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A General Strike will be little more than terrorism in a sanitised form
The saying ‘everything is relative’ is perhaps the most polite way to tell someone that they are being insular; focused only upon the impacts of a wider issue on themselves, or simply failing to grasp that each and every one of us has a different viewpoint and that they could perhaps do well to look at things a different way.
Whilst the possibility has been grumbling in the background for some time, this week has seen the first clear indication that the Unite Union is seeking to take a lead in initiating a General Strike, of the like this Country has not witnessed since 1926. But is this throw-back to an age when Unions may have still possessed some form of genuine purpose actually going to help anybody?
The excuse given for a level of action which is more likely to destroy support for Union Members rather than be of any benefit to it, is of course the measures of ‘austerity’ that the Coalition Government has apparently been taking. It is indeed no secret that these measures are resulting in the loss of jobs and Benefits; but it has also brought an end to the seemingly ceaseless momentum behind enhancement of conditions for professions which are most likely to yield Union Membership.
Even as a former business owner and politician elected on a Conservative ‘ticket’, I myself can see that there was a time when the rights and welfare of workers needed much greater consideration so that exploitation became the exception, rather than a rule in any sense at all.
But we live in very different times and the rights, conditions and systems of support which now exist at every level of business and Government for staff are already far beyond that which the Strikers of the Twenties would have ever dared to have imagined – even in their wildest dreams.
Few businesses would survive today for very long without paying wages that the market can sensibly sustain, or by providing conditions which do not genuinely reflect the value of any role within a business. Therefore, the question that we should now be asking is not whether business and Government should be forcefully coerced into paying more money in wages because of the threat of strike action from Unions, but rather if we as a Nation are already overburdened with Legislation affecting employers and their ability to create new jobs?
I consider myself as being fortunate to know and socialise with people from all walks of life and count many of them as friends. However, it has become increasingly clear that nobody has been insulated against the affects of our age of ‘austerity’, which itself has far more to do with the spiralling rises in the true cost of living for us all, rather than it does the efforts of a lacklustre Government tinkering around the edges of policy, covering cuts with band-aids when the breaks in our whole Society are so very much more profound.
Ironically, it is the very same failure on the part of Politicians to consider the full impact and self-serving nature of their actions (or lack of them) upon others and ultimately themselves that the Unions are now displaying – even by just talking-up the potential of a General Strike. Sadly, the similarities do not end there.
The horrible truth in all this is that neither the Government nor the Unions hold any genuine level of moral currency either in the way that our times of economic hardship have come into being, or by how either would act in their contributions to ultimately attempt to resolve it.
No group that is politically motivated, other than one which is truly and comprehensively people-centric will ever be ethically and morally sound. Until that time, the Unions would do well to remember that even the poorest of our Governments have been elected democratically and by majority votes.
However frustrated any of us feel, there are many more people suffering financial hardship beyond the realms of just those with Union Membership and there are far more appropriate and reasoned pathways to bring about the change that we all now need.
