The EU Budget Increase

In their arrogant way the eurocrats are just about to get to the point where not only British taxpayers but taxpayers across the EU are going to get so angry that not only our government but also other governments are going to have to take notice. The demand for an increase in the EU budget when Greece is being told to cut its budget is somewhat insensitive to say the least of it. It is insensitive also to demand more from other countries which are having to embark on cuts to their budgets as well. As far as the UK is concerned any demand to do away with our rebate will be like a red rag to a bull as will any increase in our contribution and any imposition of new EU taxes. Although the rebate point is said to be only a rumour at this point our Government is taking it seriously as Downing Street has announced that not only will they vote against unreasonable rises in the budget and oppose the introduction of new EU taxes they will also protect the rebate. If the rebate were to go we would be contributing more to the EU even than Germany. In a way I hope the eurocrats insist on the withdrawal of the rebate as the backlash will be huge and give us the necessary oomph to ensure that our relationship with Brussels is changed significantly for the better. We'd be better out but if that proves a step too far then at least we should be able to do a Swiss type deal. In his blog this morning Daniel Hannan said "the EU has become a racket: a mechanism to redistribute resources from the many to the few. I can understand why the Greeks are protesting. What I can’t understand is why the rest of us aren’t." The moment to protest has not yet arrived but it will do soon and with a vengeance if the rumour about the rebate is true.

The Chelsea Barracks

I look across the road at the Chelsea Barracks and wonder what the new development on it is going to look like. As I understand it it is going to be higher than the Chelsea Barracks Partnership had been hoping for although as yet the style and shape of the proposed buildings have not been revealed. As Westminster has pointed out the new buildings will though be lower than the 2 nasty '60s blocks still standing on the site. The plans are due to be voted on by Westminster any moment now and I hope will be sensitive to the locale unlike the monstrosity proposed by that awful jerk and tasteless architect Lord Rodgers. Thank God the Kandy brothers are no longer involved - what an opportunity they had with the redevelopment of No 1 Knightsbridge and what a banal disappointment that piece of glass has turned out to be. I wonder if the Barracks development still includes a hotel. A hotel could add a touch of glamour to the area but I doubt it will be as popular as the Sloane Club where everyone's grandparents and aunts and uncles seem to stay. How the traffic in this part of town will be affected as a result of all the additional cars the development will bring in the immediate area is anyone's guess. Will they change the traffic light sequence along the Chelsea Bridge Road and will that prevent the frequent jams in the evening rush hour? Will these jams become worse? Will the re-opening of Albert Bridge help? Quite possibly.    

IMF and Other Things

So Christine Lagarde has been appointed Managing Director of the IMF. It is a pity that someone from a developing country or from the BRIC countries didn't get it, someone not so interested in pursuing the failed bail out policy of the EU and the IMF. Perhaps Lagarde will surprise us but I doubt it. If she were wise she would take Lord Lawson as an adviser. He was in great form on Jeff Randall live this evening reminding us that whilst the euro was first under discussion he had said it would fail as a currency union will not work unless there is both fiscal and political union and there was not then and never will be a desire for political union amongst the various EU countries and their peoples. Lord Lawson was also scathing about those euro politicians who believed that a political vision alone could bring about successful monetary union and decried their lack of attachment to reality. He also thought those bankers who had invested in Greek debt should be sacked without compensation as to have thought Greek debt was a safe investment was negligent. Jeff Randall also had Charles Jenkins of the Economist Intelligence Unit on his show this evening who stated that if Greece were to default the UK could manage the outfall. He thought that Ireland and Portugal might suffer a knock on effect from Greek default but that rather than Spain, Italy was another country to worry about.   

London Traffic

I don't know what it's like in other parts of town but the traffic jams in and around SW3 are a nightmare and have been so since at least the beginning of last year. It is not because of the traffic itself but because of the endless unharmonised road works. Sloane Street was dug up at least five times last year and the King's Road has been dug up at least that number of times this year. Numerous holes have been dug this year in the Royal Hospital Road as well as on the Embankment and the Fulham Road. There are road works again somewhere today in the area causing jams in the New Kings Road, the Kings Road, Lower Sloane Street, Chelsea Bridge Road and no doubt elsewhere. It's chaos out there and unless the road works are completed quickly it will no doubt get worse on Thursday when the rage of the lazy, overpaid, underperforming public sector workers is to be unleashed on us all in the first wave of strikes due to be held on that day. It was great to read yesterday though that Francis Maude says the government is set to ban the practice of paying Union officials out of the public purse. Good to hear too that Pickles has refused to allow one of the union boss's into the Department of Communities and local Government to persuade his members to join Thursday's strike. The public will have their revenge on these pampered skivers who think they have a greater right than the rest of us to pensions that no one else can afford. 

