"Boy George" our brilliant young Chancellor of the Exchequer has finally realised or, perhaps, just admitted to the rest of us, that the nation's finances are in a bigger mess than he'd previously believed. His 'Autumn Statement', more of a mini-budget since the days of Gordon Brown, has painted a picture of continuing austerity for years to come, against a backdrop of world-wide financial and economic chaos. We have a larger 'structural deficit' than originally thought, we're going to borrow mind-boggling additional amounts of money over and above the stratospheric sums already announced, economic growth is going to stagnate, at best, unemployment is likely to soar and the state-pension age is going to rise more quickly than previously planned. Life is going to be increasingly hard for very many, and for much longer than we'd been led to believe.
What is worst about all of this is that our political leaders continue to treat our ailing economy as nothing more than a plaything, something for them to use against each other when it comes to the next General Election. They either don't understand how serious things are or aren't bothered because of the protection offered to themselves by their exalted status and wealth. While the banking crisis has not made matters any easier, and the Eurozone crisis may yet cause its own catastrophe, the heart of the matter in this country is decades of mismanagement by a succession of Governments that have insisted on spending well beyond their means in pursuit of some economic nirvana of never-ending growth and stability. This was always doomed to failure and all that has happened is that the failure has occurred a little earlier than would otherwise have been the case due to the troubles elsewhere.
Much of the western world has been enjoying a much better lifestyle than has been justified by its actual economic performance; the gap between reality and actuality has been filled, for many, many years by borrowing, both state and personal. In the UK, we have paid ourselves far too much for doing far too little; we have established state run schemes to allow the indigent to draw incomes in excess of those enjoyed by many in work, thus discouraging work and creating an environment in which all the 'mod-cons' are seen as essentials rather than luxuries to be earned. Children are granted their every wish for the latest 'I-Phone' or computer, everyone has a car and a 50" television, all in a world of unsustainable consumerism largely paid for by the Government.
We complain that we pay too much in taxes, but how else can Government pay for its profligacy ? The country no longer exports anything significant except 'financial services'; large-scale manufacturing died years ago, beaten into submission by the greed of workers and the greater efficiency and lower costs achievable in the far-east. What we have now is the left-overs; mostly an unskilled workforce taught pointless and useless subjects at school and, laughably, university, who have no jobs to go to. We provide very little that the rest of the world wants, or needs, to buy and what we can provide is frequently too expensive due to the pay expectations of workers. It is painful to hear some of the recent interviews with empty-headed youngsters unable to find work; they see having a degree as a pathway to work, seemingly regardless of the nature of the degree. They complain that they can't find work in their 'chosen field' but seem unwilling to accept anything else; they blame 'the system' or 'the government' for their predicament and seem to be unaware of their own responsibilities.
Government ministers witter on about improving education and creating more job opportunites etc., etc. This is all hot air and wind. Our children are no longer being educated at schools, but taught 'life-skills'; they don't do languages or history or geography in any understandable fashionable, but do learn about climate change, the evils of slavery and NAZI Germany, and the plight of the 'third world'. They have little or no discipline in class or at home; at school, they are given 'predicted grades' well in advance of taking any exams, thus limiting their expectations and efforts - achievement of the prediction is all that is expected and real effort is unnecessary. Worst of all, they are kept at school, or college or wherever, for longer and longer, supposedly to gain a better education but, in reality, to keep them out of the jobs market and, thus, out of the unemployment figures. This is an insane approach dreamt up by some civil servant working in the bowels of some ministry and who hasn't seen the light of day for years. By the time these children have finished their 'education' there are no jobs for them to go to, or they're too old or don't have the right skills, and they end up unemployed anyway, having cost us a fortune to get nowhere.
Real job opportunities are few and far between. As pension age increases, vacancies will dwindle; jobs in the public sector are being dramatically reduced, with the vast number of non-jobs created in recent years simply being scrapped; for the private sector, our school leavers and graduates are largely unsuited, having none of the necessary skills, drive or enthusiasm. How does a degree in Journalism fit anyone for a real job ? Or one in Tourism or any of the other myriad of wholly pointless, and largely non-academic, subjects on offer at today's plethora of so-called Universities ?
Within a few years, all of this will become so clear that it will seem obvious to all. By then, we'll all be very much poorer, and there'll quite probably have been civil disruption and disturbance of a type not seen in this country for centuries. Osborne and his mates have talked glibly about the increased borrowings in future years without ever explaining how it will all be paid back; the answer, of course, is that it won't be, not in real terms anyway. The pound will be slowly devalued and the value of the debt will fall; this means interest rates will remain higher than they would otherwise be and industry will remain in the doldrums. We will be saddled with this problem for far more years than this, or any other, Government will ever admit.
There is only one way for this crisis to be resolved and that is to admit that Governments have spent far too much of our money in order to buy our votes; this has given us all an inflated lifestyle that we have not earned. The answer is to reverse this madness in dramatic style; close entire Government departments and agencies, drastically reduce state benefits for all and sundry, limit NHS and educational services and scrap the minimum wage. If projects like 'Cross-rail' and 'HS2' are truly viable, let the private sector fund them; stop wasting money on frivolities and the burgeoning throng of charities, all of which have special tax exemptions. Bringing events such as the Olympics or Football World Cup to Britain is a ridiculous diversion, designed to create an illusion of well-being, as will be next year's Diamond Jubilee celebrations; the latter may be a true national celebration, the former are simply political objectives that cost billions of pounds we don't have.
This is a time for serious retrenchment, not for namby-pamby fiddling at the edges by policians fearful of the next election. We need a Churchill or a Thatcher, someone with the determination to see us through the very dark days ahead. Sadly, I see no such figure anywhere on the political stage, nor even waiting in the wings. Batten down the hatches; it's going to be a very bumpy ride.
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