No one can deny that the demonstrators in London on Saturday had a right to be there. That’s what democracy is all about. With savings beginning to bite in a bloated public sector, it’s understandable that those losing their jobs felt angry and confused. Sadly, though, we can’t afford a client state, which today accounts for over one in five of all jobs in the UK. Behind these job losses there are real people, real families and this of course concerns us all. However, the economy will recover and I believe the Chancellor has gone a long way to revitalise the private sector, which will take up much of the slack. But, this is not going to happen in the short term, and I predict it will take several years for our country to recover. Meanwhile, I have no sympathy for those thugs who increasingly attach themselves to genuine marches. Their only commitment is to violence and mayhem, rather than any kind of positive endeavour. I found the scenes unfolding on our television screens depressing. A snapshot of the United Kingdom in 2011 only underlines how far down the wrong track we have gone. Happily, these louts only represent a small and vicious minority, but I can’t help feeling the number of disaffected people is growing. And that is worrying. In the meantime, the law abiding majority remains on edge as livelihoods are threatened and jobs cut. I wish I could guarantee a speedy recovery, but I’d be lying if I did. The state of our economy is such that it’s going to take years to turn the ship around. We’ve at least turned the wheel and we will avoid the rocks. Now, it’s up to our businessmen and women, our entrepreneurs and of course our young people, to steer UK plc to safer waters. I am confident the government will do all it can to remove the obstacles, although the EU remains a continuous and distinctive blip on the radar. Remove that danger, and we’d be away.