The Art of the Possible

We have always been told that politics is the 'art of the possible'. I have stopped believing that saying ever since I realised it is an excuse for not pursuing a particular policy which is thought to be too much like hard work to push through often after focus groups have told politicians that a particular policy has become unpopular. That a government should be flexible enough to do a u-turn where, after debate, it is shown that the original policy can be improved by changing or even abandoning it is not in dispute. Simply to try and buy votes by pursuing policies that you do not believe in but which are thought to keep the electorate on side is cynical and wrong. Who would now ever trust Blair or his lying communications director Alistair Cambell again? The Coalition must not use the same tactics although the u-turn on the sale of forests was a pretty cynical act particularly as the original idea was a sensible one. What is more important though is that there are no real u-turns on the the NHS reforms, nor on education, nor on welfare reform, nor on keeping the EU at bay and holding a referendum before any changes to the existing treaties can take effect. The Government should though get real on the damage being done by the renewable energy nonsense and the eurozone bail outs.     

What Next in the EU

Charles Moore in the Telegraph today states that John Major when talking about the then possible introduction of the euro made a practical minded British mistake of assuming that because something wont work it wont happen. The euro did happen and Charles Moore believes we are making another practical minded British mistake of assuming that the, as he puts it, crazy aspects of the project will be abandoned. He points out that the opposite is happening and says fiscal union is being pushed forward so that the economies of eurozone states can be centrally controlled. A frightening prospect which will lead to a monumental disaster in the next few years if fiscal union does indeed come to pass. It will be a disaster for all the reasons given by those, now proved right, who thought the euro was misconceived and would collapse. What makes it even more certain it will end up a disaster is Blair's statement a couple of days ago supporting fiscal union in the eurozone and predicting Britain at some point should join the euro. Charles Moore goes on to talk about how we are hated in Europe for pointing out the euro project failings and that all we can do is be sympathetic to the euro woes and stay out (of what he does not make clear but I assume he means the euro and the bail outs). He does not believe there is an opportunity here to be exploited. I disagree with Charles Moore and who cares if we are hated - situation normal as it has been and always will be. This is yet another opportunity for us and we should not hesitate to hold a referendum to leave the EU. It will liberate us and hopefully will lead to a common market which encourages free trade through the rest of the world.  We can no longer continue as members of an organisation run by eurocrats (europhile politicians and EU bureaucrats) intent on digging deeper into the hole they have been digging by insisting on an ever closer union. It is a pity that eurocrats believe their own propaganda rather than the instincts of the ordinary voter who may be disengaged from all the detailed and analytical arguments but who does have the virtue of seeing the wood for the trees.

Milly Dowler

The Dowler family have been upset about the way in which Bellfield's defence counsel cross examined them and a review of how victims and their families are questioned is being demanded. Surely though a defendant's counsel has an obligation to try and throw doubt into the minds of the jury on the case presented by the prosecution. The method of doing so however must be up to the defendant's counsel. The manner in which he carried out his cross examination may well have been distressing but the fact is it did not work and Bellfield was found guilty. The Dowler family quite understandably believe that the death penalty be re-introduced and that Bellfield should be hung. A majority in this country feel that the death penalty should be re-introduced but it is difficult to see Parliament changing its mind on this issue. MPs believe they are better informed on this issue and thus better able to make a more rational judgment. MPs believe there are many other issues on which they are better informed and better able to make a judgment. For example they believe they know more about climate change and are thus justified in committing this country to expenditure of an unaffordable kind on so called renewables that has the unfortunate consequence of closing down factories such as our steel making foundries. We are now being warned about the dire consequences of Greek default and how we will suffer as a result. Maybe we could use the change that will be brought about to our own advantage.    

