Election Budget for UK

George Osborne is, in addition to being the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Conservative Party's internal election strategist.  So this begs the question, will he use the upcoming budget as an opportunity to start the process of rolling back the state and reducing taxes?  Will he take the chance to load the dice in favour of the Conservatives or at least directionally the Conservative way?

There is a convention in British politics that a current government cannot burden future governments or tie their hands etc..  This doesn't though, seem to apply to taxation.  Rates set by one government end-up being followed by successors.  Neither though does it seem to apply to any other than 'future unclear' policies.

So..........

How about a budget from George that lays out a tax-cutting and spending-cutting strategy, into the future?  How about the 2014 Budget speech going something like this.

Tax Threshold
The popularity of this coalition government's policy of raising the tax threshold, which will reach £10,000 starting this year, is such that we will continue with this strategy of taking more and more low-paid people out of tax, altogether.  The budget that I bring before the House today, includes measures to raise the tax threshold to £12,000 from April 1, 2015 to £15,000 by April 1, 2017 and £20,000 by April 1, 2020.

Income Tax Rates
The budget also includes measures to reduce the basic rate of taxation to 18% and the next rate of taxation to 39%, with effect from April 1, 2014 and to reduce to 15% and 35% respectively by April 1, 2017.  Also to eliminate the current top rate of tax, of 45%, with effect from April 1, 2016. 

These measures will serve to continue the reduction of the tax burden on the lower-paid, which has been a feature of this government's tax policies.  At the same time, recognizing that the 45% rate is a dis-incentive to individuals we will abolish this punitive level.  We already know, from numerous independent and government fact-based studies, that high rates of taxation produce little in the way of meaningful income raised for the exchequer and only serve to engender a divisive culture of envy.

Inheritance Tax
Inheritance Tax is often cited as an iniquitous tax since it argues against our people putting money away for their future and providing for their loved ones.  It also taxes that which has already been taxed.  With effect from April 1, 2015 the nil-band threshold will be raised to £1 million.  This will then be raised by £200,000 on each successive April 1, so that by April 1, 2020, the nil-band threshold will be £2 million.  At the same time, with effect from April 1, 2015, the rate of taxation applied will be reduced to 30%.

Non-Doms
The issue of non-domiciled taxpayers has long been an issue for this House.  People that live in the UK and enjoy all the benefits that this brings, do need to contribute more to the country in which they reside.  Effective from April 1, 2014, the so called non-dom tax will be raised to £100,000 and will then rise by increments of £200,000 on successive April 1, until April 1, 2020.

Fuel Taxes
It is widely recognized that fuel duties impose a heavy burden on small and medium sized enterprises.  This government sees such SMEs as a powerful force in continuing the growth that the policies of this coalition government have engendered.   Effective from midnight, all fuel duties will be reduced by 5%.  We intend to go further and enact, in this budget, future reductions in duty such that in the next 4  successive years, on April 1, fuel duties will be reduced by a further 5%.  Thus by April 1, 2018, fuel duties will have been reduced by 25% from their current levels. 

SMEs
Staying with SMEs and here we mean a business that employs less than 500 people.  Effective from April 1, 2014, an SME that engages a new employee, will be able to enjoy a 5 year NIC holiday for that employee for both the employer and the employee.  We will also enact legislation that extends this 'holiday', until the new employee's 25th birthday.  So either 5 years NIC holiday or until the person reaches 25 years of age, whichever is later.  This is expected to provide a further boost to the employment prospects of our youth and to help Britain avoid some of the horrendously high levels of youth unemployment, seen elsewhere.

Green Taxes
The government is committed to protecting the environment, however, after review of the so called 'green taxes' that were brought in under the last administration, we have decided to abolish them, with effect from April 1, 2014.  Our review has concluded that these taxes do nothing meaningful to reduce carbon emissions but do place a very heavy burden on the pockets and budgets of our people.   Our review results point to the conclusion that temporary reductions or freezes in these taxes is a gimmick.  What is needed, to help the British energy user, is abolition that will aid our industry and improve its competitiveness, where it is up against other nations that are not so burdened and this will also bring very welcome relief to our people, particularly those on low or fixed incomes.

