By Isle of Wight Observer
I’ve been missing in action for over a fortnight. I hope you enjoyed Michael, my stunt double.
My oh my, things are so much worse now than before I left. I didn’t believe President Trump was sending his massive navy and air force to the Middle East for an early Easter parade, but Keir Starmer seems to be surprised by the war with Iran. He’s adopted a Hokey-Cokey stance; he’s neither in nor out.
The developing oil crisis demands a global response, but Keir’s not a man of action; he’s serially indecisive and prefers to “consult his team” rather than make decisions himself. The good people of Persia deserve help, but there’s no shortage of evil dictators in the world. We can’t bomb them all into submission. Remember it took centuries to win democracy here. Polls suggest Starmer’s standing has risen because of his carefully worded ‘stay out’ position. Let’s see how long that lasts if we run out of fuel or they start rationing it.
The President is “very disappointed” with our Prime Minister. He’s not the only one! Now Angela Rayner wants his job; hopefully she’s paid her stamp duty.
Here, the local Tory chairman, among others, was online predicting I’d be attending Nigel Farage’s rally. Perhaps he was picturing me sitting in the front row, waving the cross of St George. He’s clearly rattled and doesn’t recall that last time I mentioned Reform here, I said that although I’m broadly in agreement with some of their policies, I’d keep an open mind until polling day. He must be praying that, in May, Islanders will be as absent-minded as he is.
I admit I voted Labour last time, hoping they had some answers to Britain’s Tory-induced woes. But my hopes evaporated faster than a tray of ice cubes in the Middle East desert. I got it wrong; I was had. How can I support a government that seems happy to provide welfare to the world?
Last week, the Chancellor had the bare-faced cheek to summon petrol retailers for a dressing down, seemingly forgetting that the Treasury takes 55 pence from every pound spent on fuel. There’s a petrol rip-off happening, but it’s controlled from Downing Street, not your local garage.
Public spending, particularly on welfare, helped crash our economy. As a consequence, we seem to have lost our navy, and the British Army fits comfortably inside Wembley Stadium. Why not reintroduce a modern national service instead of bribing employers £3,000 to give youths a job? Politicians always love giving away our money – whether they’re Tories or Labour.
Astonishingly, almost 19,000 Islanders are “on the sick” now, including those suffering from anxiety, stress, and poor mental health. Being signed off can bring you up to £15,000 a year, not bad when the alternative is getting up for a minimum wage job.
The week the Office of Budget Responsibility said a further 1.2 million more immigrants will arrive on our shores over the next four years.
We’ll need half a million new homes to house them. No wonder it’s still the number one issue with voters. Did you see those Green Party members brandishing “Refugees welcome here” placards at Robin Hill? Why don’t they say where they’re going to house them? New-build homes aren’t ‘green’, are they?
Britain’s working young people had been pinning their hopes on lower interest rates and Labour’s preposterously ambitious building targets. They’re already being disappointed. With war raging in the Middle East, inflation will surely rocket, and interest rates will be higher.
Have no fear, Sir Keir says he’s going to “negotiate a settlement”. Of course, he’ll first have to persuade President Trump to stop killing whoever’s the latest Ayatollah. Whether he can manage that before the whole region ignites is another matter.