On the face of it you would expect relatively well off people

Comment on Election 2010 Conservative Minority Government Good for Labour? by David.

On the face of it you would expect relatively well off people would vote Conservative as they want to have us pay less tax in the belief with more money the current better off people will create more small businesses etc… and this will stimulate the economy and the wealth increases will filter down through the economy.

The problem with this belief is to run a successful business you need a country that can afford to pay for your products and services. If the people can’t buy your products or services your business fails. You can’t start a business on the premise that that business will eventually generate wealth that will filter down through the economy to the people that will use your business so they can buy your products and services! The people who use the business need the money first to buy products/services, not the other way around.

Take an extreme example like a country like Ethiopia which is very poor. McDonald’s which has a lot of money decides to open a string of fast food joints throughout the country, what happens, they fail because barely anyone in Ethiopia can afford to buy McDonald’s fast food, it’s a luxury the people can not afford.

Obviously the above example is extreme, but just think about our own not so well off people before 1997 working for measly wages. I had a job at 16-17 that paid £1 an hour, I worked 55 hours a week and took home under £50, after bus fares, rent etc… I was left with about £15 a week and I was living at home. I was a teenager and had no dependants, so I could buy the odd item of clothing and one night out a week! Hard working men and women with families were paid less than £1.50 and hour under the Tories, if they only worked a 40 hour week they would only earn £60 a week before tax! In that scenario people can barely afford to feed and keep themselves warm let alone live a good life, buying small luxury items that drive the economy. If you only take home £50 odd a week and you have a family you have to save for every single item, want a TV, save for it for a year, need a new washing machine save for it for a year.

This results in a large group of people who are not driving the economy through recycling money through British businesses.

Relatively poor people do not save money, give them an extra few quid a week and it’s spent and that money goes through British businesses driving the economy.

People complain that local pubs are closing, imagine if every regular pub user bought one extra pint a week because they have a few extra quid at the end of the week. I realise pubs closing is a bigger issue than the above, cheap alcohol from supermarkets etc… but the principle still holds.

Under Labour and the national minimum wage a family can at least live reasonably well as long as they are careful and can afford the odd luxury item without having to save for a year! It’s still not enough money, it’s not a living wage, but it at least allows relatively poor people to contribute to the economy which makes people like me (I run a business) more money.

And that’s why I’ll never vote Conservative, they do not understand how the economy works! I don’t think Labour really get it either, but they care more about working calls people so in effect put more money in the pocket of the less well off that go out and spend it which drives the economy and makes me more money.

BTW Why are you having a go at me? Up until 10 years ago I was unable to work and was on incapacity benefit, started a business about 10 years ago which has been quite successful and 5 years ago bought our first home (before that was renting social housing). Now we could either pay off the first mortgage over the next year or buy a second house and have two homes one of which will be our ‘savings’ for old age.

We’ve had it really hard in the past, having to survive hand to mouth on benefits buying 4p tins of beans from Tescos that tasted like crap and never buying any luxuries or going out to have a good time. Now we are doing quite well and I’m not apologetic that 10 years of hard work has paid off and we are doing well and can afford to buy 2 or more houses (I’d like to buy a house every few years as investments for the future).

What I don’t want to see is a Conservative government ruin what we’ve got by thinking very short term and only helping the relatively well off in the mistaken belief if you give rich people more money they will share out the wealth themselves by generating more jobs!

We all know it doesn’t work that way under the Tories, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. At least under Labour the rich get richer (even richer than under the Tories) and the poor get a little better off.

Neither system is perfect, but I prefer the Labour one best.

Feel free to try to point out a flaw in my arguments above.

David