Dear Darling,

Well the fallout from your bombshell budget yesterday is just about settling now and here's my (humble!!) opinion of it all.

You and your fellow NuLab cronies are the biggest bunch of feckless fools that ever roamed this earth...you are absolutely a perfect reason why they should have a cull of stoopid humans and never let idiots like your motley lot run a country.

Under yours and that unelected wasp chewing pillock we've seen nothing but failure after failure. The economy in the worst condition for years and in the most alarming rapid decline, our schools, the NHS riddled with MRSA and other killers, knife crime on the increase (and increasing and going unchecked!) Politicians getting taxpayers to pay for their spouses porn, spinmeisters actually being caught out plotting lies against the Tories and *their* spouses...it's total madness...

And then it doesn't end.

Then we have the budget.

No help on the stamp duty to stimulate the already knackered (and virtually expired) property sector.

Taxing the rich (which *ahem* if you can't already work it out for tha sen Darling, includes all the business folk of this country...yes that's right the very people who you are hoping will continue to work to stimulate the economy back to something like normal after your almighty fiscal cock up!) So not only will they try to fiddle their finances to make it look like their earning under that bracket this idea will also demotivate all the up and coming new business people of the future - the next generation if you will...I mean why aspire to earn that much in a wage if the fuckwits in whitehall who simply can't be trusted with *anyones* money will simply greedily swipe it and pile it up in their coffers to pay off the almighty screw up economy? Why not simply move to another (sunnier!) country...oh and why not move your work force out there too while you're at it...somewhere like say India where the labour is certainly a lot cheaper to employ and your business won't be strangled by the increasing amounts of red tape this country flings at you.

But whilst all the bruuhaha is going on about taxing the rich (yay say all the NuLab supporters!) what they don't realise (because frankly they are a bit dim - if they were dim enough to vote Labour in with their previous track records in government then it's certainly true that in TradLab areas they'd blindly vote a donkey in if you stuck a red rosette on it...It's that "It's what me Dad voted fur and if it were good enuff for 'im, it's good enough for me" mentality.)

So whilst the TradLab supporters are stood on the side lines cheering the ever increasing divide that is happening between rich and poor, what they've failed to notice is that Labour isn't actually delivering anything of any value to *their* pocket.

That's right , no tax cuts for the average Joe earning an average salary. No siree! Why should they bother? No need to help the struggling hardworking £20k earning man in the street, who is probably on balance throwing more into the pot per penny earned than the upper brackets. Labour realise this, but also know that the average Joe won't have twigged to this yet.

So Major fail all round then...screw over the rich, the ones who are self made, who have worked to grow something decent that contributes to the economy, and saddle every one else with a major debt that will take years to clear...via their taxes which are NOT coming down at all.

The message with this budget seems very much to be, "screw you...whoever you are!" Labour *know* they don't have a cat in hell's chance at the next election, so they are trying their hardest to royally screw it up and make it as difficult as hell for the next party that comes in - and to be honest I really don't think they care who that would be...it could be Cons, Libs, greens or BNP...they really don't care. And *that's* why I'd never ever vote Labour. They are as bent and as crooked as the Tories were in the 80's/early 90s and I truly think it's time for a change in this country.

A real change.

Time for a People's Party.

A party of the people and for the people, no matter what class colour or creed.

A non divisive party but one that works for the GOOD of this country and it's people.

A party that would encourage the youth of this country to be the best they possibly could,

A party that would help the SME owner by cutting unnecessary red tape.

A party that had a chancellors team that was made up of business men and women who have run private businesses and can transfer those skills across to Whitehall.

A party that would bring back a sensible structure to the NHS taking away the decision making from petty managers who've never worked on a ward in their lives.

A party that would support our troops no matter where they are in the world and wouldn't allow our brave men and women to live in squalor, or to have bugger all "return from action" support.

A party that would try to heal the wounds and rifts between the Muslims and Christians of this country, not try to rip apart the communities like the BNP do...no matter what they say.

A party that is proud to be British and is proud to support Britain...and hey on St George's day what better day can there be than the this to start dreaming the dream of a better day for the *whole* of the UK.

