After I reread the post that I wrote at three o’clock this morning I realised that not only can we not trust anything at all today, but, if one is exceptionally cynical, one can draw conclusions that are horrendous.
Firstly I realised that it is pointless to act on anything this government says, firstly, because they are likely to do a U-turn and leave you stranded, secondly because their tenure of office is so fragile, causing there to be an election sooner than later, when we will have a new bunch of people rescinding, chopping and changing, and introducing their own versions, which may be just as bad. If however Labour wins the next election I shudder to think what mayhem there will be. We will probably be worse off, what ever happens.
A few days ago I was writing about the problems of the very elderly, who are having to save money to ensure that their house is not sold over their heads, to pay for them going into care. Now the government is whingeing daily that there are too many elderly people cluttering up the country and costing the health service a fortune. So why, at a time when they are scrabbling for money, do they suddenly decide they can afford to scrap this policy and pay for the elderly to go into care, while still able to maintain their house. This would cost millions, and there was no need for them to do it at this time, unless they had some other reason that made it possible, gave the whole system a palliative, and there would be profit for the government beyond just a few extra votes at the next election. Looking through the recent outpourings of the government, with their proposals and their warnings, I came up with the most cynical, but totally rational reason why this was possible. With Mandelson in charge, it doesn’t surprise me, it merely horrifies me. I leave you to work out the solution that I envisage.