What a Load of Politics

 I suppose it is quite important, when a collection of boring looking people get together and decide how much to rip off the public. I'm not politically inclined, although I know it has its place - just not in my head/conversation/earshot. Politicians all do such a good job telling each other how badly they are doing, that they are not thinking about the working man or the family man or the lazy man that wants to sponge off the state, but when they get the reins, they are equally as disastrous. The lot in charge now are no exception.



Man of the moment, George Osborne. A cheery bunch behind him.



So we should all be thankful that the petrol tax hike has been put on hold (for now). And we are getting one pence a litre reduction instead. For some reason, this news is being delivered as if they are thrusting paper money into my penniless hands. 'Thank you so much for the 40p reduction when I fill up my tank, that by far outweighs the rape you perform on my wages every month. And you don't even have to think about sorting out the NHS anymore, as I will be saving over one pound every single month on petrol!' I hear myself cry. Sure, I can earn more before they smash into my earnings with their big tax-hammer thanks to the raise in personal allowance, but then I'm not getting a pay rise or bonus this year, and VAT has gone up along with the cost of just about everything.



'Gimme 5' said the stern-faced shrew

 What makes matters worse, is that we have got used to all of this foolishness. I mean, we all moan as much as we can about tax, petrol prices, bent politicians, brainless government spending, etc., but the fact is that a good rant is about as far as we are willing to take it. If we march, protest and make a general nuisance of ourselves, it is just as likely to descend into anarchy by a few meat-heads as it is to make anybody with a modicum of importance take note of our pleas. Then we would receive a stern telling off, and absolutely nothing would change. So we instead opt for a bit of a gripe, usually with each other, and just get on with it. As far as I can see, the 40p on average that Joe Bloggs saves at each petrol tank fill-up equates to approximately £12,000,000 a week in overall savings - £12m that Mr. Taxman will have to find elsewhere.

He was so boring, everyone left

Of course alcohol has gone up, as has tobacco. If you care enough to protest about these, you are better spending your time at counselling. The first step is to admit that you have an addiction. There have been a few other changes, including freezing air passenger duty and helping first-time buyers to get on the property ladder with an injection of £250m for the a new shared ownership scheme. Overall, it does sound quite good - but I am sceptical as these compulsive liars politicians have a habit of going back on what they said. Most of the time.

There is some good news though: the super-rich are going to pay lots of tax. Temporarily, of course - 50p tax for high earners (plus NI contributions on top) means they will be going home with roughly 38p of every pound they earn.

I think we should start a money raising event like Red Nose Day - call it Black Eye Day, and we can all chip in to raise money and watch on TV as David Haye punches MPs in the face. National debt would be halved in one night.