Hello Tash Appreciators,

I am struggling with various ailments this week (I’m sure it’s some exotic, super-potent, lethal flu virus but I’m informed it’s just a cold) and I apologise in advance if this week’s TF is not up to its usual rambunctious standard.
Whether it’s the grim weather streaking past the window, the aforementioned ailments or the horror show which was the Autumn Statement, December does not seem to be off to the best start. 

For those who missed our egregious Chancellor delivering his view of the nation’s financial position, it was a loud, obnoxious affair where he told us (for the third year in a row!) that, starting now, the recovery would take five years. Ed Balls then delivered the worst attempt at a retort ever (and then tried to blame his incompetence on his stammer) and, throughout, MPs on both sides of the House guffawed at the other’s incompetence.  

This sums the whole thing up:

Smug. Juvenile. Idiotic. You’d never know that these three have just told the country that the last two years of their tenure has been a failure.

Even reading the Statement gives no indication about what the government is attempting to do to remedy the situation. “Fairness” has become a sinister euphemism for sticking two fingers up to the poor and “recovery” appears to mean stagnation. Instead of saying anything of any merit, they’ve just put random sentences in bold green writing.

In response, this is what the Labour Party came up with:

From this, we can assume that they are in favour not just of further cuts but that they want to take more money from those who need it most. It’s hard to tell exactly what they intend to do because, as far as I can see, these are just statements which may not even be true. 

In previous times of strife, coalitions have been formed to achieve consensus and promote national unity. Even though there were ideological differences, they put those aside to reach agreement. These days, even though all the political parties seem to agree that everyone who falls into the safety net of the benefits system is a scrounger, they then argue about who would cut benefits the most.