Day 217

There must be a saying, and if there isn’t, I’m going to coin it now – “Economists are disgraced mathematicians or failed politicians. And politicians are disgraced economists.” A devil’s circle if there ever was one. In the week when the Bank of England, now headed up by a committed Brexiter, oddly enough also one of the most ineffectual people to appear before a House of Commons Committee, raised its interest rate to 1.75%, the biggest increase in 27 years, we have proof once again of how divorced the financial markets (and the actors therein) are from real life. AT a time when we’re experiencing inflation of over 9% already, and forecasts are that inflation will rise to above 13% by the beginning of 2023, it is inordinate stupidity, along with a healthy dose of I’m alright, Jack evil, to raise interest rates. If we look at the already massive disconnect between the Bank of England’s interest rate and the exorbitant rate mortgage and money lenders charge, this action will not bring down inflation; it will raise it. And it not only won’t bring down inflation, it will inflict what I would term hyperinflation on those who can least bear it – the extremely poor and needy, the people in the already broken beyond redemption Universal Credit system, the people below the breadline, the people in acute food insecurity.

The argument the Bank and its wet blanket Brexiter governor put forward for raising its interest is that it’s the only weapon to stop prices from rising continually. Eh? So people having to pay more for mortgages and rent and food and energy and electricity and all those other necessities to live (and which they already cannot afford) are going to not ask for pay rises to allow them to afford to pay more for mortgages, rent, food, energy, electricity, and necessities? This doesn’t add up (this is obviously where the failed mathematician bit of economists kicks in), nor does it make any sort of sense, neither in terms of real economics, nor in terms of compassion and understanding of how people below the breadline actually live. And for the currently almost non-existent government with a caretaker right-wing agitator Prime Minister permanently on holiday (not much change there to when he was not on his way out, if he is on his way out) to refuse to take measures against (matching terms here) hyper-profits by energy and oil companies (and others, actually – seen supermarket profits lately?), is not just neglect of its duty of care for every single citizen of this country, it also reinforces again that the populace of the UK has been lied to again and again (and in a more and more extreme fashion) for the last 12 years that this lot have been in power (although the current Tory leadership candidates talk as if they had been in opposition for all that time).

Of course, the biggest lies of all are that this economic implosion has been caused by covid-19 and Russia’s illegal war on Ukraine. They may be contributing factors, but they are small contributing factors; the largest single biggest cause of all this is Brexit. That is an indisputable fact which is being obliterated from history by politicians and media alike. Exiting the EU was never going to end well, and we’ve not even reached the end of the beginning of this exit inflicted on this country by self-centred lying politicians and those devilish economists.

I was also going to have a go at the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, for affirming yesterday the validity of a resolution made at the Lambeth conference in 1998 (Resolution Lambeth 1.10, to be precise) which declared that “gay sex is a sin.” But I’ve run out of space. Sort of. I’ve run out patience with people who use organised religion to oppress minorities, who abuse faith to turn it into organised religion with which to oppress people. Sandi Toksvig (with whom I disagree on many things) actually put it better than me in her letter to Welby, although her tone is rather more conciliatory than mine. I call myself a Christian, but I will have nothing to do with this kind of monstrous behaviour which conveniently forgets that faith, true faith, any faith, is about love. And people who love each other should not be persecuted.

AGGIE’S ART OF HAPPINESS – CHAPTER 170