Thursday, May 18, 2017

UK: General Election madness

(London) If you hadn't heard next month the UK (June 8th) will host a General Election. As you can gather, Politics is the subject of the hour, day , week, and month and to be honest I’m sick of it, We had a GE in 2015, The EU referendum last year, the Scottish referendum , The US election, the French one , the Korean one and with the advent of 24 hour news. We have been bombarded with what he said, she said over the most trivial matters. The left angry at how they lost the last UK election, the EU referendum and the Scottish one have gone all out in which to ensure that this time they will win and so they have pulled out all the stops in which to try to ensure they win. So how do you try and capture votes, why, you promise people the earth and  boy have they promised the earth. Here are what the left are offering:

The Green Party of England and Wales is promising free sanitary products for those who cannot afford them. They have pledged to end "period poverty" by providing towels and tampons to secondary school pupils and women in financial need.  The Greens said the project will be funded by adding VAT to aircraft repairs and "the sale of airships"

The Labour party has promised to:
Scrap student tuition fees
Nationalisation of England's water companies.
Nationalisation of England's Rail companies
Nationalise Roya Mail
Nationalisation of England's Electricity companies
Ensure that 60% of the UK's energy comes from zero-carbon or renewable sources by 2030
More free childcare, expanding free provisions for two, three and four year olds
Hire 10,000 new police officers, 3,000 new firefighters
Boost wages of 5.7m people earning less than minimum wage to £10 an hour by 2020
Introduce four extra public holidays each year to mark national patron saints' days.
Guarantee trade unions a right to access workplaces.
Use public spending power to drive up standards, including only awarding public contracts to companies which recognise trade unions.
30 hours of free childcare a week to all two year olds.
Free school meals for all primary school children, paid for by removing the VAT exemption on private school fees.
Reinstate housing benefit for under-21s
Labour will not "scapegoat migrants" and will not set a cap on immigration, describing targets as "bogus".
Guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in the UK and work to "secure reciprocal rights" for UK citizens elsewhere in the EU
And to pay for all of the above Labour aims to raise £48 Billion in taxes. Oh and then intend to pay off the deficit by 2022. (What is it with the left and 5 year plans)

Well always good for a laugh:
Second EU referendum on Brexit deal
Add 1p in the pound on income tax to raise £6bn 
Invest nearly £7bn extra in education
Ban the sale of diesel cars and small vans in the UK by 2025
Scrap grammar schools
End imprisonment for possession of illegal drugs for personal use
Reinstate university maintenance grants for the poorest students
Job-sharing arrangements for MPs
Extend free childcare to all two-year-olds and introduce an additional month's paid paternity leave for dads
Reverse cuts to work allowances in universal credit and housing benefit for 18-21 year olds
Levy up to 200% council tax on second homes
Ensure those with the highest incomes and wealth are making a fair contribution
Introduce a new Young Person's Bus Discount Card for 16-21 year olds, giving a two-thirds discount on bus travel
Offer safe and legal routes to the UK for refugees - offering sanctuary to 50,000 Syrian refugees over five years
Reopen the Dubs scheme to take 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children from Europe.
Votes for 16-year-olds
Bring in parliamentary short-lists for BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) and all-LGBT+ job applicants.
Oh and what made me laugh, they intend to legalise drugs and earn £1billion a year from taxing cannabis.

Just what the hell is it about those not in power which allows them to promise the earth?