I Can See Clearly Now

My Dad told me the other day about his window cleaner's use of deionised water, and how clear the windows were after washing.

He thought I might be impressed but all I could do was point out the folly of it: while thousands die every day for want of uncontaminated water, we use the purest for cleaning our windows.  What a sick world we live in.

Public Sector Pensions Crisis

I am sick of hearing some private sector workers bleating on about how their taxes are being used to pay public sector pensions.  It is true that state pension is paid from taxes and all of us who pay tax, whether in the private or public sector, are therefore funding state pension.  That means that I, a public sector worker, am playing my part in supporting retired private sector workers just as much as anyone else is.

It is a myth that private sector workers pay public sector pensions through their taxes.

Let me point out that for the last 34 years I have been paying income tax, just as private sector workers have.  For the whole of that time I have been paying into a pension scheme (unlike some in the private sector) and so it is I who have made provision for the pension I will eventually receive.

Down the years, government has taken my pension contribution and promised, through a contractual agreement, benefit in retirement through the NHS Pension Scheme.  Government has not, however, taken my contributions and invested them in order to generate those benefits.  No.  My contributions go into the treasury and government uses the money as it sees fit.

You could consider that government uses the contributions of working public sector employees to pay the pensions of retired public sector workers.

The unions have suggested to government that a proper investment scheme be set up using public employees' contributions so that public sector pensions are self-sustaining and clearly independent of the tax system.  This is, of course, unpalatable to government because it would no longer have access to a very large amount of money to mismanage.

What is truly tragic is the failure of government to ensure that private sector workers are signed up to a decent, properly regulated and ring-fenced pension scheme, that people like Robert Maxwell cannot make off with the pension funds of those who are, and that companies are not allowed to take pension fund holidays so they can pay bigger dividends to their shareholders.

Private sector workers should be up in arms to make sure they are treated well rather than trying to see that the public sector gets done down.  Instead of moaning, 'Why should they have that?' they should be demanding, 'Why can't we have it too?'  As far as I am concerned, everyone should be able to look forward to financial security in their declining years.  There are no free hand-outs to be had, however.  Future security means giving up otherwise disposable income now in contribution to the fund.

I pay my way in society through my taxes and make a contribution to society through my work.  I am paying for my pension.  I am not a parasite!

More Money Wasted on a Banker

It seems that the Lloyds Banking Group has at least two million pounds more than it needs.

Just think what good could be done with that.  Four hundred thousand mosquito nets to protect children in Africa, perhaps.  That's just one idea.  I'm sure the money could be put to good use in Haiti, for another.

The bank has come up with a much better idea: let's give it to someone who has absolutely no need of it. What can possibly justify a bonus of TWO MILLION POUNDS?  Is this not an immoral waste?  Even if the banks don't want to do some positive good, what about them clearing up the mess they made instead of leaving us, the British taxpayers, to pay off the deficit caused by shoddy banking?  We even own a huge part of Lloyds, for goodness sake.  Don't they owe us some reparation?

What is the bonus for?  Doing a good job? Didn't Mr Daniels buy HBOS and get Lloyds into debt in the first place?  If he's done a good job in recovering his failure, give him a couple of grand and do something useful with the rest of the money.  £2k is a much bigger bonus than I'll get - £2k bigger, in fact.

Our government has shirked facing the issue, of course, telling us, 'Bankers may move to overseas banks if we don't let them have their bonuses.'  I have two things to say to that:

1. How dare the bankers hold us to ransom?
2. Given the mess they've made, who would want the spoilt brats?

Of course, we have no idea what Mr Daniels intends to do with the money.  He may give it away to worthy causes.  Good for him if he does.  I'm not holding my breath.

Mis-fuelling Scam Exposed!

On Tuesday, a the end of a tedious day, feeling unwell, frustrated and tired, I filled up the tank of my car with £53 pounds-worth of unleaded petrol.  The only problem is, my car has a diesel engine.  Not realising my mistake, I drove my car at speed the twelve miles from the fuel station to home.  The loss of power only became apparent as I descended the long hill into the village and then over the short one to where we live.  I parked up and went indoors, worried about what was wrong with the car and if it would work several hours later when I had to go to the airport to collect my Beloved who had been away to visit her parents.

I need not have worried because it's failing to work was a certainty, confirmed by the billowing smoke and fumes that resulted from my later attempts to start the engine.  Fortunately, we have a second car.  Unfortunately for my Beloved, it is a two-seater with little room for luggage.  We managed.

Still unaware of my mistake, and concerned that the head gasket had blown, when we got back home I took a torch out to the car and searched for evidence of oil running down the cylinder block but found none.  Then I checked the fuel receipt and realised the full horror of what I had done...

