And so dear readers, another new year has finally arrived after a cold, harsh and as yet, unfinished winter. Normally at this time of year I would be dedicating this article to a forward look towards the arrival of the spring, crocuses on the Links and some respite from the long, dark months which are slowly receding into memory. However, a quick look at the New Year messages from our esteemed government at Westminster leads me to believe that this year will be one of disharmony, hardship and fear for those members of our community who are disadvantaged and vulnerable. In the grand tradition of saving the best until last, there may be a silver lining to this particular cloud but before that here’s what our Prime Minister said that we could look forward to in 2011.

David Cameron has declared himself to be an optimist and believes that the decisions which the coalition government has already taken will prove to be right for the entire country and help to get Britain back on its feet. However, it’s pretty easy to be an optimist when you’re a multi-millionaire and every decision that you make has absolutely no bearing whatsoever on the quality of your day-to-day life. Let’s look at a few examples.

Our correspondent dips his toes in the murky political waters of 2011...

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£20,000 a week chalet
First of all, let’s look at the increase on VAT from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent. This is a tax which the government would have you believe falls equally on every citizen. They consider it to be a progressive tax, that is, one which places the biggest burden on those most able to pay. A regressive tax does the opposite. So what is the actual impact of the increase in VAT? Well in very simple terms, a banker earning £100,000 a year will be able to cope with the rise fairly easily while a single mum earning £10,000 will struggle. Now before you think that I’m being too simplistic or overtly socialist in my outlook, here’s what David Cameron said about the possibility of a rise in VAT before the general election last year:

“It’s very regressive. It hits the poorest the hardest. It does, I absolutely promise you.”

So Dave believes that it hits the poorest hardest and must have discussed this with his old Etonian chum, Gideon Osborne, our benign Chancellor, before hiking the rate up. So what does Osborne think about this inherent unfairness which has been heavily criticised by economic experts throughout the country? Well Gideon refuses to rule out further rises to VAT saying that the 20% rate is here to stay and that there may be further increases to come. But Gideon has made some promises with regard to tax – he’s already said that once he has some money to play with he’s going to reduce the top rate of income tax for the highest earners in the country.

That seems fair doesn’t it? And of course, who can forget Gideon’s rallying call to the country that “we’re all in this together”? Mmm, I don’t think so. While the vast majority of people in the country were spending time working out how to juggle less money, Gideon was off skiing in Klosters in Switzerland, staying in a £20,000 a week chalet. No doubt he was having nightmares about the effect of another of his policies which is going to heap further misery on vulnerable citizens in the UK.

Gideon plans to slash welfare payments for people who are disabled or too ill to work by £2.5 billion per year. Now I know that the Daily Mail readers amongst you will be spluttering and raging about scroungers who are cheating the system and who are not entitled to any benefits, so let’s put that it into perspective. The Government’s own estimates show that there are approximately 9,000 people currently claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA) who may not be entitled to it. Fair enough, set up the system to assess those people and re-calculate their benefits accordingly. But the savings of £2.5 billion a year which the Government is determined to make mean that around 400,000 working age disabled adults will lose their DLA. Unfortunately, for the Colonel Blimps who read (and believe) the scaremongering nonsense in the Daily Mail, the figures don’t add up. Many disabled people who are perfectly entitled to benefits will become more disadvantaged and even impoverished by the Government’s plans.

Nick Clegg pariah
I did mention the possibility of a silver lining in all of this and here it is. The more socially conscious Liberal Democrats who form part of the coalition are becoming increasingly concerned at the nature and depth of the Government cuts. Increases to student tuition fees, the VAT rise, the disability living allowance cuts, the decision to ignore (once again) banker’s bonuses and a Government which is going to plough on regardless in spite of the unfairness of all of these policies, are starting to produce huge cracks in the coalition arrangement. As the sheen of being in government begins to wear off and with Nick Clegg slowly becoming a pariah in Lib Dem circles, my prediction is that the coalition government won’t survive a full term in office. 2011 will see massive demonstrations against the Government and could see it fall thereby bringing to a halt the Tory juggernaut which is only really interested in looking after those who can afford skiing holidays.

Protempore