Before the idea of narrating this story of Welsh Governmental oppression occurred to me, I had an abundance of opportunity to observe the way in which the proponents of double-taxation went about their work. Those who advocated penalising second-home owners tended to be leftwing politicians, leftwing media pundits and those individuals who were busy making…

Regulation, and the whole process of creating new bureaucracy frequently has ‘unintended consequences’. This is an inevitable byproduct given the mushrooming oeuvre of regulations in the UK, their increasingly complex interaction with high-level legal principles, and the intensely issue-focused nature of politics. It is significant that frequently the key drivers for new regulations are ideologies…

Nobody denies that there is a problem here.  In certain parts of Wales, local housing stocks are limited, and the demand for them has driven up the price.  There are other parts of Wales where this is certainly not the case, and where any inability of locals to get on the housing ladder will have…

I hope it will not seem unreasonable to the reader that, when faced with notifications about significant hikes in our Council Tax, I engaged in correspondence with the local authority.  I was always careful to address my letters to the individual who first communicated with us about the imminent additional charge. There have been some…

I find myself intrigued by the ideas of affordability and proportionality.  Under the Income Tax regime, if I earn more then I pay more tax.  I may not like paying the tax, but it kinda feels proportionate.  The fact that there are some allowances and offsets help support the view that the system is fair,…

It feels somehow crass and inappropriate to write defending one’s own status, and always much easier and appropriate to defend the status of others who are experiencing discrimination.  In this case, and especially given the political climate in Wales (where I live), I find myself uncomfortably edged into the first category, and therefore beg the…

I may be many things, but you certainly could not classify me as a ‘political animal’.  In my lifetime, I have voted New Labour, LibDems, Conservative, and even stood (quite a few years ago) in the local council elections, for the Green Party.  Thankfully, my polling was so dismal that the world was spared any…