Interestingly enough, my Beloved had bought a renowned car magazine on her journey and had read that very night an article about the mis-fuelling of cars.  Apparently this problem is so common that recovery services have vehicles especially set up for siphoning, flushing and re-fuelling, and charge about £250 for the job.  Under no account, the article informed us, should you attempt to start a mis-fuelled car.  To do so damages the entire fuel delivery system and requires its replacement at the possible cost of thousands of pounds... 

Sleep did not come easily that night.

On Wednesday, I went to my usual garage as, by coincidence, the MX5 was due its annual service.  I explained the disaster to the proprietor and expected to hear that ominous sucking-of-teeth sound.  'That's OK,' he said, 'It's not as big a problem as everyone makes out.  I've done it myself.'  His confession, and his ensuing description of the much greater abuse heaped on his wrongly-fuelled engine for a whole weekend made me feel much better.  He just cleaned out the tank and flushed the system through and his car ran without problems for many years after.  He did tell me of another client who mis-fuelled his leased car and had no option but to pay the leasing company £4000 for a new fuel system.  I felt even better still when my friendly mechanic explained that the most that would need replacing was a fuel filter.  I arranged for Green Flag to recover my car to the garage for remedial work.

Apparently, the story goes that steel parts in the diesel's fuel pump break down after being soaked in petrol and then the resulting particles pass through the the rest of the system, wrecking it as they go.  However, it is normal for exactly the same pump to be used in both diesel and petrol engines, so damage from petrol is hardly likely, and the fuel line has a filter after the pump that would remove any fragments before they have chance to reach the injection system anyway.  Furthermore, diesel used to have petrol added to it to stop waxing in the cold extremes of the winter months: as much as 60%!

A colleague at work told me of a friend's garage where they see two or three mis-fuellings a week and charge a mere £90 for sorting out the problem.  The recovered fuel goes in a big tank where it separates into two fractions, petrol over diesel.  It then gets used in the garage's vehicles appropriately.  Win-win, you might say.

On Thursday, I got my car back in working order.  It goes like a rocket, having been cleaned out with a good soaking in petrol.  The cost?  Only £90.50, including £20 for diesel fuel (plus the £53 I lost on the petrol, of course). 

It seems to me that there is a massive con going on, with unscrupulous people making a fortune out of the mistakes and ignorance of others.  Obviously there is nothing wrong with using your knowledge to personal advantage - we all do that to make an honest living.  Using your knowledge to the deliberate disadvantage and abuse of others is entirely reprehensible.  If it is not actually criminal, it should be; it is certainly despicable.  Thank goodness I have a long-standing relationship with a reliable garage!

So, if you do what I did, don't panic, don't lose sleep, and don't believe the mechanic who tells you you need to re-mortgage your home: find a new mechanic.  If this has already happened to you, and you got ripped off, find a new mechanic.

General Election 2010 - Heaven Help Us!

So the General Election has been set.  Now what are we going to do?

Seriously, I think the British public faces an incredibly enormous problem.  Our politicians have shot themselves in the foot, to put it mildly, over recent months.  The expenses scandal, as a result of which several MPs are being prosecuted, and the 'Taxi for Hire' scandal have all but demolished any confidence we had in our elected representatives.  The simpering manner in which the government has handed great wads of taxpayers money to bankers so they can continue living in luxury and claim fat bonuses while the rest of us wrestle with the hardships of the recession, if it does not make us vomit, gives us serious indigestion.  We can be forgiven for thinking that our MPs are a bunch of self-seeking charlatans who seek office for their own ends and have little, if any, interest in the common man.  Why on earth do they think we would want to re-elect them to govern us?

In my view, there could not be a worse time to have an election.  Goodness knows we need one.  Something has to change but do any of the parties have the wherewithal to get our great United Kingdom back on its feet?  What are we looking for?

• We want to be able to place genuine confidence and trust in honest government.
• We want our elected representatives to represent us, not their ideologies.
• We want them to be committed to the issues that concern us, not to lining their own pockets.
• We want them to achieve results, not just make promises.  
• We want them to understand that they are our servants not we theirs.

There are specific issues that bother us, and which never seem to get sorted out properly; things like (illegal) immigration, education and health.  Those of us who pay our way in life do not want to find ourselves penalised in our final years compared with those who have lived on hand-outs all their lives.  There are other issues, of course, which unfortunately do not press themselves upon us but which need stamping out: sex-trafficking, climate change and global poverty, for example.  We would also like to know that our leaders are competent at dealing with weightier matters of state like foreign policy: we don't want to be puppets of the USA, Mr Blair, or walked all over by the great hob-nailed boots of the European Union.  While we value enormously those who dedicate themselves to serve our country in its defence, we don't really want them sent to foreign lands to die for want of adequate equipment.

