Bromley & Sevenoaks
Bad Ideas We Can't Afford
Friday, 5th March 2010
Bad Ideas We Can’t Afford
Thanks to the government’s culpability in aiding and abetting Britain’s financial crisis, income tax payers are going to experience at least a decade of falling living standards. There is an alternative to confiscatory taxation and borrowing-induced inflation, although the Westminster consensus won’t consider it – dramatically reduce the size of the state because that will leave space for private investment to create new jobs.
The government spends about 50% of national income, and it spends it neither wisely nor well. UKIP is the only party that believes a small state is intrinsically good. The following are some examples of bad ideas that we can no longer afford as a nation.
The EU – you know UKIP hates the EU, but why don’t you? It costs a fortune to fund this peremptory and prodigal fantasy. Have Greek, Spanish, Irish and Portuguese taxpayers benefited from ever closer union in their hour of need? “Sauve qui peut!” says the European Central Bank.
Bank bailouts – the bankers’ contriteness at having lent money to the insolvent means they are now lending to no one. Partially state-owned banks that can’t/won’t find borrowers should be liquidated and brand new banks licensed.
Bureaucracy - we are over-governed by an expensive army of supercilious state employees who have forgotten they work for us. This symptom of the EU’s malignancy must be curtailed if we are to encourage private sector employment growth.
Afghanistan - the government is wasting soldiers’ lives and public treasure trying to foist “democracy” on tribal peoples who do not want it. We must withdraw immediately.
Global Warming – the economy is to be hobbled with “green” taxes, for a transparent fiction. It is simply a pretext for extending the state’s license and imposing yet another tax.
Welfare State – it should be returned to its original purpose; that of supporting those who have made qualifying contributions. Benefit recipients’ marginal tax rates should be lowered.
Owen Brolly, Beckenham PPC January 20, 2010
