Education, education, education?

Despite record spending on education and undoubted improvements to the fabric of many school buildings (though clearly not all), ask an employer how Labour's education system equipped school leavers for the world of work:

Labour introduced Employment and Support Allowance for disabled people, the 'tougher test' and ATOS to carry out the assessments. Yet bizarrely, the coalition are getting the blame for current cases where genuinely disabled people are being refused the 'support' rate of ESA. Despite the coalition not even having implemented any changes as of yet! By the way, imagine if a Tory minister had said 'if you can use a computer mouse, you can work'!

The council tax, one of the most 'regressive' taxes in existence, doubled. This represented a real terms increase of 40%. It is true that council tax is set by local authorities but the SNP in Scotland and the coalition at Westminster have shown it is fairly straightforward for central government to impose freezes or caps.

Pensioners appear to have been hardest hit, for them in some cases the council tax was unfairer than that bogeyman of the left, the poll tax. But then, you never really see pensioners' riots...

10p tax band

Citing fuel duty is perhaps controversial, as there is a 'green' justification for petrol taxes. On the other hand, everybody has to travel, and all goods have to be transported. Petrol tax is thus a tax on just about every good and service. It could be said that petrol tax is the ultimate 'regressive' tax.

Yep, the fuel duty escalator was introduced by the Conservatives. But fuel prices reached a record high in 2000. So no coincidence that the protests occurred then.

Amusing to see the comments here describing the protesters as 'thugs', 'holding the country to ransom', only here, the criticism is presumably from Labourites. Plus ça change...

Does the tiny, marginal difference made to petrol consumption really justify the rather self-righteous support of this tax? Surely the ability to move from A to B should be regarded just as essential as state-funded education?

Labour's civil liberties record, well, I don't really have to elaborate do I? Yet only now does the party whose mantra throughout government was 'if you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear' bleat about police brutality.

Jean Charles de Menezes....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10961016">Dr David Kelly

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2009/apr/07/g20-police-assault-video">Ian Tomlinson....

And the issue above all others that should have generated more anger, than Farquhar having to pay a bit more for his tuition....

'Small-c' conservative estimates of Iraqi death toll

And the lies and spin used to take us there

In short, lefties are hypocrites. Bears and woods come to mind.