Today I am giving you the opportunity to send in your ideas of what legislation the government should propose for the new Parliament
We know there will be priority for Brexit legislation , and the government has decided to bind itself in law to increases in NHS spending.
I would like to see a Constitutional Reform Bill. This would repeal the Fixed Terms Parliament Act which did so much damage in the last Parliament. An Act designed to keep elections to one every five years has instead allowed three in four years. It could legislate to reduce the number of MPs by 50 as promised before. It should limit the Speakers powers by requiring a government moved Money Resolution and Queens consent to legislation.
I would like a simpler and lower taxes bill to incorporate the various tax measures I have proposed.
I want to see better protection for armed services personnel against legal challenge, once cleared by an enquiry.
I favour new legislation on the BBC to decriminalise the licence fee.
December 16, 2019
Sir John,
How about a commitment to rectify the injustice suffered by UK pensioners in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other countries who, despite having fully contributed during their working lives, see their UK State Pension frozen.
This state of affairs is absolutely indefensible and any commercial pension provider who received ‘premiums’, but then welched on payment of pensions due, would have been taken to court.
The cost to remedy this despicable situation is estimated at around Ā£0.5 billion. A small price to pay to elderly individuals who may otherwise be forced to return to te UK where they would become an added burden on the fragile NHS.
Please, Sir John, speak up for this group of UK veterans whose voice has been ignored for far too long.
December 16, 2019
With you on that one Pom.
December 16, 2019
That is nothing whatsoever, compared to the very serious problems that Leave voters such as you have inflicted on the young, talented, energetic and productive from this country, who are working throughout the European Union, and vice-versa.
Your blatant, intense, self-centred whimpering speaks for itself.
December 16, 2019
And a very merry Christmas to you, once again, Martin.
December 16, 2019
So the policies of Labour in the recent election were not aimed at blatant, intense self centred voters?
Why else the promise to spend more or other people’s money on voters.
Politics is all about what’s in it for me Martin and your desire to stay in the EU proves it. You are as self centred, intensely so, as you are accusing others of being.
Suggest you hold a mirror up to yourself before posting any more replies critical of individuals.
December 16, 2019
It seems to me that a lot of young, talented, energetic and productive people must have voted to give the Conservatives a mandate to leave the EU.
December 16, 2019
None of your victims are going to lose their jobs or right of residence, are they?
P.S. In my large, extended family only one of my peers opted to work in Europe and that was in non-EU (at the time) Czechoslovakia. In the referendum she supported Leave. The younger members of my family working abroad are choosing to work in the Big Wide World rather that the protectionist EU.
December 16, 2019
Well said Martin. People whose entirely lives and livelihoods have been turned upside down.
December 16, 2019
M in C
Perhaps you could give us a few instances of young people suffering who are presently working in the EU (and vice versa) due to our Leave vote. I ask because all the young (and not so young) people I know, working there and here, are still working, thriving and expecting to continue doing so – many of them having voted to Leave the EU, since they understand that’s nothing to do with leaving Europe.
In reply to your final sentence – use these words in a well-known phrase or saying: Pot, Kettle, Black.
December 16, 2019
marty – – you want me to feel sorry for all the well-paid young who left UK to work in the EU? No chance. Encourage them to return and replace EU citizens getting jobs here. ‘charity begins at home’.
December 16, 2019
Last time I checked the EU and UK had both said there would be little or no change in the status of people from the EU working here in the UK and vice versa.
December 16, 2019
Martin,
Perhaps you could list what has been inflicted on the young by a vote to leave. Or indeed will be inflected on the Young when we do leave.
If a young person has talent they will be welcomed in any country. It does not need a European Parliament to make sure this happens.
Kind regards,
John
December 17, 2019
I urge you, Martin, not to believe the hype about “disaster leaving the EU” but to wait and see the result of the change.
December 16, 2019
I quite agree, Pominoz, writing from South Africa, but may I add: the UK government freezes my pension, but still expects me to pay my taxes in full to HMRC!
December 16, 2019
Me too, sm.
December 16, 2019
Hear hear.
December 16, 2019
Why not just have it paid into a UK bank account and use a relative’s UK address for correspondence?
Legitimate question @pom
December 16, 2019
Pominoz
Agreed
December 16, 2019
Lower number of Mp’s and instigate the already agreed/proposed boundary changes set out by the electoral commission..
House of Lords reform, with a fixed number of members with a maximum term (open to discussion)
Do not sign present EU Withdrawal Agreement, at the very least add an amendment that nothing is agreed until all is agreed.
Simplify IHT to an allowance of Ā£1,000,000 per person, to exclude the family home/principle residence.
Abolish IR35.
Abolish all insurance taxes.
Allow health insurance premiums to be tax allowable.
Allow private school fees to be tax allowable.
So called Honours system needs a complete rethink, with no honours for or from, past Party leaders or present Mps (sorry John but this has be abused in the past) until they have been out of public service for 10 years
Rather like referendums if when they are held they are legally binding.
Many, many more, more to list.
December 17, 2019
Agree on House of Lords matter. Original principle of heredity included many blood lines but without money…. ie earnest people, no vested interest.
In other words, H of L needs reform but not electoral as that makes it as political as the H of C and that has its drawbacks.
December 16, 2019
Absolutely correct. Pom
December 16, 2019
How about scraping entirely UK pensions for those whoāve left the UK. Why should UK taxpayers fund you? Fund yourself. And, no, most of you have not paid as much into the system as you now take out.
December 17, 2019
What unaduterated rubbish falls from your pen. A nasty little baseless rant as ever.
December 16, 2019
UK state pensioners in Turkey get the annual increase! introduced wiithout publicity by the Conservative/Libdem coalition.
December 16, 2019
Absolutely agree !
December 16, 2019
Living in Canada, I fully agree with you. Despite having paid in for 40 years my wife and I have been suffering this freeze on our pensions for 17 and 12 years respectively. It is a disgrace. I would be very pleased if we could get some support from John but, I guess, not living in UK we are nowhere near a priority.
December 16, 2019
20/20 vision for taxation, namely clarity through simplification and 20% rates for both CGT and IHT.
The worthy objective of levelling up standards of living demands levelling down excessive rates of taxation which discourage saving and investment.
December 16, 2019
These rates are still too high CGT needs to be indexed to inflation.
Scrap the theft of landlords tax that taxed profits not even made. And the pension mugging taxes.
December 16, 2019
Withdrawal from the International Criminal Court and the ECHR
Abolition of the Supreme Court and restoration of the House of Lords as final court of appeal
Abolition of the telly tax
Abolition of IR35
Reduction of income tax
Reduction of corporation tax
Reduction of VAT
Abolition of inheritance tax
December 16, 2019
I’d like to see VAT scrapped altogether and revert to Purchase tax. VAT is a fraudsters paradise and causes every business a vast amount of admin. HMRC suffer a great amount of unnecessary work too, I iminagine.
December 16, 2019
All these too.
December 16, 2019
ALSO REDUCE
THE 12% INSURANCE TAX
NI TAXES EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE
FUEL DUTIES
STAMP DUTIES ABOLISH THEM
CUT THE OTT GREEN CRAP BUILDING REGS.
December 16, 2019
The Supreme Court performs exactly the same function as did the HoL and under the same people, i.e. the most eminent judges.
It simply happens in a different building so that the two sets of business can carry on undisturbed.
December 16, 2019
What makes a judge “most eminent”? Why were the Supreme Court judges more eminent than those who said proroguing Parliament was not a matter for the courts?
December 16, 2019
How “eminent” is explained here by John Ward:
https://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2019/09/25/exclusive-why-this-supreme-court-was-never-going-to-find-bojos-proroguation-legal/
December 16, 2019
+1
Especially to IR35, and VAT on health products.
The withdrawal of IR35 would encourage small businesses, reduce the cost of red tape, and help the NHS due to the number of agency nurses who retired rather than deal with it. IT contractors just went overseas. Lower paid temp staff caught by it didn’t have that option.
December 16, 2019
Bloke in Wales: 8 good suggestions.
I’d add ( of course ) BREXIT – Let’s put it to bed by the end of January.
Repeal the fixed term Parliament act.
Repeal nearly every piece of legislation of the last three months of the last Parliament.
Review the Judicial Appointments commission – It was a device by Blair and Irvine to entrench the appointment of activist Judges into the Judiciary, it’s had free reign for the last twenty years, it needs to be overhauled or abolished.
All its appointments, reviewed urgently.
Reform of the House of Lords. It’s time to get rid of all the Political appointments. All of them. We don’t need a second chamber where eight hundred members are eligible to sit.
There are only 92 Peers of the Realm in the Lords. We could have another 92 seats a mixture of appointments from the Regions – Scottish, Welsh, English. Or directly elected for a ten year period.
Hold a UK wide referendum on Scottish independence.
December 17, 2019
APL: “Reform of the House of Lords.”
Well, after elevating some one who said she wouldn’t want to work in a Johnson administration to the Lords so as she could continue working in a Johnson administration.
I guess reform of the House of Lords isn’t on Johnson’s agenda.
December 16, 2019
Great list. Here’s my humble suggestion. Badgers don’t have votes but there’s votes in badgers. Labour said they’d stop the culls as unscientific – tragic the Tories haven’t yet.
