2020: A Critical Year: Early Thoughts

Honours

This is an out of date concept, well meant but abused, which has to end. There should be one civil honour, for example the Order of Merit, which should be awarded for truly outstanding contributions to the national wellbeing at all levels of society by any person. It should never be given to  politicians, business people, civil servants, sports people or anyone else who excels at their job or profession. These achievements are recognised by sporting and professional bodies who have their own honours structure including medals and prizes. The practice of honouring failure, particularly clapped out politicians, business people who bust companies and civil servants whose departments implode under their leadership is grubby, corrupt and insulting to the nation and should stop right now. As a reward for charitable donations honours are wholly unethical.

The Generation Gap

One of the most dangerous undertones in the social wellbeing of our country is the gap between the aspirations, values and expectations of the younger generations versus the older. We see this in our own country on issues like climate change and economic priorities. An astonishing analysis of voting patterns was over the holiday period published in a Tory supporting national newspaper, which demonstrated overwhelming support for Labour among the 18-25 age group, at the recent general election. Indeed if that had been the only group voting, Labour would have won over 500 seats and the Tories only 4. This is potentially seismic. Certainly the cat fight, which Labour in defeat has become, should look at this carefully. This is surely a worthy foundation on which the party has an opportunity to build.

National Housekeeping

Following the Tory election win on spending promises too long here to list, austerity is clearly over. Unless there is a borrowing fest, so are tax cuts. The problem is that over the last several decades the national conversation about money has been conducted like a household budget, balancing fuel against food, maxing out on credit cards, the affordability of the rent or mortgage payments and so on. It is taken as read that the only way these conversations at a family level can be useful is if there is a family income in the first place, preferably based on a secure job with a future career path. Nationally there is a complete absence of a clear plan of how to finance the State, on which we all depend for  military, financial, infrastructure, food, communications and health security. Reference to ‘taxpayers money’ are just not up to snuff. The relationship between, the value of, the importance in, such things as currency value, interest rates, quantitative easing, quantitative tightening, government investment, government gilts, market forces and pressure factors are understood piecemeal by specialists in each area. But they are not understood as a whole by those charged with directing the strategic plan of the nation’s economic growth and prosperity, that is the politicians. Something needs to be done about that. Very soon.