Spending
While the positive effects of cuts in taxation on the economy are known and thus expected, this government believes it prudent, if I may borrow a phrase, to also reduce spending.

This government believes that it is not a given that government has to be involved in everything.  In the past we managed very well as a nation, when we had smaller government.

We are seeing for example, in the educational reforms that are being implemented, that when central and local government step back and allow other providers into the system, great and beneficial changes follow.

Balanced Budget
This government aims to continue to reduce the deficit and strives to start to pay down our already high debt.  The country is now experiencing economic growth, after the disruption felt by the 2008 banking crisis.  The growth is not as uniformly spread, as we would like but the tax cutting measures, of which I spoke earlier, will start to address this.  However, we do not believe that it is sustainable to continue with old borrowing and spending and borrowing  patterns.  Every householder knows that when times are better, then is when you put money away for the future - when you can afford it.  That isn't the time to go out and get further into debt!  As for the average household, so for the country.

This budget will enact legislation to ensure that with effect from the fiscal year commencing on April 1, 2014, all budgets placed before the house are balanced without the aid of further borrowings.  Going further, any surplus that is achieved, where taxes raised exceed public expenditure, will be used to pay down government debt.  We owe this commitment not just to the current inhabitants of Britain but to the future generations.  We must be able to look into the eyes of our children and grandchildren and say that we put a great debt burden on you and your children but we are working to lift this burden.

Department of Energy and  Climate Change
With the earlier mentioned abolition of so called 'green taxes', the Department of Energy and Climate Change will cease to exist, from April 1, 2014 and all of its personnel and facilities will be reduced to zero by April 1, 2015.

Local Government
We have continued to see local councils failing to heed the message that all households have received in the last few years.  Belts need to be tightened!  Speak to any working person, up and down the country and they will tell you that they have had to draw in their horns and learn to spend less.  This is plain common sense but it hasn't percolated through to some of the town halls in Britain, where waste and profligacy continue.  Therefore, the settlement for Local Government, for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2014 will decrease by 15% from the preceding year's levels, across the board.  There will be an exception to this.  Those councils that propose no increase in fiscal year 2014 Council Tax rates, will not receive a decrease in the settlement. 

From April 1, 2015, the settlement will be reduced by a further 5% and this will continue for the fiscal years commencing April 1 2016, 2017 and 2018.  Again, those councils that do not increase council taxes for their people, will only see the settlement be reduced by 2.5%  in those years

Welfare Benefits Cap
My colleague the minister for Works and Pensions will introduce legislation that reduces the so called benefits cap, to £20,000 with effect from April 1, 2015 and then by £1,000 for each successive year up to 2020, so that by April 1, 2020 the cap will be £15,000.  This government believes that as a nation we must make work pay and reward the workers not the shirkers.  These are strong words but it is a fundamental of the British way of life that hard work should produce rewards, not idleness.  It is not the job of government to give people the wherewithal for life's luxuries.  A safety net, yes! A  smartphone or wide screen TV, no!

Welfare Trap
My colleague will also introduce legislation with the aim of eliminating the so called Welfare Trap, where persons coming off of benefits find that for every extra pound they earn, the cost of taxation and reductions in benefits are such that the effective value to them, of working is very small.  This legislation will take effect from April 1, 2014 and will allow for transitional arrangements for those long term unemployed - defined as those having been in receipt of state benefits for longer than 12 months - such that for the 12 month period following their taking up employment, the reduction in benefits will be such that the effective rate is not greater than 50%.  After those 12 months, and continuing for a further 6 months, the reduction in benefits will be such that the effective rate of reduction would be 25%.  This would mean that after 18 months, the special concession for a  long term unemployed person would cease.  This government did not create this welfare trap but this legislation will give people the opportunity to move into employment and off of benefit dependency.

