After what has been the most interesting UK election in decades, (ok, interesting for me... the others have all been predictable, boring and over in 24 hours) the end has been declared. Gordon Brown has resigned (and not the grudging "I'll step down in September to allow the Labour Party to make a pact with the LibDems" statement of yesterday) and David Cameron has gone to the Palace.
So now we have a new Prime Minister. David Cameron takes over immediately, which is in stark contrast to the way things happen across the pond.
Personally, I distrust politicians as a group. The parties will promise anything in order to get your vote, and then do whatever is politically expedient. The old joke goes something like this:
How do you know when a politician is lying?
Simple.
If he scratches his nose, he's telling the truth.
If he rubs his chin, he's telling the truth.
If he pulls at his earlobe, he's telling the truth.
But if he opens his mouth...
The incoming Conservative government is unlikely to be much better than the outgoing Labour one. If the rumours are true (see at 21:13), in order to make a deal with the LibDems, Cameron has already bargained away tax breaks for married couples - which was one of the few pro-family policies the Conservatives had in their manifesto.
Wait and see...
The tax break for married couples were not quite so pro-family in the end (at least, not in the way we would like). They caved and said that there would be the same tax breaks for civil partners.
ReplyDelete"Wait and see" I couldn't agree more. It's going to very interesting, if nothing else!
ReplyDeleteExcept it wasn't a "tax break" - just a long overdue correction to a longstanding injustice whereby families with a single wage are taxed more heavily than those in which both parents chose to go out to work and take extra benefits in the form of childcare paid for by - you guessed it, stay-at-home mothers.
ReplyDeleteExcept it wasn't even a correction - just a small step towards a correction, spoiled, as Joe points out, by its not really being a support to families.
Do I sound bitter? You bet I do.
Still, at least things have looked up ever so slightly today.
Mac, I agree with wait and see...
ReplyDeleteAnother article at the same newspaper states: "However, married couples will receive additional tax reliefs under Conservative manifesto commitments which the Lib Dems have said they will not oppose – and the Tories will reverse planned increases in National Insurance Contributions."
The big thing is to have a stable Government that actually thinks about its policies. I don't like LibDem policies really, nor do I always like Tory ones, but I like the idea of them discussing things. I also hope Mandelson or someone equally annoying heads Labour, because then they will make an equally thought-provoking Opposition!
At the least, I would think DC & company will be better for the economy. Less temptation to abort children, for one thing, when people have jobs.
ReplyDelete[Here, I've been told by someone very involved in our local prolife community, who is on the front lines at the abortion clinics every week, that yes, people who normally wouldn't consider abortion, ARE considering/having abortions due to the high unemployment rate. They are are telling the sidewalk counselors this as their reason, often times.]