Privileged classes are punishing the struggling poor for the sins of the rich

I am very pleased that my fellow columnist for the Cornish Guardian, Andrew Gordon, has this week written an article which follows on from comments in the Cornish Guardian. The article is as follows:

I can’t help agreeing with Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole after he told members at the party's annual conference that the privileged classes who run this country are punishing the less well-off for the massive financial mistakes made by business leaders who continue to rake in millions a year in "bonus'' payments.

Mr Cole was right when he said the Government was using the financial and economic crisis as an excuse to wield an ideological axe against the public sector when the problems were very much caused by the private sector, which is carrying on as normal, unscathed, and getting wealthier by the day.

Look at escalating energy bills, look at bankers continuing to receive huge bonuses.

Then look at the cuts enforced on local authorities which these days don't seem to be able to spend a penny on keeping even public toilets open.

Look at the mean-spirited bedroom tax which has so far seen 8,000 people in Cornwall and Devon hit by cuts to their housing benefit.

The Government says the penalty is to encourage people with a spare room to move into smaller properties – and that just about sums up what the millionaire classes think of ordinary people.

The Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, not to mention the Mayor of London, were once members of Bullingdon Club at Oxford University, an exclusive society for privileged undergraduates. It is claimed members behaved loutishly in the full knowledge that they had funds available to cough up for any bills.

Tory governments have always been the domain of the privileged classes, but our current leaders seem acutely out of touch with the realities of life for the majority of people in this country.

A cynic would even say they simply don't care.