A United People's Party of Britain.s

UPPBritain.

Up Britain, UP!

Dear Reader...

"What a Sweet Idea!"

As you know by now I'm opening a traditional sweet and toffee shop in Wakefield (and if you don't already know then I presume you've wandered along here and don't follow me on Twitter or Facebook or any other such site!!)

So how's it going?? Well, it's been kinda slow cos I'm funding it myself and it's been done over a period of a few month, but in the long run I know it's going to be a lot better. I know that in the end I'm going to fully own a superb little business with little or no competition in the locality and I'll also have that satitsfaction of knowing I owe knothing to no one...not an investor, or a bank or even a landlord as I own the property the shop is going into. So anything that I make will be going back into the family pot...which is great. this venture is all about growing something special for my family to enjoy and reap the rewards of.

And yes I do know there is a "recession" on at the moment and now really isn't the time (supposedly!) to be starting a business but there is a method to my madness i promise. My thinking is as follows...everyone likes a little sweet treat and if they can be taken back to a previous time then a trip dwn nostalgia street really isn't going to be a bad thing. Also when people can't afford to splash out thousands on big treats like new cars or expensive holidays then they may spend a couple of pounds on a small treat instead...or at least that's what I'm hoping for at any rate...that and the fact that we are based in Yorkshire and when people can't afford to go abroad on holiday then popular "staycation" locations are places like Yorkshire and the Lakes and Scotland...so I'm hoping to get on that tourist trail if possible.

So there is a bit of thinking behind it all and hopefully it will pay off...but most importantly I want to run a business that I enjoy, one that I have fun doing.

So that's what I want to do - bring a bit of FUN back to my business. So as such I'm offering "naming rights" on the jars of sweets. What's that? Well it's a simple but good idea. For the princely sum of £10 you can "name" a jar of sweets of your choice after yourself or a loved one (or the not quite so loved ones if you wish to name the super sour bombs after your Mother in Law!!) That jar of sweets will then be know as "Joe Bloggs Midget Gems" for a whole year afterwards. You also will be give a quarter of those particular sweets when they are "christened" and you'll get another quarter on your birthday or other special day such as an anniversary.

So as you can see it's a bit of fun, but it also makes a different present for a loved one or a friend.

But you'll have to be quick as the jars are being snapped up quickly since word got out, so if you're interested I've made a list of the jars we are getting in and the ones with the stars and names after them are the ones that are already taken. Of course if you fancy something that we don't have on the list, let us know and we'll do our best to find it so you can put your name to it!

1. Aniseed balls
2. Rainbow Crystals ***Bobby's Rainbow Crystals***
3. Fudge
4. Sweet Tabacco
5. Wine Gums
6. Pear drops
7. Invalid Toffee ***Patrick's Invalid Toffee***
8. Midget Gems ***Jim's Midget Gems***
9. Rhubarb & Custard
10. Yorkshire Mix ***Emma's Yorkshire Mix***
11. Jelly Beans
12. Floral Gums
13. Sherbert Pips
14. Dolly mixture ***Nanny Barbie's Dolly Mixture***
15. Strawberry Bon Bons ***Dave's Strawberry Bon Bons***
16. Lemon Bon Bons ***Mia-Louise's Lemon Bon Bons***
17. Coltsfoot rock ***Wizzy's Coltsfoot Rock***
18. Pontefract Cakes ***The original Chumbers***
19. Liqourice Torpedoes ***Jemma's Liqourice Torpedoes***
20. Sherbet Lemons

21. Chocolate eclair toffees ***Nick's Eclairs***

22. Chewing nuts ***Chumbers Jr's Chewing Nuts***

So if you're interested in one of the jars then leave me a message in a comment and I'll pop you down for one and will contact you about birthday dates and payment etc, so make sure yu leave me an email address too! ;-)

Dear Dad,

I was really shocked when you recently told me about your trip to Stanstead Airport and about how much they had charged you to park there for 1 hour and 1 min - £29.40!!!!!

