A man with integrity at last!

What makes us angry (husband and I), is that vast sums have gone adrift, are not being recouped from the institutions, corrupt officials etc, but instead pensioners are being penalised left right and centre to claw back pence, as is the little man in the street, by rises in taxation, NI, having soon to pay for prescriptions, Vat on fuel and energy costs not being lowered to help. Its very clear that we are only viewed with the same disregard as battery hens - to be milked for all we're worth, but of no value as individuals.

Some facts about UK businesses that you may or may not know.

You may recall from your school days that Britain was known as a nation of shopkeepers. We are still a nation of small businesses.

There are 5.5 million SMEs in the UK. These account for 3 out of 5 employees in the private sector and 99.9% of the business population. An SME is a company that has a turnover under £6.5 million, a balance sheet under £3.26 million and under 50 employees.

My point being that Sunak and the rest of them have absolutely no idea how this country actually works. (Nor do they have any idea how most of the country lives)

Sunak's in laws own extremely large corporations and are very wealthy. The Queen is the only woman richer than Sunak's wife.

We have had more than 10 years austerity and it looks as though we are headed for more, if Sunak gets his way. It is about time the proportion of the UK population that supports the Tories woke up to the damage that they are causing.

In case you aren't aware, I am extremely angry and have restrained myself from using stronger language.

I am not overly concerned about who Sunak is married to, but I am seriously concerned that someone with absolutely no idea of the implications, beyond some spreadsheets, is likely to implement yet another disasterous period of austerity. His dismissal of the huge amounts of money fraudulently claimed, my money, your money, is a worrying example of how he sees it all as figures, indices, graphs, not as real money which could be put to better use. The same man that told the country that we can't afford to provide free school meals, can't afford to help out the poorest in society is the same person who dismisses with a wave of a hand an eye watering amount of stolen money. So, anyone still think he is a good chancellor, a good candidate for PM?

It is the Treasury civil servants responsible for the loans fiasco and the NHS/Public Health England (then named) responsible for PPE. While they are obviously funded by the Government it has always been considered on paper, at least, to keep these entities impartial and separate from the Government of the day and therefore ministerial control. We will keep blaming everything on the government alone and not these inefficient entities! It is telling that when speedy and effective vaccine rollout was needed Kate Bingham was appointed from the private sector by the Government and did a sterling job! Perhaps something similar should have happened with these loans? Leaving important initiatives like this to inefficient public servants cocooned in safe and cosy Whitehall/Treasury is often a recipe for disaster!

I understand that this was administered by civil servants. The chancellor came up with the idea, the civil service handed out the money, and when fraud was pointed out and was going tobe investigated, the civil service decided towrite it off.......... Read Daniel Hannon's article in yesterday's Telegraph 'Our problems stem from a useless civil service, but we prefer to blame ministers'

This is all part of the gaslighting of the electorate, blaming the civil service, the invisible 'blob', the ones that Gove and Cummings want to get rid of. Daniel Hannan is a strong Brexiteer, anti civil service, and writes for the Telegraph. These few facts are enough to make most people sceptical. Ministers have responsibility, end of.

GrannyGravy13

MaizieD

According to the Guardian today Lord Agnew pointed out that loans had been made to 1,000 companies that weren't even trading... (I shall have to check that out as it's not a direct quote). If this is so then the banks which made the loans are at fault for not carrying out due diligence. Perhaps the banks should pay back the money they so carelessly handed out?

www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian-e-paper-journal/20220128/281496459673302

Absolutely MaizieD if this is true, it is the banks that are at fault.

Yes - if only there was a way of regulating the banks!

BBLs (Bounce Back Loans) was simply a mechanism for the Government to hide its economic incompetence and keep business on side.

The last thing business needed was a lecture on the benefits of "Peppa Pig World"!

Interesting point Dinahmo - "We have had more than 10 years austerity".

According to Jake Berry MP (Rossednale & Darwen) on the TV this morning, there was never an 'austerity' programme championed by George Osborne.

Beats me how the BBC's poor Annabelle Tiffin managed to keep a straight face when she heard that - the rest of us were laughing ourselves silly.

One of the challenges this country faces is the "Levelling Up" plan, and the "Towns Fund".

The Government claim funding has been allocated - but of course it's up to local authorities to "bid" for a sum of money from the pool.

A bit like throwing a few coins to starving kids in Victorian slums and leaving them to fight amongst themselves for the money.

This Government have no overall idea of regional deprivation - which by and large they cause - and no means of deciding how to prioritise the funding so that the areas that need it most get the lion's share.

Bidding for a share of a pot of money is a stupid idea

How can a fraudulent, non- trading company get this funding when a seriously disabled person has to complete a 32 page form to get turned down for Personal Independence Payments? Beyond me ?

