RECESSION? WHAT RECESSION?

Lord Young showed yesterday what the people at the top of the Government really feel about the recession and the cuts which they are imposing. “Oh stuff and nonsense. What cuts, what recession?” OK, he didn’t say these words but he might as well have. That is what they think. It hasn’t hit them, so it hasn’t happened.

Oh yes, there are people who have had a not bad time, up to now at least. Those in government jobs with steady incomes and mortgages have found that their mortgage cost have fallen dramatically whilst the bargains that desperate retailers are creating have reduced the cost of the weekly shop, But of course those in the private sector have had to put up with reduced hours, pay freezes and in some cases pay reductions or unpaid holidays, and of course redundancies.

Many who have lost good, well paid work have found part time, badly paid work to replace it. They haven’t had a good recession Mr Young. Oh no.

And now the public sector is in for huge redundancies, which will spill into the private sector, and they will start to suffer as their jobs go. Their recession won’t feel so good for them then Mr Young!

And as for the old, and the poor, they have found that their housing benefits are about to be reduced, because “We must reduce the amount of money which is spent on Housing Benefits”.

Yes, regardless of how much it hurts the very poorest, the people sitting with coats, scarves and gloves on in their own houses, too old and sick to go out, and too poor to eat and heat properly, we must cut the cost of Housing Benefit.

In countries where they pay a living retirement pension they don’t have to subsidise people’s rents and council tax. Clearly that’s not the case in Britain.

How out of touch are people like David Bow Tie Young? Millionaires may have lost some money, but I don’t see David Young, like some others at 78, sitting with his coat on to keep warm.

And while we are on the subject of incompetences from the Coalition, what on Earth was David Cameron doing yesterday when he told the chairmen of the Common’s committees that he thought it would be a good idea to have a bank holiday on the day of the wedding of William and Kate, then hurriedly said that of course it was a matter for the royal family.

Well, talk about boxing someone into a corner. So the Queen, whose decision it is, can’t really say no now, can she? I wouldn’t like to be Cameron at the next audience.



Pics: Lord Bowtie, Mr Botox (nah, it's just airbrushed by his own personal photographer: doesn't he look odd, a bit like Cher really), and some posh bloke everyone's talking about.