What We Need from a Government in the UK General Election

5th May 2010 is the date for the 2010 General Election in the UK, when the country goes to the polls and votes for the political party that will form the next government.

The Labour Party, which has been in power since 1997 under first Tony Blair and more recently Gordon Brown, is a Left Wing party and has policies that differ from those of the Conservative Party, who were ousted in 1997, having failed to find a quality leader to replace Margaret Thatcher, who helped to pull the UK out of the high inflationary recession caused by the previous governments.

I was brought up to be a Conservative, and so my views are slightly biased, but from experience growing up in a country that switched from Labour to Conservative and back again over a number of years, it has been the Conservative values that I have felt more in line with, and all the Labour Party seemed to end up doing was to create a poor economy.

Roll on 2010, and it is obvious that it's not only the global recession that is dragging the UK down, it's the policies of Gordon Brown's government.

Gordon Brown has to be one of the most unpopular political leaders in recent times, and there are several areas where the government has failed to see, in my opinion, ways that the country could be put back on it's feet.

Of course if not Labour, who do you put in power? The Conservative Party is the other main political party in the UK, with the Liberal Democrats lying well behind in 3rd place, and the UK Independent Party well behind them in 4th place.

A good proportion of the country wants to see Labour out, however, voting for the Liberal Democrats, which more people are likely to do, might result in fewer votes for the Conservatives, leading to Labour actually winning the election, or a hung parliament where the Conservatives do not have an adequate majority to push through any changes.

Despite the desire by a lot of the population to see a radical change and a Liberal Democrat government in place, it could be that they might turn and vote Conservative, just to ensure Labour does not get in power again.

Because of this, I think the election day will be one of great excitement and anticipation for a change, and it has already resulted in television debates between the main candidates like there are in the USA, a precedent for the UK.

What Would I Like To See From The Next Government

Firstly, I would like to see a cut in the VAT rates to help boost the economy.

Last year the Labour Party reduced the VAT rate to try and stimulate consumer spending, which did work to an extent, but they have now raised it back up and if re-elected plan to raise it further.

This will increase the cost of consumer products, making it harder for people to afford items, especially more expensive items, therefore reducing sales and leading to job cuts in a number of companies.

Of course this will mean a reduced revenue for the government per sale, but if it helps to increase the amount of trade, that ought to more than offset that.

Secondly, I would like to see a cut in the taxes on fuel.

At the start of 2010 the price of regular unleaded petrol was £1.02 per litre (about US$6.00 per gallon).

Since then, the exchange rate with the US Dollar has faltered, plus the cost of oil has increased, and the current average price is now £1.20 per litre. That is a 20 percent increase in four months.

Most of the cost of petrol to the consumer in the UK is tax, with Excise Duty being 49% and VAT being 17.5%. Every time the cost of oil goes up, the amount of tax that the government receives also goes up, so they win every time, yet the consumer as well as businesses lose out.

We all know what happens when the price of fuel increase of course. Every item that is shipped anywhere, whether by air, land or sea, costs more to ship. This increased cost is passed on to the customer throughout the distribution chain for that product, reflecting ultimately in an increased price for the consumer.

So, the more you increase the cost of fuel, the government receives more tax, yet the consumer pays more for even essential items like food, and travel to work etc. This leads to reduced spending, which again hurts the economy.

I would like to see the government cut the taxes on fuel, or at least limit this when the cost of fuel rises above a given limit, so that companies are not forced to increase their prices and/or to cut their profits.

Thirdly, I would like to see a reform of the unemployment benefits system.

In the USA, when you claim unemployment benefit, you are only eligible to claim for a period of six months. President Barack Obama has increased this to twelve months because of the recession and the difficulty in finding jobs, however in the UK there is no limit on how long a person can claim unemployment benefit.

Along with the unemployment benefit, comes housing benefit, food benefit etc, which although good for those who genuinely need it, is easily abused and costs the taxpayers a fortune every year.

In the UK school system these days there are growing cases of children who have no desire to study for their exams, and do nothing but cause disruption in the schools as well as on the streets.

Why is this?

Well, why should they study for exams so that they can get a good job, when they have no intention of working. Nobody in their family works, so why should they be any different. Their parents don't work, aunts, uncles, often grandparents, cousins, siblings etc - none of them work. Whole families are claiming benefits, which is a huge drain on the economy, when they ought to be out at work and working for a living.

One of the problems is that many jobs, which employers actually find hard to fill, are at minimal wage. If a person works and earns minimal wage, this amount reduces their benefits, and more often than not, by having a job a person ceases to be eligible for other benefits, and so they are actually worse off financially by working.

Can you see a problem here?

Something definitely needs to be changed here in my opinion, to get people working, filling vacant positions, and paying taxes, instead of encouraging them to stay unemployed and claiming full benefits.

As well as existing jobs, there ought to be a scheme where unemployed people can help to make their neighbourhood a better place to live in, cleaning up litter, removing graffiti, landscaping, helping with older folks or in hospitals, and other tasks, of which there are many.

I doubt that too many people who are genuinely out of work would object to performing some community service jobs in order to qualify for their benefits. Those who would object would be the ones who have no desire to work at all.

I would propose that people could claim unemployment benefit for a six month period, but after that, if they were unable to find work, they would be required to perform some type of community service to qualify. If they did not do this, then their benefit claims would be rejected.

I know that this move would be unpopular to some, but as well as helping to get some community tasks completed, the process might help some people to appreciate the problems caused by graffiti, littering, and generally destroying public property. Giving people a pride in their community and local area might help to make the UK a better place to live in, and help people to respect one another more.

Well these are my views, which sound rather radical I am sure to politicians in the UK, but to everyone that I have spoken to on these matters, it makes perfect sense.

If you have views on this, please leave a comment for other readers, and if you like this, please help to share this document (Twitter, Facebook, email etc) and get the word out as to what the common people REALLY want in the UK.