A case of leadership battle-lines
The above link leads to the Independent where it examines yesterday's financial decrees from Britain's chancellor, Gordon Brown. Brown is of course the "leader-in-waiting" for the day Blair steps down and with Blair's withdrawl from the stage in yesterday's Common, thre possible future triumverate of Brown, Cameron and Campbell got the chance for a dry run. It was all a bit flat, although Cameron's literal "bellow" was an impressive retort.
I question whether anything really happened at all. A few minor tweaks, a raise in the usual duties and a large amount of self-congratulation does not a budget make. The only thing apparant beneath the cosmetics was a plan to increase Britain's debts by billions over the next few years. Nothing like the mega-trillions "borrowed" by the Bush administration, but incriminating nonetheless.
I will now pay 9p more for a packet of cigarettes. By my reckoning, if only one in every 50 smokers give up the habit as a result of the new government campaign, the income from this increase will be wiped out completely. If 2 in every 50 smokers give up, the exchequer will suffer a loss in actual income. But will the improved health of those who quit actually allow the Health Service to make savings? One hopes so but doubts it - yet no new money was aanouced for the NHS in the budget at all. An odd PR omission if nothing else for a prospective Prime Minister.
The much hailed "green" tinge to taxation was both a farce and an insult. Gas-guzzling vehicle drivers will pay a few pennies more from their inflated pocket-money whilst those who can afford to invest in new low-emission technologies will be exempt. This means nothing to the average person. No attempt was made to implement a levy on aircraft emissions, even though this could have been done without affecting internationally agreed aviation fuel prices. A rise in airport taxes and a new draconian VAT band for environmentally damaging products could have brought in more money and re-enforced the "green" agenda.
We also need legislation for compulsory self-sustainability in all new homes and commercial buildings to reduce the drain on the national grid and other commercially distributed energy sources. Micro-technology for wind, solar and hydroelectric power is now available and the government could swell its coffers a little more by imposing penalties on fuel and energy wastage. Not wholly the chancellor's job of course, but integral to his remit.
In declaring how much we will need to borrow for the forseeable future, no mention was made of the military cost of following the Amerikan imperial agenda. This expenditure alone overshadows the cost of just about everything else the government spends money on. Getting out of the colonisation business would allow more to be spent on aid and overseas development, with enough left over the seriously dent the amount of borrowing we need to do.
The economy is indeed a loaded gun. What now, Dear Prudence?
Later.
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