BUDGET BREAKDOWN

I haven’t posted much for the last few days mainly due to my severe allergy to the mind-numbing budget, not just the chancellors but the one’s that accompanied my council tax bill and yes the Kent council’s budget for the Manston Virginia gamble.

Is there anything more depressing than the annual attempt by government to meddle with and ration things we want to do or consume?

Every year the first reaction is for hacks, to tell us how the chancellor, has produce a better budget than expected. Minutes later the cracks appear as everyone wishes to grind their particular political axe.

A day or two later a consensus is reached that we’ve witnessed the treasury move the furniture about and that there are winners and losers.

Why can’t we just have some massive once off, painful simplification of the tax system, and a minor adjustment each year? Why does it have to be so complex get rid of all those regulations, that keep legions of accounts and thousands of civil servants employed in superfluous jobs, who take with one hand and grudgingly give back with the other.

I realise that such a mass cull of these blighters, in the tax industry would be considered inhumane but I think it would be for the best in the long run.

Even more confusing than “the budget” is the little snippets of info sent with the council’s annual begging letters (council tax bills), these include figures that are simplified for the simple-minded taxpayer.

Now a little info is a dangerous thing and looking on page 20 of “Your Thanet Your Council” Document is a row entitled “Chief Executive” in the first Column headed Gross Expenditure is a figure £381,000. Hopefully this doesn’t refer to the Chief. Exec’s salary, good as he is, I would assume this also includes his PA, clerical staff, office expenses but the mind could run riot and imagine maybe a chauffeur, personal trainer, and life style counsellor. The reality is I’m sure, more mundane the point is that these details are too vague to have any meaning.

Finally I’ll hold forth at a later time, on the subject of the Kent council’s recent scrutiny committee, which raised the topic of Manston/ Virginia flights project, I’m not against the council taking a punt, but I think there are several issues raised by this matter. I don’t doubt for a minute that this venture was taken on with the best intention but I think it needs some thought.

PS I see that Kent police are taking 258 million pounds from the residents of Kent, why can’t we just pay for the one in 58 police officers, whose actually out on patrol (see Telegraph) thus saving 253 million pounds.