Recent Posts
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- Q. Why are the Polls changing? – A. Because nothing else in politics is December 3, 2019
- Still not voting… November 27, 2019
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- Legislators should legislate. Not spend public cash like it simply doesn’t count November 22, 2019
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- Labour’s Universal Basic Income is nothing but a temporary bridge across a black hole of a problem that none of the Parties understand or are prepared to deal with November 10, 2019
- No, we don’t get the Brexit we Voted for if the Brexit Party steps aside. It’s up to Boris to compromise and then we can all win – not just him November 9, 2019
- The only genuine protection for the NHS is meaningful reform November 9, 2019
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- Play the ball, not the man. November 4, 2019
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- Gove threatens the DUP with the exit of Northern Ireland from the UK if they don’t support the same deal which makes it all but inevitable anyway October 22, 2019
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- The political landscape in this Country must now be wiped clean October 15, 2019
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- The ‘Brexit divide’ cannot be healed until we have ALL crossed over it and returned home October 9, 2019
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- The EU’s plan is fully in the open and the dishonesty of Remain MPs has been completely exposed. It’s time for a General Election October 8, 2019
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- MPs are getting high on their own supply and are on target to wake up only when all damage possible has already been done October 1, 2019
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- The Supreme Court is being asked to rule on circumstances that are the exception. If it doesn’t consider that, the implications will be permanent September 19, 2019
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- Has Boris blown Brexit? September 11, 2019
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- The Government needs to take a leaf out of the Remainers book and deliver Brexit – no matter what it now takes September 6, 2019
- The biggest problem with today’s politicians is they don’t know the difference between doing what’s right and doing what’s right September 6, 2019
- Changing Politics for the better Pt 7: Social Care September 6, 2019
- Changing Politics for the better Pt 6: Governing the Internet, Social Media and the online world September 6, 2019
- Changing Politics for the better Pt 5: HS2 & Travel by Rail September 6, 2019
- Changing Politics for the better Pt 4: Housing September 6, 2019
- Changing Politics for the better Pt 3: Money September 6, 2019
- Changing Politics for the better Pt 2: Bringing Jobs & Manufacturing home September 6, 2019
- Changing Politics for the better Pt 1: Public Sector Reform September 6, 2019
- Restoring Democracy Pt 8: The Electoral System September 6, 2019
- Restoring Democracy Pt 7: Public Services should only have one master September 6, 2019
- Restoring Democracy Pt 6: Ambition & Direction – not broken promises and being strung along September 6, 2019
- Restoring Democracy Pt 5: The new politician – qualified by experience, not experienced enough by qualification alone September 6, 2019
- Restoring Democracy Pt 4: Joined-up thinking, rather than focusing on issues on their own September 6, 2019
- Restoring Democracy Pt 3: Communities & locality first September 6, 2019
- Restoring Democracy Pt 2: We ALL have a part to play in change September 6, 2019
- Restoring Democracy Pt 1: The ‘Old’ Politics September 6, 2019
- We didn’t vote for Brexit subject to a deal in the first place and won’t vote for anything other than a no deal exit from the EU now September 5, 2019
- Brexit was the lifting of the stone that covered everything wrong with Politics and now we are witnessing all of the darkness exposing itself to light September 5, 2019
- Brexit and democracy will be lost for us all if Boris and Farage continue trying to shape it in their own image September 5, 2019
- There’s nothing wrong with Boris doing everything necessary to stop undemocratic MPs wrecking our Brexit – so long as he’s not going to do the same thing August 28, 2019
- The EU will have to be faced with implementing their hard border before they will compromise in the way that a reasonable organisation would August 24, 2019
- Ditching the Backstop is the priority. Without it we have the exit clause that means everything else is actually up for negotiation August 20, 2019
- Conservative MPs will never be held responsible for most of the wrongs they have done. Make no mistake – helping a Marxist into No10 will be very different August 15, 2019
- These are dangerous days for our democracy and freedoms. What our public un-representatives do now will have implications that go way beyond Brexit and could result in life changing for us all August 15, 2019
- Politicians created the fake news culture and only want to tackle the narratives that are out of their control August 15, 2019
- The establishment is crowing about the ComRes poll – but this is the tip of how people really feel and we want our democracy back August 13, 2019
- Gambling companies soon stop betting that puts their profits at risk. They can surely do the same when it comes to the risk to customers August 12, 2019
