Torbay weblog davecathy

The fact that the Iraqi election on Sunday achieved a turnout of 60% of the electorate, despite widespread and serious death threats to the voters is remarkable. Churchill once said that democracy is an aweful way to run a country, but immeasurably  better than any other system.

Democracy, which may be flawed, rarely comes easily, often only after the shedding of much blood, but the Iraqis seem willing to pay that price, which makes it all the more precious. It brings a sense of freedom and hope, and is aspired to all over the world. Even the almost ungovernable Afghanistan, democracy has taken root, and women are taking off their burkhas and finding a voice. From Latvia to the Ukraine, freedom and democracy are on the march, and from Armenia to Zimbabwe, despots and dictators are on the defensive.

In this country, sadly, we take our democracy for granted, many people just not bothering to make the effort, some prefering to join mass protests in an effort to defeat and drown out the expressed will of the people via democratically elected parliament. Ultimately, they can only lose.

With the prospect of a general election looming, I have to accuse Tony Blair and his cronies of being unlike any other British government in history, Labour or Conservative.

All my adult life, previous administrations have taken only an average of 42% of GDP in taxation, and in return have given us endless financial crises, dollar gaps, black Thursdays's, devaluations, recession s,  slumps, stop -go, high interest rates, high inflation, high unemployment, low interest rates, low wages, endless cutbacks and permanent economising and belt tightening. Margaret Thatcher described it as 'Managing gentle decline'

However, for nearly 8 years now, by taking a whopping 42% in taxation, Blair has saddled us with continuous economic growth, low interest rates, low inflation (1.6%), rising wages (4.0%), a minimum wage, 2  million extra jobs (now 28 million total), plus more doctors, nurses, teachers and police than ever before. . This is totally unacceptable. Thanks to him, we have even lost our traditional title of 'The sick man of Europe'.

I suggest that the quickest way to get back to normal is to elect a Conservative government, which promises to start by knocking 2p off Income Tax by throwing 235,000 civilservants on the dole, and never forget that his civil servant is my immigration officer.

If this comes about, I shall eat both my words and my hat!

Dave Cathy