Farmers spread long-lasting TB bacilli in muck when they could kill it first by altering the pH. Proper management is key, not culling beautiful badgers.
December 16, 2019
Stop the attack on cash and loos. Older people need both. We also need to be able to deal with things by talking to a human being. My only local bank is closing. There is now just one cash machine and a post office under threat. Help those who do not do everything with tech to cope. My gardener is in his 80s and has no bank account. Many people have a network of informal supports and we need cash.
December 16, 2019
Make cash machines and post offices mandatory at all Supermarkets. This does not solve the problem for rural communities but a mobile version would.
December 16, 2019
+100
December 16, 2019
I don’t know anything about an ‘attack’ on loos – but, compared with other countries (Canada, Australia, New Zealand) our facilities are abysmal – and that’s not an age thing.
There should be provision of toilet facilities in any car park or shopping centre/supermarket above a certain size – and regulation to enforce it.
December 16, 2019
I hope you do his or her garden in return. Or pay the poor old bugger and do most of the work yourself.
December 18, 2019
God bless our local Co-op which has not only made space to accommodate a volunteer staffed public library (when our library was closed down), but also installed a cash machine when all the banks in the town closed theirs down.
December 16, 2019
Good morning.
Abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected chamber.
Abolish the the Supreme Court and go back to the system we had before Blair politicised our judiciary.
Repeal the Climate Change Act – A must !
Withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.
Repeal legislation that protects, by force of law, the License Fee.
And that is for starters.
December 16, 2019
Abolition of Stamp Duty for those with just one home.
December 16, 2019
Why not for all – turnover taxes are absurdly damaging at 1% as it used to be perhaps not so bad – but now up to 15% and they want 18% they are absurdly damaging to job mobility etc.
December 16, 2019
Nobody moving house for UK-based job reasons pays the 15% or 18% rates. These are only for landlords (and foreign landlords), and then only on that proportion of a purchase over Ā£1.5million, so are completely irrelevant to the average working person.
In the area I live in, there are no properties that even come close to an asking price where a landlord looking to buy would have to worry about those sorts of stamp duty rates.
December 16, 2019
LL
You do not need to more than two private homes. If having a second home for renting then that is another matter.
December 16, 2019
All those too.
December 16, 2019
Your contradiction makes you appear ridiculous.
The system before the Supreme Court was that the most eminent judges, the appointed law lords, would hear cases in the HoL.
You say that you want to go back to that.
But you first say that you want to get rid of the House Of Lords and replace it with an elected chamber.
That serves as a guide as to what we should make of your comments, I think.
December 16, 2019
On no account must the HoL be elected.
This would allow Peers to claim a legitimacy to the HoC which would cause Constitutional havoc.
Any possibility of politicisation would come, not from the constitution of the Court or its location, but from the members who sit on it.
December 16, 2019
Reduce numbers in the House of Lords by 50%, abolish the republican style Supreme Court and restore House of Lords as the highest court in the land.
December 16, 2019
Apart from the things we usually discuss I would like to see equality for England, ie. an Assembly for England, where Scots MP’s do not vote on England only laws. The Scots have too much say in Parliament with regard to England, and use it to punish us, at times.
I would also like veterans to have more protection from prosecution. Nobody can know what mental stress they face in highly dangerous situations.
December 16, 2019
Indeed they do and far too much of our money too. Plus they should not be allowed to charge the English but not the Scots or Spanish at their Universities. Should be the same for all.
December 16, 2019
+1
December 16, 2019
Absolutely correct .
My daughter although owning a flat in Edinburgh was charged tuition fees throughout her course at Edinburgh University because she had applied from England .
This was from year 2000.
December 16, 2019
Yes Shirley, confine the SNP to Scottish affaires. They represent 1.24 million voters and a total population of 5.4 million. Small beer in the scheme of things. They should be forced to answer the contradiction in their desire for independence. Why move from a position within the UK family to one within a draconian socialist EU. It looks like saute pan to fire to me.
December 16, 2019
That’s the killer. The SNP want to deny the UK it’s own independence, but they want to leave the UK anyway to achieve their own independence (whether they give it away again is up to them).
The SNP hypocrisy and double standards is present in bucket loads.
December 16, 2019
Agree with both your proposals.
December 16, 2019
I second what Shirley says. Also, we hear one of the posts Boris has to fill today is Secretary of State for Wales. What about a Secretary of State for England as we currently have no-one speaking for England (sorry John, we don’t). I would also like to see all Departments such as health and education relabelled and given their true titles – Department of Health for England and Department of Education for England, etc. No more of this deliberate conflation. I could go on. SNP MPs sitting on Health and Education (England) Select Committees and the one that really annoys me is Student Finance England being located in Scotland.
Also smaller Government and a smaller State.
December 16, 2019
@Shirley; “an Assembly for England, where Scots MPās do not vote on England only laws.”
But isn’t that what we effectively have in the EVEL legislation?
What EVEL does not stop is the SNP filibustering English only legislation by being allowed to pontificate upon England only affairs at Westminster, often preventing English MPs speaking for or against the motion due to time constants. EVEL needs to be modified to stop this abuse, otherwise modify the devolution settlement to allow any UK MP to attend and speak in the Scotland only parliament!
December 16, 2019
Give wee Kranky a referendum and let’s be shot of them.
Your doing it witb Northern Ireland so no problem.
December 16, 2019
It seems Boris is going full on to get the treacherous WA signed into law. Shackling us to the EU for ever.
I hope the new intake shows some spine and blocks it.
We are not supplicants.
December 16, 2019
Difficult to imagine fresh-faced new MPs selected by CCHQ standing up to a PM with a mighty mandate, especially when the likes of ‘the hardman of Brexit’, and even our kind host, have already pledged their fealty.
December 16, 2019
Mr Wragg – ”the treacherous WA”.
And this – despite the pledge Mr J (and many others) made (standup4brexit.com) to abandon Mrs May’s WA as ”dead”.
Perhaps he really does believe people don’t recognise HIS ”oven-ready deal” as her old WA, and that he has succeeded in bamboozling us all. Or perhaps he doesn’t actually care. Shameless.
December 16, 2019
Gove has said that a lot of the work needed for the negotiation has been done in the Political Declaration. Sell out here we come. The PD is Brino and a level playing field that will make trade deals with the US and Australia pointless.
December 16, 2019
They are no doubt very eager to please.
That WA is brexit however, and it is exactly for what you voted.
The Remain campaigns patiently and repeatedly explained that to you, but you were deaf to reason.
But see if your blue passport gets you past the long, long, non-EU citizens queues at continental airports after Jan 31st 2020, eh?
December 16, 2019
Yes , why pay Ā£39billion and agree not to be a competitor with the EU.
December 16, 2019
Being ‘shot of them’ means that a great number of loyal British citizens north of the border might find themselves living abroad. So, no to a second referendum. Support for independence stands at around 45% and will fall further once Brexit is completed. Boris should maintain his sensible line.
December 16, 2019
You are. Thatās what you voted for in 2016. And you really need to stop whinging. Borisā Brexit is happening. You have to get over it.
December 16, 2019
Include England and Wales in the referendum and we can guarantee that we get rid of the subsidised wind industry in the House of Commons.
December 16, 2019
The House of Lords has to be neutered. It’s behaviour over the last three years has been quite outrageous.
December 16, 2019
Yep. I would favour having 100 senators, elected through a PR, open-list system. Senators would be paid at the same rate as MPs. Additionally, another 100 experts would be appointed, on a rolling basis. They would be able to speak in debates and sit on committees – but only where the work was in their area of competence. They would be paid a day-rate but would not be able to vote.
December 16, 2019
H of C was far worse!
December 16, 2019
1. Reduce the HoL to 100 members
2. Reduce the HoC to 250 members
If the above figures are adequate for the USA they should be more than enough for us.
3. Put an end to political careerists in the HoC.
4. Confine lobbyists to A4 sheet submissions. An end to the current system of patronage and corruption. An end to dining out and promises of future careers for votes.
5. Yes a drastic overhaul and simplification of the tax system.
6. The creation of an independant Veterans support organisation.
7. A forensic look at Overseas Aid. The suggestion is that it is corruptly given and corruptly used. Do not let this interfere with the good it can do.
8. Let it define our exit from the EU. It needs to be clean, swift an unencumbered by anything from WA2.
9. Make good all those promises to the Midlands and North. This will restore trust.
10. Through tax and deregulation create the investment and enterprise society that has been long overdue.
11. Remove Uni tuition fees from the lives of all those who wish careers in medecin, engineering, teaching, and science.
12. Incorporate social care at lifes end as part of the NHS
So ensuring that those who need it are not robbed of thei assets and their children of their inheritance.
That should keep you busy for the next five years.
December 16, 2019
You pose the question, you get your answer. You may not like the answer, but you could at least grant it the courtesy of moderation, if for no other reason than to gauge the level of support it attracts.
December 16, 2019
A law that if a mp leaves a seat they won in a General Election then they must stand down and be forced to stand in a by-election
December 16, 2019
But those expelled from a party should not have to face a by=election.
December 16, 2019
Spot on
December 16, 2019
I would like you to clarify ” reduce the number of MP’s”
Are you saying the the areas and boundaries MP’s represent at present should be selectively amalgamated , requiring less local interest and not requiring MP representation ?
