I had to pop into Andover to pay a cheque in today. It’s a funny old town with an eclectic mix of folks, many looking worn out by what life has chucked out at them. It’s odd that a town in the heart of the Test Valley and all it’s wealth, struggles so much.

Provincial Towns

Head further west into Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall and the desperation in many of the provincial towns, is magnified further. The trickle-down economy doesn’t trickle down very far before drying up.

After picturing this old chap in Andover, plucking away on his guitar, I couldn’t help but wonder how he ended up on the cold streets of provincial Britain. With pitiful irony, he was sat literally next to the gutter. To make things worse for him, the days of loose change are long gone. We are a cashless society.

Moggy the Millionaire Tax Avoider

When I got back in my car, the first thing I heard was the news that Jacob Rees-Mogg had been cleared of any financial wrongdoing with regards to his income. Paying yourself a loan of £6 million from your offshore account to avoid paying tax, isn’t illegal. The only bankruptcy Rees-Mogg suffers from, is a moral one, but he doesn’t care.

The point of being an MP is to show moral competence. To preach to your voters that paying tax is a duty. To be a good citizen is to pay tax on your earnings. This money is invested in the hospitals you are treated in, the schools that educate our children and the public services that enhance our lives.

If Rees-Mogg can’t bring himself to lead by example, he should not be an MP. However, the fact that he is, says as much about certain members of our society as it does about him. How did we get to a point where a brazen tax avoider gets fawned over, and a homeless bloke with a guitar, is a piece of shit?

It depresses the shit out of me if I am honest.