For anyone this would be an excessive sum to pay for an hours parking in a designated "short stay" car park...but for a pensioned widower who holds a blue badge this is a huge chunk out of your weekly pension and frankly I think it's disgusting that you have been fleeced in this manner. As I explained in letter of complaint to the airport (see below) part of the reason that you took so long to get back to the car was the distance at which they had placed the disabled parking bays from the terminal. You said you estimated it to be 1/4 mile away and that with your struggling with Arthritis in your hips and knees as well as chest pains bought on by the exertion of walking that distance and the Emphysema (caused by years of working with toxic chemicals and twice having your face and lungs burnt by spilt chemicals) making you short of breath - you had seriously struggled to cover the distance at any sort of "regular" walking pace.

I have therefore written to the airport to put a complaint in and to request the money back as most carparks in the UK will allow blue badge holders to park for free or certainly at a reduced rate - they do not rip off the elderly, disabled and vulnerable as appears to have been the case here. I am not hopeful of even getting a reply as I had a "thank you for sending us your feedback reply" that told me to contact an alternative address should I not have heard anything back in a fortnight!! :-O

Even if I do get a reply I am confident the tone will probably be brusk and of the "serves you right for choosing to park there - them's the charges and we don't refund them for anyone" nature. However I'm happy for Stanstead Airport ( and BAA who run it) to prove me wrong and show that actually they do have a heart and aren't total rip off merchants, feeding of the poorer sections of our society.

Here's the letter I wrote:




Dear Sir,

My Father recently attended Stansted to pick up a family member. He is 70 years of age, a registered disabled driver due to Arthritis, Emphysema and having had a number of heart attacks recently. He parked in your short stay car park after being told by a policeman on site that his Blue Badge did not allow him to park in the pick up bay whilst entering the terminal to search for his brother. Having parked in the short stay car park, he found he had to walk a fair distance (My Father said to be approx 1/4 mile) to the terminal which he obviously found to be a struggle. He then found his brother after a short search of the terminal building and they proceeded to make their way straight back to the car. Upon returning to the car and because of the distance involved to him as someone who is disabled and has impaired walking ability, he discovered that he had been charge £29.40 for parking for 1hr and 1min. To say this was excessive is an understatement and I was shocked when my elderly Father explained this to me with tears in his eyes. He was obviously frustrated at being charged so much as the distance had been too far for him to swiftly return to his vehicle (as this was the nearest disabled parking bay that you provided) and it had resulted in him being charged such an extreme amount for such a short stay. As such I wondered if you may be able to reimburse the charge a) as it was partly due to the distance involved which accounted for the length of his stay, b) it is an excessive amount to charge anyone let alone a disabled pensioner. c) Most other carparks do allow disabled drivers to park for free or at a reduced rate with a blue badge. I am quite happy to produce the ticket should you require to see a copy and await your reply.

Yours sincerely
Mrs Freya Sykes

****UPDATE***** Here's the email I've had back in reply.

Dear Mrs Sykes
I am sorry to learn that your father incurred a substantial car parking charge when he came to Stansted on 2 February to meet his brother.

Firstly, I can confirm that there are no blue badge parking spaces on our terminal forecourt which for security reasons is designated for set down only.

Each of Stansted 's short stay car parks which are located directly in front of the terminal offer accessible parking spaces for Blue Badge Holders, the spaces themselves have been positioned closest to Help Points and payment machines. Large monolith signs, marking the entry point for each car park, display an icon indicating that blue badge spares are available. For security reasons the Blue Badge scheme does not operate on Stansted's roads (including terminal forecourt) and within the car parks there are no parking fee concessions or exemptions A number of organisations involved in accessibility were party to this decision when Stansted first opened.

