is there any glimmer of light Starmer?

I got asked today who was Kier Starmer .... 'Who is he?'
Not in a BB Nikki Grahame way either, just a simple question.
It did make me smile - How do you answer that one?
Exactly who he is we will never really know - what he said he was and what he has turned out to be are very different.

It is a reminder that there is a proportion of people in our society that completely opt out of the political conversations and are so much on that hamster-wheel of work/ kids /paying bills that they are totally oblivious to the people we have making the decisions that effect our daily lives.

But it does seem like a complete shit show .... a car crash in slow motion.... a pantomime, all our MP's get together in a grande hall and holler and heckle each other.
Its like stepping into a time warp, nothing that would be fitting in a normal business board meeting or seems in any way productive.
Is this really our Democratically appointed Government in action?
Is this is?!
Are these people the best we have?
And there is no clarity or transparency.... always feeling we are being misled or fed some lie....

What is clear though is that the Starmer Government has does nothing to protect the cash strapped regular hard working people.

The tax changes coming into force on 6th April paint a very dark picture of what's ahead for the UK. And in next months Spring Statement there might be even more tax hikes coming.

• From April 6, employers’ National Insurance contributions will rise from 13.8% to 15%, with the threshold lowered from £9,100 to £5,000, bringing more low-paid and part-time workers into the system. This coincides with a 6.7% increase in the minimum wage from April 1, further increasing employer costs.

• Business rates will also rise sharply as various reliefs expire on April 1. Hospitality and leisure businesses will see their average bills jump from £3,751 to £9,003 per year, with pubs facing increases of up to £19,000 annually, potentially leading to thousands of closures.

• Capital Gains Tax (CGT) changes will take effect, with the main rate rising from 20% to 24% from October 30. Business Asset Disposal Relief and Investors’ Relief will also see tax rates increase from 10% to 14% from April 6, making it costlier for entrepreneurs and investors to exit businesses.

• The abolition of non-dom status from April 6 is expected to drive high-net-worth individuals out of the UK, as their worldwide assets will become subject to 40% inheritance tax.

• Furnished holiday let tax benefits will be scrapped, likely forcing many property owners to sell, which could negatively affect tourism-dependent areas. Meanwhile, changes to the taxation of carried interest in private equity will make the UK less competitive, pushing some firms to relocate to more tax-friendly jurisdictions.

• Double cab pick-up trucks will now be classified as cars, leading to significant tax increases.

• Private schools will also lose their charitable rate relief for business rates, following the imposition of VAT on school fees from January 1.

• Stamp duty thresholds are being reduced, with the first-time buyer exemption dropping from £425,000 to £300,000 and home movers now paying stamp duty on purchases over £125,000 instead of the current £250,000 threshold.

• Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) or more commonly known as Road Tax will double for all new petrol and diesel models, with some annual charges reaching as high as £5,490.

• Additionally, from April 2025, council tax is set to rise again, with local authorities in England allowed to increase bills by up to 4.99%, with all of the North East Authorities proposing to do so, bar Sunderland who proposes a 4.49% increase.

• Energy prices will rise with the energy price cap will increase by 6.4% in April 2025

We have a transport crisis here in the Northeast with major transport links affected but the Department of Transport money has been refused by the Starmer Government

We have a housing crisis with 100+ people applying for 1 private rental property in the under £1000pm price bracket with a pending Renters Reform Bill with no rescue package in place to support those that face homelessness as a result.

Meanwhile vast amounts of money is being sent to fund wars worldwide and give foreign aid in places that don't need it.

It always amazed me back in 2008 when people were having their homes repossessed that the village I lived in had government money available to put plotted plants everywhere to make it look pretty, today its the millions made available for miles and miles of cycle lanes.

Lets be clear - there is money on the table here. Its the people that we have deciding where to push it that affects our daily lives and just makes no sense to the average Joe like us.
And if Sir Lindsay Hoyle can spend £180,000 of tax payers money on foreign travel there's a distinct impression its open season for the taxpayers pot of free money.

Maybe we need a DOGE UK?

How is life looking for you?
Comments please below