Beatles songs are multi-use. They can not only be used for audio entertainment but as a useful guide as to societal ‘progress’ since the Fab Four were at their peak in the 1960s.

As a rapidly ageing middle-aged man, I am a fully paid-up fanboy (minus the mop-top), as we await the next pretenders to the throne who will likely never quite match the levels of musical mastery the Scouse kings achieved.

In ‘A Day In The Life’ Paul sang “Made the bus in seconds flat, made my way upstairs and had a smoke...” which is a prime example. I often mention being allowed to smoke on planes and trains, as well as being allowed to openly hold an opinion which is not that of groupthink, and my kids look at me as if I’m the local loon.

Some songs don’t portray the movement of time however including ‘Taxman’. With lines including “Should five per cent appear too small, be thankful I don’t it all” as well as tongue-in-cheek insinuations that your seat will be taxed if you try to sit, as well as taxing heat.

The last chorus contains advice for those that die as they joke about taxing the deceased. Now one might argue that things have not just changed, but have gotten a whole lot worse as our current lot shows us as The Beatles prove their prophetic juices once more

Tax Freedom Day this year fell on June 8, meaning the average UK person, after tax in its various stealth guises is accounted for, over a calendar year, won’t earn a single penny until that date. To put this date in perspective and the rampant progression of us ‘working for the state’, only ten years ago that date read May 30 (according to the Adam Smith Institute). The total government expenditure in 2020-21 was £793 billion, made up of not only income tax, but corporation, inheritance, VAT, NI, Excise, fuel and even stamp duty and land tax. Add to that council tax and we have a perfect storm as to why we became so frustrated with our former partyboy leader, Bojo, but also with those who continued, through selfish careerist objectives, such as local MPs Oliver Dowden and Dean Russell, to back him to the hilt when many of us were, and continue to, suffer serious hardship due to the cost-of-living crisis.

As a term, it means little, like ‘austerity’, yet it encapsulates the real struggles, nay, crisis, that many face. Only last month I received a bill from my energy supplier stating my £133 monthly payments, all up to date, were being increased to a staggering £470. Comparatively I am one of the lucky ones as my income, although not huge, is above the national average of £31,000.

So, with the ongoing taxes, the hugely-inflated fuel prices, and the cost-of-living rip-off, we are left asking where are our government? Soundbite excuses continue, in lieu of solutions, such as the war in Ukraine and the cost of wholesale energy costs rising by 54 per cent, yet that does not answer why energy companies, such as Shell, who made a net profit of over 9 billion bucks in the first quarter alone, are not being held to account.

The government will point to a cut of 5p per litre back in March but that was, as is par for the course when legislation fails to protect the masses, gazumped by the petrol companies ramping prices up 4p at the time the government lowered their duties. The government still takes around 45 per cent of each tank of fuel in tax yet throw us the odd bone and expect us to be thankful for it, as anger rises to the point where, sadly, I predict a return to civil disobedience in the not-too-distant future.

Not only are we living the Taxman song, but we are back to the past when necessities are now seen as luxuries, as we regress as a society and prove John and company correct that “You’re working for no one but me - the taxman”...