Tariffs will vary according to the car park used and its proximity to the terminal building and details of the charges applicable for a particular car park are displayed beside the entrance barrier. Your father appears to have parked in our "Pick Up car park", this is the closest to the terminal, the access tunnel to the building is adjacent the zone and the distance certainly not a quarter of a mile. This car park has a punitive tariff, a minimum charge of £1 but rising to £29.40 after an hour. Apart from the on the tariff boards as you approach the barrier equipment, a warning about this charge is also displayed across the entry barrier arm and throughout the car park If passengers are not yet waiting to be picked up we would recommend using the other car parks ('Red', 'Orange' or 'Green') where stays of up to an hour cost between £1.50 and £2.80. As already mentioned each of these have Blue Badge parking. 'Red' car park, which is nearer Domestic Arrivals has 16, 'Orange' which is closest to International Arrivals has 20 and 'Green' car park has nine, in addition to six in the 15-minute 'Pick Up' car park.

We sympathise your father had to pay such a large car park fee but in considering your request for a refund of the parking charges, must reiterate there is Blue Badge parking in all zones and plenty of signage in place to warn drivers of the tariffs applicable.

With regards,
Jill VailCustomer Insight AnalystOn Behalf of BAA Stansted Ltd.

****My reply to Ms Vail*****

Dear Ms Vail,

Thank you for your reply as it raises a number of questions.

Firstly, you say that "A number of organisations involved in accessibility were party to this decision when Stansted first opened." Please could you out line which organisations these were and whether or not (although I do strongly suspect the later, being a committee member for a well known Disability Charity myself) they were in agreement with the system for disabled parking as you seem to intimate they were with your wording.

Secondly you mention that "Tariffs will vary according to the car park used and its proximity to the terminal building and details of the charges applicable for a particular car park are displayed beside the entrance barrier. Your father appears to have parked in our "Pick Up car park", this is the closest to the terminal, the access tunnel to the building is adjacent the zone and the distance certainly not a quarter of a mile. This car park has a punitive tariff, a minimum charge of £1 but rising to £29.40 after an hour. Apart from the on the tariff boards as you approach the barrier equipment, a warning about this charge is also displayed across the entry barrier arm and throughout the car park If passengers are not yet waiting to be picked up we would recommend using the other car parks ('Red', 'Orange' or 'Green') where stays of up to an hour cost between £1.50 and £2.80."

I wonder how you expected my Father to know that he would have trouble finding his Brother and would therefore be delayed in returning to his vehicle in advance? I'm sure if he had known he would have parked in a longer stay carpark, however he was not anticipating the delay and the struggle he would physically have to get back to his car when placed in a stressful and "timed" situation. As you can see from his ticket he had made every physical effort to return to his car in the time frame your company dictacted (It's not as if he spent 3 hours in the carpark but was simply 1 minute late!!) I would therefore ask you once again to reconsider the somewhat mealy mouthed stance your company seems to be taking in grabbing the money from a disabled pensioner Ms Vail and in the interest of goodwill and good pr to refund the extortionate penalty he has had to pay for being disabled and unable to return to his vehicle as swiftly as someone who is able bodied.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely.

Mrs Freya Sykes

****NOTE: I strongly suspect that she may ignore my request to tell me who the "organisations" involved are as they probably *were* consulted and told Stanstead they were being discriminatory towards disabled persons by putting them under a "stop watch"...but we'll see what she says.
Also I fully expect her to come back and say no again to the refund...but again she may prove me wrong and I sincerely hope she does!

****24th March 2009...As yet I have had no reply to my previous email of the 10th March - as I suspected above would be the case. I have therefore sent to following request to Ms Vail:
Dear Ms Vail, Further to my email of the 10th March, I do not yet appear to have had a reply and wondered if you may be so good as to respond to my communication. I await your reply. Yours Sincerely Mrs Freya Sykes.

Once again though I am not holding my breath as I suspect that she is now simply ignoring my communications (great customer Service hey? "We'll rip you off, tell you to get knotted when you complain and if you dare to question our explainations we'll simply ignore you until you go away." Nice hey?)

