Dennis Benson

Harold Wilson once remarked that a week in politics is a long time. It seems that he was right. Just a week ago the general sentiment in the allotment shed was definitely pro-Coalition. Today a noticeable change was evident and even allowing for the postponement of ferret racing due to the arrival of the monsoons the members were unusually grumpy. The small element that opposed the idea from the start were in an ‘I told you so’ mood whilst the majority who realise that the Cameron/Clegg dream ticket is our last hope now realise that the word dream was a little overblown.

Perhaps the last straw came in the shape of David Laws. Unknown to us until suddenly rocketed to supreme power as the head of the campaign to slash expenditure, he made a good initial impression. Here was a no-nonsense Lib Dem determined to get over the message that in the crucial months ahead every penny must count. He more than any other had the task of persuading us that sacrifices had to be made and examples set. The Daily Telegraph, which seems better able that the official Watchdog to monitor expenses, has produced evidence that Mr Laws is hardly in a position to preach to us and his position is clearly untenable.

Prior to this bombshell we had the fiasco of the BBC’s Question Time. Millions tuned in to hear the traditional debate about the Queen’s Speech only to learn that the Coalition had refused to field a Minister unless the membership of the panel was changed. Even the normally avuncular David Bumblebee was moved to remark that it was not for Downing Street to dictate such things. It was both incompetent and arrogant, a sign perhaps of the knives being sharpened for our only truly independent broadcaster.

When Mr Cameron came to Yorkshire he did appear to partly redeem things when he spoke of the need to reintroduce manufacturing into our economy. If a nation fails to make things it must import them and that is not a good way to establish a sound balance of trade.  But the Old Etonian then plunged into the black books of many of the ferreters when he added that we must do it Thatcher-style.  Hardly!  Many of our members are skilled time-served men who were swept on the human scrap heap when the Thatcher government set about destroying our manufacturing base. One Minister at the time told me that our day was done, why engage in dirty work when other countries wil do it for you!

There are countless examples, none more appalling than the fate of the Leyland Vehicles and Rover Group empires which contained many plants involved in high quality, highly profitable components. When the Government gifted the empires to companies from abroad no attempt was made to ensure that the manufacturing base was retained in the UK.

We were constantly told that Britain had the benefit of ‘invisible earnings’. We have since learned that what the Banking houses did was invisible in more ways than one! We began to breed a massive industry based on consultancy and bureaucracy. The pin-stripe replaced the greasy overall.

One can only hope that Mr Cameron’s plan to return to the old dollar-earning skilled crafts is more firmly founded than it sounds. It needs to be more reliable than what he and his twin brother Clegg predicted about fat cats and the Lords. It will be streamlined and no longer based on the old pals network they cried to frenzied appaluse of disgruntled ferret keepers. Today we read of 55 more Peers being appointed. Amongst their numbers are a line up of those who backed Cameron including Michael Howard, donor Dolar Popat and other cronies. And as if to prove that none of the parties meant what they promised other appointments include two-Jags Prescott, Ian Paisley and all.

This catalogue of mishaps has occured in a week when changes to capital gains tax mean a further hammering for long-term savers. Many older folk rely on the interest from savings made over a lifetime of thrift. Small wonder that our Dave dropped hints about interest rate rises. But even that was odd since the Bank of England led by the dynamic Mervyn King is supposed to be in sole charge of such matters.

But, as one of the more optimistic ferret racers remarked, maybe one week from now we will be back to singing the praises of the marriage made in heaven. Then again his record at forecasting the outcome of the Thursday night ferret race suggests that he is to forecasting what Cyril Smith was to abseiling!

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Tomorrow………………..How much do we really know?………………………..?

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