Category: Basic principles

Basic principles

The National Health Service (NHS)

The National Health Service (NHS) was set up in the UK after the Second World War, in 1948. We pay for it […]

The National Health Service (NHS) was set up in the UK after the Second World War, in 1948. We pay for it out of our income tax and charges for prescriptions so that it is ‘free’ at the point of delivery, no matter how many times we use it. Everyone resident in the UK will have had some medical aid from the NHS at some point in their lives, as it covers doctors, nurses, hospitals, paramedics, pharmacists, opticians and dentists.

Unfortunately, over the years the public has been encouraged to seek advice from their NHS doctor at every symptom and there are now huge waiting lists, not only for hospital treatments but for simple GP appointments. Every Government ploughs more money into the NHS, as they believe this is a vote-winner, but this does not seem to produce a better service, merely more management and more tick-boxes.

“NHS reform” has become a common phrase but it remains to be seen how a behemoth that is beloved by most Britons can yield up to any change. Nevertheless it may come with new medical technological opportunities in the future. Let’s hope so!

(Image: Jaggery at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)

22/10/2018
3 min
6 years
198 words

Rights on becoming 16 years old

A young person acquires some legal rights at age 16. These are not the full rights of an adult, but they are […]

A young person acquires some legal rights at age 16. These are not the full rights of an adult, but they are the first step. Scottish law has some differences but it is very similar.

Briefly, 16-year-olds can drink alcohol (not spirits) with a meal in a restaurant if accompanied by an adult; join the Armed Forces with parental permission; get a driving licence for a moped; buy lottery tickets; leave home; get married with parental permission*; buy a pet and take control of their own medical dealings.

Not all of these are to be recommended, of course!

[*This changed in 2023, when the minimum age at marriage was raised to 18 in England and Wales]

(Top image: pxhere.com)

20/10/2018
2 min
6 years
117 words

Basic principles / Celebrations & Holidays

Armed Forces Day

Armed Forces Day in the UK is a day for thanking and paying respect to organisations such as the British Army, the […]

Armed Forces Day in the UK is a day for thanking and paying respect to organisations such as the British Army, the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines for what they do. It takes place on the last Saturday of June. Until 2009 it was known as Veterans’ Day, which was established in 2006.

There is a main event at a different venue each year, as well as local events throughout the UK. These consist of parades, fly-pasts, displays, performances, demonstrations and information tents. Some types of supervised activity whereby children can handle weapons, albeit safely, have been criticised by anti-war groups. Nevertheless, the aim of the Day is to promote an appreciation of the service and, in some cases, sacrifice provided to our country.

The website gives details of planned events.

(Image: Defence Imagery at Flickr.com / CC BY-NC 2.0)

17/10/2018
2 min
6 years
142 words

Basic principles / Politics

Local Council funding

Local Council funding comes from the Council Tax (Rates in N.Ireland) which residents pay (38% of the total) and from Business Rates […]

Local Council funding comes from the Council Tax (Rates in N.Ireland) which residents pay (38% of the total) and from Business Rates which companies pay (20% of the total). The other 42% comes from Government grants, plus various fees and charges for permits, licences, applications, etc.. This income then pays for numerous local services, from bin collections to school admissions to the police.

One glance at the homepage of your local council’s website will be enough to convince you of the necessity of these services running smoothly, but budgeting for them can be an extremely difficult juggling act.

Rates in N.Ireland are charged as a multiplication of a property’s rateable value as at 1st January 2005 by a figure determined annually by each council. Elsewhere in the UK, council tax is charged according to the property’s value on 1st April 1991 (2003 in Wales). New prperties are assessed backwards. There are eight council tax bands (nine in Wales), from A to H (I in Wales) and each year every council adds up all projected expenses and divides that by the number of residential properties to find the base amount for band D. The bands below pay less and the bands above pay more by set ratios.

16/10/2018
3 min
6 years
205 words

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Quoting Neil Oliver...

I love Britain more than anywhere else in the world. With all my heart I declare that those of us born here, or who have made a home here by choice, are the luckiest, most blessed of all people. I am British. I will always be British.