Please, please PLEASE give us a reason to vote Conservative!

I know I am not the only one who is underwhelmed by the Conservatve offering so far. The start of the "pre-election" campaign with the New Year was well heralded and we have heard about the weekly talking points etc. But where is the big idea, the radical policy proposals that are needed to inspire the thinking electorate to go out and vote Tory? They have got to go for more than simply not being Labour. There is a huge danger that key groups will simply not vote. I get the problem of coming out with policy proposals that just get nicked by Labour, but then stop with the phoney campaign! They need to stop drip feeding us drivel, or when they are ready to actually reveal the business end of the manifesto we will already have tuned out and be looking forward to Britain's Got Talent. So, in the interest of constructive criticism, here are a couple of ideas both related to tax, if anyone is listening!

• Dramatically simplify the tax system. Maybe not quite a flat tax, but moving in that direction would be a good thing. Making the tax system straightforward and easy to understand tends to have the effect of increasing the tax yield. By all means raise the tax threshold and look at measures to avoid the poverty trap. KISS should be the mantra - keep it simple, stupid
• Introduce a carbon tax. The Conservatives seem to be getting a lot of inspiration from Sweden, and that country introduced a carbon tax in 1991. The point is that this country needs to sort out its energy policy urgently. We are increasingly dependent on gas, and yet our own supplies are dwindling. Putting a price on carbon would allow industries, energy suppliers, everyone to make rational decisions about energy production and use. Of course it would also help to reduce carbon emissions. At the moment the subsidies for renewable energies, such as wind, are misdirecting resources away from solutions that might actually make more sense, such as nuclear energy.

OK, that's it for now. There is plenty to say on this subject, so more later!

The Best and the Worst - my Christmas Snow Experiences

Where we are it snowed twice before Christmas, on Friday 18th and on Monday 21st. On the Friday I was expecting an Ocado delivery; the biggest order I had ever placed with them. The days leading up to Christmas were going to be busy and I wanted to get food in early. That morning there was a good covering of snow, the first of the season, and my daughter's school was closed because of the weather. We live in a fairly rural area and I had real misgivings that my order would arrive. And yet it did; exactly within the hour delivery slot booked and with no items missing. I was impressed.
The next Monday the second fall of snow was well heralded. It was due to start late afternoon. I had to take our dog to the petsitter and I was due to drop him off at 4.00pm. That went fine, but it had already started snowing. The return journey, which would normally take 20 minutes took me over 6 hours. It is always difficult when snow falls during rush hour. But if there had been grit on the roads the volume of cars would have been enough to keep the roads clear. I didn't see a single gritting lorry out and there was no evidence that the roads had been gritted. I sat in my car visualizing all those council workers sitting in their nice warm offices churning out risk assessment reports or preparing for their diversity training courses. But of course, it was late afternoon and snow had been forecast, they had probably gone home early.