Wake up Labour
I dropped by our old office in Leman Street today to say high to my old landlords. I was absolutely gobsmacked to read this message on the door. This is the reality for many people in the UK right now.
It is my opinion, for what it’s worth (I’m not an economist), that the economy in the UK is out of control. I sat down and had a chat with Mario and Lou and they explained the reasons why they have decided to close this business, which has been run by their family for 55 years. Electricty costs have seemingly doubled over the last 2 years. Might not say exactly so on paper, but the bills don’t lie. The amount of red tape and beurocracy in this country has increased hugely since labour have been in power. Let alone more than 3,000 newly invented crimes. Lou has found himself spending 90% doing admin and paperwork and 10% with people. He did it to be with people. Having passed retirement age there was no point in carrying on.
I was amazed by the amount of newly introduced red tape:
Annual corgi certificate
Annual electricity check
Annual PAT test
Annual music license
£500 a month TV license
Bar licensing increased from £20 every 3 years to £300 a year
Huge rates increase due to out of control property prices
I have missed things here. But I hope I have painted a picture. In my opinion, too many mistakes have been made with out of control spending in the public sector – nice slate forecourt and full time army of cleaning staff Mayor Ken. The licensing in London used to be controlled by one person. Introduce a new licensing scheme and employ an army of 60 staff to control it. New jobs sure, but where’s the money come from? Introduce a new contract for doctors and dentists – half as much work for twice as much money. Reduce the retirement age for public sector workers and make sre they all get a nice pension – anyone know a private company offering this?
You will be sorely missed Lou, Mario, Jacky and Margaret. When the Government is trying to work out how to stop the breakdown of communtiy in the UK, start by trying to keep local heros like these in the place their family has been for 73 years.
Oh, and when I got home, my neighbour told me his house has been reposessed because he can’t afford it anymore since the increase in interest rates. House reposessions up by 30% compared to last year. Not sure the average guy on the street can take much more of this.