Ulster

There has been little in the media about this week's riots in Belfast. Is this because to make a big issue of it is to invite comments about the Good Friday Agreement and the lies told to try and fool us into thinking an honourable settlement had been achieved rather than appeasement? As with issues like immigration it is always those at the bottom of the economic ladder who suffer the brunt of the consequences of ill thought out policies. Those higher up the food chain can always tut tut about the reactions of those they consider inferior. This is not to say that the the UVF is not an odious organisation - it is. What though has happened or hasn't happened over the last few years to generate the level of violence we have seen this week? Nothing that I have read or seen on television or heard on the radio has supplied a satisfactory explanation. All one can hope is that those who should have prevented these kind of riots from happening are now working out how to prevent them from happening again. A bit of honesty might not come amiss for a start including openness about what weapons decommissioning actually meant. As we know it was a lie to pretend that weapons had been put beyond use. The IRA knew it, so did the UVF, so did the police and so did the rest of us who paid attention to what was going on in Northern Ireland. Decent law abiding folk in Northern Ireland deserve better.

DNA

Surely the answer to the question asked by Miliband at PMQs today about whether or not the  DNA of those suspected of rape but not charged must be 'no'. How can any decent society keep anyone's DNA who has either not been found guilty of rape or who has not even been charged of the crime. Miliband by asking the question has demonstrated yet again the unattractive anti-liberty credentials of the Labour party. This is one of those instances where there can be no 'ifs' and 'buts' and Cameron should have been robust in his response. What a ridiculous question though for the leader of the Opposition to ask. Although the whole issue of DNA is an immensely important one, as indeed is the crime of rape, it is difficult to see why Miliband wasted his questions on these issues when there is nothing specifically happening that makes them a burning issue of the day. Why not ask what is going on in  Belfast, what is happening with Greece and the euro, what is happening with our economy and what is happening in Afghanistan, Libya and Syria all of which are important current issues as is the extradition treaty with the USA and the European Arrest Warrant. I would love to hear Cameron trying to defend the indefensible in relation to both the US extradition treaty and the European Arrest Warrant from both of which we must resile.          

The Euro

A fascinating debate on Jeff Randall Live this evening with Desmond Lachmar of Georgetown University stating that in his view if he were advising Greece, Portugal and Ireland he would tell them to default and leave the euro as from their point of view that was the only way their economies could recover. He went on to say that if he were advising the Germans and French he would tell them to do everything to keep Greece, Portugal and Ireland in the euro since the consequence of allowing them to default would be disastrous for the German and French banks who had over invested in Greek, Irish and Portuguese bonds. Interesting also to see that Boris Johnson had an article today in the Daily Telegraph advising the Greeks to default, that one of Guido Fawkes's blogs today names some of the great and the good of British politics who were guilty of supporting Britain's entry into the euro and that Daniel Hannan's blog this morning complains that despite the fact the the terms of the Greek bail out have made Greece's state worse not better the careers of those eurocrats who have been involved in the Greek affair will not be destroyed. When is common sense going to prevail on the euro issue?   

Bring on the Greek Default

Virtually every pundit who is asked about the effects of Greece defaulting includes in their answer a statement that once Greece has fallen Portugal, Ireland and Spain will be picked off one by one by the market. Some of the loudest who maintain this domino effect is inevitable are the eurocrats. This claim by eurocrats invites suspicion, even scepticism. Why should Portugal, Ireland and Spain inevitably follow Greece's lead? Different circumstances apply in each country, for example in Greece tax avoidance is rife but this is not so in Ireland. Greece lied about its finances to be accepted into the eurozone whereas Ireland didn't. It must therefore be simplistic to say that where Greece leads the other Countries will follow. If the domino theory is wrong then why are the eurocrats pushing it so hard? Surely not to protect the ECB and the German and French banks which are so over invested in Greek bonds? Surely not to sucker the UK into assisting with the bail out for which it has no obligation to join? There does not seem to be another reason. The only way Greece can sort out its affairs is by defaulting, as it has done (we are told) countless times in the past, and leaving the euro. Those who over invested in Greece will suffer the consequences of their folly but one would hope that, like some of the British banks, eurozone banks having been quietly reducing their positions in Greek assets. There is a tremendous opportunity for the UK if Greece defaults and the ECB and French and German banks go bust. UK banks and other institutions will then be able to buy up French and German assets at rock bottom prices. Bring on the Greek default.    

