Hard-working people who do the right thing will be ones who get clobbered when Labour win General Election
SO, who is going to get well and truly clobbered by Labour when they win the General Election?
Judging from the stuff emanating from the party’s leader, it’s going to be the hard-working people who do the right thing.
Sir Keir Starmer seems to be planning a raid on our savings.
On Tuesday, he said that “working people” don’t have savings.
He said: “People who earn their living rely on our [public] services and don’t really have the ability to write a cheque when they get into trouble. So the sort of people I’m meeting pretty well every day now.
It’s quite a big group because these days there are many people obviously not so well off.”
Starmer had previously said that ordinary “working people” will not bear the brunt of any tax rises.
But he then decided that these same working people don’t have savings of any kind.
He’s wrong about that, by the way. Two thirds of “working people” have savings of more than £1,000. But more importantly than that, what sort of message does a raid on savings send out to the public?
To the mum who is diligently putting away money every month so she can buy a car. Rather than taking out one of those expensive leasing agreements.
Or to the family who have been saving like mad for a holiday, rather than maxing out the credit cards?
Or to the young couple, saving both for a deposit for their home and to provide for the baby they’re looking forward to bringing into the world?
Or the middle-aged bloke putting money away for his retirement.
Burden on the state
It’s a clear message. It says there is no point in saving. If you have savings it’s an indication that you’ve got too much money, and we’ll be coming for you.
It’s a remarkably stupid policy — one he was trying to hastily row back from yesterday — and terribly anti-social.
In those examples I gave above, the people doing the saving are being prudent and cautious.
They are determined not to be a burden on the state. They want to pay their own way.
They don’t want everything right now, they are prepared to wait.
Of course, they’ve already been taxed once on their savings, when they earned the money in the first place.
Now they may be clobbered seriously once again.
But it’s not just that.
A policy which encourages people not to save — which this would undoubtedly do — is desperately bad for society.
Levels of personal debt have been rising for the past 50 years or so. And rising very quickly in the last 20.
The total amount of personal debt now stands at a staggering £1.84TRILLION!
As a people, we used to avoid going into debt. That was a healthier way of living.
But these days we spend like there is no tomorrow. Even when we do not have the funds to do so.
And a tax on savings will encourage the spendthrift. And discourage those who try to plan properly for their lives.
Sir Keir always denies it. But it is the average working person, who is trying to do the right thing with his life, who has most to fear from a Labour government.
And it will be the workshy and those who spend money like water, who stand to benefit.
Meanwhile, at the Euros…
England Team’s Dull Without Jack
OH, God. Do we have to watch England again?
Gary Lineker in his hideous own-range T-shirt trying to lift the nation’s spirits?
Ninety minutes of peeking out from behind the sofa to see if we’ve mustered a shot on goal?
Wondering where the hell Phil Foden is?
And wondering if old Horseface is going to bring on Jack Grealish to spice up the front line.
And then remembering he didn’t bring Grealish to the Euros.
It’s meant to be fun, isn’t it? And yet it never is . . .
Georgia Defeat by VAR the Worst
WITH the exception of England’s game, which was awful, it’s been a very entertaining Euros so far.
My highlight was watching the overrated Belgians get tipped on their backsides by Slovakia. Belgium had by far the better players. Slovakia had by far the better team.
I was also cheering like a maniac for Georgia against the Turks, but it wasn’t to be. Imagine being a Georgian.
A tiny country wedged in between two of the world’s nastiest, strutting bullies. Russia to the north, Turkey to the south.
I hope they do OK in this tournament. And I also hope the whole thing isn’t ruined by VAR, . . . but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Faith’s Faith False
SINGER Paloma Faith has been talking about motherhood.
And how, really it is pretty much impossible to be both a full-time mum and a full-time career girl.
Yup. The answer is right there: “Full-time”.
I know this causes a lot of women much heartache.
They are criticised for not being wholly into their careers. Or for being only part-time mums.
But then, 1980s feminism perpetuated the myth that it was perfectly possible to have both.
In truth, it never was. And that lie has caused untold agonies for millions of women.
System Failure
HAVE you ever been under the illusion that our electoral system is fair?
It is quite possible that if Reform reaches even 25 per cent in the polls, they will not get a single seat.
However, at the last General Election, the Scottish National Party got 48 seats . . . with less than four per cent of the vote.
Nobody can argue with any conviction that this is a just system.
Gone to the Dogs
WHY would anyone book a holiday in Majorca?
Tourists are jeered at and subjected to continual abuse from the locals. Some of the dunderheaded protesters wear T-shirts reading: “All tourists are b******s.”
Listen – get the message. It’s time for a complete boycott of this overrated Spanish island.
Holiday firms should refuse to take custom from Majorca. Let them sink back into the poverty in which they lived before tourism arrived.
In the meantime, here are some alternative islands where you will get a better deal for your money.
1. The Isle of Dogs. Friendly locals and you can nip over the river to watch Millwall.
2. Isle of Grain. The top destination for those of you seeking solitude in a kind of post-apocalypse setting.
3. Socotra. Stunning wildlife and weird trees. Very hot. Halfway between Yemen and Somalia. The locals don’t wear rude T-shirts. But you might get your head chopped off by marauding Jihadis.
4. Gruinard. Picturesque island in the remote Scottish Highlands. Once used as a testing ground for anthrax-based biological weapons. Full of sheep, most of them coughing quite badly.
5. Inchgarvie. Directly under the Forth Bridge, near Edinburgh. Uninhabited. Pitch your tent and count the traffic, and the kittiwakes.
Bank on the Rise
INFLATION is down to two per cent.
This was the Bank of England’s target. And the rate of inflation has been falling rapidly for months.
It is now below that of most of our European allies. It SHOULD mean that your bills will be getting smaller and smaller. And that you will feel the difference in your wallet.
But sadly, it won’t – because Labour is going to win the election. And inflation will soon be climbing again.
YAY! Sir Keir Starmer has finally realised. Women don’t have penises!
It’s taken him years to work this one out. It’s not so long ago he ticked off an interviewer who asked him the question. Women definitely can have penises and it’s very wrong to suggest otherwise, he preached.
He didn’t say how many they could have. But anyway, maybe someone has shown him a few diagrams or something.
And now he’s come to the same conclusion as 99 per cent of the country. Thing is, he changes his mind on issues on a daily basis.
Would it surprise you hugely if tomorrow he said: “Actually, thinking about it, my dad wasn’t a toolmaker . . . ”