Dear Chancellor ...

9 Sep 2010

I know you are really busy at the moment, trying to find ways to save costs in increase income an' stuff, so I thought I'd suggest a really brave solution to some of your problems:
Legalise and control prostitution as well as the use and distribution of drugs.
Let's face it, we already tax some terribly addictive and potentially damaging drugs, so why not tax those things that we have manifestly failed to control, and which cost us a fortune by way of (failed) policing, court and prison costs and all the social services costs - never mind the human misery and healthcare issues.
Similarly we will never eliminate prostitution. Lets take it from underground and put it above board, to the benefit of the sex workers (male and female) as well as the clients. And it is well known that regularly de-spunked males are a lot less aggressive!
We can raise taxes from all elements of these enterprises, to the great benefit of the exchequer, with reduced costs to the NHS and vastly reduced policing costs. And you will find jobs in administrating these initiatives for some of the civil servants who you otherwise would have to be sacking (and paying sodding big severance payments)
Just a thought
Peace!
Ken

9 Sep 2010

Hello Ken

Nice to see ya posting :)
I will move this to the Current Affairs forum for you.

10 Sep 2010

Oh, and I forgot to say, that there's an awful of of depressed people who would feel a whole lot better for a good screw. A close friend is a mental health professional and is convinced she'd have far fewer clients if she could prescribe sex on the NHS.
That way being a sex worker can start to become a true profession, with skills tests to be passed, exams ("please excuse the jiggly handwriting") to sit/lie and so on.
Everyone here - virtually by definition - should be willing to support the view that sex acts between and involving consenting adults should not be a shameful activity. I hope that sometime in the future truly professional sex workers (rather than forced or coerced ones) should be recognised as performing a valuable social service and their clients should be recognised as simply paying for professional help that will benefit their daily lives. And I'm, sure that 95% of politicians (excl Anne Widdicombe and a few others) would express the same view - in private. But repressed and repressive "middle england" makes their public support of something like this almost impossible to gain, and we will remain locked into some very dubious Victorian morality.