Two items of sad news in two days.
Yesterday it was confirmed that the UK government hoped to get around £300 million from a sale of its 40% stake in Eurostar. The money is supposedly being used to 'reduce the deficit' [presumably they actually mean the state's accumulated debt] - which was increased by billions just a few months ago when the EU insisted that Network Rail's debt should be added to the national aggregate. It is now likely that either in the immediate future, or a few years down the line, the whole ownership of the cross-channel link will pass into foreign hands. That doesn't seem to worry the government, which has allowed alien takeovers of British brands in the food and drink sectors worth over £4 billion in the past year alone. The fact that British buyers of the affected brands will be paying toll to aliens in perpetuity is of no consideration.
Today it is announced that people over 55 years of age will be able to draw from their accumulated 'pension pots' as often as they like, to whatever extent they like, provided they pay their marginal rate of income tax on 75% of what they draw. No doubt the unstated objective is to encourage people to draw down - and spend - some money between now and the election in May next year, and thus inflate the fake boom that is being engineered. As most 'pension pots' are too small to provide a decent supplement to the state old-age pension if they are held in reserve until retirement [the date for which is being pushed back] the probability that future pensioners will be abjectly dependent on the state pension and the benefits system is increased.
Government policy continues blindly to denude the economy of resources which could - under decent management - improve the future prospects of the nation.
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