Jess20

How can a fraudulent, non- trading company get this funding when a seriously disabled person has to complete a 32 page form to get turned down for Personal Independence Payments? Beyond me ?

I was wondering that as well, I had to complete a very lengthy and complicated form just to get £54 a week Attendance Allowance for my mother!

Jess20

How can a fraudulent, non- trading company get this funding when a seriously disabled person has to complete a 32 page form to get turned down for Personal Independence Payments? Beyond me ?

Because there are completely different rules for companies from those for layabouts on benefits...

The banks had no need to be careful, anyway, as it wasn't their money that they were giving away...

railman

Interesting point Dinahmo - "We have had more than 10 years austerity".

According to Jake Berry MP (Rossednale & Darwen) on the TV this morning, there was never an 'austerity' programme championed by George Osborne.

Beats me how the BBC's poor Annabelle Tiffin managed to keep a straight face when she heard that - the rest of us were laughing ourselves silly.

Strictly speaking, he was right. There was no austerity for those at the top of the tree. A genuine austerity programme would have affected everybody.

michelleblane

I understand that this was administered by civil servants. The chancellor came up with the idea, the civil service handed out the money, and when fraud was pointed out and was going tobe investigated, the civil service decided towrite it off.......... Read Daniel Hannon's article in yesterday's Telegraph 'Our problems stem from a useless civil service, but we prefer to blame ministers'

No, civil servants have a duty to administer what they are told to administer. Government ministers are in overall control, assuming they have the ability to understand their brief .

growstuff

railman

Interesting point Dinahmo - "We have had more than 10 years austerity".

According to Jake Berry MP (Rossednale & Darwen) on the TV this morning, there was never an 'austerity' programme championed by George Osborne.

Beats me how the BBC's poor Annabelle Tiffin managed to keep a straight face when she heard that - the rest of us were laughing ourselves silly.

Strictly speaking, he was right. There was no austerity for those at the top of the tree. A genuine austerity programme would have affected everybody.

Hmm - so that's habit like saying the Queen lives in social housing - which of course she does.

Jake Berry is just gaslighting to protect his Lord & Master.

Thanks Growstuff It's the ministers ideas that are put into practice by the civil servants, but the CS are not to blame - they are doing their jobs, as you stated.

Yes, always liked Gordon Brown. The history books will be kind to this man. A genuine politician, the media did their best to undermine him.

When I think of the HOURS of agony I spent compiling claims for the sixty-odd staff we had to furlough at various points during the lockdowns, when it seems like half the country were making it all up.....

You had to work out the average pay over the previous year, compare it to what was actually paid in the comparative month, take the higher, make sure you had paid at least that amount....it was awful. We have loads of staff with varying amounts of pay. Each had to be calculated separately.

Furlough couldn't end fast enough for me!

The Civil Service are the latest in the long line of British institutions that the Tories seem eager to rubbish - the NHS, the BBC, the National Trust ....I could go on.

If anyone else was doing this they would be called unpatriotic. What's their game?

Coastpath

The Civil Service are the latest in the long line of British institutions that the Tories seem eager to rubbish - the NHS, the BBC, the National Trust ....I could go on.

If anyone else was doing this they would be called unpatriotic. What's their game?

Weren't the Civil Service part of the 'swamp' that the Brexit lot were going to 'drain'?

The game is, I think, to continue the Cummings plan of completely dismantling the British state in order to rebuild something that, in Hannan's case, privileges the wealthy and keeps the rest of us working all hours for minimal reward in order to keep body and soul together.

What Cummings wants I'm not sure, but he does, I think, want to be in charge of his completely reformatted state...

Doesn't anybody ever look at the people these folks associate with and what they believe in?

I think you are right MaizieD. The plan seems to be to reduce everything that was held dear, close down all the institutions that question power and take away all protections for the weak in order to make the rich richer and the powerful more powerful.

The EU was a form of checks and balances and so had to go. Now a fog of chaos and lies is being created to confuse us whilst things are changed to our detriment.

We need to wake up to this before it is too late

michelleblane

I understand that this was administered by civil servants. The chancellor came up with the idea, the civil service handed out the money, and when fraud was pointed out and was going tobe investigated, the civil service decided towrite it off.......... Read Daniel Hannon's article in yesterday's Telegraph 'Our problems stem from a useless civil service, but we prefer to blame ministers'

Is that the same Daniel Hannan who assured us that "absolutely nobody is talking about threatening our place in the Single Market"?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkof9CVerrQ

Holy cow! You mean Amazon was burying their returns, literally? Yet, I'm sure Bezos is always at all the world economic conferences and climate conferences. What a horrid little man!

I have no faith in our Goverment anymore i thought i could make a difference voting but never again Its just a wasted vote for liars through and through Just had my 70th Birthday and i will not vote any longer !!!!