Opinionated

How sweet it is to say what you want to say for once. Twice in one day is quite something, and that was what happened to me today.

Opportunity number one: I received an email from some e-touchy-feely Lib Dem chap named Tim Farron wanting to know what I would do with the extra £60 a month I would theoretically have if they gave me the moon on a stick, sorry, if the tax allowance was raised to £10k. He urged me, personally, to email my thoughts.

And so I did. These thoughts were not happy daydreams of how I could spend £60 a month sadly, they seemed to come as more of a lament on the amounts I shall be out of pocket by thanks to the Tory changes the Lib Dems have allowed.

Will he read it, take note, reply or even notice I wrote an email? No he will not. Did it make me feel better writing it? Yes it did.

Opportunity number two: there is a Punto that parks on double yellow lines and narrows the entrance to our street every single night. I curse every time I pass him. He leaves enough room for a car to pass, but not enough for a larger vehicle such as a fire engine.

This evening I went out in my car to discover that our roadworks have now grown down our narrow roadway and that this Punto was stopped opposite the roadworks and was thus completely blocking the road. I beeped. The people around moved away from the car. I beeped again, and the car owner appeared and gesticulated wildly about waiting. Once he had moved enough and left me enough room to pull over and let him pull over again so I could pass (I know) he wound his window down and told me to chill out. So I pointed out he always parks in the way. He argued it is necessary and not to piss him off [sic]. I retorted that he pisses me off every single day, why should
I not get to piss him off once? At which point his drunken wife lurched up, slurred at me to chill out and was summarily ignored by both parties. The Punto was then unceremoniously dumped alongside some bollards and my ability to get through was lamented by my new friend.

Did this achieve anything? No it did not. Am I self congratulatory all the same for getting the chance to complain at the perpetrator of daily annoyance? Indeed I am.

Hate and Loathing in Lost Values

I have a hobby: shouting at David Cameron on the TV. It is quite a satisfying habit as they very often follow footage of the oafish Cameron and his words of misery with coverage of the unable-to-speak Ed Miliband (how did that happen?) and the permanently sheepish Nick Clegg. Much shouting all round.

Talking of Clegg, I naively believed him when he talked of influencing from within. I am a fool. He lied, he sold his soul, and that of his voters, for the sake of a seat on the cabinet. I have never been so disappointed in any human being ever. All the people who voted not-Tory and voted Liberal got Tory.

But still. We have what we have (sadly) and us* in Scotland are champing to vote for independence. Cameron has shifted us from meh to WE WANT IT NOW with regards to a referendum.

* yes I know it's not all of us. Ok.

I didn't vote for it, which makes me entitled to complain that they're there. I'm still shocked that anyone can understand what Tory policies are and still vote for them.

Ah. The key word there is understand. I think all that was understood was "not labour" and so off they trotted to vote for a party that is openly against so much that is good. They, being the general public, who are mostly ignorant fools. Apparently.

Anyway. I have digressed. Lucky nobody reads this because I shouldn't ever talk about politics. It comes across wrongly.

The point. There is one, somewhere, and it is that I have issue with pretty much every single thing that Cameron says. To be fair I'd argue black was white if he suggested it was blackish, but most of the time I genuinely disagree.

They want to scrap child benefits for "rich" families. Those earning incomes over threshold for higher tax.

Which is about £48k pa.

Last time I checked, this didn't make you rich. If you earn £48k, you could buy a property worth up to £170k. A quick check at property prices indicates the level of mansion you could get for that.

A modest 3 bed to be precise, in a cheap area of the country.

George Osborne was bleating on about how much they could save and Cameron was mewling about people on £40k not being equal to those on £80k and it how they need to look further into it and not once does it seem to have occurred to them that they need to raise the threshold, that current levels penalise middle income earners. Not the rich.

Surprise!

Actually it probably has occurred long since but they undoubtedly like the extra revenue and definitely don't care much about real people.

Cameron is like us you know. If we are all toffee nosed rich boys.

Done now. Normal inanity resumed tomorrow.