Other spending
All other departments, except for the Ministry of Defence, will reduce departmental budgets, for the year commencing April 1, 2014 by 10%.  For the years, commencing April 1, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, the budgets will reduce by a further 5%, from the immediately preceding year's budget.      

This is a budget for the people of Britain, this proposes reductions in taxation, paid for by reductions in spending.  We don't aim to put money into people's pockets.  We aim to leave it there and not take it out in the first place!  This is a budget unashamedly for workers.  This is a budget also for our children and grandchildren - we must start to reduce debt, for their sakes.  

I commend the budget to the House!

The power of Twitter and the Anglosphere

I have been thinking about Twitter recently (apologies if not using the copyright symbol is somehow wrong!) and its power for good.

I am also reading a book called "How we invented freedom", by a UK Member of the European Parliament - Daniel Hannan - highly recommend the book and Dan's tweets and articles - very 'sound' on Europe and the freedoms that 'Anglosphere' democracy brings.

The book (is that the right phrase for a Kindle version?  I dislike putting e in front of everything!) brings to the fore all those things which many of us almost take for granted - the primacy of the rule of law, no one being above it,  property rights and the importance of contracts and above all, freedom of speech, religion and assembly.   The book tracks the establishment of common law and the basic principles of same, from the pre-Norman invasion of England  through to the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights and onto the US Constitution and eloquently shows, the flow of these basic principles runs common to all of these documents and to those ideals that the Anglosphere hold dear.

It seems to me that those basic rights are under threat as never before.  Now the threat isn't National Socialism from the German Nazis or Communism from the Soviet Union, no the threat comes from within.

Part of the threat comes from a comfortable place called complacency - long established rights are taken for granted by 'indigenous' Anglosphere peoples and the slow erosion of these isn't noticed or widely remarked upon.  Arbitrary punishment is meted out by governments , especially the US's, via drone attacks, for example, and people move past that news item or, if they stop to think, justify it on the grounds of national security.  Similarly, people are stopped and searched at airports around the world and have various petty restrictions put upon them, in the name of security.

People are finding that freedom of speech or religion is being curtailed, except that most politicians and main stream media shy away from negatively commenting on Islam and it's adherents.  Look at what happened to Phil Robertson.  He is a reality TV personality on an American TV show called Duck Dynasty.  In an interview he stated, amongst other things, that he wasn't attracted to men and he likened homosexuality to sin.  Cue outrage from the homosexual lobby in the USA and their supporters in the media at his 'hate crime'.  Now, Phil espouses Christian values and for those that believe in the right of free speech - something on which America was founded - his freedom to say such things is exactly that - a right.

A right as in something that he inherently has - not something that he (or you or I) is given. 

I have never seen the Duck Dynasty show but all I have read about Phil Robertson and his espousal of deeply held Christian beliefs suggest to me that nothing that he said, in the magazine interview, could be construed as being in any way surprising or controversial.  Similarly if Ayatollah Khameni, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said the same things I wouldn't be surprised.  In fact the only thing that would surprise me is if the media actually reported or in any way commented upon Khameni's speech.  The teachings of both Christianity and Islam consider homosexuality a sin.  Whether you agree with that or not, is your opinion and I for one am happy to support your right to hold such an opinion - that's what free speech is about!   What free speech isn't about is stifling the saying of things with which you or I disagree. Period as they say in the US!