****UPDATE, 9th April 2009...Once again I am sad to tell you that as of yet I STILL have not had any reply from Ms Vail to my previous emails of either the 10th of March NOR my email above of the 24th March...I think I have been fair and generous in the amount of time I have given her to respond as well as giving her a "prompt" email on the 24th March. However I do feel that 1 month is more than adequate time for her to respond in and now can only assume she is just simply ignoring my emails. I will therefore find out next week who her boss is and will put my complaint in writing to them, both about the treatment of my Father as well as my own subsequent treatment at the hands of their "Customer Care" staff (Yes I too am wondering about that bit!!) I will keep you all updated.

GUEST BLOGGER.

Dear Readers,

I've got a little treat for you and I hope you'll make him welcome and post comments below...but I've decided to allow a few guest bloggers on here. The first is "A Soldier" who is fighting the war from the front line in Afghanistan - to protect him we've decided not to name him (as the MOD will string him up by his balls if Terry Taliban don't get to him first!) but his posts are an often insightful and poignant view of the war from the lads and lasses who are out there fighting it. Of course being a soldier his language is often enough to make the Navy lads blush - but then they *are* the more sensitive members of Her Majesties armed forces...so without further a do I give you "Soldier A."

The Ultimate Afghan Army Instructor is...


Ah, another day of good soldiering is over and done with, and we’re enjoying the peace and quiet with a few tunes on the radio, and a spot of weapon cleaning. Much to the annoyance of my long suffering Missus, I could be considered as a bit of a clean freak. For example, she likes to use the floor of the flat as a handy storage area for things like pants, magazines, half finished crap novels about women who ride horses and sleep with stable boys, Dominos pizza boxes and coffee cups, and considers her car not so much as a mode of transport, but more as some kind of handy mobile cupboard to store woman crap in.

Me, I like to keep things in the right place. CD’s and DVD’s go back in the rack in alphabetical order, and in the case of my books, sized off, tallest on the right, shortest on the left. I’d hate to have some sort of CD-finding emergency on my hands, and have to hunt through 300 CDs, just to find that awesome Def Leopard track, or my favourite bedtime reading, Pam 21 – Army Range Management. She thinks I’ve got OCD.

It’s quite fortunate then, that my parents suggested that I should join the Army many years ago. To paraphrase a much better writer, they were very pleased when I joined up. The fact that I hated it seemed to please them even more. But after the traumas of Basic Training, I was soon feeling quite at home in a strange green world, where the fact that soldiers and vehicles are in a neat line is far more important than the fact that none of them actually work.

Anyway, that’s not really a problem, as it’s a well known fact that you can fix anything in the British Army with some black masking tape and a small hammer. And if you can’t, all you have to do is call the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Sure, they have a fancy Regimental name, but it’s really just Army-speak for “more rolls of masking tape. And bigger hammers”.

I digress. Trying to train the messy little scamps of the Afghan Army in this “neat and tidy” mindset is roughly akin to trying to sweep spunk up a very steep hill - i.e. downright fucking impossible. There’s a genuine cultural divide here that’s proving quite hard to bridge. In terms of fighting ability, most of them are more nails than a Screwfix catalogue, and that’s fair enough. But they genuinely think we’re really odd for spending our spare time cleaning and oiling weapons and maintaining our kit and vehicles when we could be sleeping, or maybe watching pornography.

There’s only one real person I can think of who can actually speak with these people on the same level of understanding, so as soon as I’ve finished cleaning my rifle and topped the oil up on the wagons, I’m going to ring my bosses back in the UK and let them know how it’s going out here.

And then, I’m going to suggest that my girlfriend is shipped out here to train them instead!

Dear John Suchet,

I've just seen you on the BBC breakfast news and I was saddened to hear the news that your wife Bonnie is suffering with dementia. I thought your account of your experience as a carer was heart wrenching and whilst it was clearly very difficult for you to discuss your circumstances I'm really glad that you did.

You have bounced dementia back into the spotlight which is a good thing...like you say like cancer of recent years (and this not to take any thing away from any cancer campaigns). Dementia is treated like the silent illness that it actually is...people shy away from it...and that isn't helpful in the fight against the illness.

I also didn't know about the Admiral Nurses supplied by For Dementia and I found that a really interesting idea...it needs to grow and we need to have an Admiral Nurse available to every dementia sufferer and their family on a *as needed* basis...because believe me - the need is great.

