There’s a common misconception about government and money. The biggest fallacy is likening the national economy to a household budget. In reality governments have access to all manner of funding sources that are never available to the ordinary individual. This includes taxation. What people don’t like is the idea of paying more tax. It’s why the election was dominated by promises not to raise VAT, NI and income tax. As a result there will be other taxation changes made in the budget that will supposedly hit the better off, although the really wealthy are adept at maximising their tax efficiency. Labour at local level has used austerity as a political tool since 2010. Very easy to blame the nasty Tory party in Westminster for all the problems. In reality the council ignored other forms of revenue raising it had the power to implement, notably freezing council tax for a number of years. Most people would accept a small increase each year, particularly if it was paying for services they use. In the end this policy backfired and council tax has skyrocketed in recent years and is likely to again next year and on into the future. We are in a new age of austerity now, having briefly come out of it. There was enough money in Ealing in 2022 for councillors to vote themselves a huge increase in allowances straight after the local elections. There has also been very profligate spending on pursuing niche projects that aren’t really beneficial to most residents. Of course, most people know nothing of this because the lack of public scrutiny and publicity in the media makes it easy for political types to control the narrative. We currently have a drainage project underway in Lammas Park which nobody knew was happening but is an extremely expensive operation for no discernible benefit. Whether Ealing is a better place to live now than 20 or 40 years ago is a moot point. People do adapt to change but will reach a point where they feel their taking of life is being adversely affected by those changes. We haven’t reached that point in Ealing yet, but it may come sooner than some expect.

Entire Thread

Topic	Date Posted	Posted By
The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	29/08/24 10:24:00	Tricia Arbuthnot
Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	29/08/24 19:52:00	Rosco White
Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	29/08/24 20:51:00	peter king
Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	31/08/24 09:46:00	Paul James
Re:Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	31/08/24 11:33:00	Rosco White
Re:Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	31/08/24 21:36:00	peter king
Re:Re:Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	02/09/24 10:16:00	Paul James
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	02/09/24 10:31:00	Rosco White
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	02/09/24 14:22:00	Conchita McBeth
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	02/09/24 14:31:00	Rosco White
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:The Conde Nast Guide to Ealing	02/09/24 14:51:00	Simon Hayes

Forum Home