So back to Twitter and its power for good.  The A&E TV channel that broadcast Robertson's show, suspended him for a period, after disassociating itself from his comments.  Normally, that would be the end of Phil's TV show and fame.  However, right-thinking people got to work on Twitter and brought the story to a far wider audience than would have normally been the case.  A petition was raised and boycotts of A&E and its advertisers and sponsors were organized and, low and behold, Phil's suspension was lifted.  Encouragingly, he did not have to refute his beliefs or sayings, in order to achieve this.  The right to his free expression of speech was met.  In my humble view, Twitter played a great part in spreading the message and generating the climb-down by A&E.  Now I do not think for one single minute that the war is over and the 'powers that be' have seen the light and will 'allow' free expression.  I think that this is a battle won but this will need to be continuously fought for these cherished freedoms to be retained.  Incidentally, the 'allow' with is because I am uncomfortable in considering that someone allows another person to exercise a right.  No one can give you something which you already have!

Problem is though, that Twitter and other social media are under attack.  There are the overt attacks, where those that would deny freedom, talk-up so called trolls and make the attacks from these people, a justification for the curtailment of the liberties of all.  Then there are also the less obvious methods of attack - such as the USA's Internal Revenue Service using social media to identify groups and individuals from the Tea Party or other anti-Obama administration tweets, and then subject them to special attention from their audit teams. 

Dan Hannan, in his book, rightly confronts the facade of rights that some countries have or had and posits that it is the historical depth of these rights, within the Anglosphere, that gives them meaning.  He talks about the constitution of the former Soviet Union granting it's citizens all sorts of rights but no means for the citizen to actually exercise them.  I hope though that he is wrong in suggesting (I haven't yet finished the book, so maybe he does change his view later) that the places where the fundamental human rights can survive are restricted to those places that have historical links back to England and it's Magna Carta and older common law antecedents.  Hope, because these places (and this isn't meant to show an anti-immigration stance) are fast becoming a cosmopolitan mix, where the inhabitants do not all share the historical connection with England.  Hope, because I want those people who look to the UK, America, Canada and Australia and want to emigrate to those countries, look not just at the material benefits that settling in those countries will bring, but also at the traditions of individual freedoms, that have made these countries, what they are!

Labour's bonking mad!

No this isn't a story about over-sexed socialists (unless you maybe include Rev. Paul Flowers) but please do read on.

Ed Miliband, the figure-head leader of the socialists in the UK, the real leader is union boss, Len McCluskey, has indicated that Labour would try to create two new large banks in the UK, so as to promote 'competition.

Now think about that.  We already have 5 big banks in the UK.  We also have building societies (akin to US savings and loans/credit unions).  Indeed, two of these banks are largely owned by the UK people.  The 'people' own more than 80% of Royal Bank of Scotland.

It is entirely unclear what benefits this extra competition will bring.  We now know that Miliband's words have cost the UK taxpayers more than £ billion from the reduction in share prices seen for RBS and LloydsTSB.

Consider also, what happened last time Labour were in power.  This champion of greater competition, then forced through the takeover of the HBOS banking group by LloydsTSB, thereby reducing the number of banking chains!

Consider also, the Labour party's closest banking ally - the Cooperative Bank.  This bank had Rev. Paul Flowers appointed as its chairman, under Labour's 'light touch' regulatory regime.  This is the same Rev. Paul Flowers that is accused of hiring rent boys and using illegal drugs, including Ketamine.  The same Rev. Paul Flowers who is accused of abusing his position as a church  minister to allegedly defraud a charity.  Oh yes, and the same Rev. Paul Flowers who took the Co-Op bank to the brink of bankruptcy!  In the last action, he perhaps proved that he was as qualified as other leading bankers, at least!

So Labour, whose record with banks is, shall we say, patchy, wants to interfere and create competition?

Since when has Labour been so keen on competition?  When did they become the champions of consumer choice?  I ask because there seem to be some areas for which Labour is absolutely opposed to promoting competition.  These are not areas where the incumbents are actually performing well.  Indeed, quite the opposite.

These areas?  Well, the NHS and Education, to name just two.