The problem with elections is that we are not really given chance to say what we want.  We are given at best the choice of what politicians want to give us, at worst the chance to decide the outcome of a popularity contest.  Labour wants us to believe they are the best party to lead us out of recession and, since they presided over the slide into the mess we are in, perhaps they are the ones who best understand it.  The Conservatives are going on about a stronger society; it sounds different, at least, perhaps even hopeful, but wasn't it Margaret Thatcher who said there was no such thing as society?  The Lib Dems go on sounding sensible, if a little wishy-washy, but no-one believes they have the experience to run the country; look at those who do have the experience and ask if it helped...  Well, they all have a month to impress and convince us, and, boy, do they have their work cut out.  I, for one, have no confidence in any of them, and seriously wonder whom to vote for and if it's worth bothering. 

Some warn that a hung parliament may result from a poor turn-out in the election and that this is a bad thing for the UK.  Is it really a bad thing?  Parties would have to work together to get things done, and what they do would have to be balanced and reasonable.  Plenty of coalition governments exist in Europe and seem to work without too much difficulty.  Is it not much more dangerous to give one party an insurmountable majority?

Whichever of them wins, they had better come up with the goods...

Red Nose Day 2009

Today is Red Nose Day.

Red Nose day provides us with a very entertaining and yet sobering television event that throws into stark relief the difference between the West and the Third World.

Those of you who read this blog will be aware that I have a dog. He has a better life than many children in Africa; he has a ready supply of food and shelter, all his needs are catered for, he enjoys love and comfort every day of his short life. Fifteen months ago, he had surgery costing £1700 to correct cruciate ligament damage to his left knee. Five months ago, he had the same for his other knee. In Africa, a million children a year die from the avoidable disease of malaria for want of a mosquito net costing £5. The cost of his surgery could be seen as 680 African children's lives. We spend £20 a month on pet insurance - that's forty-eight innocent lives in Africa lost in one year.

I enjoy a whisky. A decent bottle costs about £25, and lasts about a month. That's five more children. A night out at the cinema with popcorn and a pizza can cost £25 - another five children.

I could go on and list all the luxury items I enjoy and equate them to the lives of innocent children. I am one person and if we all of us reflected on the things that we could manage to live without we could very quickly account for the one million lives lost in Africa.

The plight of African children is only one cause in our needy world; there are plenty of other results of poverty even here in our own country that could be eased or even eradicated if only we were prepared to forego a luxury or two for a while.

We do not live in the Third World. Things are very different here, and the value we place on things is very different. Of course, we cannot be expected to reduce ourselves to poverty. The fact is that we do not have to in order to bring about some sort of redress for the massive inequalities in our world. It is amazing how far a little of our money can go in the Third World: £200 for a year's education, for example (how much would that cost in the UK?).

When you set that fact against the cost of our luxuries in the West, you will realise that you can make a huge difference by going without something for a short time - that bottle of decent wine, perhaps. Why not be especially generous and give two or three times that amount? You really won't miss it but, even if you do, just think that you could change for the good the course of one life by a simple act of generosity. What if that one life were another Nelson Mandella or a William Wilberforce?

The Red Nose plea is to give what you can: that's all. If you can make a simple sacrifice of something, you will find that you can give more than you first thought. Red Nose day makes giving easy. Here are the options.

1. Dial 03457 910910 and have your card ready.
2. Use the red button on your digital TV service.
3. Donate on-line at bbc.co.uk/rednoseday
   
4. Text 'yes' to 66609 to make a £5 donation.

Do it! It's not too late. Make a difference today.

Fair Trade for Cadbury's Dairy Milk

One of the best pieces of news I have heard in a long while is the decision by Cadbury to turn their brand leader into a Fair Trade product from Autumn 2009. Apart from the fact that it is my favourite chocolate, and so I will not have to feel guilty about enjoying it, it is also one of the most popular brands of confectionery in the UK and this new turn of events will bring enormous benefits to the Ghanaian farming communities that produce the cocoa that goes into the product.

Cadbury's was, of course, begun by a Quaker family, and people of this particular religious persuasion are well known for their social concern and action (and chocolate: Fry's, Rowntree's and Cadbury's were all originally founded by Quaker families noted for their philanthropy). In particular, Cadbury's developed Bournville (now a district of Birmingham) for its workers, providing them with good-quality housing as well as good working conditions. This clear action on behalf of the world's poor in modern times is a welcome restatement of those old values.

Cadbury's has even decided to absorb the costs of going fair trade and will not be passing on the cost to the consumer. Whilst I am pleased that my favourite treat will not cost me anymore, I am more pleased for the indication that it seems, for Cadbury's, people are more important than profits.

I would like to see more companies doing this kind of thing, and doing it not just because the public applies pressure for it but because it is right. Too long the wealthy West has exploited the Third World. We cannot morally continue to grow rich and feed off the fat of the land whilst keeping the people who farm it in poverty. If they have something we want we should be willing to pay for it.

So, Cadbury's, in the words of the old TV advert, 'Award yourself the CDM.' Well done! Keep up the good work.

For more information, simply google 'Cadbury Fair Trade'.