Like you, our family has lived with specter of dementia floating over us and I more than anyone in our family live in terror of it. You see my Ganny had it, her daughter (my Aunt) has it at the moment and I'm convinced it is stalking the female side of the family...as Aunty only had sons, and I've got one brother that leaves just me as the next generation female in our family and I'm frankly terrified.

I saw my Grandmother reduced from a vibrant, healthy, intelligent and witty woman to a woman who died in a nursing home unable to talk, walk or move... seemingly having had the life sucked out of her, trapped in the shell of her own useless body. She became almost unrecognisable to me towards the end, her personality had gone, the way she dressed changed according to the carer who had dressed her that morning, her hairstyle was wrong, make up was never applied and this was a woman who went nowhere without an assortment of lipsticks that would have put a make up artists toolkit to shame! Her smell changed, from roses and soap, to piss and sweat where she wasn't washed properly in the home and her clothes smelt simply of "institution" Every part of her fabric unwove in front of our eyes and I think *that* was the hardest strain of all. It all happens so very slowly over years and that *is* stressful. It's like you say John, you grieve for someone who is gone but still physically there and it's a protracted grief.

And what of the person who's actually suffering the dementia? You say they don't realise or remember things and that there world gets increasingly smaller and you have to adjust to fit their world not try to bring them back into this wider world. How wise Ian was to tell you that...that's exactly what it is.

The one thing we never did with Granny was to discuss her dementia and I never really know if she knew she had it. However I can remember on the evening she died I was instructed by my Father to sit with her and hold her hand whilst he spoke to the nurses. He told me not to be afraid and to just speak to her like normal and keep calm. ( We knew by this point she was dying and I'd expressed the fear to my Father that I didn't want to be there when she died.)

So I went into her room to find her lying on her bed, very still, as she had forgotten even how to move. I pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed...all the while I was dragging chairs, she didn't move and I really thought that she may have passed away already. I remember reaching out to hold her hand and as I held it in my two hands, cupped gently I felt the lightest of pressure as she squeezed my hand. This was my Granny, the woman I loved the most in my life, reduced to a shell, a husk...an empty void. It was hard, but I decided to simply talk to her as I would have done normally before the dementia. I spoke of all the times she'd taken me to the park as a youngster, how when we'd gone to the park with dog and my brother, the dog had sat on the back seat all the while growling at my poor brother as if to say "little child...come on my side of this car that *I* own and you're mince meat" I recalled how that dog had hated everyone, especially my brother for some reason. (mind you, my brother at that point hated dogs after being bitten by one, so the feeling wasn't exactly un-mutual! ) And I spoke of how we used to go to Batley Park Museum, walking through the woods to get there in the first place and how we both loved the Egyptian exhibit with the Mummy.

Just as I was coming to an end and telling her how I remembered all the sweet treats we used to take with us to the park and never told my Mother about for fear of her telling us off (baskets of Chocolate cakes, bottles of lemonade, slabs of toffee and home made Murray mints) for ruining our appetites...just as I was recalling this, I felt that featherlight squeeze again, looked up and saw her silently cry a big fat tear. She didn't move and was still looking up at the ceiling, but it struck me at that point as I wiped the tear away that she was trapped and could still hear what was going on around her and was either frustrated at not remembering or could in flashes remember it. Either way, I knew that I'd made a connection one last time with the Grandmother I loved so dearly and whom I had "lost" to dementia years earlier.

I whispered then to her "thank you" for giving me such wonderful happy memories and that if ever I had grandchildren I told her I would do exactly as she had. I told her I loved her and I left my Granny one last time, finding my Father outside in the corridor talking to one of the nurses.

I left there that day and My Granny died that evening with my Father at her side.

