I understand what you are saying BWM and I do like your last sentence. LOL :-)

One point - Are Salaries any higher than they were in the early 1980's for most people?

I was self employed back then, so it would be hard to equate that anymore.

However, our income into the house today is massively lower that what we had coming in, in the early 1980's. We are only just surviving today.

So I can honestly say that we have never had it so bad. It was the same under the Labour Government, we were just surviving. So the politics doen't enter into the equation for me.