Just To Clarify...

In hindsight, it appears I may have appeared anti-tax, anti government & anti health. Well, I maybe guilty on one charge there - but the others? No.

I fully appreciate we need a tax system to pay for a civilised society. Obviously roads have to be mended and cleaned, rubbish collected regularily, the Police, Fire Service & Armed Forces need full funding to a job that is of prime importance to us all - defence & protection. We need a fully funded Health Service to look after us, based solely on need - not age, wealth or background. We need Nurses, Doctors, Ambulance Crews, GPs and Dentists to enable this (and not forgetting the cleaners of course). And yes, we need people to collect these taxes, and ensure that we all pay our fair share. This is what civilised society is all about, and it has to be paid for. So yes, I agree with the need for taxes. I just like to think that the above listed items might also be the result of paying all these taxes. I might also, when pushed, believe that the methods of collection of these taxes should be simple, transparent & foolproof. But only when pushed.

Am I anti-health? No. All for it, and if that means that we have to forgo some dangerous pleasures every now & then, then so be it - surely no-one sets out to destroy themselves. But by the same token, why must our pleasures be dictated by minority groups of faceless suits & suitesses? A glass of wine, a wee dram, or even a pint or two a the end of the day has been shown to beneficial - but only in moderation. In much the same way that excercise can result in broken limbs, or walking/cycling can get you killed by a car. I mean, how much of a burden on the NHS are injured cyclists - who pay no extra taxes at all (yet)? Point is, quite rightly, no-one picks on such things - but if gangs of disaffected youths started cycling through shopping centres running people down, would it be fair to punish every cyclist in order to discourage them? No, of course not.

We have a growing anti-alcohol lobby in the corridors of power. Smoking has been targetted with success, and alcohol is now the new tobacco. Yes, it needs treating with respect. And the best way to do that is to drive into controlled environments, like say the pub. Instead, drinkers are now being forced to buy cheap booze from shops, and take it home (you know home, the only place where there always has been 24 hour drinking, not that the media have figured that out yet). And where there is no peer/social pressure to behave yourself. So pubs close, we lose our customer base, we close. Big breweries get bigger, beer miles increase, alcohol stays cheap through other savings forced by retailers expecting duty hikes not to be passed to them, and we all get sozzled on cheap booze at home, where no one suggests 'Isn't It Time You Went Home'. Because we've drunk more, we're more likley to be drunk in the morning, on the drive into work. And because the booze has to be cheaply brewed, natural ingredients go further out the window in favour of more chemicals, and you don't have to spend too much time Googling to see the KNOWN risks of chemical additives getting mixed in the body.

You know, I no longer care if as a small brewery we remain viable. If we were employed, then our hours would break EEC working time rules, and we'd be on less than the minimum wage. We're not alone - that applies to many small businesses in many fields. Yet even so, we pass to the state £3-4000 pounds (yes, thousand) each month in beer duty, VAT, PAYE, Climate Change Levy, Fuel Duty, plus all the associated costs passed to us by our suppliers. So, yes, I've a right to be bitter about the budget, taxes, and the lack of anything to show for it across society.

And if I see one more bloody chav on a TV interview proudly proclaiming how he's not going to get a job when he can get State Benefits, well, I shall bloody well join him. And in the process not only spend my benefits on dope, alcohol & cigarettes, but I'll hang around on the streets picking up ASBO's. And do you know what? I'll enjoy it.