- Boots Corner: Let Cheltenham decide August 12, 2019
- The impact from the clash of egos between Boris, his team and Farage should be a concern for us all August 12, 2019
- Boots Corner: Who was it really closed for and why? August 3, 2019
- Beating the Backstop: How to make a hard Border in Ireland and with any of our EU Neighbours irrelevant when Brexit is delivered August 1, 2019
- If this is how the best of the field to be PM already shapes up, we really are in trouble now June 25, 2019
- Brexit is the doorway to change June 23, 2019
- The EU’s stranglehold over the UK: How impractical idealism created a real-life straightjacket June 23, 2019
- The United States of Europe: Supranational Aims and Lost Identities for us all June 23, 2019
- The Real EU Story is one that never gets told June 23, 2019
- Brexit is the symptom, not the cause June 23, 2019
- Brexit: We fear change – but only when we are aware of it June 23, 2019
- The pretence that the UK MUST have a Deal with the EU to Leave is a myth June 23, 2019
- Ten for No.10 when it comes to the Top Job. But ZERO applications for leading the UK properly and taking the responsibility required to make Brexit stick and open up the doors for us all to the bright new world beyond June 11, 2019
- Want a real Brexit and Corbyn kept out of No.10? – A General Election is now the only way… June 7, 2019
- Yes Tories, by all means Prorogue Parliament, just so you can say you delivered a No Deal Brexit. But understand you will take us straight back in to the EU on terms of surrender if you do June 6, 2019
- The next Conservative PM will have to steer a difficult path to a ‘No Deal’ Brexit or they won’t stay in No.10 for very long June 4, 2019
- Delivering Brexit – in steps June 4, 2019
- Brexit: What must happen June 4, 2019
- Has interpretation and reinterpretation of everything just to suit the narrative simply gone too far? May 31, 2019
- The Brexit Party May well end up hoisted by its own petard if the UK Exits the EU BEFORE we have a General Election and a Brexit-backing majority of MPs has been secured May 30, 2019
- It may well be in the EU’s interests to let the UK crash out in October with no deal. Because without a change of Parliament, they know this Remain majority of MPs will use any panic to lever us straight back in – and strictly on the EU’s terms May 29, 2019
- A No Deal Brexit will only be a threat to the EU when it’s real. That’s when concessions worth more than words will come, yet none of those who would be PM show any sign that they will do what must be done May 28, 2019
- Sorry folks – The Brexit Party has done well, but won’t win a majority at Westminster anytime soon. That isn’t to say however, that it shouldn’t become very much involved May 27, 2019
- A No Deal Exit from the EU without a General Election and working majority may be the quickest way to Brexit failure and to taking us straight back in May 27, 2019
- Nothing is going to happen until the end of May in June. The Tories should use this time wisely and elect a new Leader now – because change cannot come too soon May 26, 2019
- Compromise on Brexit is a choice that MPs have never had May 25, 2019
- A New Politics May 24, 2019
- Catastrophic indecision lies at the heart of this Government and the Conservative Party. Yet most of those responsible are on the list to replace Mrs May May 23, 2019
- How do you change politics for good? – By changing the way Politicians think so they do the best for everyone, just as they always should May 22, 2019
- Mays ‘bold new Brexit deal’ is nothing more than a different shade of lipstick smeared across the mouth of the same dead pig May 21, 2019
- Any PM who respects the Will of the People has a ‘No Deal’ Brexit mandate. Boris’ Achilles Heel will be tying himself to the mast of ‘One Nation Conservatives’ in an attempt to secure a Leadership ‘win’ May 21, 2019
- No Chancellor, it’s not hijacking Brexit when the People are taking back from you what we already own May 21, 2019
- One Nation Conservatism and the Old Politics are the same thing. It’s a horse that won’t run now the Brexit stone has been lifted and Voters are looking for something that works and is actually new May 20, 2019
- A Customs Union: Anything that looks so simple and involves the EU will always be too good to be true May 20, 2019
- BREAKING: The Conservative Party is BREAKING, and every Member of the Cabinet shares responsibility for May still being in No.10 May 14, 2019
- I’m as big a Brexiteer as anyone, but I won’t be voting for the Brexit Party or anyone else next week and here’s why… May 13, 2019
- Everything wrong with our Political Parties has gifted them with the inability to change and what follows a win by the Brexit Party is what we should now be fearing most May 12, 2019
- May’s Elephant Trap meets the Elephants in the room – again!? May 11, 2019
- No Tories, you can’t all be the next Prime Minister. Lose the selfish ambition and unite behind a Brexiteer who can win a General Election within 6 months instead May 10, 2019
- Will May’s final legacy be the longest squatter in No.10? May 9, 2019
- This Political War will not be over with Brexit. It is no less than the battle to defeat and extinguish the ‘old politics’ and replace it with something new, but long overdue May 8, 2019
- If the Conservatives finally catch up with events and somehow remove May, the last thing we need is for them to waste time seeking support for Brexit from the EU May 7, 2019
- Get May out before May’s out or you will be out with her May 6, 2019