At my age it never ceases to amaze me how much the British public will accept from a morally bereft government. It does not matter what government we elect the assault on our standard of living continues. For example the cost of travel is escalating at an unsustainable rate. I have just legally repeated the annual robbery which allows me to tax and insure my car.
Somehow the government has quietly raised road tax from a few pounds to a few hundred pounds. Somehow the government has increased the MOT fee many times above the inflation rate. The scandal regarding 'whiplash' injuries and false claims which pass undefended by insurance companies continues unabated. The slightest 'knock' results in thousands of pounds in 'compensation' and a subsequent huge rise in premiums.
Then we have the spiralling cost of fuel which should be the responsibility of government but is used as a stick to beat the public. The tax on fuel is a disgrace to a modern society but the real disgrace is the lack of regulation on the fuel providers. If you allow them every advantage they will take it.
So let's get rid of our motor vehicle and travel by public transport! Well at one point in our history we had a wonderful rail network which served us all and for a few pence we could board a tram or trolley bus. Today? Well thanks to one Doctor Beeching in the nineteen sixties many of the local rail stations disappeared. Many rural areas do not have public transport because the routes are not profitable. The costs are becoming prohibitive. Rail fares increase annually to the point where annual season tickets must be taken into account before offers of employment can be accepted.
Quite often it is cheaper to fly than to travel by rail but then someone in government invented airport tax and 'green' fuel charges to ensure that you had to think twice before lifting off.
I have a relative who recently had to give up her job because the cost of travel had overcome her desire to work. She was better off staying at home! Now this really is a national scandal. There has been a huge debate recently about a 'cap' on benefits and some lunatic suggested that the national average for a working family was £26000! What planet are they on? £500 a week is not a cap it is a luxury! They are rewarding the feckless with a decent salary.
So the 'modernisers' continue their evil work and eventually only the rich will be allowed to travel. The working poor will be better off on benefits so they will stay at home. As ever we will sit in our homes watching the destruction of our nation and the loss of our values and shrug our shoulders. Meanwhile in Syria.....oh never mind!
2 comments:
"Somehow the government has quietly raised road tax from a few pounds to a few hundred pounds."
Quite. I have been wise in my choice of car. I run a small diesel which costs £30 a year. There is an upside to all this carbon footprint trash.
"Somehow the government has increased the MOT fee many times above the inflation rate."
And this is one of the many downsides. I suppose the increases cover the costs of MOT stations continually having to install advanced emission testing equipment to satisfy the global warming alarmists in the EU. Added to this, over recent years cars have become very highly technical on the emissions side which also raises the costs of maintenence and consumable parts.
Even my bike is equipped with air injection, fed into the exhausts to burn unspent fuel on deceleration. The exhausts themselves contain 4 catalytic converters and the air intake is restricted. All this costs money in maintenence and around 15 - 20bhp in power.
"The scandal regarding 'whiplash' injuries and false claims which pass undefended by insurance companies continues unabated. The slightest 'knock' results in thousands of pounds in 'compensation' and a subsequent huge rise in premiums."
IMO the real underlying problem with this lies with the recent legislation requiring vehicles to be insured at all times (except where SORN is declared). This has given the insurance companies a captive audience and they are not bothered about how much is paid out to the compensation culture.
2 years ago I was unfortunate enough to have 2 small knocks, nothing really of any consequence, the damage amounted to a scuff mark on my car which polished off, the second time a scratch about 3 inces long on the other car.
The point is that both knocks were my fault so I had 2 claims against me in 2 years. Both the other drivers claimed for whiplash even though both accidents happened at below walking pace. This sent my premium up from around £250 a year to £1500, despite the fact that these are the only accidents I've had in 28 years of driving. How any company could justify that I do not know, but its not their money is it. Because of the legislation it is guaranteed to keep coming.
BTW Bry, hope you are aware that right below this post on your page is an advert for accident lawyers :-)
LOL! No I had no idea and I should pay more attention. I haven't even registered an interest in the ads. Tks for you comment and interest. I am sure that this climate change lobby is secretly costing us all a fortune!
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