December 16, 2019
Margaret,
Just implement the Boundary Commission report to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600. This was blocked by the LibDems in the Coalition government , piqhed by losing the AV referendum.
December 16, 2019
Yes to all those, but just abolish the BBC poll tax/fee unless people want to subscribe to and watch the BBC. Why should people be forced to subsidise this unfair competition from the BBC especially when it is a blatant propaganda outfit. They were pumping out yet more alarmist drivel about āThe Science Saysā we need to do this to keep global warming to …… today and yesterday.
We should withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord, stop all state subsidies for renewables and revoke Milibandās absurdly damaging Climate Change Act. They should finally keep their parties Ā£1 million each IHT threshold promise made by Osborne many year ago.
They should pass a law to reduce government expenditure to 25% of GDP within 3 years and outlaw unfair competition from the state such as exist in health care, education, housing and other areas. They should have easy hire and firm and limit any employee pay offs to sensible levels.
They should abolish the minimum wage law that prevents people from working even if they want to.
They should cull all government loans for pointless/worthless university degrees well over 50% of them clearly are. Anyone with less than say ABB should not be going or should be resitting A levels.
They should get some real competition in banking overdraft rates of 40% or nearly 80% from major bank should this is needed.
They should drop the no, no fault eviction law. It is theft in effect.
Relax planning laws further.
Freedom, choice, cheap on demand energy and far lower simpler taxes plus a bonfire of red tape please.
They should unblock the roads that have been blocked or constricted and build rather more of them.
December 16, 2019
Criminalise noise nuisance.
December 16, 2019
… And scrap the HoL, introduce the NZ electoral system and in the meantime certainly do not bring people into the Lords who have just lost their HoC seats – voted out but reinstated is not a good look.
December 16, 2019
Yes, let’s clamp down on all those tradesmen with their power tools.
December 17, 2019
There are rules about noise from power tools.
There has already been a “clamp down”
December 16, 2019
Look at every job in the state sector and make all those the deliver little value, no value or negative value redundant. Start with Carney about 50% clearly are.
December 16, 2019
Seconded
December 16, 2019
– decriminalise license fee
– privatise channel 4
– deregulate planning so we can build more houses and cut the cost of building infrastructure
– simplify taxes & focus on taxing assets rather than labour to help young people starting out
– commit to maintaining/increasing science funding post-Brexit
– launch committee to look into best way to reforming i) House of Lords ii) Supreme Court
– stop funding universities/courses/societies that bully people with no platforming and anti free speech
– stop funding scam degrees that are neither academically rigorous or stand a chance of being paid back by >80% of their students
– stop blocking high skilled engineers etc from being able to enter the country on the basis that they are not from the EU
– invest in fibre optic broadband across the country, especially up north where we need businesses to move
December 17, 2019
There is no shortage of highly skilled engineers, letting more in just depresses pay, and displaces locals from the workforce, and Brits will stop training if all the jobs are given to cheap imports.
December 16, 2019
Undo almost all the laws and tax increase we had under Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron and May! Scrap Mayās gender pay reporting lunacy and get off employers backs.
December 16, 2019
No. The gender pay gap has been disgraceful and employers deserve everything they get in this regard.
December 16, 2019
Seconded.
December 16, 2019
Scrapping just one of the hundreds of Acts passed without proper consideration could throw the country into crisis.
For instance, cancelling just the Land Registration Act 2002 would make property transactions impossible, and erase the proof of ownership for about four-fifths of properties in England.
In turn that would collapse the banks which relied upon that for mortgage security etc. etc. etc.
You haven’t a clue, have you?
December 16, 2019
Drop all the zero Carbon lunacy or targets.
December 16, 2019
Absolutely !
December 16, 2019
LL thereās convincing evidence that the truth about Co2 is the reverse of the popular view, watch the YouTube videoās by Patrick Moore, the founder of Greenpeace and Piers Corbyn, the one who got the brains
Co2 is responsible for greening the World, growers pump Co2 into their glasshouses to speed the growth of their crops, we each exhale 30 tons of Co2 during our lifetime, I could go on
As for ending Fracking
December 16, 2019
A law that ensures pensions and salaries in the state sector are kept to about the same as the private sector. Currently state sector pension are on average about 10 times larger. Salaries including pension about 150% of private ones.
December 16, 2019
+1 – also, stop the ‘golden handshakes’ for those who have been sacked for incompetence.
December 16, 2019
Please can you explain how an average public sector salary+pension being 150% of an average private sector salary+pension can result in a public sector pension on average ten times larger than an average private sector one. It must be some special type of advanced mathematics only taught in Cambridge. Or could it be that the pension funds used by the private sector are really really doing such a really really bad job?
December 16, 2019
Or could it be that after a 80-hour week you were exhausted and are just talking rubbish?
December 17, 2019
On is comparing just at the value of the pension entitlements or pension pots (many in the private sector have non at all beyond the state pension). The other 150% is looking at the total value of remuneration with the annual value of the pension entitlement earned included PA.
December 17, 2019
Indeed, but that will never make an average public sector pension ten times bigger than an average private sector pension.
Letās start with a public sector salary of Ā£Nk/year with the average 23% put by employer+employee in a pension fund. Over 40 years of work, the average N can be 40 (i.e., Ā£40,000/year).
Why is the private sector likely to get less pension? Could it be that the employer+employee do not play straight and only actually put around 10% in the pension pot (which as you point out is often not even the case). Even when over 40 years of work that person might have had an average N at 60.
Assuming a return rate of 3%, over 40 years, the multiplicative factor (for both) is 3.26. The total pension pot of the public sector person will roughly be Ā£1.2m whereas that of the private sector person will be Ā£0.782m.
I agree that there is a difference in the size of the two pension pots, but certainly not a factor 10 as you were claiming.
Furthermore even with a higher salary in the private sector, the person is hurt by the lower level of payment to the pension pot to start with. And that is the responsibility of the private sector employer and employee.
Could it be that some in the private sector are happy with their salary but do not care about their future pension?
To conclude, it might really help if you knew 1/ how to count, and 2/ how to figure out in such a case where the actual responsibility lies.
December 18, 2019
It is about affordability Hefner.
The public sector can decide to put the 23% you quoted into public sector employees pension funds because they are using money given to them by the Treasury.
In the private sector companies have to find money for pension funding from profits earned from customers.
Not quite so easy.
PS
You also forget that early retirement and generous redundancy payments are more common in the public sector.
December 19, 2019
As so often you go on the tangent. I was pointing out that the great Lifelogic was talking pure rubbish. Do you accept that?
Or are you ready to accept any gobbledygook provided it comes from this guy?
You seem to have a very circumstantial grasp of what plausible facts and true lies are.
December 16, 2019
Stop and reverse the unnecessary, expensive complicated rollout of MTD
December 16, 2019
How can you reform a Constitution which, by modern international standards, does not exist?
All that it says is that “Parliament alone is the law”
Any other statutory or common law provisions can be overturned by a simple Act of Parliament.
That does not meet the now accepted standard of constitutional fortitude, where super majorities etc. are rightly required.
What would the Americans say, if Trump could call a presidential election and dissolve Senate and Congress, in order to stymie impeachment proceedings, for instance?
December 16, 2019
Everything liam halligan suggests on housing.
Ditch HS2. Itās a toxic idiotic vanity project.
Stop spending billions on MOD vanity projects that can be put out of action with Ā£200 drones.
Pick a nuclear reactor technology, build sequentially, capture that engineering knowledge for the state.
Copy the fraunhofer institutes model in Germany to make sure university science / engineering research can be translated into income for UK plc.
(Last two suggestions stolen from the Sheffield professor who has written on industrial commons, sorry his name escapes me)
December 16, 2019
Number one: Replace funding of the BBC with a voluntary subscription.
Number two: Scrap IR35 which is an unfair tax on contractors I employ.
Number three: Pay student nurses minimum wage for working for free.
Number four: Scrap law on foreign aid and reduce aid to humanitarian causes.
Number five: Scrap climate change Act nonsense.
December 17, 2019
When do student nurses work in the NHS for free? This is ridiculous if it is correct?
December 16, 2019
Decriminalised the TV licence fee? So I could still be pursued through the civil courts for refusing to fund their left racket? Nope, off it completely, make the BBC a subscription service to live or die on it’s own merits, such as they are.
December 16, 2019
Sell out number one.
December 16, 2019
Absolutely right .
December 16, 2019
Indeed. I only object to the BBC because A it is a compulsory tax, B it is unfair competition to others, C the BBC is (mainly on its political, climate and news programmes) absurdly biased and totally wrong too and D they only seem to employ, daftish, lefty, PC art graduates who have all fallen for the climate alarmist religion. They are very tiresome one alway knows the line they are going to take before they ever open their mouths – invariably the wrong one.
Other than that I find it quite good value for money. Just some of radio 3 and 4 is worth the fee to me.
December 16, 2019
Repealing the Climate Change Act would give a huge boost to industry and ease household energy bills. It would be too late for our aluminium smelters and chemical plants relocated to the US for cheap gas, or for those who died so horrifically at Grenfell because a miniscule saving in CO2 was deemed more important than non-flammable cladding, but it might help our struggling steel-making.
