. We need a new British business bank with a clean balance sheet and an ability to expand lending rapidly to the manufacturers, exporters and high growth companies that power our economy.

Today I can announce we will have one. I am working with the Chancellor to develop a new institution that will combine a billion pounds of new government capital with a larger private sector contribution. This will apply leverage through guarantees to support up to ten billion pounds of finance to small and mid-sized business – a significant portion of all the lending currently available.

Industrial strategy; reforming the banks; these are parts of a bigger project: creating a culture of responsible capitalism. I launched a debate on this issue at conference two years ago, you may remember when I echoed Adam Smith saying that ‘Capitalism takes no prisoners and kills competition when it can’; this led to loud moans about Communists in government. Now everyone has seen the scandals of market rigging, mis-selling and phone hacking; the abuse of monopoly power; and the outrageous rewards for failure.

Despite all of that we must work within a market based, private enterprise system. Business will drive our recovery. And there are many outstanding and responsible British companies.

In two years we have done a lot to support them. Our legislation to introduce binding shareholder votes on executive pay is progressing through Parliament. We are scrapping unnecessary red tape on small business while strengthening regulation where it is necessary – as on the environment. We are getting more women into top business positions, on boards. And we have seen off the ‘head bangers’ who want a hire and fire culture and seem to find sacking people an aphrodisiac: totally irrelevant in a country with flexible labour markets which have created over a million private sector jobs in the last two years. Instead, we have concentrated on practical tribunal reform and supported progressive firms who want worker participation and share ownership.

Furthermore, we want the costs of our current crisis to be fairly shared. ‘We are all in it together’ is a good slogan. Forget the Tory messengers; let’s apply the message. Cracking down hard, not just on criminal tax evasion but on abusive tax avoidance. Working with our allies to close down tax havens. No one keeps their cash in tax havens for the quality of investment advice; these are sunny places for shady people

There could be no better time to promote our Party’s commitment to progressive taxation. We have lifted tax thresholds: taking 2m, lower paid workers, mainly women, out of income tax and cutting taxes for 20m on average pay. But the very wealthy have so far got off lightly.

I know some of you hanker after a Hollande-style assault on top incomes. But we know that very high marginal rates of income tax are counter-productive. If I were advising Monsieur Hollande, I would recommend a ‘chateau tax’ – for those of us who never even managed a dumbed-down GCSE in French, that means a ‘mansion tax’. Core Lib Dem policy. A first step to the proper taxation of wealth and land. It horrifies the Tory backwoodsmen but it is popular and right. The super-rich can’t move their chateaux to Monaco or Switzerland so let’s get on with it and tax them here.

Now you might say: "That’s fine. But how do we get out of the present mess?"

We are in a dangerous phase of the crisis as consumer spending is squeezed by falling real incomes and debt and exports to the European Union are hit by the Eurozone crisis.

Our critics on the left say – "cut more slowly". The government has already extended the period to eliminate the structural deficit from four to six years. Yet Ed Balls says: "workers of the world unite. We need a Plan B. We should not cut the deficit in six years but seven".

Our critics on the right say that all we need is supply side reform to liberate the animal spirits of business. Of course we need and value entrepreneurs. But no amount of push from supply side reform can possibly succeed without the pull of demand.

Other critics say, "why not borrow more when interest rates are so low?". Actually that is what we are doing: absorbing the slowdown and restoring some of the savage cuts in capital investment made in the last year of Labour government. So borrowing has been allowed to rise - this is entirely sensible in an economic downturn. I have great personal sympathy for the Chancellor who is being attacked for borrowing too much, and borrowing too little, at the same time.

Actually it is not a matter of Plan A versus Plan B or Plan C or even Plan V. Plan A+ is OK by me or plan A++ if you prefer. When we came into government we had to balance competing risks: of aggravating the economic downturn through excessive cuts versus the risk of losing the confidence of lenders. I believe we struck the right balance and adopted a deficit reduction plan. I make no apology for my continued support for that fiscal discipline.

But right now we are fighting recession. The need is for a demand stimulus. And that does not just mean pumping more money into the banks. That great Liberal Keynes had exactly the right analysis of the problem we now have – not enough spending power in the economy. And not only him – but also the International Monetary Fund, who no one could accuse of financial irresponsibility and the coalition understands this very well.

One big step will be carrying out our commitment this month to get more houses built. The numbers of houses completed are currently the lowest in peacetime since the 1920s. Millions of families are in housing need. There is distress in the construction industry. The private market will only heal slowly. Because mortgages are scarce. What we need is an aggressive programme of house building by housing associations and local councils, with government providing guarantees so they can build, in large numbers, now. We need an extra 100,000 houses a year to meet demand. That would create half a million new jobs.