With the NHS, the UK effectively has a monopoly supplier of health care that is controlled by its provider union personnel.  Can you imagine the uproar that would have followed, if a private health supplier had treated patients the way that the 'envy of the world' NHS treated people at Mid Staffs and other scandal-riddled hospitals?  Does anyone think that Andy Burnham, the Labour minister in charge at the time of these scandals, who tried to hide the truth, would remain in the role, if he were in a private company?  Hundreds of people died unnecessarily and in appalling conditions when their very lives were entrusted to this monopoly provider but, according to Labour, that's okay.

Look also at education, where Labour, again repaying the debts to its union paymasters, consistently opposes any and all reform.  Here the Conservatives have pushed ahead with supporting the establishment of independent schools but much still needs to be done and Labour, and its local authority allies and other members of the payroll electorate, will continue to oppose much needed reform.  As with health, Britain's education system is failing as successive governments have failed to address the core issues because they have focused on 'politically correct' solutions and ignored real world problems.

Apparently, Labour want to see more choice on the high street but I seriously wonder how many people still rely on physical branches and how many use online banking?  When was the last time you went into a bank?

Anyway, usual stuff from Miliband and his socialists.  The 'cost of living crisis' is seen to be being solved, as real wages start to exceed prices and so it is time for another soundbite!  Worryingly, Labour still have a chance that they might be in charge of the UK economy, after the next election.  Miliband the banker - be afraid, very afraid.  Remember who ran the economy alongside the disappeared Gordon Brown?


   

America's problem

More accurately, the problem with conservatives in America.

As a Brit looking in from the outside, it seems to me that America is on a dangerous path and the fault really lies with American conservatives.

I don't blame President Obama and his socialist fellow travelers - Pelosi, Clinton, Biden, Reid, Blasio, etc. - they are only following the agenda that all socialists follow.  Their programme is running according to schedule and form.  Students of post-WWII European history will see the familiar pattern of subversion from within.  Take over educational/teacher training colleges, promote public service (sic) unionization, push minority issues even against the overwhelming wishes of the majority, promote policies that facilitate the breakdown of 'traditional' families and values, make previously abnormal behaviour the new norm and over-favour such, over-arching this, push the 'state' into every nook and cranny of daily life with either some kind of welfare or regulation or law.

So, why blame the American Right?  Well frankly because of the lack of focus.

Look at the recent shenanigans around the US budget.  The deal that was worked out - a bi-partisan solution, we are told - sees an infinitesimally  small reduction in overall spending but some of this falls on military veterans.  To my mind this breaks a covenant that the US has had with its service personnel - you go and fight for us and we will take care of you.  So we have Republican presidential hopeful (surely not still?) Rep. Paul Ryan, assisted by Republican Speaker John Boehner, pushing a bill that punishes military retirees.  Think back 30 years or so and consider if any sordid backroom deal, whose members included Republicans, would have had this as part of the package. 

Frankly speaking, the Democrats really don't need to push their agenda too aggressively, when their supposed opponents do such a good job on their behalf.  And why do Ryan, Boehner et al do the Democrats job for them?  Because they do not serve America, in spite of their oaths.  They serve themselves.  It is all about re-election and accumulating personal power and wealth.

WARNING TO REPUBLICANS - In any Bi-Partisan agreement you and your supporters (and your country) are being fooled.  Bi-Partisanship is part of the process by which the socialists incrementally achieve their goals.  They use this to move the discussion in their desired direction and keep on doing so.  When you meet someone 'half-way' on something, then they are closer to their goal and you further from yours!

Think about the recent government shutdown - who won that?  The Democrats did.  Obama didn't give an inch and the Republicans folded.  In saying Republicans I refer to the elected Republicans.  I don't believe that Republicans in the country supported Boehner's capitulation nor do they support Ryan's shabby 'deal'.

So back to focus.

