Now

Is the winter of our discontent.

It is said that the strikes that paralised the UK in the winter of 78-79 destroyed the then Labour Government, bringing in over a decade and a half of Conservative rule.

The papers made clear that they thought the Government should have done something, but nurses, firement and binmen among others all went on strike.

In March and April 2020 we all stood on our doorsteps clapping "essential" workers, thinking them for keeping on working when some of us could work from home. Many fell very ill and died as a result.

Matt Hancock suggested that we were so grateful, we offered them a nice badge that they might like to buy.

Fast forward to January 2023, and Nurses, Doctors, ambulancedrivers, paramedics, train drivers, other rail workers, post office workers are striking.

Boris promised a high skilled, high pay economy.

Cut foreign aid because we have people at home we need to help first.

The Government is refusing to budge on 2% pay rises, despite food inflation now over 15%, and energy costs soaring. Inflation in general is about 11%, not caused by runaway wages, certainly not for public sector workers, bankers bonuses are now uncapped again. But the same people we clapped are now the enemy for wanting to earn a wage they can live on.

The NHS is on the verge of collapse, caused by Government policies or inaction. Patients are waiting in ambulences for over 24 hours, in some cases, then waiting for up to 33 hours more on trolleys in corridors.

This is normal, a Government spokesperson said yesterday.

Inflation is high becaue of stagflation caused by unfilled job vacancies caused by people with long COVID and Brexit turning the supply of EU workers off. The pound has sunk from $1/60 in 2016 to about $1,10 now, and as all energy is priced is US$, the exchange rate causes the cost to go up.

The Government stopped nurses bursaries, meaning that potential nurses now have to pay for their training by taking out loans. This has further reduced the supply of labour in the NHS.

The Prime Minister's answer to this and the other issues facing the UK is that children should study maths until they are 18. Not sure how this helps, to be honest.

Brexit has failed, as it always was going to, as it was driven by people who have no idea how to carry out policies, only make headlines. Water companies are pumping raw sewage into our streams, rivers and the sea, reversing decades of work on reducing pollution. The Wye is now dead, and Windermere is heavily polluted.

Schools will not have enough money for heating this winter, teachers are leaving.

And still the Tories say its not their fault.

They will have been in power for 13 years in May, and have broken Britain in that time. They have gutted the economy, dragged us out of the EU and all but the most well off are now worse off that they were in 2010.