Digital Nightmare

Did you know that there are an estimated 700 young people in Northants that will be cut off from using television at the end of March because they are either living in hostels or are below the poverty line and do not receive the right benefits to be eligible for the free installation?

I was harping on about this as long as 5 years ago when I wrote an article for my then blog and somewhere else about the digital switchover and how it would be punitive to the poor and the ignorant and how the press is just ignoring this because most of them have a vested interest in the switchover.

The 700 young people in this county alone will be deprived of their main source of entertainment and will either have to go without something else - many of them pay for their licence fee on a fortnightly charge already - or will not pay their licence fee and face prosecution.

I personally know a young person who lives in supported housing in Towcester; he survives on income support because he has learning difficulties and is an Asperger's sufferer. His rent is paid for by the council, as is his council tax. However, he is actively seeking employment - goes to the job centre twice a week at the cost of £10.60 (it's a £5.30 return from Towcester to Northampton) and he gets no subsistence for travel. Now, when this young person's support worker approached the people doing the switchover and explained the circumstances of the young person and other young people she works with, she was told that you can obtain Freeview boxes for £10 now and they do not believe that £10 is too much for a person to pay.

Obviously, people like us can agree with that - £10 isn't a lot of money, but for this lad and at least 700 others £10 is a shitload of cash. Also bare in mind that this kid also doesn't have a mobile phone because he can't afford one. He gets about £110 a fortnight; £16.50 of that goes on his service charge; £21.20 on bus fares, £30 on food, £7 on TV licence, £20 on bills. That's just a few pennies short of £95. It leaves him with £15 for himself, to buy a decent Freeview box he would have to go without something else. Are you aware that £10 Freeview boxes come with a 6 month guarantee and are inclined to go wrong inside a year? Which suggests spending a minimum of £30 on a box that will have decent quality and last the purchaser a few years.

I know I sound like a bleeding heart pinko liberal, but in the course of talking about this with people in my office, many of them social workers; they know of families that once everything is paid for, literally have nothing to last them a week, or just pennies and this is with the dad working - not just families with both parents or a single parent on the dole. With the cost of living going up, these people actually face massive debt just to survive and because they are classed as lower than pond slime in the eyes of banks etc, the only way they can borrow money is from places like Wonga, LoveMoney, Ocean Finance or other companies that advertise on the less frequented cable channels, where they pay about 500,000% APR.

These people are not going to deprive themselves of their only constant form of entertainment; they're not going to stop their kids from watching the telly, so they are going to end up worse off to satisfy a need. Yes, it's only a one off payment, but it's punitive. There is a sheltered housing complex round the corner from where I live, there are 58 people living in it and each one has to buy a Freeview box. For the complex to have just the one box and one TV licence, all the residents would have to remove the locks from their flats and if that wasn't bad enough, they would be restricted to watching just one channel at a time.

This was something that Labour advocated and I think that was despicable of them; I cannot expect the current administration to be more benevolent. In the North-West and Cumbria, there is an estimated 1000 households that didn't switch over. There is no way of ascertaining whether this was because of financial constraints or they just saw it as an opportunity to switch off for good. Once upon a time, paying your licence fee was a guarantee you would get a picture; now you can only do it if you fork out more money.

Buying a colour TV was a choice. Buying a video player was a choice. buying a DVD was a choice. Buying a cable TV package was a choice. Buying satellite TV was a choice. Want to continue watching TV in the digital age? You have no choice but to buy the right equipment!

Higher and Higher

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12214546

It's all over the news this morning; the higher than expected level of inflation. It wouldn't be so bad if it took into account such things as the higher than inflation rise on public transport, the spiralling out of control cost of fuel and, of course, the 2½% rise in VAT. The chances are that the current 3.7% rate will bust through the 4% barrier very soon and the hoped for rate of 2.3% will be a distant and unobtainable memory.

But remember, we're all in this together and that includes the private sector who are supposed to be the the chaps who are going to take up the slack and employ the majority of the public sector workers who are going to lose their jobs this year. Of course, the private sector needs conditions to be right for them to expand and at the moment none of them are doing so and in fact many of them are facing having to make cuts because of the higher cost of operating.

