I am sure in the eyes of many, the Middleton wedding would have seemed a bit over the top.

There are reports that the whole bash cost in the region of £700,000, but was indeed paid for by the families who did not inherit old wealth, but had originated from “hard working” forbears.

But the cost does not stop there: 150 wedding guests and a further 250 for the evening reception would add to the overall figure – new outfits, hair dos, suit hire, taxis, overnight accommodation, headache pills – not to mention expensive presents and it soon becomes evident that the total spend would be well over £1 million.

Now for those that can see further than their nose this is great. Money formerly sitting in a bank account has been showered on those providing goods and services and will filter down to the so called hard working poor and presumably the tax office will have a decent take of around £200,000 for VAT while tax revenue will increase from those businesses and employees who have earned money out of the whole shindig.

For the benefit of Corbyn, McDonnell and McCluskey, this is how the economy works. At the top of the pile you have wealth creators who take risks, employ people and spend money. At the lower end you have labourers who make things for the wealthier to buy and at the very bottom you have those with no stake in society at all, but are happy to receive the largesse of our benefits system.

I challenge anybody with half a brain – excluding Diane Abbott who unfortunately does not quite fit that category – to explain to me how the economy will work when the financiers, the risk takers, the entrepreneurs and the large employers have all fled the country to a place where the ruling party does not base its whole dogma on jealousy of the well off. When Labour has nationalised everything that moves, presumably their employees will be entitled to an inflation proof state pension: who is going to pay for the cost of that?

Given that by the time this magazine has been published we will have had two months of promises made by various political parties, most of which will never have their ideas put into practice, I thought I would put pen to paper and come up with a manifesto of mine own.

  • 1. deport illegal immigrants who have committed crime;
  • 2. repeal the Human Rights Act to facilitate the above;
  • 3. shut pubs and clubs at midnight;
  • 4. charge drunks for entrance to A & E;
  • 5. put a cap on the amount head officers of charities can earn;
  • 6. bring policemen back on the beat;
  • 7. get a grip of fly tippers who spoil our countryside;
  • 8. demand that council recycling units take commercial waste up to a certain size of vehicle – see above;
  • 9. expand the apprenticeship scheme;
  • 10. increase the qualification level for university entrance; and
  • 11. stop sending overseas aid to nearly every country whose name ends in A.

One final thought – will somebody please inform the younger generation that when they have graduated from university, with the fees paid for by the Labour Party, just be aware there will not be any jobs to apply for!

P.S. Had a good month – 240 ewe tegs sheared before the rains came, the fields are greening up and management’s garden is a picture.

I do hope May arrives in June.