day 28 - 29/11/20 : Why Tories Are Cunts 2: Electric Boogaloo

The Tories are at it again. Let's see what they're doing.

As it stands currently, the UK government attributes 0.7% of their Gross National Income to foreign aid. This goes towards providing education, food, water, infrastructure, promoting gender equality, family planning, medical relief including vaccinations and a plethora of other things we very much take advantage of on a daily basis. This percentage towards overseas aid arose from a UN target set in 1970 for donor countries to contribute 0.7% to foreign aid. The UK signed onto this in in 1974 and has only actually reached the target percentage of 0.7% in 2013. The International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act in 2015 then ratified this into law. Hurray for us, yea? We're not evil over-protectionist shits !!*

With the 2021 annual budget coming up, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak and ol BJ himself are proposing reducing this percentage to 0.5%, which equates to slashing £4bn from the foreign aid budget. *nevermind. As with everything these days, this tightening of the purse strings is due to Covid. In Raab's words he said that, “every penny of public spending” must be thoroughly evaluated during an “economic emergency”. Members of the Tory cabinet have tried sweetening the pot by proposing a "sunset clause" so that these changes will only stand for one year. This is dumb. This is very dumb. I promise you, if this goes through we will not notice the difference that this £4bn will make. £4bn in our economy may as well be chucked into the black hole of Covid. £4bn in the struggling areas it was supposed to go towards however is the difference between life and death. We are talking about making cuts to the poorest of the poor - here, we have a good understanding and experience of living in relative poverty but these cuts are specifically targeted at those living in absolute poverty. So very dumb. There's less than 10 countries across the world that exceed this percentage and surprisingly enough, the UK had a pretty decent track record for overseas development if we try shoving that whole rampaging colonial thing or tendency towards fascism to the back of our minds.

The mentality of these Tory Ministers, MPs, and a section of Tory voters seems to be what you might have told that person you were having a 'thing' with but it wasn't that serious: "Aw I'm sorry, I can't commit to a relationship right now, I just really need to work on myself." This argument can be seen sprouting among voters as, "My tax money should go towards me, not Joe Bloggs a thousand miles away." This political argument draws upon the falsehoood that the economies and lives of the UK and the countries receving aid are completely isolated from another - as if Pakistan, Syria, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Afghanistan all simultaneously going through an economic and humanitarian crisis won't have any impact on us. We're shooting ourselves in the foot here and this Tory government is the one that will respond with the same self-righteous vindictiveness as before when we're greeted by another refugee crisis on our doorstep. Whilst simultaneously managing to stick their foot out to trip over developing countries as they walk beside us, the Tory government is also trying to maintain an international profile, making friends and treaties and trade deals. Domestic austerity has been proven to be a bag of hot shite and now we're attempting to incorporate international austerity into our economic toolbox - fantastic. The only difference here is I don't think Syrians will accept applause on Thursdays in lieu of aid. This is all against the backdrop of Brexit where the UK needs good relations with other nations as well as every other country in the world going through the same COVID shite as us so special circumstances don't apply here.

I need to take a break from talking about Tories for a minute, fuck me. Remember Ed Miliband? I miss 2014 politics when Ed pulling a silly face whilst tucking into a sambo was just the last straw for the Labour Party. What a world. We're really living on the EDge now, eh? EH? shut up

Back to politics. Over the past decade, the Tories of yore and the blue cunts of today love to proliferate this sort of cultural myth of tightening your belt, picking yourself up by your bootstraps and charging into the fray, as if we're living in the wartime blitz. This charming use of metaphor and romanticism of wartime Britain is usually the prelude to more social cuts and freezing of public sector wages. Fair enough to them, with everyone shut in their gaff and people begging for rations, the metaphor isn't completely lost on me but the Luftwaffe this time is replaced by a dumbo-esque looking Boris parachuting over London.

The frustrating thing I find with this wartime language is how unnecessary it is. Corporation tax in the UK is 19% since April 2020. That's the lowest corporation tax in the G7 countries. Get in the fucking bin, Boris. So desperate to protect corporate interests, he'll sooner see a re-introduction of ration cards and the house of cards he's built in place of social support turn to public donations to fill the gap of where government expenditure should be. You can spot countless councils in the UK go bankrupt because they're simply being worked far beyond their resources that don't run on tight belts and boot straps. It's the same too-big-to-fail corporations that have turned a profit during COVID being protected and it's the same working class people that were already struggling before lockdown that have gotten their knees personally done in by the Tories.

Boris, if you're reading this blog (and I know you are) maybe re-think that cut to foreign aid? Maybe tax corporations to the same proportion you're cutting and taxing the rest of the UK? Pwetty pwease? Cheers mucker, good on ye.

Ed pls come back