Taking The Queens Shilling

Less 4 years ago I found myself in a similar position as I do now; family troubles meant I could not cope with my postgraduate studies and I withdrew from a PhD (in truth had I not done this it was very likely I would've been pushed, my work was suffering that much).

I found myself with my last stipend (a portion of which I would later give back compounding things further), Christmas looming and a new and supportive wife taking her teaching qualification meaning money was incredibly tight. Things had not started out well.

In that period of time I found myself turning to various job agencies; all except the most obvious one, the JobCentre, infact. Even then, still young and unsure of where I stood politically I knew I didn't want to collect a dole until then I had not paid for or supported.

One agency called back - one that dealt with the NHS and public sector bodies - saying they needed someone to start work; several posts followed at varying NHS sites around Leeds, Bradford and beyond, when finally I was given a 3 month temporary contract in a busy department at one of the main Leeds hospitals, a contract that would be extended repeated for over a year. It was here that I received perhaps my best compliment for my work I have received ever; I was acosted by one of the doctors I worked for and asked if I were an undercover reporter investigating standards at British hospitals, thus was the standard of my clerical work and attention to detail viewed. My family situation also recovered through this period even to the point that one of the consultants discussed a potential postgraduate research position in collaboration with my former department, which they declined.

This work, in a period of great "prosperity" (I used the term to describe the feeling, not the underlying lie that we are all paying for), made me realise precisely what the NHS is for - what it is truly for: it is there to provide health and support to a sick nation; it is not there to provide a haven for the workshy - my contract was renewed despite efforts to get someone else in the role permanently precisely because I worked hard and realised that my actions, however meagre in comparison to the doctors and nurses in the department, contributed to patient wellbeing. 

Several years on, knowing more about the concept of libertarianism, having found my last company betraying myself and several others to maintain short term capital gains (for which I do not blame them; time will tell if this was the right decision), I find myself at the doors to the recruitment company I was at before, except this time there are no more jobs at the NHS; instead I find myself posted with another government body and I wonder if I am doing the right thing supporting the vast edifice I now find myself working for again, albeit this time with less of that feelgood factor.

I find myself rationalising it this way and that - that this is merely a tax rebate I am working (hard) for, that it will give me an excellent view from the inside. In truth with a little baby in tow, a mortgage and a wife who's career though taking off is still at an early stage (compounded by maternity leave) I find the simplest answer is that I must work in order to pay the bills. 

I start next week; I do not know if this is a non-job, if it is actually something worthwhile as yet because I do not have all the details; I do know that my needs must, my savings exhausted and that I will do this job with my utmost for the shareholders - all of us. I plan on performing my utmost in this position because of the principles that I stand for; that I, an individual, can, and will, make a difference

Until then I urge everyone to join and vote for a party that will make government non-jobs a thing of the past and put some dignity back into governance, rather than just throw money at it.

It is not, as many have tried to infer, a party wishing to destroy the government - we would then have to be called the Anarchy Party. We simply wish to put the business of government back on the correct footing and keep it there constitutionally; that a governments only task is to protect the rights of the individuals of the country it serves, punish those who infringe on anothers rights to freedom and defend the realm. Anything else should be consensual, not forced.