A Bullet to the Foot

My corporation tax bill arrived this week. It’s down 50% from last year, which isn’t a surprise. Sales are down by about the same because ‘The Party of Business’ is making it impossible to run a company in the UK. Businesses now have ridiculous trade barriers with our largest export market, skyrocketing energy bills which increase the price of our goods, and higher import costs for raw materials – a trifecta of dysfunction with no hint of a better future ahead.

I’ve whittled my business costs down as much as possible. The heating is on 90 minutes a day to prevent the pipes from freezing, our commercial bins are being emptied once a month, and I’m down to one member of staff outside of family. If I’m honest, I can’t believe we’ve made it this far, and I suspect next year will be the year we run out of road. While our contributions to the public purse are nowhere close to where they were before the UK left the EU, at least we were paying something.

Despite what my ego might like to think, my business won’t be missed when it’s gone. The government was happy to destroy jobs and profit for the sake of their warped ideology, so one last kick in the teeth won’t be noticed. Heck, it might even be a relief to watch the decline as a spectator instead of an active participant. With Labour saying they won’t consider a return to the single market, Brexit damage is now permanent. By the time we’re in a position to offer EU customers anything, they’ll be in long-standing relationships with the EU suppliers they switched to once UK suppliers became too much bother.

I hope the people who promoted this garbage got what they wanted, and I hope it was worth it to those who believed the obvious falsehoods.