Is It Just Me: Who Thinks the Changes to the CSA Are Yet Another Tory Fatcat Scam?

I start this post by saying I am lucky. I am very lucky that both the The Brats have their Dad living with us. I say lucky as I know a fair few who aren't and who sadly, the Dads are reprehensible scumbags.

At any time that a couple decide to have babies, I would imagine for the majority its at a time when you're in love, and make the decision together, or, like Mini, they are a welcome and happy surprise. 

However, for decades, having a child has not meant a couple, male, female or same sex, is guaranteed to stay together until one of you passes away. The notion of staying together for the children has long since become an outdated throwback.

In most cases, the parents are able to spit amicably, and whoever should be the one who takes the lions share of custody also receives money from the other for the upkeep of their joint offspring. Its what normal, mature people do.

But unfortunately, and I know from friends, that sometimes this doesn't happen. Sometimes people don't agree, and have to chase that money through courts, using the CSA.

Now, I have been told by these friends that the CSA can be a complete pain in the rear end, and it can take months, in some cases years to track down and shake them upside down until they pay what is right and proper for their child's upkeep. In some cases, they have been violent to their ex-partner or even their child, and thus, the parent left to pick up the pieces welcomes whatever help the CSA can give.

Cut to yesterday though, when up and down the land single parent's woke to find out the CSA is having an overhaul. 

In fact, its being completely changed, and never one's to miss out on picking on the poor, the Tories have decided that, should you not be able to agree as an ex-couple, one of you will be expected to pay for the help of the CSA. Whether they get results or not.

Is it just me though who feels a lot of single parent's go through the annoyance of CSA because, financially, they are responsible for the child or children and they cannot afford to manage by themselves, and to make them pay is just not going to work for most?

I saw anguished tweets and facebook messages up and down the country. One friend has spent years and years waiting for any small amount (and it is tiny in most cases), only to find out her violent ex who has not so much as sent a word of concern for his children in near ten years and who has played no part in their lives in that time, who had to be chased and chased to pay up, is now going to, effectively, get off scot free.

Who would want to be in that situation if it took years to stump up the courage to leave? Yes, there will be those who argue that for the sake of the child or children you should be able to discuss a financial plan like adults without a tax payer funded agency to do it for you. But not every case is as simple as a former couple breaking up amicably. Some I dare say wont want their ex to even know what part of the country they live in.

I don't want to sound like Jeremy Kyle here, but there are enough lax and lazy parents out there who simply go through life having a football teams worth of kids with different partners and dumping the responsibility on someone else. 

Doing this amounts to taking food yet again from vulnerable kids. 

It means that one big deterrent will be gone, as most absent parent's will live safe in the knowledge their ex wont be able to afford to chase what is rightfully their child's money.

I say this CSA shake up should be scrapped, and if you must revitalise a much maligned agency, then do it to the detriment of the absent, non paying parent.

Not to the detriment of the poor kids already missing one parent. 

Is It Just Me?: Who Thinks Its Not That Farage Won, Its More That We All Hate Clegg?

Did you see the much hyped second debate between Lib Dem/Conservative Tea Boy Nick "Fame Seeker" Clegg and Nigel "Friendly Face of Racism and Sexism" Farage?

Those in the know are suggesting that Farage basically walked it, making Clegg look silly and lacking in any knowledge of what us, the electorate, want from Europe, and our continued place within it.

There was much of the expected usual fayre, with both men resembling two toddlers having a ruck- accusations of lying being the main point from both.

The thing is, I don't particularly like any of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm even less of a fan of Smugron and his Tory Eton Old Boys Club party, but I can't help think that it wasn't so much a win for Farage, but a case of most sensible, and former Lib Dem supporters, hating Clegg with a passion.

Why?

If you ask me, Clegg kind of resembles the kind of act you see on X Factor. You know the one, it happens every year. You get a band of spotty oiks, who have limited talent jump on stage, fronted by someone who is actually quite good (especially when backed by the less talented ones). 

They sit outside talking to Dermot, about how they have been through so much together, how they are like family and no chance of fame and fortune will ever rip them apart. They are tight, they believe in each other and all they stand for.