It won’t happen, of course. Radio reports today suggest that, far from learning from the farcical Madrid climate jamboree and cancelling the Glasgow one, the government are hell-bent on making it an even bigger fiasco. Still, it should be a windfall for Glasgow hotels and the Underground – sorry, I mean taxis as climate activists never forego their cars and flights which they want to ban for the rest of us.
December 16, 2019
Family Johnson including Dad Stanley ,girlfriend Carrie, brother Jo and sister Rachel are all pro the carbon free policies by 2050/2040/2030/2025 [date depends on degree of derangement ]
So chance of change is zilch.
December 16, 2019
Exactly right, but Boris seems to have fallen for the mad alarmist religion too. Someone needs to teach these arty dopes some real science. Get Matt Ridley or Peter Lilley to be the energy secretary.
Abolish the climate change department. It will save a lot of hot air and pointless travel to climate jamborees.
December 16, 2019
Abolish IHT on family home for Mr Average (if not all).
This has been promised and is overdue.
It’s the ‘Blairs’ and ‘Heseltines’ that need taxing?
December 16, 2019
The average UK house price is less than Ā£250,000. The inheritence tax threshold is much higher than this.
Only 4-5% of estates actually pay any inheritence tax at all, so I would argue that a system whereby 95% pay nothing actually delivers what you are asking for.
December 16, 2019
There is no inheritance tax for Mr Average.
The average UK house price is around Ā£240k.
Inheritance tax kicks in for estates valued at over Ā£325k.
But partners can pass on their share inheritance tax free.
And children get further benefit.
Only 4% of estates pay inheritance tax. Mr Average certainly doesnāt.
December 16, 2019
averaging house values in order to tax above a fixed level is ridiculous. The South in general has houses valued much much higher than most of the rest of the UK. Taxation supported by envy.
December 16, 2019
We have wasted nearly four years and countless billions of pounds arguing, in effect, on the constitutional status of referendums.
So we never have to suffer such folly again, the Constitutional Reform Bill suggested by Sir John should enact that the advice of the nation, as given in a referendum result, is binding on government.
December 16, 2019
Not so. The referendum was advisory – that is clear.
The argument is simple. The glorious cake and eat it Brexit sold is 2016 is undeliverable. The deliverable Brexit is pants.
Should MPs deliver pants when that was not what was promised? I think not but a lot of you want to have your pants and eat them.
At least it will be funny to watch.
December 16, 2019
A new bill to deal with the rise of Anti-Semitic hate within politics and encouraged by certain groups aligned and within Labour
Why is hate and incitement spewed out by Labour and their followers afforded special exemption from criminal prosecution while innocent people outside of politics are targeted ruthlessly when they step out of line?
December 16, 2019
Could you cite an example, and name its author please? Thanks.
December 16, 2019
You never provide us with evidence/examples of your claims.
December 17, 2019
I do where any special knowledge is required.
And I don’t make libellous claims.
December 17, 2019
I suggest you read the Guardian article of Friday 6th December which describes some submissions to the current HRC enquiry, you might find it illuminating.
You can read it online if you like – search for “Seventy Labour staffers give statements to antisemitism inquiry “.
December 16, 2019
All fully supported. The BBC needs to move soon to a subscription model. Transferring ownership at some future point to subscribers, or possibly just taxpayers directly, makes sense. Channel 4 should be privatised through auction, there is no point the state owning a commercial broadcaster.
Iād like to see some dramatic Nigel Lawson style tax simplification and tax abolition measures when the budget comes. The signalling value for confidence is huge.
December 16, 2019
As the BBC already shows its content and provide services to non-licence fee payers outside the UK via an ad-supported model, perhaps it is time they went to the youtube-style model: subscribers get premium content and ad-free services and channels while the non-subscribers get only the ad-supported channels.
December 16, 2019
There is NO requirement for a law regarding NHS spending. If the government wants to spend more, it can. The proposed legislation is a complete waste of Parliamentary effort and virtue-signalling of the worst type.
December 16, 2019
Promising to throw more and more money at the NHS in an attempt to keep up with high numbers of people coming into the country is simply a way of deflecting attention from the elephant in the room – immigration.
As Sea Warrior says, all this is virtue signalling. We all know why the NHS is struggling.
December 16, 2019
It may actually be an excuse not to put in even more funding later when the extra funds turn out to be woefully inadequate.
December 16, 2019
SPOT ON!
Just throwing money into a pit is nonsense. The NHS needs an independent, professional audit to look at waste, incompetence, self interest and worse. ONLY when that has been completed should additional money be considered.
December 16, 2019
Very good point! History is littered with similar measures which have all proved disastrous. In fact I think it would be illegal anyway because the Government cannot bind the hands of its successors.
December 16, 2019
Not really Sea Warrior. If the NHS took 10 per cent of GDP by law (with a safeguard for recessions) it would tend to stop NHS spending being first or second issue at all General Elections. At the macro level it might take the NHS out of party poliitics, as so many health professionals wish.
At the moment, the ubiquitous answer to the question :”how much should we spend on the NHS ?” is just “more”. Given a framework for planning ahead, there could be a rational debate about priorities. And if tax-financed NHS funding were guaranteed at a generous level, private healthcare spending might more generally be seen as a helpful adjunct to ease pressure rather than elitist queue-jumping.
December 16, 2019
Repeal of ir35, and a ministerial rebuke to HMRC for their attacks on contractors who are caught up in retrospective application of new regulations. The loan charge and ir35 are a disgrace to any conservative MP.
December 16, 2019
If you wish to reform the five year Parliament Act please ensure that a vote of no confidence cannot be attached to any other legislation.
The only reason weāre in the EU is because Heath attached a vote of no confidence to the second reading of the EU Act.
December 16, 2019
You have no idea how the UK’s Constitution works have you?
It’s quite easy really, there’s only one central thing to remember.
Parliament Is Supreme.
There are also such things as Private Member’s Bills, where an MP can propose a law of his or her own for the country, and Parliament can pass it or reject it.
How is John to “ensure” what you ask, therefore?
Try to grasp it finally.
December 17, 2019
@MiC; It is you who has failed to understand, @Javelin’s suggestion was with regards a no confidence motion being added by the govt to ram through legislation against its own back-bench parliamentary party members descent – in effect the PM saying ‘back me or sack yourselves’!
December 17, 2019
Law-abiding MPs cannot be sacked.
They can only be voted out at the end of the term. They may have the whip withdrawn, but they then remain as independents.
Until the FTPA be repealed, two thirds of MPs would have to vote for a General Election. That won’t happen.
December 16, 2019
@Javelin; That could become a double edged sword…
With no FTPA a vote of no confidence could be attached to the second reading of any future EU-withdraw legislation, should the current govt. majority not turn out to be cooperative to our withdrawal!
December 16, 2019
Sell off Channel 4, immediately, and start a process of winding-down the BBC. Both organisations are politically-biased and can no longer be trusted with providing news services.
December 16, 2019
The World Looks Yellow To The Jaundiced Eye.
December 16, 2019
As the Labour Party considers why it lost so badly – they seem to be blaming anyone but themselves – perhaps they should consider whether the following might have had a breaking: having leading figures considering electors with whom they donāt agree as āstupidā; promulgating obvious lies during the election such as cancer patients would be required to āpay a five figure sumā, the NHS drugs bill will rise from Ā£18bn to Ā£44bn etc. And of course all the confiscatory Marxism.
December 16, 2019
Still, they got just over 10m voters, as opposed to the Conservative just under 14m. Given they are the “Labour” Party, perhaps they should introduce policies attractive to people who actually work, and generate a majority that way. On the other hand, that might result in haemorrhaging too many from their current voting base who don’t.
December 16, 2019
Not just decriminalisation of the licence fee – abolish it. Why should I have to pay the BBC Ā£150 if I want to watch a foreign TV station ( which Iād like to do to improve my language skills)?
Fund a limited public service radio offering out of general taxation ( remember when there used to be just 4 BBC radio stations?) and cease funding any TV channels (they can become subscription only).
MPs who leave their Party must be subject to a by-election.
MPās no longer to be called āhonourableā.
Abolish the House of Lords.
Raise the tax thresholds for lower earners. I earn Ā£16k doing a full time job in SE England, so every little helps. I seem to get a new tax code every year which always says I owe money from previous years – yet Iāve always been PAYE, so simplify the system and it may save on bureaucracy.
Scrap HS2, spend the money on other infrastructure especially in the North. Do what you need to retain the Red Wall vote – I want you in for two terms.
December 16, 2019
Repeal the Climate Change Act
December 16, 2019
Seconded .
December 16, 2019
Get rid of the licence fee for just owning a television. Not even a civil matter.
Repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a Bill of Rights linked to responsibilities.
A bye election if an MP changes party
Massive reduction of the House of Lords
An English Parliament. To prepare for Scottish independence ( Not that I am for independence. However if they lose indy2. Wee Jimmy will want Indy3.)
Real penalties for attacking our police and other emergency services.
Review of how Judges are appointed. They should be elected.
A review of the complete takeover and indoctrination of our young in the education system from primary to University by the extreme left wing
December 16, 2019
Modify the Referendum legislation as follows:
Specify that referenda must be held whenever major constitutional changes are proposed e.g. to make sure that the Major approach to Maastricht can never happen again.
