At Five to Midnight

Visitors to my website cannot have failed to notice that my first book has just been published! Great excitement in the Jones household … and hopefully a few trains of thought have been set off in the minds of those kind enough to read it.

Fixing Britain” will not be achieved overnight and I am sure that not all my proposals will find favour with those who through the democratic process, govern us; but I would like rational explanations from Westminster or Whitehall as to why some of the ideas in the Book cannot be implemented. For instance:-

Why should it not be a statutory requirement that, medical reasons apart, every pupil leaving school at 16 must be able to read, write and count to the standard expected of an 11 year-old?

Why shouldn’t parents who take no interest at all in the basic education of their children have their welfare benefit cut and, indeed, why shouldn’t others see their benefit increased to reward good parenting?

Why should our overseas aid create jobs in the USA or France when similar aid from those countries does nothing to help the other way?

How about a low flat rate business tax with no reliefs or allowances, nor with all the tax-avoidance industry (and publicly employed staff) to administer or avoid the current system?

Why not experiment with MPs not having to walk physically through the lobbies to vote in Parliament but let us bring the voting process into the technological age and thus make MPs’ time more productive and save the taxpayer a lot of money?

Why can we not have every recipient of the National Minimum Wage out of the reach of basic rate income tax with no tax-free allowance for anyone on over the National Average Wage? Tapering relief would be available and it would be worth going to work in low-paid jobs.

Why do we not make a stand against barring the grandchildren of men who died so we might be free (from India & the West Indies as well as Australia, Canada & New Zealand) from entering the UK to work, integrate and add value to our Country whilst allowing anyone from anywhere in the EU to live here whether or not they speak English, work or integrate?

These are but a few of the ideas contained in the Book. I look forward to receiving explanations as to why we can’t Fix Britain in short order…or at least make a start. As I say at the start, we are at five to midnight and I don’t want to see my Country go the way of Rome; brought down not by outside forces but by the indolence, complacency and self-absorbing of a once-great people who blamed everyone and everything for their woes except themselves.

Coming up with some answers to these basic questions (doing the simple things well as a sports coach may put it) should be troubling our political leaders more than the everyday spats of factional, polemic party politics. I wonder if they do!