Alarmingly the Government is thinking of selling off a whole load of assets to help balance the fact that it is spending too much. Firstly, they should be reducing what they spend and secondly they should think carefully about which assets they are selling. Selling assets that bring in revenue is crazy even to a dog, but then there is the consideration of what happens when they become privatised. One of the assets they are thinking of selling is the Dartford Crossing Road Toll. Now we have a toll bridge near us that is privately owned. It is entirely staffed by older gentlemen (the trolls) who collect money or tickets from all the cars (or billy goats) that need to cross the bridge. It is quaint to put it mildly. Not only do you have to be prepared to wait while a tractor is seen over the bridge, but other people have to not mind while we have a chat with whoever is on duty as we go through. Now, I like it as one of the men is interested in dogs and we get talking about my breed and what is going on in the world, but the people who are stuck behind us may be less happy about the arrangement. The Dartford Crossing is a very busy bridge. If the cars and lorries waiting to cross were held up while people had a chat, then going across could easily take all day.
It may be even more alarming that they are thinking of selling the book of student loans. Firstly they take away the possibility of a grant, then once young people get used to having to borrow money to get through their education, the Government turns them over to commercial enterprise and there’s no knowing how they will afford the repayments. They need to remember that commercial operations are there to make money and basically the Government is now saying that they are happy for this to be at students’ expense. It doesn’t strike me as an ideal situation. It’s just another example of why you should be electing the Pet Dogs Democratic Party as your Government at the next election.