Has anything really changed?

As I trudged home from my local sports club through the snow this evening I began to focus on the conversations which occurred around the table and I realised that actually nothing much has changed. We have supposedly had a change of government and we now have The Coalition replacing NoLab.

The Coalition was born out of the demise that none of the three major parties had an overall majority. So two of them got together to form a government. So far so good because most of us were so pleased to see the end of the inept Gordon Brown and his team that we would have accepted almost anything.

Well it appears that we got almost anything because frankly nothing much has changed down here at ground zero. The Tories and the LibDems had campaigned from almost opposite ends of the political spectrum. Both parties had made electoral pledges and The Coalition has allowed them both to renege on almost anything that they stood for.

We the voter, Joe Public, the people who voted, have been denied almost everything that we actually want. All the British people (well the honest people who bring up families and obey the law) want is a fair deal. Inherently we know that the European Union is wrong for Britain so we would respectively request a referendum.

We cannot understand how our troops are being killed and maimed in Afghanistan so that we remain safe from terrorism when the very people who would cause that terrorism regularly riot in Luton! When they abuse the freedom of speech which we must abide by they cannot be deported because of something called the Human Rights Act!

Now the so called Human Rights Act only applies to people who break the law. When they break the law along comes the Human Rights Act to save them from punishment. It does not apply to victims or the indiginous population because we apparently don't qualify.

When they do get banged up then they enjoy a lifestyle not available to most of us including a regular supply of hard drugs. Now I ask you how does that work? When they eventually qualify for a jail sentence after about three hundred crimes then they also qualify for parole even if they have murdered a headmaster and led a gang that raped an Austrian tourist. I cannot get my head around that.

We have MPs who are quite clearly crooks. I don't mean the few who have actually been sacrificed but I mean those who have friends in high places that protect their mates. We all know this and yet the Political Class act as if we can't see their corruption. We have seen the blatant corruption of the NoLab peers appointed by Tony Blair...the arch villain. In my book he rivals anything that comes out of Russia/Qatar/ etc etc.

To tell the truth the only reason that I write this blog is because I have lost all faith in the political system. Fortunately I remember this country when we had a sane and sensible code of conduct so might I remind people of the system that I inherited.

Dad worked and mum stayed at home. Mum was always available when I needed her. If girls fell pregnant it was a disgrace and would never have been rewarded. It helped to keep the welfare bill down.

Teachers were respected and feared but we loved them. They taught us important subjects like arithmetic, geometry, algebra and calculus. They also taught us English grammar spelling and punctuation. We knew about our history and geography and they also taught us right from wrong. They also picked the school sports team when we played other teams. We ran races in the playground. We competed and the kids who won the races were rarely the clever kids.

Everyone knew the local policeman. He served everyone and was respected and liked. He had total command of his patch and when he caught someone they were prosecuted and jailed...nobody had heard of the CPS in those days.

When we entered hospital we knew that we would be safe. There were no grime born diseases or imported diseases and the nurses really cared for their patients. The matron led the team and her sisters bossed the wards. Everyone knew who the matron was and the sister ensured that the nurses were up to the mark. The nurses cared for the patients and were not allowed to skulk in front of computers and ignore the elderly who could not fend for themselves.

I have started so I will finish but it is getting late so I will continue this tomorrow...I just want to record for my grandkids what they should expect from their government. This is achievable but we must radically change our political system in order to achieve it.

So where was I? Oh yes health and the modern world. We used to have institutions for mentally ill to keep them safe and ensure that the public were protected. These days we have an amazing number of innocent members of the public killed by people who should be lcoked up. I really don't know where we have gone wrong but we just don't seem to be coping on the mental helath front and it is worrying.

The transport system in this country is actually worse than it was in the early sixties. I was brought up with British Rail and it wasn't perfect by any means but the trains ran, the costs were reasonable and the network was safe and maintained properly. Today I would hate to be a commuter and some of the tales that I hear about our railways are horrific.

Consequently the roads are clogged with private cars and freight, some of which should surely be moved by rail. Some motorways grind to a halt day after day and the reason is that rail travel is overpriced, unreliable and uncomfortable. The private companies who now hold thr rail franchises should get their acts together because every country needs a decent rail service.

In the 1950's we would regularly travel by rail to Scotland and the old steam engines would chug up Beattock Summit in the snow. Nowadays a modern engine cannot move in the snow. It is ridiculous.

The really major decline lies however within the justice system. Successive governments weakened the powers of the police and in 1986 the CPS arrived. Now I don't know how it was conceived but I am sure that the original intention was that common sense should prevail. Common sense seems to have evaporated in the justice system. The outcome is that children in Britain are so threatened by the lack of a police presence on our streets that they cannot play without parental protection. That is the most powerful indictment of our failing system and yet nobody seems to be able to reverse the trends.

Local services are always being cut and are under threat and the sole reason is that local government officials have voted themselves astonishing pay increases and final salary pension schemes. Our council taxes rise annually and the services decrease as the council officers are taking a far too large a slice of the cake. It should cease but nobody seems to be even addressing the issue.

And so on it goes and it doesn't seem to matter who gets elected all we ever get is more of the same. I have only addressed a few issues but everyone I meet seems to want the same things. We want the quality of life that a civilized community deserves. It is up to the politicians to deliver but they don't seem to have the political will to care about the public. I am afraid we accept their pitiful performances far too readily.