You turn if you want to

Well, thank god that the huge extravaganza that was the Jubilee is over. Maybe now we can get back to doing some work and help get Your Queen’s nation back on its feet. Someone has to.

I am not going to prolong the monopolisation of our media by this orgy of obsequious fawning but instead respond to some recent political happenings.

And maybe it’s only me...but I do prefer to be governed by people who listen.

In recent weeks we have seen the Two Caesars, and their Money Man, change tack on tax on pasties, charities and caravans. And every change of tack has been greeted with howls of derision from the Last Lot and accusations of making a u-turn as if this was a very bad thing to do.

The intention to change the tax regime on these items was announced in the Budget and then having listened to the concerns of those affected, the Two Caesars and their supporters decided that these changes would cause more harm than good.

Now maybe it’s only me but I think that is a good thing. It shows that we are governed by people who listen.

So unlike the Last Lot who ploughed on regardless of the damage inflicted by their policies. And boy did they cause some damage. We are in fact still paying for their headlong pursuit of policies on which they believed they were right and everyone else was wrong.

Now it could be argued that maybe those in charge of the tax policy on pasties and the other things should have done their consultation beforehand. How could they? If they had done this, as sure as eggs, their thinking and proposals would have leaked and been attacked by all sorts of crusading lobby groups. Budgets are like sausages and it is not edifying to know how they are made, to mis-quote Bismarck.

Instead they did the right thing. Sharpened their thinking and proposition behind the scenes, as any business developing a new product might, and then road tested the policy with those most affected. Is this not the right way to do things?

If you are out in the car and you come to a dead end. What do you do? Plough on and write off the car? Or U Turn? Surely turning round is the right thing to do in this instance. And no one would criticise you for doing this.

And in my humble opinion our political process and our democracy are better served when listening and responding to the electorate is to be applauded rather than characterised as a humiliating climb-down.

As Maynard Keynes once said ‘’When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?’’

Hear hear.

Have a great week.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus.