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34 Phonebox Magazine | January 2025Happy New Year!Dave%u2026 The New OrderI saw Chris Curtis speak in Olney and he%u2019s a good speaker and I get on fi ne with him %u2013 perhaps that%u2019ll change after this, but I can get along perfectly well with people I don%u2019t always agree with. Whether it%u2019s reciprocated is quite another matter, but we%u2019ll see.He just votes along with his masters (which most MPs do to be fair). I asked him about National Insurance and foolishly mentioned Willen Hospice, so he turned the question into how much he would help Willen get more government money, which I hope he will, but he didn%u2019t address the rest of the total disaster that this will cause small businesses.The Olney meeting seemed to be better than the Newport Pagnell meeting where the three police had to be told to sit down as they appeared intimidating. A female journalist pal of mine was there and decided not to ask Chris a question on her own at the end as the bouncer hovering close to him looked a bit menacing. There were three bouncers as well as the police presence at that one and while I %u2018get%u2019 the security issue, a good security operator will hardly be noticed, but just ready to jump into action if required, but my pal thought that the 30 pensioners and two GreenPeace women were unlikely to cause much bloodshed.I do have some sympathy with him, he%u2019s a new boy in a new job with a lot of bullies pressuring him, but it%u2019s worth remembering that the Labour MPs who are remembered are the Tony Benns and Dennis Skinners of this world, who, love %u2018em or hate %u2018em, thought for themselves and stuck two fi ngers up to their bosses when required.The one thing that Chris does have on his side, is the shambles that are the MK North Conservatives (and a paid up member told me that) but things are changing with elections now and the good folk are more likely to vote for smaller parties now such as the Greens and Reform, so don%u2019t complain if Nigel Farage becomes the next PM, as seems a possibility if this nonsense carries on. After all, 20 years ago, who would have put money on Boris Johnson and Donald Trump being leaders?It seems to me that the only people happy with the new government are train drivers, and there are just not enough of them in North Milton Keynes to ensure victory in 2029 %u2013 should the government last that long.I%u2019m off to put my obligatory %u00a35 on the next PM. (Farage 5/2 at Paddy Power).Let%u2019s fi rstly take a look at the government%u2019s record. They%u2019ve been in for about six months and the notable thing they fi rstly did, while trying to extricate Sir Keir from a rather unsavoury episode of poncing %u00a332,000 worth of freebies from Baron Alli, was to take away the winter fuel allowance from many needy pensioners. No-one would argue that well off pensioners should have it, but it%u2019s aff ected the poorer which certainly wasn%u2019t what the electorate expected as a fi rst move. Then they gave the train drivers a 15% pay rise taking some of them up to %u00a365 - %u00a370,000 per year, back dated and pensionable. So at least they won%u2019t need the winter fuel allowance.Then they reduced the threshold of paying National Insurance from %u00a39,100 to %u00a35,000 which aff ects everyone. It can no doubt be swallowed by huge companies, but it will certainly hamper Willen Hospice, who tell me they now need to fi nd an extra %u00a3250,000 a year to cover this.Maybe they%u2019ll have to lay people off , as will so many small businesses, which is the last thing most want, but without doubt it will fi nish some smaller ones.Like the winter fuel allowance, it%u2019s been rushed through with little or no thought. Unlike Rachel Reeves, the chancellor of the exchequer, I make no claim to be an economist, but I suspect this won%u2019t help %u2018growth%u2019 in the UK which is one of Starmer%u2019s pledges.Then there%u2019s VAT on private school fees, which some would argue is fair, but why introduce it in the middle of an academic year? The government says the money raised from the tax will go towards helping state schools by providing and training for 6,500 more teachers. Well, not by January 2025 it won%u2019t. So, it seems to me that they%u2019ve put a huge amount of pressure on state schools who will have to take the students whose parents can no longer aff ord the private schools, and they can%u2019t possibly know how many students that will be.I suspect that the people that Labour really hate are those that won%u2019t be aff ected. Jacob Rees-Mogg may have six children at Eton, but he%u2019s probably got the extra 20% in his sock drawer. So, the state schools will come under even more pressure while the private schools become more elite.I%u2019m told that Eton is keeping a bit quiet about it, as are the top elite schools as they can claim back VAT on building work and capital projects over the last 10 years. Eton is expected to get in the region of %u00a34.8 million back and have the clientele that won%u2019t worry too much about paying 20% more. A bit of a win-win situation for them really. Then all they need to do is pray that the Tories get back in next time around, reverse the VAT on private schools, and carry on as normal.There%u2019s a theme occurring here don%u2019t you think? Well off people aren%u2019t really being aff ected.Which brings us onto inheritance tax on farmland. They%u2019re really after the lords and earls, but of course, they all have their aff airs in trusts, and won%u2019t be in the least bit worried by it all, whereas a small or smallish working farm, which tends to be passed down generation to generation, will be. They%u2019ll either be in hock to the taxman for years or sell a bit. Or all of it. Probably to someone who will build on it or put it in trust until it can be built on. So, when MPs stand up, with no hint of irony, and say they understand how diffi cult it is for small farmers, do they? Or is it just that they haven%u2019t thought it through like everything else I%u2019ve mentioned?I said I would write about our MP, Chris Curtis, this month and how he%u2019s getting on.