Tag: Britain

What makes a government not work in the interest of the people?

You must first define who does a government consider to be the people or more precisely ‘it’s people’. It’s citizens that live within it’s boarders? it’s voters that elected it into power? It’s own politicians that vote through its laws and or its own financial backers that fund campaigns and promote voting habits or those that profit from the decisions that it makes and advocate the policies it enacts? Sadly in the UK for many years now there has been an overwhelming consensus of opinion from those in power or promoted by those who influence and determine the policies of those in power to simply make choices that are cost saving to them, whilst at the expense of the people and results in profiteering at the expense of people, whilst decreasing quality of the goods and assets and services for people of the UK, whilst continuing to charge more for those ever decreasing quality of goods, services and assets.

A considerable proportion of people in the UK can no longer look forward to getting educated, to have a job, to buy a home and a roof over our head and then one day retire. There are no longer the quantity or quality of homes, and we no longer have the backup of a strong government to support us in providing decent water, homes, roads or medical services to us. What we receive now in all aspects of goods and services is of a poorer quality that it was prior to when the conservatives came to power in the UK and yes this is a political and policy lead problem very much caused as a result of the government decision making processes no longer working in the interest of the people but for the profiteering of the few.

This country and its people is experiencing the perfect storm of greed and incompetence, where it is perceived to not only be necessary and good in corporate and capitalist orthodoxy and that there is no alternative to exploitive capitalist ventures being only way of doing things.

This is a political view and economic choice done in order to grease the wheels of the economy and the system so as to get what can be done, done. To say this is the only way is a lie and a profitable one at that, which politicians that profit from this system tell themselves, tell us and tell those that do their bidding or profit themselves from what is being done.

A simple example of how exploiting others works well in the UK for people in power at the expense of the people and is designed to succeed over delivering a good service to the many and profit to the few. I moved into my housing association over 15 years ago and in that time it and many other housing associations have been bought up and by bigger more profitable housing associations.

What makes them bigger and more profitable is to do less work to their tenants housing stock, the less you do the more money you have to spend and can be seen to be a more profitable housing association. The more money you have means you can buy up smaller housing associations. Therefore do less and buy more puts your competitors out of business and makes you too big to be bought yourself. The quality of service to the housing tenants decreases as the profits to the associations increases. My first housing association had a community housing officer that helped me get a job assisted with me getting shoes and clothing to attend an interview which I got and was a win, win for all concerned.   

A second example of a failing normal everyday inadequate, under delivering incompetent public good is that of the UK water utilities and their failure to clean up water pollution and profiteering at the expense of the people. Water utilities have been providing money to share holders whilst failing to cleanup our waterways or future proofing water sector. It’s more profitable and economical to pay money out to share holders and pay out fines for pollution that it is to spend the money on cleaning up on said waterways in the first place and then being able to sell shares in a clean and working water industry. Government bodies designed to monitor and fine waterways are too weak in order to force water companies to change to do what they should have been doing all along which is providing clean water to customers and through clean waterways. The failing current model of delivery and service is a politically sanctioned choice that fails the people but works for water companies and government bodies and decision makers and profiteers.

Purely focusing on profit at the top as a business model only, fails society and fails to join the dots of the whole economy or social structure that it operates within. For example legislating to have housing association that can enable its tenants to take the next step after having a roof put over their heads to make steps towards going into employment so as to be able to fund that roof over their heads themselves is priceless and as a service to tenants should not be priced out of the housing model.  With regard to our waterways having clean and usable rivers and beaches is so health for the people and wildlife that use those waterways (and sadly as this is not reflected on the profit sheets of a water utility they see no gain to themselves to provide this service effectively) But the costs of not cleaning up the environment for our wildlife and for people that cannot use their polluted areas are not on anyone’s costs and balances spreadsheets.  

I always want to express the view that it pays to be kind, it is cost effective to care and that it is short sighted not to care and ultimately we all pay the price when no one cares both politically and personally.

If the UK is designed to be run down or at breaking point in the eyes of its own citizens or getting worse by the day then it is easier for politicians here to pedal their lies that we should not help those from abroad if we live in such a crap country that cannot help itself. If we were well governed we would no longer have our own countries government acting incompetently as an excuse to not help others.

Frank Turner – Be More Kind

 

Huwspace blog 3 years old today

Well I am still here and really enjoying being a part of a blogging community. I have done a few screen shots to show some stats about what has been viewed on the site over the last 12 months and which locations around the world were viewing the posts from.