What are the 'hot' issues for Republicans, just now?  Phil Robertson, of Duck Dynasty fame, is certainly up there and the homosexual lobby have taken a knock back on this one but they and their bigoted types, will be back!  Hillary Clinton's abdication of responsibility for the deaths of 4 Americans in Benghazi, is there as well.  Obamacare, with its almost daily new failures, is the gift that keeps on giving (consider that more people lost insurance coverage on 1/1/14 than managed to get the more expensive Obamacare cover and you will see what I mean).

What doesn't seem to be hot?  How about, the economy?  As in jobs, as in money in people's pockets.  How is this not the issue that unites the American 'right' and provides the single focus on which the 'right' can campaign?  $ Billions have been pumped into the economy but unemployment remains high.  Those 'shovel ready' projects weren't as 'shovel ready' as people were led to believe.

In my darker, conspiracy-theory moments, I keep wondering if the Obama administration isn't quite pleased that they have these different mini 'scandals' going on as the opposition is spread thin and their inept handling of these issues and the economy is masked because the 'fire' from Republicans is not concentrated.

So, to borrow the phrase from Bill Clinton, 'it's the economy, stupid!'  Republicans shouldn't allow themselves to get side-tracked by these other issues - yes, I do know they are important but if Republicans don't get the numbers elected to Congress then all of the commentary and tweeting and rallies will not change things, one bit.

At the same time, Republicans need to hold candidates to account and select and elect real Republicans.  

Real Republicans?  So no RINOs (Republicans in name only).    From my perspective, those of the Tea Party persuasion most closely fit the bill.  Candidates that understand that you cannot treat with leftist Democrats.  That understand that the political spectrum must be shifted significantly to the right, just  in order to recover the advances that have been made by the socialists in recent years.

I am afraid that I include the G.W Bush era in the left-sliding times.  Former President Bush was 'right' on foreign issues but was not focused enough on US domestic issues and so allowed the leftist slide, that started under his father and accelerated under Clinton, to continue. 

So my message for American conservatives is focus on a single issue that affects all Americans - the economy - don't follow the path taken by the UK Conservatives where pandering to minority groups, in an effort to appear more 'reasonable' has led them to promote same-sex marriage and continue to allow the 'state' to grow and to be dictated to by unelected European Commissioners (or commissars, is perhaps more accurate).

Remember, once the true 'right' have power, then you can pursue the impeachment of Obama and the imprisonment of Hillary Clinton and Eric Holder and the repeal of the hated Obamacare, until then the single most important task on which to focus, is getting the right people, selected and then elected.

2014 Predictions

Well, if journalists can do this, why can't I?

Scotland will vote to remain in the UK and not seek independence, though it will be a closer-run thing than many first predicted.  Indeed, (hedging bets here) it may yet go the other way given the lack-lustre performance of the No campaign and the reluctance of the UK parties to engage and promote the Union.

The UK (read South-East England) will not be flooded by Romanians and Bulgarians.  Total immigration will be less than 20,000

Pope Francis will continue to amaze the world with his humility and engagement.

Vince Cable will manufacture an excuse to leave the Coalition, at the start of the second half of the year.  Then he will successfully challenge Nick Clegg for the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party and lead his party to its eventual near annihilation at the 2015 General Elections.

President Obama's Democrats will suffer heavy poll reverses in the mid term elections.  This despite some Republicans seeming to spend more time attacking Tea Party activists than their liberal opposition.

Calls for a full investigation of the horrific events that occurred in Benghazi will gather strength but until the new members are sworn-in, most of the action will be on Twitter, where the Justice for the Benghazi 4 movement will gain increasing traction.  So Hillary remains safe for now but the eventual investigations will haunt her 2016 bid and make her wish she had got them out of the way, with a more compliant Congress.

In a move to improve efficiency, France's Socialist government will enact legislation to cut out the middle-man and have all wages paid direct to the State's tresor.  Apart from making it easier to identify those that exist or participate in the 'black' economy (not a racist statement, before any liberals complain), this will also reduce stubbornly high unemployment as more tax-collectors are hired.

