Yesterday morning I received a letter from the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency. The letter was sent by first class recorded delivery in a J6 bubble pack padded envelope, the package contained a copy of a letter that I had sent them and an acknowledgement that they would include my letter into the Statement of Case that the letter referred to!
The client that I am representing also received a recorded delivery copy of the same letter in the same packaging.
Eighteen quid for what could have been provided for by two 41p plain first class stamps!
Even the 82p would have been a waste of money because the Agency has no choice but to include the letter into the Statement of Case, and me and my client already knew that!
Eighteen quid might be chickenfeed in the sum of the overal national budget, but how many Bubble Packed Recorded Delivery Acknowledgement Slips does it take to build a new hospital?
When I budget for my kids birthdays or for Christmas I find that the things that make one go over budget aren't the big items like the PS3 or the new bike, but the pound-for-this-fifty pee-for-that little incidentals!
The Government should start to look after the billions of pennies wasted in this way, if it wants to save billions of pounds from the overall state budget!
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
10/06/2010
Who is the money owed to?
This is a serious question asked for the sake of an answer, rather than to make a political point.
Apparently the UK owes £890 billion pounds. Who does it owe the money to? Is it to some of the banks that it borrowed money in order to bail them out?
Apparently the UK owes £890 billion pounds. Who does it owe the money to? Is it to some of the banks that it borrowed money in order to bail them out?
22/04/2009
Silly Budget
There is not a lot to say about the budget. As all the predictions and forecasts seem to have been based on wishful thinking they are not worth the paper they were written on.
It looks like the Assembly is going to get £500,000,000 less per year as a result of cut backs. A lot of money for a small institution so there will be severe cut backs in things like schools and hospitals and business support - the things needed to help Wales to come through the recession.
There seems to be little to get exited about on the bread and butter issues. Beer and fags and petrol have, as usual, gone up but not by as much as in previous budgets. This, along with the changes in higher rate income tax rates, seem to be a desperate attempt at appealing to Labour's traditional vote rather than having any fiscal significance. But having ignored their core vote for ten years then these attempt will probably fall into the category of the well worn political cliche of too little too late. The 50p in the £ tax for those on £100k or more seems to be a particularly naive bit of political budgeting. O.K. it may give the impression that the chancellor is punishing those rich sods who lead us into the financial crisis, which might please the socialists; but surely it is those who earn or aspire to earn such sums who are going to be needed to turn the economy around.
I am rather sceptical about the £2,000 old banger grant. How many people who currently have to drive 10 year old cars worth less than £2,000 are going to be in a position to sell them and buy a brand new car. Surely the reason people drive old bangers is because they can't afford anything better.
I was just as disappointed with the Conservative response to the budget speech. Cameron spoke well but was let down by his supporters. When he mentioned the possibility that Britain might have to go to the IMF his backbencher's laughed! Having to go to the IMF is no laughing matter. The Conservatives really must stop enjoying the recession. The economic downturn may be causing the Labour party difficulties but it is also causing hundreds of thousands of ordinary voters problems too. Hundreds of thousands of voters who are not going to vote for a party that laughs at their difficulty and sees the recession as a jolly wheeze with which to batter Brown and Darling.
It looks like the Assembly is going to get £500,000,000 less per year as a result of cut backs. A lot of money for a small institution so there will be severe cut backs in things like schools and hospitals and business support - the things needed to help Wales to come through the recession.
There seems to be little to get exited about on the bread and butter issues. Beer and fags and petrol have, as usual, gone up but not by as much as in previous budgets. This, along with the changes in higher rate income tax rates, seem to be a desperate attempt at appealing to Labour's traditional vote rather than having any fiscal significance. But having ignored their core vote for ten years then these attempt will probably fall into the category of the well worn political cliche of too little too late. The 50p in the £ tax for those on £100k or more seems to be a particularly naive bit of political budgeting. O.K. it may give the impression that the chancellor is punishing those rich sods who lead us into the financial crisis, which might please the socialists; but surely it is those who earn or aspire to earn such sums who are going to be needed to turn the economy around.
I am rather sceptical about the £2,000 old banger grant. How many people who currently have to drive 10 year old cars worth less than £2,000 are going to be in a position to sell them and buy a brand new car. Surely the reason people drive old bangers is because they can't afford anything better.
I was just as disappointed with the Conservative response to the budget speech. Cameron spoke well but was let down by his supporters. When he mentioned the possibility that Britain might have to go to the IMF his backbencher's laughed! Having to go to the IMF is no laughing matter. The Conservatives really must stop enjoying the recession. The economic downturn may be causing the Labour party difficulties but it is also causing hundreds of thousands of ordinary voters problems too. Hundreds of thousands of voters who are not going to vote for a party that laughs at their difficulty and sees the recession as a jolly wheeze with which to batter Brown and Darling.
13/03/2008
The Budget Lies
Having read a few of the early internet editions of today's papers, the consensus on the budget seems to be that it was boring. So boring that some MPs slept through it.
The papers say that the budget was boring as if boring budgets are a bad thing! I disagree a boring budget is a good budget in my view.