Then, they walked out on stage, and of course, the quite talented one gets told to ditch their scruples and go out on their own to seek fame. They may even get told to join a bunch of other, supposedly talented folk. It then all goes wrong and they go out in week 3 as they weren't that talented after all, to be shunned by their mates.

How is Clegg like this, I hear you ask? 

Well, think about it.


The Lib Dems have long been the third party. They had definite policies of being the party of the student, the disillusioned. My own parents voted for them. We always had a Lib Dem sign in our window come election time.

Then, Clegg got a bit bored of being in this party of losers, and on being told by Smugron that together they could lead the country, he jumped in with a party who are their polar opposite.

Straight away, all his promises, to support students against plans to bring in Fees went out the window. He chased fame and gave up everything he believed in.

Now, it's all going wrong, and whilst most of us are not fans of Smugron, he's just performing to type- greedy Tory who is only interested in his rich buddies and what they want- all of us who used to seek refuge with the Lib Dems are jumping ship.

Farage and his UKIP (BNP Lite for the Middle Classes) party of EU haters are no doubt going to hold the power if we get a hung parliament again. 

As for the Lib Dems, well, they're losing seats left right and Middle England to even wacky independent parties, such is the drive to ditch them.

Who will end up worse off as a result of the ConDem experiment? Without doubt the Lib Dems and Clegg. Even Smugron is distancing himself from Clegg- when asked on BBC Breakfast who he thought had won the debate his answer was not to support Clegg but to remark he didn't have anyone in the race.

Clegg is about to find out what happens when you ditch your mates in favour of fame.

Its a very lonely place out there Nick.

National Bitch Slap Day- You Know it Makes Sense

The 11 Questions post had a great question in it- about why I would make a better politician than the bunch of toffee nose tossers we have now. 

I actually studied Government and Politics for a'level and enjoyed it, and I do take an interest in what's happening in our country with regards the Condems as they seem to be on a never ending mission to bankrupt everyone bar their Private school chums and can only be days away from opening up Work Houses for anyone lacking a posh accent.

Which leads me nicely onto something which I would love to see voted in.

National Bitch Slap Day.

National Bitch Slap Day would occur once everyone 6 months, possibly more, and would entail, well, bitch slapping those who have annoyed the hell out of you and made your life just that little bit harder. 

Don't get me wrong, I would not allow mass public beatings and violence. Oh no. There would be rules set. 

For starters, you would need to apply for a Secret Pre-Bitch Slap licence. You would need to detail what the intended Bitch Slappee had done to you to warrant the slap, which would be approved. 

Then, from 7am to 5pm on National Bitch Slap Day, all licence holders would have to put on one of those foam hands that Miley Cyrus is always licking and rubbing up herself on and go to the home of the slappee.

You would not be allowed to use weapons or add metal or weight to the foam hand. And you can only slap from 2 foot away to the back of the head, with an open, not closed, hand. 

Special permission would also be granted should the intended slappee be nominated by more than 2 individuals to slap them with a large wet fish.

I feel, despite knowing that Elder would probably be granted a licence to slap me that it would restore order to the nation. 

Why do I feel the need for this?

Today has been an utter joke, filled with knobjockey like behavior.

I give you the Craplord, who still hasn't done what was asked of him by the Environmental Health. He just seems to not care about a possible £400 fine at all. He is still giving us a days notice before sending someone round who clearly has no idea what they are doing and, in the case of the "electrician" (I use the term loosely as he had no paperwork with him to prove such) made the item he was due to fix worse (and after he left I noticed my jewelry box had been rifled through).

Then, we have the GP's Secretary. 6 weeks ago, I asked the GP to re-refer Littlest to his Consultant. I wanted to get him in asap while its still cold and damp so as, this time, they can keep him overnight for observations, and prove I'm not actually batty and he is a lot worse at night. Thus, they may actually do something other than give us the same, useless, inhalers.

2 weeks ago, said GP asked had we had a letter. No, not from the hospital, at which point he said to wait a couple more weeks as he had personally sent the fax over.

On Monday, I was talking to the GP about Mini and her cough, when he mentioned Wycombe Hospital and had we heard yet, as he would chase it. As I hadn't, I decided to call them yesterday but the secretary wasn't there.