The central point is that the country must not get stuck on a downward escalator where slow or no growth means bigger deficits leading to more cuts and even slower growth. That is the way to economic disaster and political oblivion. We will not let that happen.

There is still time to turn the economy around. Last year I talked about the economic equivalent of war. We mean to win it.

I have talked about our national imperatives. But this is a party conference. I know many of you worry that while we do what is right for the country, the party is suffering for it.

But think about our opponents. The Labour Party currently has reasonable poll ratings. We know from their union funded campaigns against us in Northern cities that Labour can still be a ruthless political machine. But it used to be a lot more than that. It once had a soul and new ideas. Then we had 13 years of rootless New Labour. A hard earned reputation for economic competence disappeared under the rubble of collapsing banks. Their party’s long standing commitment to individual freedoms was buried in a graveyard of civil liberties. Principled foreign policy was laid to rest in Iraq. They have scarcely begun the long march back from there.

Most of our MPs will face Conservatives at the next General Election. They face the enticing prospect of a Tory split.

We are not like that. We have unity in adversity. Liberal Democrats are not in hock to fat cats or union barons and media bosses. Nor will we be bullied by them. We remain willing to work with other parties in the wider national interest. We fight for liberal and social democratic principles just as strongly inside government as out.

After over two years in government we are battle hardened but certainly not war weary. None of us knows exactly how it will end. But we all know we must fight the next General Election as a totally independent, national, credible challenger for power.

I don’t believe tactually that he British people will want to entrust their future to any one party next time. If Britain wants sustainable growth, competence with compassion, fairness with freedom and more equality not ever greater division: then that government must have Liberal Democrats at its heart

Well, I think Dr Vince hits the nail squarely on the head.

For a long while Britain has not physically constructed anything. Ship building, aircraft and cars have moved to Asia and to Germany. Too long governments have been moving finance away from production and into risky investment banking. This was ultimately doomed to failure and now the State HAS to intervene to clear up the mess.

Small and medium sized businesses do need support and banks are not willing to invest in them so I think Vince is right to work with the Chancellor to set up an Investment bank under Government control to assist them. It is basic economics that business should move the economy on and puts money in everyone's pockets not just into those of the few at the top.

I also quite agree with the move for the mansion tax and closing the nets on those at the top who move their money to where it is safe. mansions and property cannot be moved and it is only fair that those who are the most sucessful are the one's who help those who are unable to at the bottom, the very ones we as a party have lifted out of Income tax.

I won't re list our successes, they're clearly listed by Vince but it is worth mentioning again that we have had an effect on Government and that we are working, as part of the Coalition and with Labour for future Governments to have a Long perspective for economic recovery. We can't just look to 2015 and say Bugger it that's when our term ends - that would be irresponsible. Successive governments have an end of term view of not creating a continuance.

Political leaders our out of touch with reality

Taken on Gillingham High street last week

In his article for Party People last week Councillor Geoff Juby, leader of the Medway Liberal Democrat Council group has rightly indicated that those who run the economy are not seeing the whole picture.

The situation at the bottom is indeed dire. The Medway towns are indeed suffering, in fact the three poorest wards of Chatham central, Gillingham South and Gillingham North have been granted improvement funds to be administered by the CAB due to their poverty.

Across the towns we have empty buildings, both commercial and residential and with people's outgoings far exceeding incomes it is no wonder legal loan sharks and pawnshops are so popular, especially with 17% of houses in the area have no one in work and 174 applicants for 22 jobs at a local Tesco. The people of Medway aren't lazy or looking for handouts they want to be listened to and good economic judgement from those at the top.

Geoff said: Whom can we trust with the economy? Ed Balls presided over the the scandalous greed of the big banks and unfortunately our current leaders live in a world of private schools and high income. It would do them all good to come and live for a week at the level of some of our workers, existing on the minimum wage with families to support - there might be a bit more compassion then!

I think it's a fair comment. After all, of you've never had to scrimp and save in your life time, had to stretch the food budget to its limit, been faced with the balance screen at the cashpoint saying "amount available £0 " whilst having to pay out still, will not appreciate what they have got. I've been that poor before and I regularly review things so that it won't happen again.

I'm not discriminating against George Osborne or David Cameron but lets be honest, they have never known such times, I'd wager neither have the Eds and to be brutally honest I doubt Nick has. It is difficult to empathise with a situation which you are not familiar with.

Although this plan to encourage the building trade will bring welcome relief to areas of the country and to those in the building trade there is also the problem that here in Medway, no one can afford to do the work. What is more important to you? Getting to work? Keeping a much needed car on the road? Extending your conservatory?

