Budgeting for human decency
With black holes in the UK's finances that would have aroused excitement in Stephen Hawking, broadened by 14 years of Conservative government bungling, where on earth did anyone expect Chancellor Rachel Reeves to find any wiggle room to breathe let alone manoeuvre an economic revival?
Winners and losers wherever you look in a Budget? So what's new? Some of the comments sent to Business Weekly in the wake of the Budget were negative in the extreme.. Selfish, certainly self-serving - pick your own adjective to describe the narrow-mindedness which is becoming a depressing aspect of public opinion.
Where is the broader view that takes account of all members of society and their differing needs and situations?
Economic critics in the UK certainly take no account of the fact that the gap between rich and poor in this country is significant, with the richest 10 per cent of households holding about 43 per cent of all wealth, while the poorest five per cent own just nine per cent.
Income inequality is also depressingly high, with the richest fifth of households receiving 37 per cent of total disposable income, compared to eight per cent for the poorest fifth. This wealth and income disparity is reflected in regional differences, a growing gap for younger generations in home ownership, and a higher-than-average income inequality compared to other developed nations.
I was moved to revisit a new book by US politician Bernie Sanders called 'Fight Oligarchy.' In it he spells out that in America the top one per cent own more wealth than the bottom 93 per cent. Earlier in the tome he points out the sickening wealth of an India-based oligarch wading in cash while tens of millions of people in the country lack any access to healthcare, education, nutritious food and jobs that pay anything like a decent living wage. He draws attention to obscenely rich tech company owners currently propping up what he considers to be an undemocratic and self-serving US government.
There are playing fields that ordinary mortals have no hope in hell of levelling up. But that doesn't excuse us from the basic human quality of caring - of making ourselves aware of the reality - and trying despite all our failings to change things for the better.
The Starmer-Labour administration is not perfect business but has done more in its legislative programme to right wrongs and make life fairer for all in the last 15 months. The increasingly right wing media, including the BBC, will never admit it, let alone share the facts with you.
It is high time the decent majority in the UK awoke from their slumbers. The price that will need to be paid if we don’t challenge our uneven playing field now, will be a lot higher than any government could possibly budget for.