I can remember the 1970's when budget day was interesting, not because it was exciting, but because it was terrifying. People who had no interest in politics would rush home from work to hear how bad a budget was. Income tax and purchase tax rises could mean that wage packets would be cut and prices up within weeks. School and Sunday School trips would be cancelled because working class people could no longer afford the fees as a direct result of a budget. Workers would go into work in fear on the day after a budget because they didn't know if jobs would be cut or whole factories closed as a result of budget announcements. I hope I never have to live through the terror of interesting budgets again.
My main criticism of this budget is the pathetic spin that is included in it. Taxes are raised in some areas and presented as lifestyle changing measures rather than the income raising measures that they are.
If you can afford a fiver for a packet of fags today, you'll be able to find £5.11 for a packet tomorrow. Indeed as the difference between the cheapest and most expensive cigarettes is over £2 you can absorb the 11p difference by changing brands. The claim that the 11p increase is a tax aimed at improving peoples health by encouraging them to quit is a blatant fallacy.
Then there is the lie that having to pay £1000 tax for the first year only on a brand new 4X4 is an environmental tax. Bollocks! If you can afford £60,000 for a brand new Range Rover an extra £1k is nothing. Does the Chancellor really believe that fewer 4X4s will be sold because of this measure? Of course he doesn’t, he just wants easy cash from the people who will carry on buying them regardless.
And then there is the 4p on a pint of beer to reduce binge drinking. If I go out on a fifteen pint of strong lager binge tonight, it is going to cost me 60p less than it will next week! Woo! Sixty Pee - I might stay in next Friday, or drink less - I don't think so!
If the chancellor really wanted to change lifestyles then £11 on a pack of fags, £4 on a pint of beer and £30k on a Range Rover might have done it. The taxes raised are not lifestyle changing tax hikes, he knowss it and we know it.
I don't think that the tax rises that he made are particularly bad. I don't mind paying 4p more for a pint in order to enable those who move from benefits into work to continue to get housing benefit, freeing them from the benefits trap. I'll buy an extra half of mild next Tuesday to help the cause! But why oh why couldn't he be honest?
The fallacy of the chancellor's lifestyle lies are so obvious, they do nothing but bring politics into disrepute.
Alistair Darling could have raised the same taxes honestly and shown himself and his party in a better light by being honest. :
I need more money to help poor families. I'm going to tax those who can afford the luxuries of cigarettes, booze and fast cars, to pay for more family tax credits etc and I am going to make sure that those recipients who squander extra poverty payment on such luxuries pay the whole benefit back to the treasury in taxes
Honest, fair, social democratic and something few would complain about!
So why did he have to lie?
The papers say that the budget was boring as if boring budgets are a bad thing! I disagree a boring budget is a good budget in my view.
I can remember the 1970's when budget day was interesting, not because it was exciting, but because it was terrifying. People who had no interest in politics would rush home from work to hear how bad a budget was. Income tax and purchase tax rises could mean that wage packets would be cut and prices up within weeks. School and Sunday School trips would be cancelled because working class people could no longer afford the fees as a direct result of a budget. Workers would go into work in fear on the day after a budget because they didn't know if jobs would be cut or whole factories closed as a result of budget announcements. I hope I never have to live through the terror of interesting budgets again.
My main criticism of this budget is the pathetic spin that is included in it. Taxes are raised in some areas and presented as lifestyle changing measures rather than the income raising measures that they are.
If you can afford a fiver for a packet of fags today, you'll be able to find £5.11 for a packet tomorrow. Indeed as the difference between the cheapest and most expensive cigarettes is over £2 you can absorb the 11p difference by changing brands. The claim that the 11p increase is a tax aimed at improving peoples health by encouraging them to quit is a blatant fallacy.
Then there is the lie that having to pay £1000 tax for the first year only on a brand new 4X4 is an environmental tax. Bollocks! If you can afford £60,000 for a brand new Range Rover an extra £1k is nothing. Does the Chancellor really believe that fewer 4X4s will be sold because of this measure? Of course he doesn’t, he just wants easy cash from the people who will carry on buying them regardless.
And then there is the 4p on a pint of beer to reduce binge drinking. If I go out on a fifteen pint of strong lager binge tonight, it is going to cost me 60p less than it will next week! Woo! Sixty Pee - I might stay in next Friday, or drink less - I don't think so!
If the chancellor really wanted to change lifestyles then £11 on a pack of fags, £4 on a pint of beer and £30k on a Range Rover might have done it. The taxes raised are not lifestyle changing tax hikes, he knowss it and we know it.
I don't think that the tax rises that he made are particularly bad. I don't mind paying 4p more for a pint in order to enable those who move from benefits into work to continue to get housing benefit, freeing them from the benefits trap. I'll buy an extra half of mild next Tuesday to help the cause! But why oh why couldn't he be honest?
The fallacy of the chancellor's lifestyle lies are so obvious, they do nothing but bring politics into disrepute.
Alistair Darling could have raised the same taxes honestly and shown himself and his party in a better light by being honest. :
I need more money to help poor families. I'm going to tax those who can afford the luxuries of cigarettes, booze and fast cars, to pay for more family tax credits etc and I am going to make sure that those recipients who squander extra poverty payment on such luxuries pay the whole benefit back to the treasury in taxes
Honest, fair, social democratic and something few would complain about!
So why did he have to lie?
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