Greece and Italy decide to not follow the French example - rumours that this is because some many of those countries' politicians operate within the 'black' (still not racist) economy will not actually be proven but nevertheless will abound.

The UK's Labour Party will formally change it's name to the Labour,Welfare and Minority Interests Party and will officially abandon any pretence of representing actual workers.

Ed Balls, in a move designed to avoid being sacked by Ed Miliband, will challenge him for the party leadership role.  In a close-run race, Len McCluskey, leader of the UNITE union,  will emerge as the winner, even though not a participant!

UK Prime Minister, David Cameron will react to Labour's attacks about the Cost of Living 'crisis' by abolishing the so called Green Taxes.  This will anger his Lib Dem partners but Cameron will tell Clegg it is the price to pay for support of Clegg's candidacy for a EU Commissioner role.

Cameron will also face internal opposition from those who accuse him of being a TINO (Tory in name only) and such opposition will increase following the Euro elections at which all parties will do badly, except UKIP, who score spectacularly well.  Indeed, it is only the Euro-sceptic MEPs, like Daniel Hannan, that retain their seats on the Euro-Gravy-Train.

The European Commission and Parliament will continue to enact directives that strengthen, on paper,  the undemocratic nature of their rule and which ignore the voices of the European people, expressed through the ballot boxes. 

 Youth unemployment in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy will continue at high levels that will haunt those countries for years to come.  Ireland too will continue to export its problem by large-scale youth emigration and the country will pay its price for EU inspired de-population with large-scale issues around unfunded pension liabilities - as in most countries, pension payments require a working and contributing mass of young people, to be viable!

Moves will continue to seek the impeachment of President Obama but while the mood in America will be marginally in favour, Congress will continue to not represent the will of the people and so Obama will continue in office but will find Congress much less compliant, especially as high-profile cases showing the effects of Obamacare's failures hit the headlines with increasing frequency, as even Obama's media supporters bow to pressure to stop hiding the truth.

China will continue to expand its economy but will be less involved in buying US Treasury bills and funding America's deficit and debt mountains.

Brazil will host the football World Cup but organizational problems will mar the occasion.

Russia will use a very heavy hand to confront their domestic terrorists and will ignore the 'human rights' whining from the West.

Then there are the predictions that are border-line wishes.......

Arsenal confound the doubters and not only win the English Premier League title but also complete a remarkable treble by gaining  victories in the FA Cup and the European Champions League.

David Cameron uses one of the many recesses that the UK parliament enjoys and reads-up on what it means to be a Conservative and then, in an amazing transformation decides to start to implement such policies.  Consequent upon this, Cameron corners Nick Clegg and explains to him the outcome of opposing the changed approach and advises that the Tories will rule in a minority government rather than continue to pander to the idiotic and damaging policies of the Lib Dems.

Notwithstanding the earlier prediction, moves to impeach Obama become a central policy plank and receive wide-spread and united Republican support.  Worried Democrats, pick-up on the public mood and  transfer their allegiance to the camp pushing for the ouster of the would-be Emperor of the Free World.

Difficult to know whether any desires relating to the US Supreme Court, supporting the US Constitution and the American people count as predictions or wishes.  Will they strike down the 'Executive Orders' that are being repeatedly issued by America's ruler, in contravention of the US Constitution or will they continue to pursue a 'leftist' and un-American agenda?

As a choice, this would be a profound wish - that the scales fall from the eyes of politicians around the world and the eco-nonsense ends as soon as possible.  Not only this though, but in an unprecedented attack of common sense, the world's politicians immediately repeal all of the restrictive eco-laws that have so negatively impacted the world.  If, in the process, Al Gore and the climate science lobby were convicted of gross fraud, then that would be an added bonus! 

I could go on.  I have probably thought this before but this time I will say in print, I sense that 2014 will herald some significant changes for America, the UK and Europe.