They all laughed at him, but he did a better job than anyone since
Do you think the toffs in charge have a clue what’s going on? Me neither
At the time everyone laughed at John Major. He had an impossible job when you think about it, but did damn well.
He had an amazingly hard act to follow in Margaret Thatcher. He won an election against all expectations. He had a run of bad luck with scandals of one kind and another. And in Tony Blair he had as an opponent one of the most plausible liars ever to besmirch British politics.
Despite all that, he left us in great shape with lots of money in the bank.
Maybe this was because he was the last normal human being to run this country.
The media laughed at the idea that his family had a business selling garden gnomes. He once applied for a job as a bus conductor (and passed) but ended up working for a bank. For a while he worked in Nigeria – and if that doesn’t teach you about life, what will?
The simple fact is that nobody since him has had any idea of what goes on outside the unreal realm of Westminster- and they’ve all been flops.
The Bliar was a public school product who spent almost his entire career in politics. Gormless Gordon was a maniac who never had a real job. Cameron and half his cabinet are Old Etonians, with his experience limited to public relations – organised misrepresentation.
What happens when such people run things? They have no idea what happens as a result of their little wheezes. They have no idea what normal people think. And they have no commonsense.
What, for example, do normal people think of the idea of giving £650 million in aid to Pakistan? We’re broke. Pakistan is run by corrupt rogues, with a secret service in league with the Taliban
And what happens closer to home?
This government lives in a world of witless gestures, never stopping to think.
Shops closing down? Get some BS artist and make her a Shopping Czar. Hello, dickheads? Did you notice there’s a thing called the internet – and it’s not going away.
Let’s not start on the gormless Teenage Czar idea, but here’s a personal example.
I inherited two ramshackle houses from my mother on the wrong side of Ashton-under-Lyne. Nobody knows where the right side is, by the way.
We rent out rooms to people who are mostly either unemployed or unemployable. The proceeds just about cover the cost of managing those houses much of, but not all the time. Peter, who runs the place, God bless him, regularly has to deal with physical violence.
The money comes directly from the council to us for reasons any normal person living in the real world will understand.
Mr. Ian Duncan Smith has a new scheme which means giving that money directly to those entitled. It is being tested (or “trialled” in corporate drivel-talk) in places including Ashton-under-Lyne.
He has the best of intentions.
But he’s never been to Ashton-under-Lyne – or anywhere like it by the look of things. If he had he would know what will happen.
- The cash will go down the throats up the noses or into the veins of many of the recipients.
- There will be none left for rent
- They will be out on the streets with the usual results – more work for the police, social services and casualty wards.
In many places, houses like mine will fall derelict. Rather like the thinking of this government.
By the way, you have to wonder how Mr. Smith got his present job. Years ago he was caught out lying about his qualifications.
Thank you for telling it as it is without the snotty sneer from the ‘so-called’ toffs (who have buried and forgotten their ancestors’ lack of education and down to earth thinking) or the total ignorance of the dole merchant (I personally know a few) who can only relate that “That —- (marvelous Maggie) took away our milk.”.
I brought up three children without any help and now as a pensioner have had to beg for the small extra to augment my very basic pension whilst I look at a 35-year old woman who got pregnant at sixteen and was put into a hostel until she was 18 when she was given a 1-bedroom flat. A two bedroom followed when she slit her wrists (after she had ‘phoned four people, me included to make sure that she was found in time) and has spent every penny on cocaine and alcohol since I have known her; not to mention the fact that she has always had a live-in lover (four that I know of) to pay the bills. Her eldest a boy has just been expelled from school for beating up a teacher and a daughter is being schooled to be the same as ‘mum’.
Why did I bother? When it’s time for her pension she’ll get the maximum because the government had faithfully paid her stamp every week.
Doesn’t it make you feel proud to be British!
Hmmm, Social housing.
First they get sold to the tenants. Then the rest get passed over for management by housing associations. Their building grant gets cut away each year and the ability to kick out non-payers gets diminished. Next housing benefit gets paid direct to the tenant unless the landlord has words. Unified credit, or whatever it will be called, will not be good. Apparently rent will need paying up front rather than at the end of the month. So the feckless minority will have a wad of cash and a “right” to housing.
It is officially OK to have a luxury car on your drive with a personal plate. You can also get away with not paying your utility bills or council tax. The only condition is that you don’t pay your landlord and do a runner into the waiting arms of the social housing sector.
Hello Drayton,
As my thoughts of politicians are very similar to yours, I thought you might like the following:
Dear Prime Minister The RT. Hon. David Cameron, MP.
I wish to ask you a Question:- “Is This True?”
I refer to the Pension Reality Check.
Are you aware of the following?
The British Government provides the following financial assistance:-
BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER
(bearing in mind they worked hard and paid their Income Tax and
National Insurance contributions to the British Government all their
working life)
Weekly allowance: £106.00?
IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN
(No Income Tax and National Insurance contribution whatsoever)
Weekly allowance: £250.00
BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER
Weekly Spouse Allowance: £25.00?
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN
Weekly Spouse Allowance: £225.00
BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER
Additional Weekly Hardship Allowance: £0.00?
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN
Additional Weekly Hardship Allowance: £100.00
A British old age pensioner is no less hard up than an illegal
immigrant/refugee yet receives nothing
BRITISH OLD AGED PENSIONER
TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT £6,000?
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/REFUGEES LIVING IN BRITAIN
TOTAL YEARLY BENEFIT: £29,900
Please read all and then forward to all your contacts so that we can
lobby for a decent state pension.
After all, the average pensioner has paid taxes and contributed to the
growth of this country for the last 40 to 60 years.
Sad isn’t it? Surely it’s about time we put our own people first.
Drayton – agree completely with your analysis of John Major’s legacy. Good economically and kept us in good shape until Gordon Brown screwed everything up.