Tuesday 29 March 2022

What governments say is not what they do.

Leaving aside that ‘Events dear boy events’ can throw any government’s plans out of kilter a party’s manifesto is invariably not worth the paper it is written on, for even as an indication of a direction of travel they end up bearing little to no relation to what actually happens.

Let’s take a look at the Blairite six-point plan on the front page of the 2019 Tory manifesto as a case in point.

1.       Extra funding for NHS with 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more GP surgery appointments a year.

2.       20,000 more police and tougher sentencing for criminals.

3.       An Australian style points-based system to control immigration.

4.       Millions more invested every week in science, schools, apprenticeships and green infrastructure while controlling debt.

5.        Reaching Net Zero by 2050 with investment in clean energy solutions and green infrastructure to reduce carbon emissions and pollution.

6.       We will not raise the rate of income tax, VAT, or National Insurance.

The recent spring statement has shattered the sixth point and their glorified promises on Net Zero made no mention of the likely £3 trillion costs or the removal of everyone’s perfectly good gas boiler for a hugely costly less efficient heat pump.

The costs of installing an air source heat pump can vary from £8,000 to £18,000, while ground source heat pump costs can range anywhere from £20,000 to £35,000.

As I say none of this detail was covered or even alluded to in their 59-page manifesto with just one of those pages devoted to their plans on Green issues.

As I’ve said so often before the only time the ‘People’ can pass judgement on a government is at election time but given the pool of politicians, from both parties, is now of such a low standard of general competence more and more people have decided not to vote.

In 1950 voter turnout stood at 84%, dipped to a low of 59% in 2001 and stood at 67% in 2019 which did not receive a presumed Johnson bounce as the turnout in 2017 was 69%!

Our fourth demand ‘The People’s Consent’ aims to give the ‘People’ the power to have their direct say between elections thus giving us the chance to react to issues at the time without having to wait until the next election when once again the parties’ manifestos try and seduce us with a fresh load of promises.

Given that government should be “of the people, by the people, for the people” we still have a long way to go before we can claim to live under a real democratic system of governance.  

2 comments:

  1. The opening words of THA state "The premise on which our movement is based is that democracy means "people power". We are now so very far away from "people power" that the 4th demand is an absolute essential.

    "What governments say" has become only what they need to say to ensure that the media is on side and that the electorate doesn't get too disturbed from its almost total indifference. Indifference because "the only time the ‘People’ can pass judgement on a government is at election time" ie one day in 5 years.

    I understand your hope for peaceful change, not bloody revolution, but I worry that things will become untenable so fast, when real wages drop, prices rise and shortages abound, that an untamed uncontrolled revolt will rise up rapidly and that undesirables will take advantage of such mayhem.

    Apart from the obvious, I have no solution except for something like implementation of the 4th demand as soon as possible, but how?

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  2. Yes violence may well come first but it won't be in THA's name and then as things settle down THA will hopefully rise from the ashes.

    NB. 22 died in the Chartist riots in Newport S.Wales but the eventual implementation of five of their six demands happened peacefully.

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