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The country hasn' t changed much in the three weeks I've been away from Britain. But the newspapers seem to have been admitted to intensive care, suffering from a collapse of the nervous system. According to Fleet Street, everyone is stabbing everyone else, Her Majesty's Government is in charge of the world's latest failed state - and since the start of the year, petrol has gone up by 12p.
This new Britain is apparently a "war zone ... regressing into savagery" (Sunday Telegraph). A place, in this case Dewsbury, needs to suffer only a single murder to earn a two-page article - in The Times, no less - pronouncing it "the town which dare not speak its name". Good use of original language, guys! But I suspect the real crux of the matter comes in the various Middle Englanders moaning over the airwaves that it now costs them an extra pound a week to do the school run.
It is true that petrol is more expensive. But this is the first real rise in the cost of motoring for years. Most other things we spend our money on - clothes, foreign holidays, telephone calls, electrical goods - are cheaper than they used to be. Even food, which has also been increasing sharply, is still cheaper than it was. And at last, the cost of the biggest item of all, housing, is going down.
What? You wanted that one to carry on rising? The real problem, perhaps, is that many of us have overstretched ourselves, saving little, borrowing a lot and spending even more in the belief that the values of our houses will go up for ever. That is why the increases in fuel and food are causing so much strain in family budgets. And as the cost of indebtedness increases, our past profligacy will become even more painful.
Most of us are still vastly wealthier than we were. We have made killings on our homes. We take for granted possessions and lifestyles far in excess of those our parents knew. Our complaints of poverty are, for the moment, as overblown as our comparisons between Britain (750 murders a year) and a genuine "war zone" such as Iraq (750 murders a month). We will just have to start spending less. Unfortunately, that is precisely what could trigger a fullblown recession, which really would be something to complain about.
The current outbreak of anger must have something to do with the collapse of Gordon Brown's political authority. But though the Government has done many things wrong, it cannot be blamed for the rising world oil price or even for hikes in petrol tax. The real burden of fuel duty has fallen by 15 per cent since the fuel protests in 2000, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies. And Gordon cannot entirely be blamed for our current mess. He and his chums may have egged us on - but our greed helped, too.
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It wasn't just the Iraq dossier that this government 'sexed-up', or that the majority of the population willingly fell-in behind. In striving to enjoy the benefits of one of the world's most 'successful' economies we have become one of the most glib and self-satisfied peoples on the planet, and now we have to pay the price for this failure of an accurate appraisal of our real prospects.
Perhaps Sir Robert Mugabe's assessment of Gordon Brown's importance and attitude towards our colonial posturing may not be so far wide of the mark, detestable though he and his regime are.
- Gary Rudd, Lincoln, England
This is a mess created by Gordon Brown. Here's a quote from his 1997 Budget "Volatility is damaging both to the housing market and to the economy as a whole. So stability will be central to our policy to help home-owners, and we must be prepared to take the action necessary to secure it. I will not allow house prices to get out of control and put at risk the sustainability of the recovery."
- Paul, Swansea
Spend, spend, spend...and keep spending.
This was labour's message over many years. The bottom line is, that it may well be us who actually spend, but we have been egged on by goverment & of course seeing all the rich ones get richer.
Most people who are 'working class' (not that labour now accept there such a thing!) are just ordinary people just want it a bit better for themselves & family.
Cheap money, house price inflation etc. gives people a feel of wealth & of course spending.
Andrew is slightly wrong. The goverment is to blame...sorry.
- Terry, London, uk