We don't talk seriously about it even today but I know he (My Father) fears the dementia as much as I do. His elder sister is currently in a home in Huddersfield and when he comes up from Wales to visit her, he won't go visit unless I go with him. This is not something I want to do but I do do it for him. I don't visit Aunty E when he's not here because I find it too hard to do as I know this is likely to be my fate as I age. And it's not something I'm looking forward to...it scares me if I forget someone's name or a place now and I'm only in my 30s...but that fear grips my heart and squeezes the blood out of it. It's a dark hand that hovers over our family ready to grasp at us and I wish I could avoid it, simply because I don't want my family to have to go through what we did with Granny and are doing to a lesser degree at the moment with Aunty E.

I know I can't avoid it at the moment until they find a cure and that seems an awful long way off, but in the meantime it's people like you John who use your profile to keep the topic in the public eye and help raise funds towards finding a cure...so for that, I don't think you have in anyway betrayed Bonnie by going on the tv to discuss your situation...quite the opposite. You've done the best thing you could possibly have done. For that I thank you John.

Dear Lucy...

I've just had your email - which I hope you don't mind me reproducing here - but I just wanted to say I'm so very proud of what you are achieving and know personally how much work goes into producing a franchise operation...so what you've got going is brilliant! I'm absolutely made up for you and your success!

For my dear readers let me just explain...I met Lucy at the BBC last summer when we both went for a screentest for the new BBC 3 business programme - the Last Millionaire. (for those of you who are interested - we did both get through and we were asked to do the show - sadly though due to timings at my end I couldn't go, Lucy however did go and did fantastically - taking it down to the wire and keeping us all on tenterhooks to the last!! In case you don't know her already - Lucy is the dark haired Welsh minx of an accountant who has a personal chef!!) Anyway - it seems that since the show Lucy has been a very busy bunny...here's the email I had from them today -

"Mazuma are delighted to announce the launch of three new Associates offices across the UK.Sarah Howell and Michilla Mason operate from East London and are delighted to be the first Mazuma franchise operating in the UK’s capital. Sarah comments: “Michilla and I had always wanted to run our own accountancy business. I spotted Mazuma in the monthly AAT magazine and I was very impressed by what Mazuma had achieved. I love the concept that Mazuma offers and when I saw the Associate opportunity I decided to grab it with both hands! Michilla and I are extremely excited to have this opportunity. In our first two days of business we acquired four clients - I think that speaks for itself!Ally O’Meally-Watson is operating in the Welsh capital, covering the South of Cardiff and The Vale of Glamorgan area from her base in cosmopolitan Cardiff Bay. David Wallace is operating in the ambitious new city of Milton Keynes and comments: “Mazuma is a breath of fresh air, and the most exiting development in Accountancy services in years. All clients have to do is send us their paperwork monthly, then their management accounts are returned promptly and we deal with the rest. After spending 25 years in the profession, I believe this will change the image of accountants. Other accountants send you accounts months after the event, from Mazuma it’s actual, now, live and fresh. As Milton Keynes is amongst the fastest growing and most entrepreneurial areas of the UK, Mazuma's style, philosophy and service are an excellent fit”. The three new Associates join after the successful trial of the first Associate that took place over two years, based in the North of Cardiff.Sophie Hughes, Director of Mazuma GB who operates the franchise, comments: “We have been overwhelmed with the interest that we have received since the launch of our exciting franchise. It is a unique offering and provides people with the opportunity to operate their own business under the vibrant and nationally recognised brand of Mazuma”. Lucy Cohen, Director of Mazuma GB adds: “With the launch of three new franchisees across the UK and more due to launch in early 2009, we aim to reach and better our targets of launching 12 franchisees in 2009. Despite the recession, franchising is set to boom and the Mazuma franchise is a terrific opportunity to take up at this time”.Various areas of the UK are still available and separated by postal regions and population in the areas. You must be a qualified accountant and hold (or be able to apply for) a practising licence through your accountancy body before you commence trading as a Mazuma Associate. We hold extensive training courses on how to build, manage and grow your business and market yourself when you become an Associate so you are not “thrown in at the deep end”, and we are on hand for you once you are an Associate to help you along the way with tips and guidance. If you, or someone you know are interested in this exciting opportunity please call us on 0845 310 5654 or email us at info@mazumamoney.co.uk to request a prospectus and application form.
Click here: http://www.mazumamoney.co.uk/ "

So if you happen to know someone who you think might it the bill then I suggest you give them a nudge...knowing Lucy as I do, I know that this company will bring a vibrancy to accountancy and is sure to be a success for any franchisee who takes up their offering.