I spoke to her today- she's a gem, and had a good root through the computer for me. They hadn't had a referral by fax, phone or letter. I tried Wexham, just in case he'd mistakenly thought I wanted to go there again (not a chance), but nope, nothing there either.

On drawing a blank, and thinking this was another case of the secretary buggering up in the same fashion she did for 12 weeks about Littlest's allergy appointment (as she didn't know where to send it, and didn't think to ask anyone at all), I rang the surgery.

Yep, Secretary has messed up again. And apparently, its my fault. 

How she works that out I have no idea, as all I'm guilty of is asking the GP to send a fax or letter to his named Consultant at the named hospital. How awful of me.

First, she tried to say she had looked for the Consultant but he wasn't there. She said his name wrong, so I corrected her, and told her he did indeed work there as I spoke to his Secretary not half hour before. She then said she had spoken to her herself and been advised to contact Stoke Mandeville hospital. I said, no, that can't be right as she'd not mentioned that to me at all. I asked why on earth she'd sent the referral to Stoke Mandeville hospital, one he'd never been to at all. Because the GP told her to. 

So, two different versions in under 3 minutes from the same person who I intend to see lose her job this time. Stoke Mandeville, apparently, was contacted because I wanted a referral about his allergies. 

So, clearly, she has finally caught up from 2 years back about the original referral that the practice manager gave her a written warning about and which she organised for the damn useless secretary in the first place. Not much help now though. 
Which means I have to start all over again with the GP.

I also had to phone Stoke Mandeville up as I didn't want to lose his brilliant Allergy Specialist at Wexham by going on the book of someone else needlessly. 
Except when I rang Stoke Mandeville, they-you guessed it- had never heard of Littlest either, and had never received a letter, fax or carrier pigeon.

I now have to also wait until the Practice Manager gets back from her jollies on Tuesday to say to her to sack the useless old crone who seems to not give a shite for my son at all. 

See, National Bitch Slap Day would mean that rather than me feeling like I'm doing Basil Fawlty impressions, being surrounded by weak link knobs who seem to go out of their way to cause me untold and unnecessary stress, I would be safe in the knowledge that, come the day, I could go and slap the useless Craplord, lying GP and the couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery Secretary.

National Bitch Slap Day.

You know it makes sense. 

Comment: The Cull of the Classes

I am very cross.


Education, its important, right? 


It should be available to everyone who wants it. 


Sadly, I feel the Tories don't believe this is true. Not if it means they can claw back money wasted by banks and the Ministers from across the parties who helped themselves to it with little thought for the rest of us constituents.


Latest on their hit list, after Uni students, is EMA. 


For those not in the know, EMA was available to college or sixth form students aged between 16 and 19. Its the tiny sum of between £10 and £30 a week, depending on your household income, but isn't affected by the student having a Saturday job. 


It was brought in by the Labour party (who frankly seemed far more supportive of education than the current useless, Public School educated privileged yobbos we have now), and for the most part, Students used it for bus fare, books or food. 


It wasn't handed out at random though- students had to have good attendance, and work hard, there wasn't the opportunity to turn up and get paid.


And now its been scrapped.


Inevitably, that will result in many students having to give up their courses as they won't be able to afford the bus fares or books they need.


Lets face it, the majority of those who received this money, especially the top amount of £30, come from the not very well off category. They can't really become reliant on their parent/s after starting their courses, and now they face the reality of either trying to struggle to college, trying to get a job without their qualifications, or worse, being forced into the unenviable cycle of signing on, and finding whatever work is available.


Worse, they will face giving up their hopes and dreams for a bright future with qualifications.


I know exactly what that is like, hence why I am so cross.


At 16, I went to sixth form. I worked hard. Bloody hard.


We didn't have the option of EMA back then, so I had a part time job and grudgingly lived at home with my parents. My £2.32 an hour working Saturday afternoons in my local Primark, resulted in £37.12 a month. This was for me to buy books, clothes and lunch with. I definitely had to be careful with my cash, but I managed.


I then couldn't stand to live at home anymore, and so I left. 


That was the end of my sixth form, my A Levels, and why I am scratching around at blogging to try and achieve my original dream of becoming a journalist.