Politicians need to think about us, those at the bottom of the ladder, who want to make ends meet, who don't want hand outs, who work hard but still want family life. Yes, the Liberal Democrat influence in Government has helped with the raising of the Income tax threshold, immeasurably so as now my wife won't have to pay it putting money back in our pockets, but we need more action like this rather than sweeping measures.

Morgan Spurlock, the American documentary maker once spent 30 days living on the US minimum wage and he was shocked at how much of a struggle it was. I, like Geoff, would welcome members of the cabinet doing the same thing!

Clegg on Growth and planning laws ver 2.0

Whenever I try and be smart and use the internet remotely from a secret location there's always a cock up and I fluffed CoG 1 so here is how it was meant to look.

Sorry everyone
____________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday morning I was temporarily excited that I'd received an email from Nick Clegg. I was hoping that I'd finally been recognised and was being lifted from servitude... then I realised it was a generic message.
Anyway, here it is;

Dear Chris,

As you may have seen on the news, I’ve announced an ambitious package to get growth and housing building going. This is not only to make sure we’re building the homes people so desperately need but it will also help boost the economy by kick-starting one of our most important sectors, the construction industry.
When Jo Swinson asked for input from you on growth, house building was one of the top responses. Today’s announcement shows the kind of impact Liberal Democrats are having in the Coalition Government, thanks to our members, on this key issue.
At the heart of yesterday's announcement was a massive new £10bn guarantee from the Government to house builders which will see tens of thousands of new and affordable homes built. This money is first and foremost targeted at Registered Social Landlords, who have a proven track record in delivering social and affordable homes, and I'm really pleased that organisations including the National Housing Federation and the British Property Federation have welcomed the announcement.
In order to kick-start stalled developments where at the moment nothing is being built and no one is being employed, we’re accelerating the point at which councils and house builders start discussing planning requirements. And to ensure that this leads to more homes being built rather than fewer, I am also ensuring that an additional £300 million is spent on building 15,000 new affordable homes and bringing 5,000 empty homes back into use.
To help first-time buyers buy these, we’re underwriting another £280m to help 16,500 people access the FirstBuy scheme.
And last but not least, to support small, local builders, we’re making it easier temporarily for homeowners to put in a new conservatory, loft extension or garage conversion and for businesses to expand their premises without getting mired in red tape. The precise details will be consulted on, but I hope that people will go ahead and get the local builder in.
This is a big package of measures that I hope will get people building, create more jobs and help those people who are desperately trying to find homes to live in.
You can read more at the Lib Dems' website.
Best wishes,
Nick Clegg

I absolutely agree that affordable homes are needed. It is a great travisty that in these modern times most people are forced to rent their homes or rely on social housing or tragically, in my case, inherit from the death of a loved one.
The cost of housing has just gone up and up and up and mortgages become debt traps or unattainable for people on reasonable wages. I had two friends who were teachers, earning around £40,000 a year who had to get a 90% mortgage on a house. This is just not realistic. Any support from the Government would be welcome.
It is good to see the Government supporting local industries and the "little man" of the small construction companies or local builders but at the same time I can't imagine the average family has the money to spend on the "would like" conversions etc.
For example, my conservatory is in DIRE need of refurbishment, our loft needs insulating, could do with a minor amount of conversion, we have no double glazing or central heating - apparently I'm leaving in the 40's. The point is - even though the planning laws have been relaxed, I still can't afford to do anything about it.
However it is a welcome move for those who can and I'm sure a lot of local builders and small companies are relishing the extra work and the injection of much needed work and money.
This is a much needed good move and a Libdem move within the Coalition.
 
I absolutely agree that affordable homes are needed. It is a great travisty that in these modern times most people are forced to rent their homes or rely on social housing or tragically, in my case, inherit from the death of a loved one.
The cost of housing has just gone up and up and up and mortgages become debt traps or unattainable for people on reasonable wages. I had two friends who were teachers, earning around £40,000 a year who had to get a 90% mortgage on a house. This is just not realistic. Any support from the Government would be welcome.
It is good to see the Government supporting local industries and the "little man" of the small construction companies or local builders but at the same time I can't imagine the average family has the money to spend on the "would like" conversions etc.

For example, my conservatory is in DIRE need of refurbishment, our loft needs insulating, could do with a minor amount of conversion, we have no double glazing or central heating - apparently I'm leaving in the 40's. The point is - even though the planning laws have been relaxed, I still can't afford to do anything about it.
However it is a welcome move for those who can and I'm sure a lot of local builders and small companies are relishing the extra work and the injection of much needed work and money.
This is a much needed good move and a Libdem move within the Coalition.