The Big Bad Budget part 2

So Boy George delivered his Big Bad Budget on Tuesday. It was anxiously anticipated, with many fearing a return of the Nasty Party Tories crushing the little man and saving the rich.

As a 20-something single (well single in the eyes of the law) with no dependents and working in the private sector it will not affect me that much. Fuel, fags and booze remain the same and cider duty has gone back down (the Boyfriend let out a cheer).

VAT will obviously make a difference, although it will be as little as the difference it made when they lowered it by 2.5% (depressingly many of the London public seemed incapable of grasping the new VAT rate - I had loads of people claiming that buying something that was previously £100 for £120 was outrageous. I did try to explain that it would now cost only £102.50, but in many cases it seemed to be to no avail...)

It is people that get pregnant, claim benefits or work within the public sector that will feel the effects the worse. Or the wealthier among us paying capital gains tax (I for one hold little sympathy for such characters).

Child benefit and public sector pay are to be frozen (some people claiming this is actually a pay cut as due to inflataion their money won't go as far). Housing allowance is to be capped (although not to a measly, unrealistic amount - £250 per week for a 1 bed flat seems fairly decent to me. Especially in Stockwell; moving down to Tooting and that will get you a palace, and going up to Wigan you could get an entire 4 bedroom family house with garden and no I kid you not).

Start-up costs for those that get pregnant will be cut, and anyone claiming disability allowance will need to reassessed.

Hopefully it will make a positive difference. We are all getting a little tired of this recession. And for all those worried about VAT going up listen closely. Chocolate covered biscuits (eg choc covered shortbread) - luxury item therefore pay VAT. Bakery items (such as cakes, flapjacks, etc) and choclate biccies with choc chips - not classed as luxury item, therefore no VAT.

So lesson learned - buy a Maryland not a penguin.

Oh, and just to settle the age-old debate, the Jaffa Cake is classed as a cake, thus proven because we do not pay VAT on said bakery item.

Britishness

A few years ago myself and a close friend dedicated a month of my life to making a short documentary about what it was to be British.



The majority of the content (aside from a few interviews) was made up of vox pops from people all over the UK about what Britishness meant to them. The answers ranged from the serious, to the hilarious to the extreme.



Rain, roasts, big red buses, the union jack, a curry, sense of humour, manners, tea, Buckingham Palace, Shakespeare, Tesco, fry ups, Richard Branson, the list was endless.



I hadn't really thought about that documentary for a while, but recently a close friend asked me for help. Her boyfriend is a New Yorker and they are going over there in June to visit his family. It is her first time meeting family and also in New York. While I am seething quietly with envy at the prospect of her spending a fortnight in the Mecca for all city girls, we are also working hard on thinking of good gifts for the parents.



They need to be typically British but without being naff (no tins of shortbread or stuffed Harrods bears). So far my contribution has been my personal list of the best of British:



Cath Kidston

Jo Malone

Lady and Earl grey tea

London

Teapots

Shakespeare

John Lewis

Decent Chocolate

Elderflower martinis



It is currently a work in progress. I shall let you know the verdict.

Countdown to Christmas: Christmas evening

Usually Christmas evening is a bit of an anti-climax. After the big lunch, and all the present opening, and chocolate eating, all that ever happens in the Howe household is that someone puts on a film, and we all lie about like beached whales, gradually drifting off.


But this year, I went over to the boyfriend's, and their Christmas evening has a very different feel.


I arrived at about half past 5 and everything was in full swing. There was not an empty glass in the house, and everyone was full of cheer and merriment (probably heightened by the obligatory shot of firewater given on arrival - they are a family of Poles afterall). The Wii was out, and despite my usual disdain for the contraption (if you want to go bowling, why not actually go bowling?) I thoroughly enjoyed playing on it, as did everyone else, and I now will not hear a bad word against this wonderful console.


We started with bowling (in my excitement at getting a strike I jumped up and hit a light fitting) and then we moved onto a variety of balance games (I was surprisingly good, as was Grandma Doreen, despite her dodgy hip). Uncle Richard was hopeless (at one point the only action his Mii would do was jump up and down on the spot. Richard, needless to say was stood completely still. Everytime he tried this particular game, exactly the same would happen - we never got to the bottom of why).


Aunt Judy loved the Wii. Although on many of the balance games she was frequently heard to shout "Oh it knows I've had my bunions done! It knows! It knows!". Whether it did know, I can't be sure, but it is an ingenious machine, and so I wouldn't be surprised. She convinced Uncle Richard that they were buying one in the Boxing Day sales. Richard was less keen.


Aunt Visia managed some enviable poses during the balance games, and the Boyfriend's dad was disqualified for getting so carried away that he actually jumped on the board (big no no).


Uncle Keith kept up some very amusing commentary (you're walking a tightrope, not dancing in a disco, you're supposed to be on a ski-jump, not on the toilet, and so on) and Tasha's boyfriend decided that real skiing is easier than the Ski Slalom.


Predictably the Boyfriend came out top for everything (3 strikes in a row, top of the leader board, first to cross the tightrope, etc). But it kept the rest of us amused for the best part of 3 hours, removed any awkardness or shyness that comes from spending Christmas with family that isn't yours, and made you feel much better about the grotesque amount of turkey, chocolate, cake, mince pies and wine consumed throughout the day.

Countdown to Christmas: Advent Calendars

Lucy and I have never, ever, in our entire history of Christmas been allowed a chocolate advent calendar.

It was a rule implemented by our strict mother, and after her death carried on by our respectful (and yet chocoholic) father.

We have even been given them in the past, only to have our father THROW THEM IN THE BIN!! (although we so have our suspicions that he may have removed the tray of chocolate first).

And yet as the time has gone on, Lucy and I have come to love our non-confectionary calendars - our father is very creative and we always have really lovely ones covered with beautiful pictures and glitter. And getting them is always a definite indictaion of the impending festive season.

Plus, the boyfriend, after displaying genuine shock at the absence of any chocolate calendar ever, every year without fail makes sure that I have my own little Cadbury's one as well.

Masterchef

Those of you that know me will know that cooking has never been a strong point, or even much of an interest for me. In fact my culinary expertise stretches not much further than toast. But one of the perks at work is complimentary tickets, and for that reason myself and Wigan were venturing to that district line black-spot of Kensington Olympia, to attend Masterchef Live.

After fighting our way through the frenzied crowds of amateur cooks, we made it into the lofty space of Olympia.

Which is huge. And was totally jam-packed with stalls that were selling everything, from juice to sausages, from cheese graters to lager, from chocolate to curry. And you could try more or less all of it. We saw one of the finalists from this year's Masterchef demonstrating how to fillet a fish, and a range of TV chefs signing books and having photos.

We managed to try a seriously large amount of stuff - Kingfisher lager was a winner, as what the second of the toffee vodkas. St Germain elderflower liquer is a definite must have - it tastes like a garden in spring. Fat free and low calorie curry on the other hand tastes fat-free and low caloris - rubbish. Chocolate orange fudge is nice, as was lavender (surprisingly). The Wiganer nearly choked to death on a chilli jam, and out of the considerable range of chocolate brownies, the best was probably the gluten free one.

The only thing we actually bought was a wild boar sausage sandwich and a buffalo burger for lunch (mega-YUM) and a chocolate owl (for the boyfriend).

All in all, I would not have paid for this event (partly down to the fact that cooking will never be that high on my agenda) but it was definitely worth going as a freebie.