In their efforts to deliver quality content on the budget the BBC has, as one might expect, brought in experts to provide their opinions on what we can expect from the budget and the impact we can expect it to have on our lives.  Foremost among experts on the BBC News website is… wait for it… celebrities.  Yup, you can just logon and hear what Jade Goody (no, honestly) has to say about the need to raise tax of alcopops.

Did I just hear someone say ‘dumbing down‘?

News that the Commons Members Estimates Committee has decreed that from 1st April MPs will have to produce receipts for all expences above £25 (it’s currently £250) should be greeted with glee by the taxpayer.  But does it go far enough?

Certainly the new threshold is a step in the right direction, but when you’re dealing with public money, money people have worked hard for, shouldn’t you have to account for any and all expenses?  £25 might not sound like a great deal, but a great many taxi fares inside central London fall well below that figure (leaving plenty of room for creativity when filing ‘expences’).  Moreover without a receipt how can the existence of any given expense be proven?

It’s budget day tomorrow and there are a lot of things we can expect to hear from our beloved Mr Darling (does anybody else have trouble thinking about him without immediately thinking of Blackadder?).  But that got me thinking; what will we definitely not hear tomorrow?

My vote goes for the following:

1. “We’ve been thinking, what’s the point of VAT?”
2. “You know, on reflection, the poll tax wasn’t such a bad idea.”
3. “By taking a slash and burn approach to welfare we will provide the middle classes with massive tax relief.”
4. “Does the NHS really need that much money?  We’re not so sure.”
5. “I wrote a budget that would really help people, but Gordon says I have to use his.”

That said, all of the above is probably still slightly more likely to be said than “basically we’ve really messed things up, and this budget is simply an attempt to hold position.”

Lord Goldsmith has suggested that all school leavers should take part in a ceremony during which they would pledge allegiance to the Queen.  Why?  Because it would help create a sense of belonging, apparently.  I don’t buy it personally, largely because I can imagine the reaction of a bunch of 16 year olds who’ve just been told they have to do it.

Additionally though it just isn’t very British; we simply aren’t like our American cousins who are given to overt displays of personal patriotism.  British patriotism is understated and manifests in times of great need and adversity such as the blitz or more recently during the 7/7 bombings.  Anyone who saw the thousands of people process across London Bridge on their way to work the day after the bombings would be hard pressed to deny the strong sense of belonging and national pride that was on display.

Apparently the LibDems want to rethink the approach to tax as it applies to the super-rich.  Yup, it would seem… wait for it… you won’t guess what’s coming… ok you might… the LibDems don’t think rich people pay enough tax.  Ah that old chestnut; when all else fails (and with the LibDems it invariably does) roll out the politics of envy.

Their logic on this one is pretty simple.  People with £18m homes in London are paying a standard rate of council tax, and that just can’t be fair.  Simple indeed, but how accurate?  The reality is that the people who occupy these homes are unlikely to use more services than their neighbours in cheaper homes, and indeed are quite likely to use fewer services.  By demanding that they pay more simply because they can the LibDems once more find themselves making an argument without merit.  Yes people should pay their fair share, but by paying the standard rate of tax aren’t they already doing just that?

So, Theresa May has called for MPs’ salaries to be increased; a bold move given the current perception of MPs and their finances.  I must admit I’m always slightly torn on this issue, although on balance I favour an inflation linked payrise.  At the end of the day when you stand for parliament you know what you’re signing on for.  Interestingly though she also called for the second home payment to MPs from constituencies outside London to be cut.

Hmm, I wonder whether any consideration was given to the creation of a shoe budget for MPs?

Dizzy makes a fair point about Mr Leavingsoon and his propensity for… how shall we put it… being less than committed to the promises he makes. What’s that you say Ken, 90p bus fares? Fat chance. I think he meant £1.90…

…back again, Shaney’s back, tell a friend.*  Yup, after about a week of fever and general illness I have recovered and am once more back and ready to blog.  Needless to say whilst I was ill the LibDems experienced a huge and very LibDem-like catastrophe; and we all know how I like to take every available opportunity to poke fun at the cuddly ‘party’.  Still, I’m sure it won’t be long until they mess up again.

*reference to some Eminem lyrics

I was told by the doctor yesterday to drink copious amounts of water, take paracetamol and ibuprofen, and rest up.  So I am doing just that, or rather resting as much as you can with a pounding headache.

As mentioned the other day I’m rather ill at the moment (which accounts for the light blogging).  As a result though it gave me reason to register with a doctor in Wandsworth (which I’d been meaning to do since I moved there, but had been delaying due to my experiences whilst attempting to register with a doctor in Haringey).

This time though, having learned from Haringey, I went straight to the NHS trust and asked then which surgeries I could register with.  They did so, and indicated I should call the one closest to my house (so close I could hit it with a not so well aimed stone).

I duly called said doctor and was told that I was outside their catchment (to which I felt like responding “does you catchment extend only so far as the buildings on either side of you?”. But of course I didn’t.).  I then called the next place (no answer), the next one (closed), ultimately having another go at place number two and succeeding (or at least not being told they ‘were’t registering at the moment’).

Then this afternoon I was told that I should really see a doctor, given how many symtoms of meningitis I was displaying (stiff neck, fever, sore head etc).

This ends up with me going to the A&E where I wait for two hours before seeing a doctor (which would seem reasonable if I didn’t know how quickly I would have been seen if I was Stateside).  What struck me most of all though were two things.

First of all there were the facilities themselves.  Oversized wheelchairs on display that had difficulty moving through the waiting room’s awkward design.  Walls marked with scratches where they’d been hit by one object or another.  Power sockets cracked and broken (some beside beds in the consulting area).  And of course the issue of cleanliness… All these things stood out of my experiences in the US private system (where scratches are filled in and repainted on the day they occur, and where cleanliness is far from an issue).

Secondly there are the staff.  From first to last they were all jovial, eager, caring, and committed.  Despite awkward patients, and awkward friends of patients they were constantly professional and never let any frustration show.

I couldn’t help but feel that if only the commitment of the staff was reflected in political commitment to fix the NHS.  Of course such political commitment would require politicians to utter some uncomfortable truths and is accordingly unlikely to become apparent anytime soon.
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