Thursday 16th July

The Greek deal, or coup as many are calling it.  Although the Greeks may be saved from the chaos of Grexit and will have an immediate (or fairly soon) bailout, their economy may actually be in terminal decline.  So far the limited and partially implemented Austerity measures have signally failed to work; in fact the patient is prostrate on the floor.  The remedy apparently is to force open the mouth, shove in a funnel and force-feed them some more of the medicine whose only result will be to hasten the patient’s complete demise.  Even the IMF, the final arbiter and voice of Conservative policy is now saying that without massive debt write-offs this ‘new’ deal will not work and they are almost refusing to play their part.  Apparently this advice was given to the Euro creditors before they forced through the deal.  We will see how this one ends….

The Benefit Cuts here in the UK.  Well it all seems to make perfect sense doesn’t it?  In order to make work pay they are going to increase minimum wages and reduce benefits.  Except that it is pretty obvious that the last round of benefit cuts may have forced some into very low paid jobs, but not nearly as many as they thought, so as with the Greeks they simply need to increase the medicine.  But it is the young we are really attacking.  The disparity in wealth between those over 65 and those under 30 has never been so wide.  It is harder and harder for young people to get on the housing ladder, women are increasingly having children later in life because they cannot afford them earlier and there is a whole generation of twenty and thirty somethings living with their parents or in expensive rented flats which they will never be able to buy themselves out of or raise a family in.  And now they are even reducing maintenance grants for poorer students and those under 25 will be on lower wages and have no access to housing benefit either.  We know how this one ends….in more poverty.

The Labour Party, caught like a rabbit in the headlights of another election defeat has no idea which way to turn.  Harriet Harman, the temporary leader has said that Labour will not oppose the benefit cuts.  Largely because she knows they will go through anyway, and that if they vote against them the Tories will use this at the next election.  But if you do not stand up and shout that these policies are cruel and that the poorest in society will be paying to reduce the deficit one must ask “What on earth does Labour stand for?”.  And at the next election we may find out where this one ends….