The day the bailiffs came

Some one I know had a shock one morning when bailiffs acting for SMDC turned up and clamped the family car because of late payment of Council Tax. They were a few months in arrears. The bailiffs place "sensitive" stickers on the car informing everyone of their plight. My friend paid money that would have gone for the rent to assuage Duke’s who wanted all the money immediately, even though it risked the family’s accommodation.

I am outraged. This person has their own business. This person has tried very hard to make their own way. This person is not a drain on society. They work 6 days a week And yet they have been humiliated.
If anyone deserves indicting before the court of public opinion it is not my friend. In my role of prosecutor I accuse the following.

Governments are culpable, both Labour and Tory, whose actions have wrecked the economy. We used to have an economy where making things mattered. Instead we have surrendered by the spivs of the money markets. The movement of huge amounts of money around the global economy have not produced one bolt or screw. We have destroyed what we as British do best for the false god of finance.
I accuse the banks whose greed and stupidity has destroyed our security. Banks once supported meaningful activities rather than a casino economy. Only recently I heard that RBS failed to meet its target for lending to new enterprise. Banks seem to forgotten the saying of an Ancient Greek that "those who have no history are destined to remain a child". They forgot the greed of the past speculative "bubbles" that led to the need to regulate. Bailed out by the taxpayers they exist, it seems, only to feather their own nests. Over 2,800 people in the 5 major banks earn £1million or more.

I point the finger at the Council who have abandoned small businesses. The Council made redundant Town Centre Managers who were tasked to support local enterprise. Initiatives that were set up have now drifted. The district is gripped by listlessness. What is required is a vision from officers and Councillors for without vision decent people suffer and their businesses die.