One measure in Philip Hammond’s Autumn Budget, that slipped through with little comment, related to giving tax relief to high street premises that open their toilets to the public.
On the surface it could be considered as a public spirited little bonus, unless of course you understand the context of the move.
One has to go back to the days of Margaret Thatcher, or more relevantly Oliver Letwin, her advisor on privatisation and author of a book entitled ‘Privatising the World: A Study of International Privatisation in Theory and Practice’.
Deeply embedded in that theory was the concept that, if you starved public services of money for long enough, the public would see privatisation as the best solution to solve the ‘so-called’ problem.
The last 10 years of austerity were imposed not because of a global crash, but because of unfettered acts of greed, a global heist and grand theft of national reserves by international financiers who have never been brought to justice, and not required to return the money to its rightful owners.
We have legislation to prosecute, and we have powers to seize assets fraudulently acquired.
As far as I can tell no prosecution or seizure has occurred.
The resultant austerity has been seized upon however to implement the final chapter in the Thatcher/Letwin conspiracy.
This government has slashed the distribution of our tax money back to local government.
Bridport alone has lost over £50,000 per annum, the higher authorities have lost much, much more.
The forthcoming Unitary Dorset Council was designed to save money and will be the scapegoat for the government to roll out its reduction of the welfare state.
The privatisation of Local Authorities is well underway with the refusal to pass on taxpayers’ money for essential services, and this will be irreversible if people do not react and remove this government.
Getting shops to open their toilets to the public is a pathetic gesture to ameliorate the impact of closing public toilets and we should not stand by and let it happen.
DAVE RICKARD
Bothenhampton
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