Language evolves, as any fule kno

It’s funny how often, if someone doesn’t like an argument, or if the subject matter is too complex for them to understand, they revert to petty kibitzing in order to “put down” the holder of a view they can’t easily refute. As Statler and Waldorf so eruditely put it;

Why haven't we retired from heckling? Well, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life – and there's nothing we love more than haranguing, pestering, badgering, and taunting! Everything else, we can't stand!

— Statler and Waldorf (@StatlerWaldorf) July 27, 2022

One assumes that, in the absence of an argument, the establishment figures work on the basis that, if you make life uncomfortable for others wishing to penetrate your safe spaces, especially those perceived to be outsiders, they’ll give up and leave you alone to carry on as you always have. But, for liberals, that generally runs contrary to our ethos. We welcome challenge, so long as it is moderately respectful. That said, perhaps we should extend ourselves beyond our comfort zone so as to encourage the broader base of support we always claim to want.

I may talk about that in a piece later today though, so perhaps I ought to move on.

This weekend’s polling data suggests the outside possibility of a Labour victory at the next General Election, albeit not with a significant majority. And, as Liz Truss nears victory, and the cost of living crisis stories become more harrowing, we might expect more polls showing a sizeable Labour lead. That will become more certain if our probable future Prime Minister continues to claim that there is nothing that can’t be solved by tax cuts.

There are some cuts that might help though. The late, lamented Tony Greaves was of the view that, having raised the threshold for paying income tax via chunky increases in personal allowances, the next step was to raise the threshold for paying National Insurance to match it. And that indeed happened in July, saving those earning below the new threshold up to £27 per month. In addition, by increasing the rate at which Employee’s National Insurance Contributions are charged above the threshold, there is some redistribution. Perhaps the next step should be to increase the ceiling above which the rate charged drops to 2%…

But unless Liz can acknowledge that the country has the problems that the public is increasingly seeing, she’s hardly likely to find solutions to those problems.

Apparently, Chennai was founded on this day in 1639 by the British East India Company. Naturally, the people who’d inhabited the area all along weren’t particularly welcome to remain…

Finally, it’s now just over nine months until next year’s local elections, and campaign plans are now being put into action. Is there anything happening in your area, and would you be willing to write a piece about it? Get in touch with us and let us know!

And now I’d better get on. Things to do, grammar to police…

* Richard III, William Shakespeare

** Mark Valladares is the Monday Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice. He tends to the view that ideas are more important than adherence to petty convention. Besides, he has an increasing tendency to forget key words in the of sentences.