serfing here. i work supporting people disabled people in west cumbria. just a few changes in my life. myself and my colleagues work for slightly above the minimum wage. whereas there was an increase in spending on public services in the previous government, this never got through to the care sector and particularly the growing number of outsourced 'independent' providers. so pay, in real terms, has declined from a very low start.

while it has always been the case that people needing support have had to do with dwindling resources and little choice over the care they get - this has accelerated in recent years with more cuts on the way. it is never the case that a review asks 'what is the best possible care we can give mr X?' always 'what can we afford' and increasingly 'we can't afford anything'

last week i was trying to negotiate a proper sick pay system for workers doing often challenging work. sick pay is now not often part of a worker's pay and conditions in the private care system - even if i was injured in my job. i believe this is something that is a real change from a few years back when a sick pay system was part of every employers'responsibility.

i've been in hospital in cumbria and -10 years back -in aberdeen. the difference in staffing and resources is shocking and very worrying.

these are just a few major differences i've noticed. i've also read naomi klein 'the shock doctrine' so well understand that -since thatcher, reagan, pinochet and the 'chicago boys' that the free marketeers have been actively engaged in shrinking and privatising the state (all over the world) obviously, blair etc was complicit in this to some degree (PPI, privatisation, anti-trade union laws etc) but did at least try to fund services adequately. i don't think they should have used public funds to bail out the corrupt capitalist system - but it was quite good (if expensive) satire. and what thanks do they get?
these days, of course we will lose important parts of what makes our country a good place to live. i never thought i would miss those old tory wets - but i do. i see no prominent figure in the current government who sees the need to speak to 'one nation' britain, and no-one trying to put a break on their extremism. they have no interest in the result of their policies or how they effect those less fortunate than themselves.
those people can push for the right to drop bombs on our allies in syria in the hope of hitting an occasional enemy target. i don't think it will go that far with the poorer parts of this country but the contempt for people is not much different....