Gideon can get his grubby hands off Incapacity

A week since the Budget was announced, and things are looking pretty hairy (to put it lightly). Indeed, it has been described by many as "the toughest budget in decades", which can't fare well for British society by any stretch of the imagination. We were warned all along that this was going to be tough, but reassured that "we are all in it together." Pfft. Ha, bloody ha.
The cuts keep coming thick and fast, and at the moment every waking day seems to be bringing in more painfully depressing news about what important major services are going to see cuts and further unemployment. The sight of Gideon 'George' Osborne's smirking face now actually makes me nauseous.
But then what else could we expect from the ex-member of Oxford's Bullingdon Club? Sadly, little.
But I fail to see how we are "all in this together", as Mr. Cameron is intent on telling us all, time and time again, when the poorest people in society are the ones who are being affected most; who the cuts are really going to bite for, when in fact it was the richest people who got us into the mess of the recession anyway. Typical Conservative logic. Which isn't even logical.
Worst of all though, is the focus on minimising Incapacity benefit and Disability pay, and re-assessing everyone on it in the hope that at least 1 in 5 can be taken off it - which is going to take a lot of money anyway. But that's not even the point. Not everything is about economics. Mr. Osborne here is actually targetting some of the most vulnerable people in society, and making their lives stressful and worse. Terminally ill cancer patients, people with life-affecting heart conditions, the disabled, plus many more, are all to be subjected to vigorous re-assessments and possible/ probable cuts in their benefits, at a time when what we all really need is a boost in morale, and something to look forward to.
Though it may sound extreme, I think this move will go as far as to kill some people. Some of those on incapacity benefit need around-the-clock care, and a move as daring and as extreme as this is really not the kind of stress they can deal with.
It's alright for Dave & George of course, who won't even feel any of these cuts. But you could at least hope for a slice of empathy. Apparently that's out of the question too. "We're all in this together", are we? Then why are they sitting up in Westminster shining their shoes and sipping cocktails while more and more of us are becoming cash-strapped? Did we REALLY vote for this?

Disrespect shouldn't mean 'wish for death'

Labour backbencher John McDonnell made headlines this week with his 'assassinate Thatcher' jibe. Many brushed it off as a joke, but it happens that he is no longer standing for the Labour leadership.
A joke it may have been, and as reassuring it is to realise that there are to my knowledge no aspiring, would-be murderers in the Labour party, it was a joke made in extremely poor taste.
While I do not agree with Conservative claims that it was merely a way to try to grab votes 'from the left' in his run-up to the leadership campaign - ironically he is now standing down, and John McDonnell is hardly known for 'pandering to the party' anyway - I do agree on claims that it was insensitive and just downright distasteful. Humour only works when supported by at least small undercurrents of truth, and so I think to even allude to killing anyone - no matter how much you detest their views or the way they are as a person - is extremely unsavoury and by no means a laughing matter.
The ruptuous applause and laughter that followed his comment, however, spoke volumes, and was perhaps even more worrying. What is it in British society that makes us think it's OK to joke about the loss of life? Especially when being pragmatic, taking into account that Margaret Thatcher is now a very frail old woman. Was this really an appropriate comment to make?
Unfortunately it seems that jokes about 'killing off' those we don't like is just commonplace nowadays in British society, and it's one of the many things that I find repulsive about this nation. Only a few weeks ago, I was at a political gathering and overheard jokes - well, I presume they were jokes - but they were certainly said with extreme seriousness - about wanting to shoot David Cameron. I didn't manage to hide my shock and disgust; it was a natural reflex reaction. But as I sat aghast, I couldn't help but witness the smiles and the smirks that surrounded me. I could barely believe everyone was just letting it go as a casual comment, but then I remembered what country we're in, and England's horrible 'laughing stock' culture where people are targeted to such extremes that jokes often lead to talk and speculation about issues completely arbitrary and irrelevant to the issue, such as their 'ugliness', their warped hair style, and casual chinwagging about the most appropriate and interesting way to have them slaughtered.
Perhaps I'm just oversensitive, but I don't think so. As much as you dislike a person, there is a line you can cross. In my mind it is important to always keep perspective and remember to say the things you really mean.

The loss of millions (of lives) is the greater expense.

If you didn't read the bit in brackets, what would you expect this blog entry to be about? I suppose the abstract, figurative association of 'expense' collocates nicely with the idea of money anyway, so it isn't an entirely fair question. But I still think it highlights an important point: Britain is obsessed with dosh.
Sometimes I get a little tired with this country's obsession with money. No doubt many will see (or WOULD see, if 'many' people actually read this blog!) this entry as naive and ill-informed, but I think such critics would be missing the point.
While the expenses scandal is obviously important and needed to be discussed, I think the past tense of 'need' should really be noted here. We've had discussion after discussion about this and they have led to many new laws in parliament to stop such a thing from happening again. It's not as if it's been treated lightly.
But I have heard so much about it that I am almost sick of it now. I think things like this clearly show a huge loss of perspective, and this saddens me deeply.
The revelation of David Laws' so-called shady activities and expenses claims have brought the issue back into the spotlight this past week (as if they ever went away). But they miss the point. I completely agree with Times columnist Matthew Parris that the issue here is not about money; David Laws clearly wasn't doing this for money - it was purely because he wanted to hide his homosexual relationship, and I think the whole thing is really quite tragic.
It angers me that this is so normal; so common-place in our society, that whenever there's a story or a scandal that involves money, that is what is generally perceived as the key issue, no matter what. And it is really for that reason that I am sick of hearing about expenses. Because that is one of the few cases which really is about money, and yet the ongoing row over it is only causing people to confuse its issues even more with other stories which are completely irrelevant to finance and expense.
But then that is not even really the point of this blog entry. What I wanted to highlight was how people lose all sense of perspective. The expenses scandal was awful, and give politicians a bad name. But as bad a name as they should earn for murdering millions in Iraq? For taking human lives away? Come on. We need to remember the issues that REALLY matter; the issues that TRULY *destroy* lives. While we sit and bitch and moan about 'thieving' politicians, the same MURDERER politicians are supporting a barbaric war in Iraq. The expenses scandal was awful and embarrassing and rightly lost politicians a lot of trust. But it WAS about money. You know, that empty medium that buys us material things but has no value in itself. It is an ideological concept. It's a vacant substance; it's only money, for Christ's sake.
The bottom line is that we should think about what matters to us more, really; losing millions of pounds or losing millions of lives.
Britain is an extremely self-centred nation to live in at times.