Why?


Because I had to find somewhere to live, and, at 17 wasn't old enough, at that time, to hold my own tenancy- I had to live in assisted accommodation. Before that, I slept rough- so the little Saturday job was also at an end too, as no one wants to be served by someone who has no washing facilities or means of clean clothing.


I had no savings either. 


That £30 would have helped me so much, if EMA had of existed back then- I could have lived in the same accommodation, claimed Housing Benefit due to having the EMA income, so my rent would have been paid, and could have made that £30 last for food, and borrowed books. I could have gone to uni, and achieved my goals and absolute happiness. 


Instead I gave up in general for a year, getting in with an equally disillusioned crowd, drinking constantly, not eating and being miserable. 


I then went from one crap job to the next, hating every minute of them, wishing I could be like my old mates who would see me in town and tell me how great their lives were. Not to be mean, they just generally were enjoying their life after going to college and uni and getting the jobs they wanted all along. 


I, on the other hand, felt like I had to settle.


Or take my Brother-in-law. 

He has done well in life from humble beginnings, and managed to gain a scholarship, through hard work and determination, to University. If he hadn't have gained his scholarship though, my parents-in-law would never have been able to pay his fees, or support him. That scholarship gave him chances in life, which he embraced into the successful man he is today.

Unfortunately, what the upper class Cameron doesn't seem to understand is that by saving these small amounts, he is costing this country in the future. If people cannot afford to educate themselves past 16, then there will be a growth in unskilled workers trying to find an already limited amount of unskilled jobs. Is it not bad enough that we have to look abroad for Medical staff, due to a lack of home grown graduates?


Do we not all want a country we could be proud of, with as many well educated people who want to be? 


We seem to be entering a society where the lower classes, or their offspring who wish to remove themselves from the hands of the breadline, to not end up as disillusioned as their parents, to better themselves from their class, are facing the fact that their government wishes to axe their hopes, their bright futures. 


Will we really reach a stage whereby only the rich count? 


It certainly feels as we are fast approaching it.

How Not to Impress the Neighbours

It seems my being right on isn't always great.


OK, so that sounds a bit sucky actually as obviously I know (from bitter experience) that my opinion is not always welcomed.


You see, Maidenhead- its been a Tory run town for quite a while now (yes, Theresa May bought that God awful jacket she always wears to everything from round these parts. Allegedly). And they don't like it if you're a bit laissez faire about politics and think David is a bit of a twat.


There I was, continuing in my attempts to de-crap my house before Christmas before we fill it up with more crap at Christmas (including whilst Elder went out the other day my "brilliant" idea to strip the walls in the living room. Oh dear), and to try to create storage options for the stuff we do actually like or need. When the door went.


In my opinion, Sundays should be the day when you don't have to answer the door to salesman, religious people, or uninvited guests of any nature. Sadly it appears I'm the only one, as it seems to be the day everyone wants to sell me windows, roofing and get my opinion on the latest "outrage" in Maidenhead.


Which was what this visitor wanted to talk to me about.


Well, I say talk but rather he just ranted at me, in what can only be described as a jacket which had been consistently worn since 1985, and unfortunately did not fit in with the current trend for 80s revival clothing. It was grey brown leather with a kind of 80s washed denim affect to it, you know the type, but with grey and brown leather. Ick. And it had a Biggles furry collar, which, having been over washed to within an inch of its life had taken on the look of a rain washed poodle.


His "issue" was that at the end of our Road there is a disused University site, just sitting being useless and has been redundant so long the vandals have even given up and left it. And some, well frankly despicable person has got plans approved by Theresa to build, wait for it as its truly disgraceful- HOUSES. and even worse-FLATS! 


FOR PEOPLE TO LIVE IN!

I am of course joking! We need housing, badly in Maidenhead, as some poor people end up in temporary bedsits for three years or more. Or the idea of that is too scary so they end up, as we did, moving into ridiculously expensive Private Housing.


He battered on at my ears, moaning that these flats would be 5 storeys high.


At which point I think he knew I didn't share his anger and outrage, as I pointed out that they wouldn't be flats if they were two floors they'd be houses, so I said that would be pointless. 