Pickpockets

The Unions are threatening the biggest strike since the General Strike of 1926. I think they will be surprised by the reaction of the public to their selfish action as the strike will generate considerable anger amongst those in the private sector who on the whole are less well paid, have to work significantly harder, have no job security, do not have 'sickies', do not have additional days off, contribute more to their pensions and receive paltry pensions. In my youth we were constantly told about the nobility and generosity of Union members. That was always a lie as they are no more noble or generous than anyone else. They use their weight to get the best deal they can - good luck to them but the Government should demonstrate to them that the weight of the rest of us is greater and ban any strike that has not been voted on by at least 50% of the membership. The fairness they constantly spout is bogus and until the law on strike voting is changed so that the Union bosses have to have a proper mandate before they can throw their weight about the better and indeed the fairer for us all. I think it obscene that a Union boss can pay £650 for a lunch at a London restaurant and then lead a strike on which only 20% of his members have bothered to vote even if over half of those voting voted in favour of strike action. The Unions boast of solidarity but where is their solidarity with the rest of us in these difficult times? They are as bad as the worst kind of monopoly and should be investigated by the Monopolies Commission. If anyone should go on strike it should be the taxpayers against any further pickpocketing.       

Argentina and Other Things

Is it true that the husband of Mrs de Kirchner, the President of Argentina, is descended from one of the Nazis who escaped to Argentina after the war? If so it might explain her description of Cameron's opinion on the subject of negotiating the takeover by Argentina  of the Falklands as 'mediocrity bordering on stupidity'. I thought though that she could have used that expression more aptly about the opinions on currency of the experts who introduced the ERM and then the  euro. It was quite clear that the ERM was a disaster for all EU countries other than Germany and its client states. After all our supposed ally Germany refused to help us stay in it when they saw it could cost them money. It was even clearer that the euro would be an even greater disaster with no mechanism for leaving or being expelled. The arrogant, clever, fascists who run the EU failed to learn the lesson and thinking they could defy gravity persisted with introducing the euro. The whole euro disaster makes one's boil bleed. Apart from the fact that whatever Greece does it is going to cost us a considerable amount of money that we can ill afford there is currently no way to bring to account those who are responsible for this whole fiasco, that is those who invented the euro and launched it. These 'mediocre and stupid' (to use Mrs de Kirchner's wording) experts are responsible for ruining the economies of as yet unknown numbers of countries and of the lives of millions and millions of people. It would be nice to know who these experts are. In the case of any future experiment it would be nice to know who is responsible for inventing and implementing it so that one knows who to blame if it goes wrong. Perhaps the fear of being named and shamed will act as a brake on the kind of experiment on the scale of the euro, although I do not hold my breath. Any idea of openness is of course the antithesis of how the EU likes to conduct its business.             

Panorama

The Panorama programme on Primark must have been about as wrong as any programme could be since even its watchdog, the BBC Trust, has condemned it and insisted on an apology being made on TV. It is quite extraordinary though that rather than an independent body having the authority to deal with complaints about BBC programmes it is the BBC itself which is allowed to do so. Yet another example of a conflict of interest. It is contrary to all the laws of natural justice that the BBC should be allowed to be its own judge and jury. So often justified complaints about BBC bias, misrepresentation and sheer distortion of the facts are dismissed out of hand by the BBC Trust. Visit the Biased-BBC website http://www.biased-bbc.blogspot.com/ for numerous examples of what I am talking about. What kind of government would allow a propaganda organisation to be its own policeman? Only a government that is in tune with the propaganda that is disseminated by such an organisation. It was, of course, a Labour Government that, when restructuring the BBC, provided for the BBC to act as its own judge and jury. This is something that when there is time the Government has got to change along with thousands of other horrors brought in by both the EU and Labour.      

Greece

As predicted Greece is spinning out of control. There is a stand off between the Government and the Trades Unions - mainly Government employees. It is incredible that as with Government employees in this country they have absolutely no idea where the money comes from to pay their wages, pensions etc. They have no idea either that they are in a non productive occupation and that they live off the efforts of private sector employees. Greece should be allowed to leave the eurozone, devalue its currency and restructure its economy now. This is not going to happen for some time though as neither France nor Germany can allow Greece to fail since if it were to default French and German banks which have bought too much Greek debt will collapse, as will the ECB. It will happen though eventually as France and Germany themselves will not be able to continue supporting Greece, Portugal and Ireland for too long. Open Europe www.openeurope.org.uk has written a brief on how fragile is the ECB's solvency. The fallout will be massive if the ECB fails but better that it does so now in a structured manner rather than in a year or so's time in a forced in an uncontrolled manner. Hopefully this will teach the eurocrats some sense and humility. Hopefully our Government will use the collapse as an opportunity to force changes on the EU structure or better still to leave it.          

