Bringers of Chaos 1: Reality Check

The UK political classes claim an SNP victory in the general election would have cataclysmic results.

There are not many points of agreement between the left-wing Scottish nationalist Craig Murray, and the Conservative politician Boris Johnson. However they share a fondness for lurid rhetoric, and a belief in the awesome power of the SNP:

Murray:

A sweeping SNP victory on May 7 is considered enough of a threat to the United Kingdom for the security services to use up some assets. [...] The still bigger worry is that, as the security services get increasingly desperate as polling day approaches, they will manufacture a false flag incident in which people deliberately get hurt.

Johnson:

You wouldn’t get Herod to run a baby farm, would you? [...] [The SNP] want to end Britain, to decapitate Britannia, to cause a constitutional upheaval that would gravely weaken this country, a rupture that has provoked horror in Britain’s friends around the world – and a silent chuckle among those who do not wish us quite so well.

(Incidentally, what the hell is a baby farm? Does Johnson not know where babies come from?)

Newly elected SNP representatives arriving at Westminster.

Spray Paint in Aberdeen

Earlier this month, someone vandalised the Conservative and Labour party offices in Aberdeen. I assumed it was the work of a random bampot with nothing better to do on a Friday night, but Craig Murray has a more outré theory.

Graffiti on the Conservative Party office. Source: BBC News

Cute Cat Friday 2014-04-24: Belle

Surveying the garden from on high.

Why I'm voting for Julian Huppert

In the general election on 7 May, I am voting to re-elect Julian Huppert as Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge.

Sign in my front garden.

I am not a member of the Liberal Democrats. I have voted for other parties in the past, and this is the first time I've so much as put a political party's poster in my window. I take a close interest in politics, but I've often been a "plague-on-all-their-houses" person, voting for the Greens or other no-hope parties. This time is different.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-04-17: Belle and Dexter

Spring is here, and it's a good day to check out the garden.

Birth and taxes

Last week I received a tax demand from HM Revenue and Customs. I could get angry, but I won't.

In HMRC's estimation I underpaid tax in a previous year. Now they want me to pay up, plus a 5% interest fee. I blame my previous employers, who were meant to be paying tax on my behalf and seem to have got their sums wrong.

As far as I can tell HMRC's figures are correct, so there's not much point in appealing, and I intend to pay them. I won't go into details, but let's just say it's a substantial amount. It won't cause me any immediate hardship, but it's a significant hit to my savings.

Image source: Daily Telegraph

My baby son was born on 24 December last year. This has brought many new expenses, with a lot more to come. Childcare alone will cost a small fortune. In the long run, I want to help pay for his first steps as an adult: Driving lessons, housing, most likely a university degree. The money I'm paying in backdated taxes would be very, very useful for all these costs, or to have on hand for unforeseen emergencies.

All the same, I'm not angry.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-04-10: Dexter

The cushions are mine, all mine.