Make referenda legally binding by default; because the process is a (temporary) move from representative to direct democracy the idea of a referendum being advisory is ludicrous.
Instruct the executive to define on what basis a vote can be won if a simple 50% +1 majority is deemed not to be appropriate.
December 16, 2019
Please abandon the BBC license fee. Why in today’s age of digital media should we be forced by law into subscribing to a TV station, it is ridiculous! The BBC should have to earn our respect again by dropping it’s left wing bias and actually make program’s that we want to subscribe to. I would also like to see Anti-fa proscribed as a terrorist organisation in exactly the same way as you have done for extreme right wing groups.
December 16, 2019
Curious, that so many people are so exercised, by what costs them the equivalent of perhaps 0.5p on a litre of fuel a year.
And yet they don’t seem bothered by the fact that Sterling’s crash following the Leave vote probably added about Ā£400 to the cost of a typical holiday, and an untold amount to imported goods that they buy.
Takes all sorts.
December 17, 2019
“Curious, that so many people are so exercised, by what costs them the equivalent of perhaps 0.5p on a litre of fuel a year.”-Martin
I don’t buy fuel if I don’t use a car. Why should I pay the BBC for using a television if I don’t use their services?
December 17, 2019
Itās because the licence fee is an injustice, as it penalises people who donāt watch the BBC, C4 etc, and rightly ask why they have to pay the BBC simply to use a television. I donāt have to pay the Hoover company a licence fee for using my (non Hoover) vacuum cleaner.
The licence fee cost hits some more than others – Ā£150 may be insignificant to you but it is a significant amount on my annual budget – enough to deny myself the pleasure of watching Netflix on a screen larger than my tablet.
December 16, 2019
Better to cancel TV licence fee full stop.
December 16, 2019
Seconded.
December 16, 2019
Meanwhile, Steve, we could transfer all government advertising to the BBC instead of commercial channels, allowing the licence fee to be cut.
December 16, 2019
Repeal the Benn Act.
December 16, 2019
Overhaul the Business Rates system – particularly for the high street.
Review of Local Authority spending
Co-ordination of action to help the most vulnerable in our society
Raise Income Tax and National Insurance thresholds
Maintain current higher rate Income Tax thresholds pro-tem
Maintain current rates of Corporation Tax and Capital Gains Tax pro tem
Review a move from a donor Inheritance Tax to a recipient Inheritance Tax
Eliminate anomolies – such as pension tax effects for doctors
Phased reduction in VAT to encourage more spending
Phased reduction in employers National Insurance to encourage job creation
Increase of HMRC resources to combat multi national tax avoidance
Phased elimination of the BBC licence tax
Abolish HS2
Review the introduction and financing of smart meters.
Elimination of MPs for constituencies which have a turnover below 50% – this might give more power to those who wish to withold their vote !
December 16, 2019
agree…this should be first on the list
ahhh if only the new government had the bottle
December 16, 2019
Seconded.
December 16, 2019
I want to see the House of Lords replaced by an elected second chamber ā¦ preferably on the basis of PR as long as our MP’s continue to be elected through FPTP.
Ensure the Civil Service works with the government and not for themselves and at their own pace.
Control our borders using a points based i9mmigration scheme
AND LEAVE THE EU.
December 16, 2019
What, you want to make it impossible for senior civil servants – whose expertise may be sought in many fields – to resign?
How do you propose to do that?
In the same way as scientists were forced to work in WWII in some countries?
December 16, 2019
Just abolish the Lords, you canāt have 2 elected chambers, so would need a 3rd power to break any deadlock, and we donāt want the Presidential system.
December 16, 2019
We should only reduce the number of MPs once there has been a statutory reduction in the number of ministers, and a clear sign that the Lib Demās and Labour in the Lords are committing to reducing numbers of peers.
December 16, 2019
Dear Huw–Dominic Cummimgs totally right that a Cabinet of 30 is absurd–Why not 300?–Dividing that by 10 would not be silly
December 16, 2019
I would request that you abolish the punitive carbon taxes introduced by Labour on commercial electricity and gas. It has made industries such as steel noncompetitive.
December 16, 2019
Seconded.
December 16, 2019
Abolish the Lifetime Allowance for pension funds. It penalises prudent investment (kicking SIPP holders in the teeth in particular), and we all know the effect it has had on doctors.
Abolish Air Passenger Duty, an iniquitous and counterproductive tax.
Do something to put right the Great Diesel Betrayal – a veto on councils (inevitably socialist ones) imposing city centre road charging upon diesel car drivers would be welcome.
December 16, 2019
Introduce a company healthcare scheme, with tax incentives to reduce NHS burden.
For schemes to be compliant, they must include all employees and be a complete opt-out from the NHS.
December 16, 2019
Yes but does not need to be so restrictive as you suggest. Also get rid of the IPT on medical insurance of 12% why should someone paying privately pay four times over? Also give say 40% of OP cost vouchers to people on any long NHS waiting list to top up and go privately saving the NHS money and shortening the list for others.
December 16, 2019
An extra expense on companies and employees, encouraging companies to employ fewer people due to the admin cost, excluding dependant family members, and making health insurance dependant on employment. The other problem is that it forces employees of those companies to opt-out of the NHS even if, as individuals, they have conditions the insurance won’t cover (usually anything pre-existing).
Far simpler, surely, for the tax office to provide tax-relief and NI relief on health insurance bought by individuals or families at the rate of the highest tax-payer it covers.
December 16, 2019
Firstly, heartiest congratulations Sir John on your victory and I hope you get an influential position in Boris’ imminent reshuffle.
Here are my immediate thoughts in answer to your invitation.
The bias of the media, in particular the BBC and SkyTV, needs moderating and proposed decriminalising avoidance of the licence fee is not going far enough. We need to see a change of Aunty’s top level management and finance.
Also, in addition to that propaganda we all face daily, there needs to be control of the left wing bias in the teaching profession where our young are targeted whilst at the most vulnerable stage of their development.
Clearly too much control would be counterproductive so it needs to be carefully applied but political teachings should not be thrust at students not reading political subjects.
My best wishes for your role in this session of Parliament.
December 16, 2019
It’s nice to be included, but I have no doubt that plans are already firmly in place.
However, I’d like a review of Council Tax as it’s a license to print money, increasing disproportionately every year, but taking no account of the level of income unless receiving benefits.
Foreign Aid is area another area of concern. It absorbs billions, yet we’re expected to believe that year on year very little has improved and there’s still a need for ongoing assistance. Are we absolutely sure that it hasn’t been paid for so long and at such high levels, that it isn’t simply considered an entitlement by recipients and used as a means to release other revenues for non-aid purposes?
I don’t understand the proposals to legislate for NHS increases when we already commit a third of all government spending to it. Are we truly this sick?
December 16, 2019
Can I say, as a staunch defender of the BBC, that I completely agree with the proposal to decriminalise the licence fee.
I find it entirely wrong that failure to pay can result in a criminal conviction, and I also disagree with the popular leftist assertion that this decriminalisation is the start of a slippery slope toward privatisation.
I don’t pay the licence fee due to a feeling of being threatened, I pay it happily as I value its services over a wide spectrum of media. If the BBC continue to do this, and strive further to ensure they remain relevant in the constantly changing media landscape, then they have nothing to worry about from this change.
December 16, 2019
Dear Sir John, I go along with “Bloke in Wales” above. Abolish the TV tax is a sure vote winner, and you might consider the future of the BBC where taxpayers only fund the necessary public service broadcasting and the remainder including its news to be by subscription.
I would recommend abolishing VAT altogether and going for a more efficient indirect tax regime, and in the case of income tax, devise a formula which encourages the individual to go out and earn more.
Perhaps a bit of common sense around climate and ecology, human rights of the victims of crime and non crime, how about some conservative policies?
I’m really glad and considerably relieved that you won again.
December 16, 2019
As a former soldier I fully agree that military standards/discipline must be maintained – and for most of our history the Courts Martial have done exactly that. A civilian court is not the correct place to try failures in these areas – simply because a civilian Judge & Jury (fortunately for them) are very unlikely to have any experience of warfare these days.
If you want people to serve in the Armed Forces and put themselves in harms way, then you need to provide them with the necessary legal protections. A soldier has been trained to fight and kill (although I understand this is may seen grossly unacceptable to some people) and they must be effective in that role – not only survive but to win.
Until recently, most warfare consisted of two Armies facing each other across the field of battle and the enemy was clear to see. These days our enemy is unlikely to be so obvious but make no mistake he knows who we are – and will try to kill us. I’m afraid he often succeeds.
If you want an effective Armed Services, then you have to understand that the ‘job’ has no civilian equivalent. They need the Military Compact to be honoured – and if it isn’t, no one will be willing to serve. Would you?
December 16, 2019
Legislative, regulatory, and tax divergence from the EU.
House of Lords reform
Privatise Channel 4, BBC reform
Boundary Changes
Reform of Overseas Aid, roll into FO.
Real bonfire of regulations. Read robin ellisons book Red Tape, costing us billions etc
Serious uptick in Border Agencies,
Reform Company Law to make Directors criminally liable for their financial responsibilities
Give local authorities more (if needed) compulsory purchase powers to āreshape/change use ofā decaying high streets
Serious review of drug legislation. Whilst not decriminalising it, make the State the provider eliminating āprivate enterpriseā we are losing the war here, far too much police time etc.