He looked like he thought I was kidding. But then I made it clear I wasn't as I told him that I was for the development as we need housing of all sorts, and that it made a change for the council to approve housing stock instead of fancy office buildings, which then sit empty for ages.


"But what about parking? And traffic?" was his next way of trying to get me to sign his petition. 


I pointed out that a) I have a drive so parking doesn't really bother me, that b) should he own a residents parking sticker for our road, then he had no worries, and c) we have hardly any traffic now as we are off the main drag so a few cars wouldn't make much difference.


I also pointed out to him (even though he looked purple with rage) that we should think ourselves jolly lucky that in Maidenhead we still have the money for people to build housing- in other parts of the country they cant afford to build anything at all, in Ireland there are whole estates half finished and empty- these homes have all but been snapped up before the first bit of concrete is laid.


He called me irresponsible. 


OK then. 


I told him to bog off, and that I wouldn't sign his silly petition.


Then I shut the door on him!


Well, sorry but I didn't ask him to disturb my peace on a Sunday, near Christmas, with a petition which frankly would get him nowhere- if he was that bothered he should have complained before the plans were passed, they were at the council for months!


What annoying visitors have you had recently?


Let me know below!


As an aside, I have Guested over at BECKICKLESIE's blog with a little Christmas post, so show the Guest Posts and Becca's blog some love and appreciation people.


See you next week!


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Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What's Next Dave? Candy From Babies?

I really do not like David Cameron.

Now, I'm not great on my politics, so when I was asked ages ago to contribute to an article on Parents views of the election for the Inde (you'll find my post from the time here), I said that I didn't feel Brown could expect to be voted in again. So they just assumed I was voting Tory.

Not so.

He's a smug bugger is Cameron, in the same way as Tony Blair was. Which was why I didn't like him either. It takes a lot more than a strong personality to run a country, especially one which exerts an authority along with the USA which we no longer really possess. 

I have to say, to be fair, I would not like to have taken over from Brown. Although I think he was a scapegoat and far from responsible for the mess we find ourselves in, I think its more the fault of countless leaders going back before I was born. But Cameron and Clegg. No, not really fans.

Clegg seems to me to have forgotten rather conveniently that his party hates everything which the Conservatives stand for. I imagine that, had Clegg been part of a group of school mates auditioning for the X Factor, and imagine further that Cameron was in the Cowell role, and told Clegg he was the best singer but to drop the group to get famous, he would drop them in seconds for a bit of recognition. Its the same as the coalition, just without the dodgy dancing and high waisted trousers.

So far, so typical. We've already had sleaze, people reigning and Cameron cocking up figures. 

But now, well, he's gone too far.

Yes, we have a large spending gap to fill, I don't disagree, and obviously, cut backs are needed.

So, does Cam The Man cut spending on the Olympics (what were we thinking? We'll never out do Beijing, and we've already spent shedloads more than they did)? No.

Does he get rid of subsidising further and unwelcome immigration? No.

Does he stop areas like where I live from building more unnecessary flats as housing for low income families, when the figures show its houses we need to home people stuck in bedsits for years? No.

No, Cameron's idea is to stop spending on the upkeep of play parks. So if your town has more than one play park, then they'll close for good due to them becoming unsafe. 

Great idea.

His people feel that parks cost lots with no return whatsoever.

Well, I beg to differ.

They do give back. Because kids from all walks of life, from the richest to the poorest all use parks, because they are free. This means they get much needed exercise. And that means they are less of a drain on the NHS.

You cannot complain that the NHS is struggling to care for the amount of unfit kids in the country, then padlock the parks that are there for them to get exercise in. God knows, enough of them have hardly a playground big enough to play football in as a lot of schools sold excess land off for housing.

Parks are one of the few things the whole family can enjoy for free- if you go swimming, just paying for the adults will cost £6.50 each (that's at my local pool). And that's if you can take more than one child if you're on your own. In a park, the adult to kid ratio isn't a problem. They are enclosed, so you can sit on a bench and watch the kids safe in the knowledge they can't run off.

Milk was bad enough (and I don't doubt that they will slide that one in when we least expect it).

Its just not on.

DON'T PADLOCK THE PARKS!