***

The Oldham east and Saddleworth by election raised a few eyebrows. The two biggest were that the LibDems share of the vote increased by 0.3%, not much, but approximately 99.7% more than expected. The second was that the Tory vote dropped by 7,000. Not unexpected considering they a) threw their weight behind not stopping the Lib Dems and b) they were in a traditionally Tory hating suburb. The incredible thing about it was that voters seemed to be saying they don't blame the Liberals for the impending mess.

In many ways this is a good thing, because the sad truth up to that by election was that the Tory's had managed to totally screw Clegg's Crew by doing nothing more than offering them a power share.

8 months into the coalition and things were looking grim for the Liberals and it had got to a stage where it seemed the Tories could do anything and the Libs would have to go along with it because their popularity rating was hovering in the minus figures. Damned if you do, damned if you don't seemed to be the best way of describing them. Popularity at an all-time low, Nick Clegg less popular than Maggie Thatcher and the Tories dismantling the country with no objections from the party, all because dismantling the coalition would end the Liberals chances of governing again until 2200 when everyone's great great grandchildren had forgotten what they did in 2010. It seemed that the Liberals were given a choice - do as we say or be out of work very soon. The by election seemed to suggest that in Liberal areas, the Liberal vote would remain strong and this must be a massive worry for Tories in Liberal marginals, because they're now going to be realising that if things don't get better, it's them who will get the blame come the next General Election.

***

Speaking of General Elections... I think the AV referendum in May is going to be won by the No voters and that is going to put the relationship between Cameron and Clegg at a crossroads. If the Barnsley by election is won, as expected, by the Labour candidate and the Liberals come second then the message sent out could be one that suggests it's time for the Liberals to jump ship if the AV referendum goes against them. Their members and the country as a whole would feel more comfortable with them tempering Labour than them bolstering the Tories.

My confidence is not that strong on this forecast, but I can't help thinking we might be back at the polls by September. Cameron may be left with a minority government if the Libs jump ship and the first major defeat will call a Vote of Confidence motion, which, regardless of public opinion and most of us not wanting another election, will end up with a General Election. Should that happen and we end up with a hung parliament again - quite possible, but with the current situation slightly reversed with the Labour party having the most seats but not an overall majority - then the Liberals would be well placed to form another coalition and remain in power.

The reason I think the Tories might be running scared is that even lifelong supporters of theirs are voicing concerns about the speed and ruthlessness of the cuts and changes they are trying to push through. Even grass roots Tories would like there to be a semblance of Britain left in a few years.

Rough Justice?

I would never condone what Edward Woollard, the 18 year old student protester did with his fire extinguisher http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12159581, but it raises one really important question. Was this young man rail-roaded through the court and judiciary system to be made example of?

It took the courts less than 6 weeks to try and condemn this young man, yet as someone who works in the Criminal Justice arena, most cases take up to 6 months to go from the charge to the sentence. This is unprecedented in UK courts; for it to be whizzed through at such a high speed smacks of the government interfering to ensure a message is sent out to other student protesters - don't mess with us or you will go down!

Woollard deserved a sentence; what he did was reckless endangerment at best and had the extinguisher hit anyone it would have killed them - no question. But why did it get pushed through the court system so fast? I have worked on cases involving everything from theft by finding to murder and they have all taken 6 times longer to get to court than this.

Woo (and indeed) Hoo

VAT is going up; Public Sector workers are facing a bleak 2011, students are revolting, prisoners are rioting and the government does this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12105869 You have to admire them. No, really, you do. Only this government can spin such a non-story. With councils seeing their budgets being slashed, they are, of course, going to reduce their revenue by reducing parking charges. It's obvious isn't it? Oddly enough, even Conservative councillors are admitting that it really doesn't mean the reduction of parking charges in town centres; yes, they have the option to do it, but it's unlikely to happen. As unlikely as Nick Clegg becoming popular again.

Charity Begins at Home

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12085506

I find this insulting. The UK is one of the top givers in the world to charities and this current shower of shit parading as our government are responsible for at least a half a million people losing their jobs with no realistic similar replacement available and yet they want us to give more money, use more technology to do it, because they don't feel we do enough...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12084956

There is a feel of sense about this, but with threats to NHS budgets and cuts in staff, isn't the timing just wrong?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-12071229

Presumably Phil Woolas's statements about his LibDem opponent were personal rather than about her policies, because if he can be stripped of his seat by an electoral court over lying about his opponent's politics in his election literature, then every single Lib Dem should lose their seats because they lied through their teeth. Presumably he made personal attacks, because if he suggested that she would change her entire political ethic for a whiff of power, then he didn't lie at all, did he?

The Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election should have one result, a resounding protest vote against the coalition. I don't care who gets elected (The Green Party would be preferable if Labour don't walk it) as long as the voters avoid voting for the coalition in droves. I would like a message sent to Cameron and his bitch that people do not like the policies or the way they are doing things.

***

Let us all hope that 2011 isn't going to be as bleak, unforgiving and horrendous as many of us believe it is going to be...

Cut me and I shall bleed...

We all have to remember; we all need to pull together to get us out of this horrendous budget deficit that the Labour party deliberately put there to stymie the Tories from being able to instigate their master plan to make every one rich and happy.

I'm going to lose my job. I suppose I'm doing a little bit more than Dave is then? Does that qualify me and the 600+ others for some special kind of award? Perhaps the Cameron Cross? A medal given to people who are going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that the budget deficit is slashed?

I have to be careful. I don't really want to be seen saying anything that's critical of my employer. I don't want to be seen suggesting that if they raised council tax by 3% - that's less than £3 a week - it could save a lot of misery. I suppose its better that me and 600+ other people becoming unemployed and trying to find a job in a non-existent job market, than raise council taxes. Council taxes that are still the lowest in the country. Its much better to continue to slash services, just so we don't have to pay out more...

The sad truth is that the 600+ NCC employees who are going to be facing a very bleak 2011 are not the only ones. rumour has it that NBC is going to be cutting at least 250 jobs. Then you have all of those organisations like the YMCA, English Churches Housing and the Mayday Trust who are going to have their budgets slashed and subsequently won't just be making people unemployed, but also will be turfing the formerly homeless back out onto the streets. All the while, people who live in Weston Favell, Boughton, and richer parts of the town will be horrified that there's so many wastrels and unemployed spongers on the streets. It's enough to make you want to start a revolution.

In reality, we're going to see over 1000 people enter the job market between January and April 2011. There isn't going to be 1000 jobs for these people to take and less than 1% of them are going to be earning the same as they are now. The spending power of these 1000 people is going to be decimated and this is going to hit other areas of the local economy; which, in turn will raise prices or cut back on services. If you'll excuse my French, but I think a lot of us are going to be well and truly fucked.

I try to do the figures that the government are throwing at us and all that I come up with is misery. Actually, what I come up with is Misery, with a capital M. I don't think there is enough confidence in the private sector to start new businesses. I can't see where money is going to come from to start anything related to social care or youth work. The council don't have any spare money to throw at projects and neither does the government, so unless we start charging kids for their education or their rehabilitation, then nothing is going to fill the void. Yet again, a Tory led government is sticking two fingers up at the future of the country.

I spoke with someone who is having to deliver all the bad news; he said, quite honestly that things will never return to how they are now. There will never be enough money to invest in people again. there will never be youth services; there will not be assistant social workers, there will be no jobs created in a few years, even if we get out of this current malaise. Once councils - all councils - manage to run with bugger all people working for them, they will stay that way. Maybe, at some point in the future, there might be government money to start up projects for the youth of that day; but nothing will ever be the same again.

Welcome to the Scared New World. You have to be afraid because optimism will not be tolerated.

29 versus 28

While no one can condone the violence that has come out of the student protests in London, it is true to say (as I have several times) that you don't get this kind of emotive gestures when there's a Labour government.

The sad truth is that Conservatives don't give a fig about the future generations, because their kids are okay. Thatcher dismantled the future of that generation's children and now Blackadder and Baldrick, along with Lord Snooty are doing the same now. I believe that our students have to pay for their education eventually, but I also want to see a fair system which we are patently not getting.

29 LibDem MPs either voted against this proposal or abstained. Nick 'Baldrick' Clegg cannot call his party united, by any stretch of his imagination. Especially as they only have 57 MPs.

Clegg is effectively a Dead Man Walking in political terms. He will struggle to get re-elected at the next election and will watch his party get systematically targeted at the next local government elections to the point where they will become as effective as the BNP - and about as well liked. We witnessed a monumental turning point in British politics today. But now the LibDems have been effectively destroyed, it really is time to turn on the Tories; to kick the Liberals while they're down is a waste of time and energy.