Instant boost to the NHS together with a ācross partyā reform commission. Politically you will never get a better chance to get it fit for the 21st century
Reform/reshape rail franchises allied with curtailment of Union power in the public sector
And finally
A knighthood for Johnny Wilkinson!
December 16, 2019
How about a bill to allow MP’s to be recalled anytime there is a petition with more signatures than their majority at the election? That might concentrate minds on serving the electorate.
What about a repeal bill to start getting rid of the monstrous and counterproductive EU rule mountain that we so stupidly incorporated into our law? Then you could move on to repealing the anti free speech laws passed in recent years. A strong tightening of immigration law is well overdue.
December 16, 2019
ThankYou for asking….Two subjects both need a major reduction in our daily lives: SOCIALISM and TAXATION.
1. Socialism, in all it’s forms, has taken over our lives and made them irrational and painful. We are indoctrinated regularly on liberal attitudes, and this is all ruining our society.
Resolution:
(a) Repeal the 2010 Equalities Act, which is responsible for so much unfair ‘fairness’;
(b) Close down the BBC – it will never reform, and it is responsible for so much irrational indoctrination. Simply changing the way the BBC is funded will change nothing.
2. Taxation is unfair, it’s rules are complicated and very hard to understand, and targets the wrong people. Inbuilt complications mean the poor are dragged into a bad system unnecessarily.
Resolution:
A root and branch rewrite of tax policy is required. It needs to be simple, and inexpensive to collect.
JR – Congratulations on reelection – Mornings would not be the same without this diary
December 16, 2019
Abolish the BBC in its current form, if this brings about the (effective) scrapping of the TVL fee then enforcing effective PSB (both radio & TV) via better regulation across all broadcasters to compensate. The BBC needs to do far less far better, some other broadcasters need to far more.
Create a UK version of the US C-Span network to replace the now editorially challenged single BBC Parliament channel.
Abolish the Climate Change Act, pull out of the Paris Accord, make a full and comprehensive trade deal with the USA. Abolish DfFRA, put food centre stage by bringing back something like MAFF.
Sort out the railways, the concept of separating tracks from the TOC has failed, nationalisation is not the solution (although better than doing nothing), we need to return to a 1923-48 style of network but with provision for specialist TOCs who are not geographically based to have the necessary access rights. Bus deregulation had failed to, especially for those in unprofitable out-laying areas.
Sort out the NHS and social care once and for all. Split Social Security from the DWP, returning to the DHSS in effect, if doctors have signed someone off as sick do we really have to demean the disabled and seriously ill by some Quango questioning the fact?
A renewed national and local road building/improvement program, with the needed revisions to the planning laws to prevent over-zealous NIMBYs with vestige self interests blocking progress almost indefinitely.
Well I can day-dream….
December 16, 2019
Two DfCMS policies that need to be revisited are 1/. (ultra) local TV stations, and 2/. if the political fairness doctrine here in the UK is still relevant (never mind enforceable) in the age of social media and easy access to off-shore (largely) non UK regulated based content.
December 16, 2019
New housing developments above a certain size must provide schools, medical, shopping and transport facilities to reduce impact on existing nearby urban areas.
December 16, 2019
I would like to see a time period introduced to be eligible for social housing or housing benefit. Not just those from abroad but those from out of the area. Let us encourage localism to stimulate the local areas.
Anyone coming in should support themselves.
I would also like to see a law mandating that any social housing sold must be replaced on a two for one basis using profits from the sale. Insufficient profit from the sale and only one party benefits.
Back to the qualifying period, first dibs for locals on school places and doctors appointments.
Raise the threshold for higher rate tax, abolish the removal of the tax free threshold from Ā£100K and increase the NI threshold to Ā£12K.
Only spend the tax receipts raised.
Allow the NHS to charge private insurance companies to deliver services and become a revenue generating organisation in competition with the private sector rather than just chucking more taxes at it.
Pull out of global climate agreements that favour India and China and the other third world producers. It just favours them and makes us less competitive.
Fund research (with large sums) into alternatives for the internal combustion engine and jets. Become self reliant for propulsion with export gains.
Child benefit for only the first two children, living in this country, but make it universal or scrap it.
Scrap HS2 and use the money to increase capacity and reliability including smashing the unions.
December 16, 2019
I would like to see the statue book revised so as to limit, as far as is reasonably practicable, the power of state bodies, including the police, to interfere with the citizen’s ability to form his or her own opinion on a subject. I would also like to see a statutory declaration that no foreign entity will ever have legislative or judicial authority over the people of the United Kingdom, that UK foreign and defence policy and the regulation of our fisheries are sovereign matters for the UK alone, and that, in the event of a conflict between UK law and international law, UK law takes precedence.
December 16, 2019
For “statue” read “statute”.
December 16, 2019
Sir John
Already the media are talking up a “softer Brexit” to accomodate all the members of the government benches, my understanding is that all the Conservative candidates all hadto sign up with a full committment to Brexit. The PM will cause himself no end of problems trying to all things to everybody. His first thing is to ensure that the Labour voters that put their trust in him are listened to and their expectations are duly noted and recorded which will involve enormous amounts of effort and resources to continuly walk the talk as the opposition will look for every opportunity to see any chinks in the armour to highlight the error of their ways.
The first bill to be removed from the statute book has got to be Benn’s No Deal Law. Just because No Deal is back on the table does not mean it will have to be used but it will really focus the minds of the representatives on the otherside of the table. If the media are to be believed the EU are already digging in their defence parapits and trenchwork and insisting what we will hasve to trade off to get a FTA. Others highlight the slow disintegration of the EU financial system so it would seem that they are not holding all the aces when it comes to holding or folding.
We must give our industrial and commercial sectors real support to be more competitive and that means repealing the Climate Change Act and withdraw all subsidies and constraint payments on renewable energy installation and vehicles. Cheaper energy is just the start.
Sort out the BBC and its funding big time. The corporation has had more than enough chances to change.
Introduce any legistration that puts England up on a same funding level as the rest of the UK.
December 16, 2019
Well what an opportunity.
My suggestion is to eliminate VAT and replace it with a sales tax. The VAT system is hugely wasteful of Human Resources. So a pile of people add vat to their invoices and another pile of people reclaim the vat. And then another pile of people at HMRC monitor what is maybe going on. What a waste of time. It makes no sense. – it adds no value to the economy
December 16, 2019
On the grounds of environmental pollution, misuse, noise and animal terror, fireworks should be banned.
Totally banned.
There should be legislation regarding loud music from cars and kerbside-idling of cars. And tough legislation for all noise.
Some sort of proper immigration control.
And everything everyone else has mentioned.
A very long list of āto dosā.
December 16, 2019
Exit the International Criminal Court and the ECHR
End the Supreme Court.
Develop proposals to reduce numbers of the House of Lords, and eventually replace with a much small body sitting outside London.
Continue with reduction of H of C numbers, especially in Scotland.
Limit scope and reporting by OFSTED of Primary schools.
Revise prison sentencing such that time served is not automatically reduced by half.
Ensure restrictions placed on those wishing to adopt children are eased.
Abolish Stamp duty on homes lower than Ā£500k. Increase on homes higher than Ā£2m.
Reduce funding of BBC by one-third each year starting FY 21/2 then 22/3 and finally zero at 24/5.
Abolish Vehicle Excise Duty on petrol cars below 1100cc, fix a Ā£100 rate up to 1400cc, Ā£200 above. Vehicle Excise Duty on diesel cars to become Ā£300. New diesel cars to be taxed a first year Ā£1000.
Petrol and diesel cost per litre to be raised to make up any shortfall revenue.
UK climate change targets to be eased by 5 years.
December 16, 2019
1. Publishing of full explanatory accounts of Local Authority Accounts, not their simple pie charts.
We can then see where they are spending and the ability to compare with others.
2. Free business rates for very small businesses which will allow them to grow.
3. Simplification of all Taxes especially Pension Law and also ensure women get tax relief when in part-time work that is under the 10k threshold for enrolment.
4.
December 16, 2019
Off topic – but on the IR35 issue I think you need to understand the following.
I work at a global bank where a lot of the IT staff are contractors. The bank, like most other banks, employees a lot of offshore staff in India and Eastern Europe.
The contractors have now been told by their recruitment agency to either Pay PAYEE as both employee and employer or leave. Already 4 contractors from a team of 12 have left and the other contractors have handed their notice in. We will be under staffed and will not meet regulatory deadlines.
The bankās reaction is NOT to employee more UK staff but to employee more staff in India and Eastern Europe, as permanent UK staff are too expensive and they canāt find staff in the UK. These jobs will not becoming back and the UK Govenment will be loosing Ā£40k per year in tax per contractor (if you include VAT at 20%). It seems like fiscal madness.
The country also faces the risk that large banks have now been hollowed out and are being run by foreign workers who see UK banks as an arms length enterprise where they have no skin in the game. Indians in particular are very careful about keeping information in India to ensure their job is safe, as jobs are hard to come by. As banks are nothing but large computers now this is like outsourcing the armed forces to India.
The treasury has effectively harpooned the banks. Every IT contractor that moves on is costing the UK the annual salary of a nurse.
