HARD TIMES

Am I the only one who finds Mr Darling an odd looking chap with his white hair and jet black eyebrows? His Budget this afternoon was bad news for yours truly with 11p on cigs, 4p on a pint and 14p on a bottle of vin rouge. The Fiscal Studies Institute's comment seems to be that it was a straight revenue raiser to make us more heavily taxed than ever before whilst the Government carry on getting into debt through profligate spending.

There are serious signs of hard times ahead, around the Isle. Ramsgate is waking up to the decimation of its town centre if we are to believe letters to our local press and a short walk around Margate confirms a fast accelerating decline in the town. Work has ceased at that wonderful Sea-Bathing development (due so we are told to a dispute between Paigle and contractors) and more worrying is the cessation , other than finishing off a few houses already started, at St Augustine's development in Westgate; unsold properties of Phases 2 and 3 abound and Phases 4 to 7 seem to be on hold.

Westgate and Margate pubs were deadly quiet for the last two week-ends and people have little money to spend. Local builders tell me they have guys who went off to London, now asking them if there is a 'job' back in Thanet going? It seems to me , without that special insight gained as a TDC Councillor, that Westwood Cross has been a disaster for our local towns and that more pain is to follow.

That rumour that a certain London Borough has already earmarked housing at the new Westwood Cross housing development continues to persist despite it being 'poo-pooed' by a 'Tory Councillor and author of the popular but besieged Thanet Life weblog' some months ago.

On that subject how can a suspended, closed site be popular but beseiged? That hasn't stopped Your Thanet running another 'Your Thanet Blogger' article by Dr Simon Moores this week. I must say I enjoyed 'Iraq, Rock and ruin' and it was free!
His 'boss' Ezekiel and our MP, Roger Gale must be wondering why Simon has more coverage in the local media than they do. The answer of course may be that "it's a Zen thing".