A Ruined Day

I was upset first today when I read that Clegg was claiming that he had singled handedly made the Tories tone down the NHS reforms to something that would now be acceptable. I was further upset when I turned on radio 4 at about one fifteen today and heard the voice of Tony Blair, charlatan in chief of the last Labour Government which never spoke the truth about anything when a lie would do. My day was completely ruined when I read the critique of Osborne  made by Balls in today's Daily Mirror in which he writes, well, balls about how his notes on removing Blair to impose the violent idiot Brown as Prime Minister was a Tory plot. Yet despite all of this Ed Miliband adopted David Cameron as a role model and used the same kind of language in his speech today about the undeserving and the deserving poor. Will this result in Archbishop Williams now attacking Ed Miliband? It would be an antidote to a miserable day if the Archbishop were to do so but do pigs fly? Even though the antidote will not be administered it was still satisfying seeing John Denham on Jeff Randall Live this evening squirming and saying that Labour did not make enough reforms to the benefit system when they were in power.      

The Emperor's Clothes

Lord Lawson has written in today's Daily Mail about climate change and has again had the guts to question those who through a decarbonising policy would wish to return us to a third world economy, including the present Government. His think tank, The Global Warming Policy Foundation has apparently published an analysis by former head of the Civil Service, Lord Turnbull, who asks Whitehall and Ministers to consider the damaging economic impact of blindly following the climate change agenda. It is not as if Lord Lawson denies that it has been scientifically proven that increased emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere leads to global warming but believes the extent of the warming increase is unproven as is the harm it might do. Lord Lawson also contends that Britain's decarbonising efforts alone will do next to nothing to counteract the warming as we account for only 2% of the world's emissions of carbon dioxide whereas China increases its emissions by that amount each year. It is complete madness therefore for us to be the only country in the world to reduce our emissions when China, India and the USA refuse to do so. By acting unilaterally all we are doing is pricing ourselves out of the manufacturing markets. To deny ourselves the use of oil, gas and coal, which are the cheapest sources of energy, is to ensure that we can only compete with our hands tied behind our backs . If ever there was a policy crying out for a u-turn it this one. Lord Lawson is to be commended for acting like the little boy who told the Emperor that he had no clothes. For the sake of us all, David Cameron, repeal the Climate Change Act.      

Archbishop Williams

Archbishop Williams would never have been appointed to his exalted role if a Tory Government had been in power at the time. As it was it was up to that great lover of all things English, Tony Blair, to make the appointment and he was never going to appoint anyone other than a Churchman of the left to take the role. Thus it is we have the socialist Williams as Archbishop. Thus it is that we have an attack on the Coalition which makes his political persuasion clear as well as his partisanship by which I mean that he supports the Labour party approach to the deficit and misrepresents the contents of the Tory and Lib Dem manifestos saying none of the policies adopted by the Coalition were in them and by implication that it is immoral to implement those Coalition policies as no one voted for them. This is wrong as a majority did vote for reforming the NHS for example. The excuse being made that Williams is merely reflecting the views of the Church's followers is of course nonsense. Congregations are still falling and the make up of the Village congregations that I have rubbed shoulders with in Northamptonshire seem to me to be made up of a mostly conservative (with a small 'c') disposition who are all for helping the underdog but not the scrounger, for lower taxes, for good schools (including Grammar Schools), for fewer immigrants, for better health care and decent pensions that will not impoverish future generations. Perhaps I don't talk to the right kind of parishioner - perhaps the reports of what parishioners tell their priests is skewed to reflect the wishful thinking of the priests who are rather more of the sandal type than they used to be in my youth.

A Sad Day

We all know that politics is the art of the possible but how do you know what is possible until you push the boundaries. Sadly Cameron has decided to give in to the vested interests of the health workers and the prejudices of the mob. He should instead have taken the high ground and done everything in his power to educate the mob and demonstrated with well made examples just how the NHS could be improved if the taxpayer/consumer is put in charge. The Clinical Senates he is now to introduce could make sense if they were elected bodies with health workers only having an advisory role but health workers alone are to become members of these Senates and by appointment only. If I understand what is proposed correctly, these Senates will be answerable to something called the NHS Commissioning Board (another body to which members will be appointed, not elected) which in turn will be answerable to the Secretary of State. This is a cumbersome and I would suggest an unworkable hierarchical structure. It will of course increase the cost of running the NHS which is to remain the same bureaucratic, expensive, empire building nightmare it has always been with only those working in it benefiting. Without openness, accountability and competition the NHS will ultimately atrophy and die. What a waste. What a missed opportunity. What a defeat for the Government at the hands of the luddites and the left. The Government is introducing elections for Police Commissioners and it should follow its own logic and introduce elections for the bosses of each NHS trust.     