December 16, 2019
Sir John – congratulations in holding off a strong Liberal Democrat challenge and retaining your seat. My suggestions for a Queens Speech:-
1) Keep the promises on climate change by expanding renewable energy, developing the UK into a world leader in energy storage systems and laying the infrastructure for the conversion to electric vehicles
2) Cutting immigration substantially, introducing the Australian visa system and fast-track expulsions for failed asylum seekers and detected illegal immigrants
3) Build new hospitals, employ more GP’s targeting a reduction GP waiting times from four weeks to one week, give the nurses a payrise
4) Rebuild the Army into a credible, armoured, fighting force – increase the NATO 2% of GDP to 2.5%
5) Scrap the one-sided EU withdrawal agreement and negotiate a proper “hard” Brexit
6) Tax cuts for all, an increase in the basic pension rate and a scaled improvement in universal credit rates
7) John Redwood for a senior role in government, possibly Chancellor of the Exchequer
And lastly, seasons greetings to all on this blog
December 16, 2019
There should be a repeal of the Climate Change Act, a deeply damaging piece of legislation, with no reason for being and no impact on climate.
December 16, 2019
I fully agree with all Sir John s proposals,but would like to add measures to make elections fairer and cut out voter fraud.
December 16, 2019
Undo some of the evils brown and Osborne did to our tax system, and set out a plan for reform and simplification. Scrap HS2 and instead invest in improving and rationalising existing infrastructure. Deal with the constitutional issues you raise. Set out a future model for the BBC; beyond just removing criminalisation for non-payment. Reform local government/national government boundaries. And really do challenge government to remove the red tape Cameron promised to burn!
December 16, 2019
LESS TAX FOR EVERYONE.
December 16, 2019
Where is your proposal for Westminster MPs to sit as an English Parliament ?
England has not been recognised as a Country within the Union for far too long.
Selected English MPs can then sit on regional select committees to ensure that resources across England are distributed fairly. If we don’t do this, pressure will grow to divide England into devolved Regions the size of Scotland and we will lose the power we have as a united Country.
This is a vital reform along with the boundary changes to equalise the number of voters in all constituencies across the UK.
December 16, 2019
Sensible allowances on inheritance tax.
It will not happen of course.
December 16, 2019
I agree 100% with R. McDonald on all points.
I would add that redrawing of parliamentary boundaries is long overdue.
Now that the BoJo/Cummings/Levido machine has proven to so effective in breaking down the Red Wall in northern England let them repeat that with Scotland just in time for the next general election.
December 16, 2019
Sir John ā congratulations in holding off a strong Liberal Democrat challenge and retaining your seat. My suggestions for a Queens Speech:-
1) Keep the promises on climate change by expanding renewable energy, developing the UK into a world leader in energy storage systems and laying the infrastructure for the conversion to electric vehicles
2) Cutting immigration substantially, introducing the Australian visa system and fast-track expulsions for failed asylum seekers and detected illegal immigrants
3) Build new hospitals, employ more GPās targeting a reduction GP waiting times from four weeks to one week, give the nurses a payrise
4) Rebuild the Army into a credible, armoured, fighting force ā increase the NATO 2% of GDP to 2.5%
5) Scrap the one-sided EU withdrawal agreement and negotiate a proper āhardā Brexit
6) Tax cuts for all, an increase in the basic pension rate and a scaled improvement in universal credit rates
7) John Redwood for a senior role in government, possibly Chancellor of the Exchequer
And lastly, seasons greetings to all on this blog
December 16, 2019
I would like to see:
Repeal of fixed term parliament act
Electoral reform bill that requires a by-election when moving parties, distributes constituencies better (600) and does away with postal vote fraud by requiring ID to vote.
A armed forces bill that protects them legally, and also a 10 year plan to expand the navies service warships to allow the carriers to be used.
Removal of VAT from green products
A NHS bill that shifted ultimate management from bureaucrats to doctors/surgeons in the top hospitals – they then employ the administrative team deciding admin pay.
More specialist hospitals so we have different medical groups competing for patients.
And finally brexit, free trade agreements agreed with many countries with a public commitment to not allow EU negotiations to delay them.
There no doubt is more, but those are what I can think of.
December 16, 2019
If you are going to propose a Constitutional Reform Bill, how about one which turns the UK into a modern, 21st century, representative democracy.
1, Abolish the largest unelected legislating chamber in the entire western world (second globally only to the Chinese politburo) and replace it with a much smaller revising chamber whose membership is chosen by and representative of the electorate.
2, Standardise voting in local elections such that England and Wales move to the same system as already used in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which will deliver local councils which are much more reflective of and representative of their local communities.
3, Adopt that same voting system for UK general elections, delivering a Parliament which will be representative of the people while retaining the explicit constituency link and the ability to vote for named individuals.
December 17, 2019
So PR for us all.
How are you going to implement your desire for “chosen by and representative of the electorate” in your item number 1 ?
Some committee of the the great and good?
December 16, 2019
The one major achievement over the last few years has been the rise in employment and the fall in unemployment , this is entirely due to the rise in the number of self employed, micro and small businesses
If you wish this to continue
Scrap IR35
Put in place a better tax/NI structure for very small business
In order to encourage growth in regions outside of London and the South East it would also be useful if you offered businesses, small and large, tax incentives to startup and be based in those regions
December 16, 2019
I agree with all your points regarding the Constitutional reform bill especially limiting the speakers powers which have been grossly abused recently. Also with the addition of MPās who cross the floor should automatically trigger a by election as they no longer represent their constituents views on which they were elected.
Further restrictions on the SNP MPās having influence in English matters.
Remove green taxes on gas and electricity as well as VAT.
Get rid of all the PC crap which stifles debate and free speech, – we donāt need the āthought policeā.
December 16, 2019
Dear John,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment.
Firstly, many congratulations in contributing to our historic win.
Secondly, given the rightful emphasis on leaving the European Union and our NHS, our bandwidth to cover other issues will be tight.
I therefore applaud your straightforward and absolutely necessary suggestions to which I would not wish to add but simply, wholeheartedly, endorse.
With the kindest regards,
Jeremy
December 16, 2019
cancel HS2
cancel foreign aid
cancel BBC
…….and in doing so gain the support of the majority
December 16, 2019
Oh – – and a law to force Libnodems candidates to visit all homes to apologise and collect their pamphlets back.
December 16, 2019
Abolish the following:
ā¢ The Benn-Burt Act
ā¢ Inheritance Tax
ā¢ HS2
ā¢ Stamp Duty
ā¢ Overseas Aid (replace with disaster relief)
ā¢ TV Licence
ā¢ EU membership
ā¢ Tuition Fees for STEM subjects
ā¢ The House of Lords
ā¢ The Supreme Court
ā¢ Climate Change Act
ā¢ MTD
ā¢ Auto Enrolment
December 16, 2019
We urgently need boundary reform.
Under the current constituency arrangements the SNP get a disproportionately large number of Parliamentary seats compared to their relatively small share of the vote.
December 16, 2019
Legislation to abolish the artificial distinction that currently exists between ‘health care’ and ‘social care’. Care is care. Sort out the funding implications and get on with it pronto. Make every care home a safe place for people to live. Don’t dither, just get it done.
Legislation that requires members of Parliament to act in an adult way during debates in the House of Commons, or to absent themselves and allow constructive discussion to ensue. Get rid of the shambles that exists at present in the House.
BTW, we have one Queen, so your heading needs an apostrophe.
December 16, 2019
Clean up the terms of immigration. The Windrush problem occurred as a result of not properly documenting people coming into the country. This is important in regards to EU nationals status being decided now. The left make a lot of noise about another Windrush, but they are creating the conditions for one in obstructing the proper documentation of these EU nationals.
In addition Nigel Farage is correct when he said we needed to make clear the difference between immigration and those coming to work here on visas. A great number of British people have experience of working abroad on work visas, they know you pay all the taxes , they know that you can’t can’t access public services and have to pay or your own children’s education and health, and they know that when their work visa ends they leave, and certainly understand that they don’t get given a nationality just for being there for 5 years.
A lot of our problems on immigration is because we don’t have clear rules , and clear dividing lines between those coming here on visas and immigration.
December 16, 2019
My wishlist for the Queen’s speech, in no particular order:
1) Repeal (scrap) the fixed-term parliaments act.
2) Legislate to revise HoC Standing Orders to remove the Bercow modifications, and then award said standing orders the status of ‘Primary Legislation’ such that they will require full parliamentary procedure to modify in future.
3) Legislate to legally define the 1689 Bill of Rights’ term “Parlayment” [sic] as meaning the three great institutes of state, their internal function and the interplay between them; specifically The Crown, the House of Commons, and the House of Lords.
4) Scrap HS2. Use all of the money for transport infrastructure improvements in the north. Specifically electrify huge swathes of the railways, re-enginer some bottlenecks or tight curves on the track, re-open some old Beeching lines where there is a business case for it, completely clean and reequip the grand stations of Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle etc. as was done so beautifully to St. Pancras.
5) More money into R and D, particularly nuclear fusion, battery technology, high-temperature superconductors, and AI. The stone-age did not end because they ran out of stone; the fossil-fuel age likewise will end when we have better alternatives.
Merry Christmas!
December 16, 2019
Underneath an outward veneer of normality, things are in a very bad state in this once great United Kingdom. It would be an understatement to say that Boris is going to need much wisdom.