As for you Lucy...success is sure to follow all your hard ground work and frankly my dear if anyone deserves it...you do. Congratulations on the release fo the franchise and here's to the continued future success of the network. :-)

Dear Overbearing Government Departments,

This week has been hellish. Why? Well Hubby got paid this month and had nearly a whooping £1000 taken in PAYE and another £200 in NI...Is he on a massive wage - over the tax bracket you might think? Well at a modest £22k pay per annum the answer is no, not at all. So what's going on? Well when he called them up to find out, they said that they had gone ahead and changed his tax code because he "had a company car and was claiming a company car allowance"...?? After much stratching of heads, Hubby managed to explain to the rather bewilded Government lacky on the other end of the phone that actually the use of the company car had ceased in Aug last year when he had closed his previous company and that he'd been getting a company car allowance from the new firm he was now employed by, but that he had had to go out and purchase his own car to run now that the company car had gone back last year. So rather than ask the simple question..."Mr B do you still have the use of a company car from Homefinder UK Ltd", the HMRC just simply *decided* that he did and that they would whollop him for tax until he questioned them about it!! To top it all off they have said to him that they won't repay the tax that they wrongly just pinched, until next month when his tax code will be adjusted back!! So for a month they have literally dipped into our bank account, taken our money for a month and put it in the government coffers. Ok - it's hardly going to solve the economic crisis is our months interest on the sum held in the Government's bank, but a) I doubt we are the only ones who've had a similar "theft" of our hard earned money by the state and b) it *IS* actually OUR money - not theirs to take at will and use to earn interest on.

But that's not the best of it. I get the children's Child Benefit payments paid to me as the Mother, monthly in a giro. I have always had it paid this way as I like to get the payment from our Post Office (meaning it gives Amy in the PO something to do and it gets me to the PO to find out all the village gossip!!) but it also means I have some cash to buy things for the children as and when they need them over the month without interferance or hand outs from my Husband. It's money that I don't WANT to be put into the joint bank account for fear it will just get swallowed up with general bills etc and won't get used for the children's benefit - which *is* afterall what it's there for. So imagine my suprise when phoning up to enquire as to the whereabouts of the cheque to be told "Oh we've paid it into your bank account" ....WHAT? "Wait...how?? How did you get my details? You'd previously asked me if I wanted it paying into my bank account and I'd specifically said no and had NOT given you my bank details...so how did you get them?" (as they did indeed have the correct details) "We got them from the Child Tax Credits office" came the answer!! So despite me saying under no circumstances were they to pay the money into the joint account I hold with my Husband...they ignored that request and simply got the details from another government agency and did as THEY pleased anyway!

Surely this can't be right? Surely if you say to them you want the payments in a certain way then they have to listen?? The best bit of this tale was that the chap I spoke to about it all said I now needed to write a letter to Newcastle Upon Tyne's Child Benefit office telling them to swop it back and that "in the meantime" he would suspend any further payments to me via bank!! So not only have they changed the way my payments are made, they now want to inconvenince me by MAKING me write to them now to ask them to kindly change the payments back to how I wanted them in the first place - oh and I won't be getting any further payments whilst they sort out the mess they created. Convenient hey?

So all in all the Government is taking money from us that doesn't belong to them and getting a month's interest on it and is now withholding other payments which again gains them interest whilstever they take however long it'll take to sort this mess they've handily created. So the only winners this month seem to be the Government who are now scrounging for the their budgetry shortfalls from the general public.

Now in the grand scheme of things our money isn't a lot - but imagine if they are doing this sort of thing as a matter of course for a lot of people...starts to add up to a lot of money the Government are either taking from people's accounts or withholding from others.

What do you think? Are they doing this sort of thing to keep monies in the Government Treasury coffers? Is it right? What can we do about it??