if we ruled the world ( follow on to election)

[lindyloo]

following yesterday's election, what would it be like if the politicians, forgot all about politics and just used good old common sense? how would things change?
i am sure i am not the only one who can think of lots of simple things which i think would make a big differance, so thought i would start a thread so we could all list our suggestions.
so, how about having a purpose built hostel for our politicians to stay in- no more second homes or expenses?
how about scrapping the space program- do we really need to know- if its out there, it will find us eventually !
how about raising the minimum wage to about £12 per hour, freezing prices on essentials, and paying a good tax break to the small businesses to enable them to pay the realistic wages.
how about paying people a yearly bonus to not have children? ( cheaper in the long run)
how about capping rents at 1/4 of the average wage to make them really affordable.
these 3 measures would greatly reduce the need to pay out benefits and tax credits, so reducing the staffing needed and the risk of people playing the system- a huge saving
how about keeping our troops in our own country?
what about sending out a questionaire to every single person in the country , to find out what we are really interested in changing?

so , what would you do if you ran the country, be it farfetched or not, i want to know!

[Brengirl]

Since yonks ago we elected to put the responsibility of our well being in others hands. All decisions that our elected representatives are OK by me as long as they please some of the people some of the time. In the long run...my personal needs may be met.

[binley100]

How about people in charge of businesses ie the banks not getting bonuses. Afterall they are already paid handsomely for the job they are supposed to do.
If I do my job well I keep my job , I don't get a bonus because I am doing what I am paid to do and I'm sure there's lots of others out there the same.

[Brengirl]

This is the big devide....They provide the money for us to continure making enough for our needs.

[ginger ninger]

Give us the referendum on Europe we were promised years ago, if we got out of there that would save use £40 million a day for start's... imagine what you could do with that.
Week 1. £280 million to help O.A.P's have a better minimum pension.
Week 2. £280 million back into the health service.
Week 3. £280 million for school's.
Week 4. £280 million toward's getting better equipment for our lad's in the armed forces.
But, it's all pie in the sky because it'll never happen.

[lindyloo]

some one told me we cant get out of eu becuase we owe brussels so much money. then someone else said that eu fraud costs us something like 40 billion per year ( sounds an amazing amount) so perhaps we could cover our debt in 2 years???
gosh i am amazed at 40 million a day to be in eu!!! and my forecast state pension will be something like £38 per week!! ( because i have spent some years abroad. )

[Sheepish]

The trouble is running the country really isn't as easy as we'd like it to be - well intentioned decisions can have bad results.

For instance if you cap rents fewer people will be willing to rent out property so it's then harder to find places to rent. If the minimum wage is set at £12 then there will be a mix of people being made redundant, as they can't be profitably employed at that rate, and prices going up to cover the increased labour costs.

Also I'm not a great fan of the EU, but the figures politicians quote about the costs (and the benefits) of EU membership do need to be checked out thoroughly to know what they include, what assumptions they're based on, how much of the money would need to be spent by the UK if it wasn't being done by the EU (an analogy - if central government took over all the functions of local government we wouldn't have to pay any council tax, but we'd have to pay more tax to central government to cover the costs) and so on.

[Jeanied]

A very wise post, Sheepish. I agree.
If I had my way I'd find a way to try and build that long lost sense of community - councils, voluntary sector and community leaders need to be empowered to achieve this. At the moment the tumbleweed is blowing through parts of our high street - awaiting the arrival of a Tescos superstore up the road before the whole lot is shut down.

[lindyloo]

well i honestly think it would be far improved, and more efficient, if it was simplified. a higher wage is sustainable, if the business's and companies had a tax top up from the gov. i believe they did it before, but it didnt work, because the wages and positions were laughable.

also, i dont agree with empowering local councils and community leaders; they already have a lot of power, and i dont think it would build a sense of community. i think it would result in the ussual ego massageing and self interest that is not desirable to a lot of ordinary people, who dont want thier nieghbors telling them what to do.

simplifying the whole process is far cheaper than having many diverse organizations and adgendas.

capping rents is for the greater good of all, not for the landlords profit. for instance, where i live, the average rent is higher than the average wage before tax- honestly- how realistic is that??? and who picks up the tab- housing benefit. so the whole system needs to be taken apart and start all over again. we have had ample evidence of the current situation not working


what it needs is a central gov. who sets down some guidelines , and sets an example. somehow i doubt this will happen. what chance when 3 days from an election, and already the powers that be are holding talks and making deals for each others support. personally think it is disgraceful, and should not be allowed.

the hung gov. is a result of our collective differances, regarding what we want- what hope of change, if the leaders are already plotting for thier own agenda? and that is what we dont need, either at the top, or in local communities. unfortuneately, human nature being what it is, it is something which is ussually present in commitees.

[Hilary B]

If you make business unprofitable, there will be less businesses (especially small ones), and if the business is supplying homes to rent, then there just won't be any homes to rent if the cost of running the business is more than the rent.
Too high a minimum wage will put small employers out of business, and cause large ones to relocate abroad, to places where they don't have such restrictions (it is already happening with there being a minimum wage at all. Why do you think everything is now "made in China", and most call centres are in Bombay?).
Employers and landlords are not running charities, they are trying to make a profit, which (in the case of small businesses in particular) is their wage!

[bubblewrap]

Democracy has been served.
The people have spoken.



THE B******S.....

[SarzWix]

I didn't know Nick Clegg and Cameron/Brown had observers in the room with them, reporting that they were only considering the good of themselves in their talks... I was under the impression that they were trying to find mutual ground to go forwards for the benefit of the country. And until they announce what that is, we won't know if it will have elements of electoral reform or not. We can only hope.
Much as I loathe the Tories and most of what they stand for, it is true that in some ways the current system works against them. It's also true that it works even more against the Lib Dems and other small parties like the Greens, so I can't see Cleggy doing a deal that doesn't include some sort of reforms.

As for far-fetched and unlikely laws, I'd like to see proper legislation in place to provide growing space for everyone, and a system of fines for people who don't use it...

[selfraising]

See Gordon Brown has announced he is stepping down, will be interesting to see if that sways the lib dems to go for a lib/lab alliance.