Well, the poll booths open tomorrow morning and if you’re anything like me you are umming and ahhing over who to vote for.  Conservative seem to understand that not all businesses deserve to be clobbered – for every multi-billion pound bank there are probably a thousand small businesses that don’t make any money at all.  Cozibag Bean Bags is a small business employing a few staff; we have worked tirelessly to build a modern, fresh brand offering high quality bean bag furniture (such as our unique luxury range of Everlast Faux Leather and Real Leather beanbags) and it would be a little harsh to increase the company’s National Insurance liability further.

The Lib Dem promise to increase the tax allowance to £10,000 is an excellent one.  I have long thought that the tax allowance should try to reflect a livable wage and I would suggest it should be even higher than that proposed by Nick Clegg.  This would encourage more people to work (where possible), thus reducing benefit payments.  I would then raise the basic rate of tax for all earnings over that tax allowance (of, say, £15,000) to actually increase total revenue.  On a personal note, I would be happy to pay a little extra income tax, especially during these economically challenging times.

Labour, for all their mistakes (and, let’s face it, any party in power is bound to make mistakes), are still a party which strives to offer fairness across the board.  They have introduced some excellent initiatives for childcare and improved waiting times on the NHS – both huge issues for most people.  Plus, it could be convincingly argued that they have so far carried us through these troubled times and have both the knowledge and experience to see it through to the other side – Gordon Brown is certainly well-placed to understand the economy now.

Finally, there are fringe parties such as UKIP and The Green Party.  They may offer good ideas to some, but they will never stand a chance unless the voting rules are changed to allow people to list multiple choices in order of preference on their ballot paper.

The tactical voting suggested by some top Labour politicians has made this election an intriguing one.  Along with the televised debates, it seems to have reignited many people’s passion for politics, which is a great thing.

Well, just a few points as I see it, but to be honest it doesn’t really help as there are pros and cons every which way you look.  I suspect that many people who, like myself, aren’t aligned (officially or emotionally) to a particular party will do as I do tomorrow: stare at the ballot paper for a while and cross the box that just feels right at the time.

Thanks for reading,

Cozibag Bean Bags

The political world is buzzing with the announcement today that the general election will take place on 6th May.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown held a meeting with his cabinet before visiting Buckingham Palace to officially ask HM Queen to dissolve parliament.

Mr Brown claimed that Labour had already got the “big decisions” right during the current financial plight of the world recession, and that he would continue to do so in order to avert the risk of a “double-dip recession”.

He promised to protect front-line public services and offer continued support to the armed forces.

Conservative leader David Cameron insists the country needs a change and that successive Labour governments have virtually brought the country to its knees.  I have to say, although Gordon Brown does seem to be handling the current financial problems with relative success (lower than expected unemployment; slightly higher than anticipated economic growth), there are many decisions that should be questioned, not least why our financial institutions were encouraged by Labour (with Brown as the Chancellor or the Exchequer) to gamble more and more money on foreign markets for increased profits, and peculiar actions such as selling huge quantities of the UK’s gold reserves for rock-bottom prices (I’m sure there must have been some thinking behind this but I honestly don’t know what).

Cozibag Bean Bags was set up towards the end of the Blair years and we have gone from strength to strength selling high quality bean bag furniture in leather and faux leather materials.  However, I’d say it was more down to hard work than the political environment, and we’re certainly a little concerned about a possible increase in Employers’ National Insurance contributions.  In all honesty, I don’t see why a small (1p in the pound perhaps?) rise in income tax wouldn’t be a fairer option, particularly if it were only applied to those earning a reasonable living wage; surely that would be a fairer way to increase public revenues without hitting people too hard?

However, Labour have also worked very hard on improving and increasing public services, particularly in areas such as health care.  I don’t know,  it remains to be seen whether to public will remember the good or the bad; I suspect I know which but wouldn’t like to comment either way.  Only 6 months ago it seemed odds-on that the Conservatives would win by a landslide, but things have swung back towards Labour a little and, although still in the Tory’s favour, the polls seem to suggest this one will be a very close call indeed.

Thanks for reading

Cozibag Bean Bags

The Easter weekend is upon us; a time for deep reflection if you are a serious Christian, a time to stuff your face with chocolate if not.  I suppose both together is common.

Our High-back XXL and XL bean bags look remarkably similar to Easter eggs but without the calories, so why not treat yourself to a Cozibag bean bag and enjoy Easter whilst remaining on course for your summer beach body!

Like many others, I have never understood how or why Easter seems to change each year, so I decided to have a little look into it.

Apparently, Easter was originally called Pascha after the Hebrew word for Passover, a Jewish festival that is set by the first full moon following the vernal equinox – the spring day when night and day are exactly the same length.  As Pascha fell around the same time as the Jewish festival, Christians wanted to have their feast day at the same time as the Jews.

Pascha later became known as Easter, a word which is believed to be derived from Eostre, the name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and springtime.

The date of Easter is determined, like its pagan festival equivalent, by the lunar calendar.

Solar and lunar calendars

The ancient Egyptians used a solar calender which was passed on through the Roman and Christian cultures to become the modern world standard.  However, the Jews used phases of the moon (as Islam now does).

A problem is caused by the solar year (the length of time it takes the earth to orbit the sun) being nearly 11 days longer than the lunar year.  Many formulae have been devised to try to reconcile the two as a method of marking time.

So when does Easter fall?

Generally speaking, Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after 21 March.

It can be as early as 22 March, as it was in 1761 and 1818 (but that won’t happen until 2285) or as late as 25 April, but we haven’t had that since 1943 and won’t again until 2038.  The most common date is 19 April.

So there you go, a nice little lesson in religious history!  I hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading,

Cozibag Bean Bags