Trade Unions

It is sometimes puzzling that one's view of the world seems to be so completely different from those of others that one wonders what planet the others live on. So it is with the Trade Unions. The only way they can justify a strike against the Government's economic policies is not for any economic reason but because they want to enter into a debate about the Government's policies. In other words they will be striking for political reasons. No State employee should be allowed to strike for political reasons. We pay more than enough out of our taxes for useless or non jobs as well as for gold plated public sector pensions. For the taxpayer to have to pay for public sector workers to go on strike is just a step too far. No State employee should be allowed to join a political strike other than in his own time and without any taxpayer subvention. As said on a previous blog no strike should be allowed to proceed without at least 50% of those entitled to vote doing so.  Although Vince Cable did not today propose anything as sensible as my proposal his pusillanimous suggestion that the Government might need to look again at banning strikes by public sector workers if such strikes imposed serious damage on the economy was of course greeted with heckling.   

No. 10 and the NHS

Charles Moore has written an interesting article in the Telegraph today about how in his view 10 Downing Street is dysfunctional because it has no political chief of staff pushing through the Government's aims and that this can be seen most clearly in the way the NHS reforms have been handled. Apparently Andrew Lansley started out in life as a civil servant - I suppose we can't all be perfect - and is taking a bureaucratic approach to the reforms rather than than a political one. As a result the attitude to the reforms is negative because the general public has not been persuaded of the benefits to patients that the proposed changes will bring. It should surely not be beyond the wit of man to explain why the reforms are needed and what benefits will arise from them. I assume the Government is waiting for the so called listening period to be over so that it can then launch its sales strategy. The sales strategy must be a good one and one which outflanks not only the LibDems but also the doctors, nurses and other health trades unions. For far too long the needs of patients have been pushed into second place behind the demands of the health workers. I am happy to subscribe to the health care of others in this country but only if the patients are the principal beneficiaries.        

EU and e-Coli

Daniel Hannan has a horrifying story on his blog today http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100090671/eu-child-propaganda-silly-or-sinister/ about a cartoon for children distributed by the EU. Why is it that as an EU taxpayer one has absolutely no right to stop this sinister nonsense? Those who decided to spend our money on this kind of drivel clearly believe like the Jesuits that if you catch the children early enough they will be followers for the rest of their lives. Nice also isn't it that the 'nasty' in this story is portrayed as a Jew. Is the EU trying to promote anti-semitism? The only answer can be yes. It is appalling and there needs to be an outcry about the two messages the EU seems intent on giving children. Divorce cannot come soon enough from this fascist organisation which believes only in elitism, protectionism and the supremacy of the Germans and the French - both countries with which for very good reason we have had serious arguments in the past. We should keep as far away as possible from them for our own good. Only a country like Germany would have the arrogance to blame the Spanish without much proof for the e-coli disaster. There is now evidence that has found the e-coli bug is not borne by fruit and vegetables. It looks likely the bug came from meat produced in that eco-fascist, green loving sanctimonious country Germany which on the basis of unproven science has gone completely mad and abandoned its nuclear power stations. Good for the French though as it will be France that makes up Germany's energy shortfall. History is not exactly repeating itself but it is amusing when you think that France wanted Germany's coal after WW1 by way of  reparations and is now to be paid for its electricity.    

Local Authorities

The economic news has not been exactly promising today although the construction industry figures have been somewhat positive as have the latest employment figures. If the economy is doing as badly as the figures suggest how is it that the private sector is taking on more staff? What is concerning of course is the level of inflation and the unwillingness of the Bank of England to do anything about it. It is going to have to increase interest rates at some point and surely it would be better to do so earlier than later as the sooner we tackle the problem the sooner it will be resolved. With the polls showing the Tories neck and neck with Labour this would be a good time to do it and also to plough on with the necessary changes to the NHS. It is unfortunate though that the economy story has taken attention away from the disgraceful way in which so many local authorities are behaving. If they adopted correct policies there would be absolutely no need to reduce the number of the elderly in care and  Southern Cross would be profitable. Correct policies mean reducing the outrageous salaries senior officers are paid, the withdrawal of their cars and other perks, the dismissal of non jobs like the diversity and climate change ones, the sorting out of the child care mess, the banishing of the trades unions, bringing pension entitlement to private sector levels, reducing rates and generally concentrating solely on the basics. Eric Pickles is doing a good job but he needs to go faster and deeper.