politicians and lies

It's interesting to note how easily politicians tell lies. A recent example has been Mr Cameron who has said how difficult it was to cancel the building programme for schools. Of course it was difficult it was one of the easiest things that the government could have done and save a lot of money very quickly, there is no thought involved and you simply playing the previous government are having set the program up badly. What he means by difficult is that it might become popular this is a very different proposition from signing it was difficult.

A difficult decision is one where there are many possibilities and one is unclear as to which is the correct policy decision. It might be that one is unclear as the outcome of different decisions though one is a clear about what objective. This has become a common and abusive language, to say that something is difficult when you mean it might be unpopular. Many businessmen use this when they are trying to sack people or to reduce the service is being provided, that is to claim it was difficult rather than they'll get criticised for making the decision.

Another interesting example of politicians telling lies is our local MP one Simon Wright. I have just received the local " Liberal Focus" which claims to tell us what a good job as our new MP is doing. How what they are promised is being achieved by the new government which is now a supporter. What he doesn't tell us is all the things that are being done it didn't promise to do like cutting the school building programme sacking thousands of public sector workers, reducing housing benefit, making it harder for disabled to get benefits etc. Perhaps he wasn't lying publication being economical with the truth. Of course he blames the previous government and says that the situation is much worse than predicted this of course is a public sector borrowing requirement is less than had been predicted by the previous government's Chancellor of the Exchequer.

It is interesting to me to note that this Tory government, make no mistake this is the Tory government, is using the Liberals to hide behind one of the most aggressive and nasty governments we have seen for a very long.

it's the poor that gets the blame

I was reading the article in Saturday's Guardian about Jack Straw. It struck me that when we talk about benefits and lowly paid workers we always talk in terms of penalties, of punishments but when we talk about the wealthy and the well-qualified we always talk about rewards.

To get good MPs we have to pay them well, when we talk about chief executives and city slickers it is all about rewards and if we control the they will leave the country, as if that is the problem. however when we talk about the poor they must be punished but turning up late at work missing a day through ill health or having to look after their children when they are not well. people on benefits have their benefits cut if they earn money even on a part time basis however when we look at MP's they are allowed to earn as much as they like in other activities yet they claim that their job deserves a full time salary.

Surely it is time we changed the way we think and start to believe that rewarding lowly paid people and people on benefits is a better way to encourage them to work harder and to be more responsible than trying all the time to threaten them and punish them. I have always believed the carrot is better than a stick, I know that there are many who think that shouting at people and punishing them is a good way to behave, but it always seemed to me cruel and an inhumane way to behave.

Now is a good time to change the way we think since the government is so keen to cut and if we wish to cut without huge social damage to our society we must find ways to encourage people to change their way of living so that we are all happier, perhaps the best way to do this is to control the excessive wages and rewards at the top to stop thinking that those who were well paid somehow superior to those who not so well off.