I am pleased that my top posts are an eclectic mix of politics, perspective on society my own life and family.

Map showing which counties view blog

I love that I can view blogs from people from all over the world and see there posts as well as they have a chance to see mine.

I still think what we have all been through over the last few years is crazy and speaking as a person that has personal experience of mental health difficulties I think if this decade was a person it would have been sectioned and heavily medicated by now so much so that it would be a dribbling wreck unable to identify the day of the week let alone the year that it was causing chaos within. 

Good old blighty or err cough, cough, splutter, splutter, Great Britain really is a little broken at the moment. I remember when the last labour government got in the 1990s they had huge plans and a vision for good old blighty or err cough, cough, splutter, splutter, Great Britain! Though it all went to hell in a hand cart eventually due to a global markets crash and with London’s stock exchange being at the heart of global business markets when the markets coughed the whole of the British economy caught a cold, and by the time that that financial recovery was underway Corona Virus reared its ugly head and battered blighty further.  

Well in 2010 the Conservatives gained a form of power and they had the not so genius ideas of austerity cutting services and support to the bone and calling for a referendum on our membership of the European Union which led to us leaving the EU and the Conservative are still in the middle of attempting (with ease) to dismantle any and all useful social, economic and environmental protection for citizens of the UK in order to cut so called red tape or as I prefer to describe it shaft people and planet for a few lousy pounds more in profit to themselves and their former school chums who are now in business.

Conservative Party Manifesto Commitment

 The Conservative seem to have an obsession with a race to the bottom of the quality and functionality of society and will do whatever they can to cut corners in order to save a penny and make a further quid (£) in profit.

In the new year here in good old blighty, errr cough, cough, splutter, splutter Great Britain we are presently living though a very serious health crisis in the NHS hospital system. Many news papers in the UK were reporting today that there were 500 deaths each week presently due to the failures of  our government to resource, plan and manage our health system during a major crisis not just down just to flue & covid, but also a lack of beds for patients and lack of staff resources and and an inability to recruit enough health staff and those poor souls working in the NHS are overworked and underpaid and their are simply not enough of them to nurse and treat patients or beds in hospital for patients or social service to support and discharge patients to once fit to leave hospital.

Hopefully this is all fixable but will take years and a serious resolve and financial input to fix and will not be done overnight or through gimmicks or political sound bites. Sadly the lack of fixing and investment shall also continue to cost many lives, Conservative blood money you might say.

Emeli Sande – Read All about it, Part III

Britain’s changing times

You might be surprised to hear that Britain does not actually have a written constitution, and you might even think well if the rules are not all written down in one place then how do they all know what to do and how their country is run and why it is run that way. Well in many ways it’s complicated although when it comes to which institution holds the most power it is actually quite simple and in some ways advantageous and in others ways potentially dangerous.

But in plucky British stiff upper lippedness ,it is seen to have worked for Britain up until now and so if is not broken nobody sees any need to fix it. Although with the present ongoing attempt to leave the European Union there is a slight constitutional problem and alas as yet unfixed and this does matter to both Britain and European Union. Because although Britain might not have written constitution but EU does and Northern Ireland is one hot spot where the rules and regulations of one power block clash with those of another power block in that of European Union vs. Britain. As Britain is the least powerful partner in the divorce between the two and as it is Britain that is choosing to walk away from the European Union and where potentially the European Union negotiates with Britain regarding what powers it can have and what trading it can do with European Union and what it can’t when it has left the EU, this puts Europe in a powerful position and Britain in a potentially weak position.

So even after all that Britain still has no written constitution, so why is this the case and what does that mean for British power, laws and how does it get things done. Well ultimately our Parliament in little old Britain is sovereign, Parliamentary sovereignty is a principle of the UK constitution. It makes Parliament the supreme legal authority in the UK, which can create or end any law. Generally, the courts cannot overrule its legislation and no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.

That is our strength and weakness pretty much tied up there the ability of parliament to create or end any law and to also pass laws that any future parliament can then go on to change. For a little old Blighty it means it has both the potential to adapt to matters of the day to enact laws and you would hope guide a country forward to do what is the right thing to do at the right time to do it. But on the other hand as power corrupts and people can given power, contracts, knighthoods and money so as to empower those whom support and prop up the institutions of government as they exist , then it also has potential for corruption and exploitation by those that benefit from and propping up the status quo.