This morning I read the prayer of Solomon, at the beginning of his reign (1 Kings 3:7-8):
“And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” At least he began well.
I do not agree with many of the measures advocated in the above comments, which all too often, throw out the baby with the bath water: whereas, Solomon saved the baby, and gave it back to the right mother!
“And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment” (v.28).
Boris, too, will be judged by his deeds, and the wisdom of his counsel.
December 16, 2019
Actually, in our case, the wisdom and power is devolved through the Crown, hence the presence of the ceremonial mace, when the Commons is sitting. The symbolism is still there. But Oh! Where is the substance*?
(Cf. Hebrews 11: “Now *faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…..without faith it is impossible to please…God.)
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/237423 (True state of things seen here, reminiscent of what happened towards the end of Solomon’s lineage.) But through David’s son Nathan, a greater Son was to arise, as we now vaguely celebrate – ‘which shall be to all people’ – great David’s greater Son’ – the only true and lasting hope for us all!
December 16, 2019
Our newly elected One Nation party needs to review the unfair tax relief system on pension contributions where 25% of the contributors receive 75% of the tax relief – should save the Chancellor 10bn per annum – via the marginal rate of tax relief that is applied
As a seafaring nation an improvement to port facilities such as deeper port waters to accommodate larger more modern cargo ships
And of course Free Ports for the more disadvantaged regions in the North
Improved road links across the Northern regions to enhance trade
December 16, 2019
To show the public trust MPs expenses should be overhauled – made public and not shredded after just 3 years but 6 in line with HMRC for the commoners!
Demonstrate honesty and integrity as a prioe.
Trust in politics has never been so low.
Corruption is a cancer that needs constant vigilance.
The HOL needs pruning too.
Parasitic traits need to be seen to be cleared as we will be back to business as normal which would be a great mistake and lost opportunity.
Arrogance by some Conservatives suggesting would have 100 majority of the Brexit Party has not split the vote it unbelievable. After Theresa Mays wasted years it would be a hung parliament again. Nigel Farage helped million vote for Boris and without him it would have been a disaster for democracy.
December 16, 2019
We need tax decentralisation. Local government only controls 4.7% of its taxes. City- regions and counties need to raise more of their own tax revenue to meet their expenditure needs.
December 16, 2019
Sir John, here is my magical thinking.
The immediate abandonment of the W/A and PD in favour of the pursuit of a free trade agreement that does not involve signing a binding treaty with the EU and paying for the privilege of trade and aligning us with EU rules. No sovereign country would agree to this unless they were happy to sacrifice much of their sovereignty.
Abandon HS2.
Repeal the Climate Change Act and withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.
Put immigration controls in place immediately.
Repeal the law on foreign aid.
Withdraw from the ECHR.
Abolish the Licence Fee.
Simplify the Tax Code.
Cut VAT.
That is just for starters.
December 16, 2019
1) Reform the House of Lords and reduce the numbers.
Currently there are 782, of whom 665 are life peers. This is far too many. Life peerages and the āresignation honoursā for politicians and their political advisers should end. It should comprise of nominations from professionals who can bring expertise to the subjects being debated.
2) Reduce Foreign Aid and divert money to UK social needs.
This policy was never voted for by the UK electorate. Our contribution should be reduced. I realise that some people support giving money to good causes so provision can be made for voluntary contributions via PAYE.
3) Free Bus Passes For Over 60s
Why do Londoners, Scots, Irish and Welsh receive free transport but the rest of England has to pay? For too long the English have lost out.
4) Relocate Civil Service Jobs from the South to the Northern Towns
Margaret Thatcher relocated thousands of jobs from the South of England to the North. This gave much-needed jobs to deprived areas and saved money.
5) Introduce ID cards for NHS and benefit use.
6) Cut immigration. Tear up the UN Global Compact Agreement.
7) Track Travellers Arriving and Leaving the UK
8) Work to return empty homes to occupancy by imposing punitive council tax rates.
9) Reduce waste in the public sector.
10) Reform the voting system. Tighten up on postal and proxy voting.
11) Reduce energy costs by removing VAT from energy bills.
12) Stop UK benefits being paid to people living abroad.
13) Tougher law and order. Deport criminals. Put more money into police services.
14) Remove the airport tax from regional airports to make them more viable and able to compete with the big airports this will help reenergise our regions.
15) Revitalise the fishing industry with money to build new trawlers, train fishermen and build processing plants.
16) Introduce road tax for foreign cars and lorries on GB roads (Northern Ireland excluded) similar to Switzerland. Itās not right that foreign lorries churn up and add to the congestion on our roads and donāt pay towards the cost. It gives them an unfair advantage over UK registered drivers who have to pay UK road tax and toll charges in Europe.
17) Repeal the European Arrest Warrant Legislation
18) Raise the VAT threshold for the self-employed and small businesses.
19) Scrap Police and Crime Commissioners and put the money into front line policing
20) Change Council House Rents to Market Value Rents
The perverse way the house rental market currently works needs to be changed.
Some people are given state subsidised council houses for life whereas others just as deserving have to pay for private rented accommodation.
I propose that all rents be set at market value. Those on low income will receive a top-up via Housing Benefit. This will stop the practise of sub-letting. It will encourage people to buy their own property. It will free up accommodation for those who need it most. It will discourage people on high salaries living in taxpayer owned housing especially in London. It will stop people making themselves intentionally homeless to get a council house.
21) Introduce Better Farm Animal Welfare
Ban the practise of non-stunned slaughter in the UK it is cruel and unnecessary. Ensure all products are properly labelled showing the country of origin, how ethically the animals have been raised and slaughtered, whether it has been hormone fed.
22) Review regulatory quangos
Regulatory quangos have too much power, too little accountability and no controls over bias on key issues. They are allowed to use taxpayers money to pursue their own political agenda. More oversight and scrutiny is required. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and The Electoral Commission are a disgrace.
23) Scrap Sunday Trading Laws
24) Revise the BBC licensing
Currently hundreds and thousands of people outside the UK are watching the BBC for free. Why should UK residents have to pay a TV license when others are getting the service for free?
25) Train More of our own Doctors and Nurses
Increase the number of training places for doctors and nurses. Also ensure that British students get priority for these places. At the moment colleges prefer to enrol foreign students as their fees arenāt capped thereby turning away British students .
26) Stop Student Loans for Foreign Students
42% of EU students are not currently paying back their loans. English tax payers are subsidising foreign students including Scottish, Welsh and Irish students. The whole system is totally unfair.
27) Abolish Inheritance Tax (IHT) Completely
When introduced, this tax was aimed at the very rich not ordinary people.
28) Climate Change Policy Review
Bring in someone like Matt Ridley (sits in the Lords) to do a review of all our climate change legislation. Landowners are raking in money from wind turbines and solar panels but their benefits are being exaggerated, driving people into fuel poverty. The net zero emissions by 2050 policy needs an urgent review regarding the impact on our lives, cost to our economy and feasibility. Global corporations have hijacked the Climate Change debate and put out a lot of disinformation.
December 17, 2019
I don’t think I can argue against any one of those Christine.
December 16, 2019
The reduction of the Upper House from its current number around 850 to 100 elected members.
December 16, 2019
Good morning Sir John
My list would be longer than is reasonable to post here.
Logic is that without the EU Yoke we are looking to create a fairer and ‘equal’ society which the Overlords there don’t permit. By that I don’t include the Socialist Lefts concept of all giving handouts that someone else will pay. I just mean simplify, remove burdens and above all be transparent.
The House of Lords has now had its day. A peerage is an honor and that’s all it should be. An elected upper revising chamber has to happen and happen quick. Just as reducing the number of MP’s.
Now the contradiction, the Supreme Court – there is no point to it. The Law Lords did a better job, maybe they should be selected and elected by their peers. As the Supreme Court is accountable only to its own ego it has no purpose.
More of the day to day management that came under the control of central government when they lost their purpose while subordinate to the EU Commission should now be handed back to the regions – they are better equipped. We as Conservatives want an all inclusive country, for the most part that is handing back responsibility to the People, their communities and so on. Do Scots really want to detach them selves from the UK or do they want to be recognized as more capable of managing their own day-to-day needs. Would Glasgow really want Edinburgh to govern them when they can do it better themselves. That would be the same analogy that can be applied to all parts of the UK.
Central Government, the HoC, the Westminster bubble what ever you call it will always get it wrong more time than it gets it right. That’s a Socialist’s Dream ‘Dictate’ from the center and’ my way is the best’ for all at all times for all people. The old but oh so true adage of Government is ‘Trust the People’ those that do go down as creating the most productive communities, most productive individuals and a dynamic society. Isn’t that what Conservativism is supposed to achieve?
December 16, 2019
Scrap the unelected HoL and if necessary introduce a smaller elected “new” chamber.
December 16, 2019
-Commit to scrapping HS2
-Remove the TV License
-Reduce taxes e.g. allow everyone to start paying tax at Ā£12,000, with no claw back,
-Boundary reform
-Remove fixed term Parliament Act
-Revoke Climate Change Act and look at real ways to clean air. e.g. nuclear and remove subsidies on supposedly clean forms of energy production such as wind and solar.
-Commit to act for freedom of speech, getting rid of the ability of police to caution people for hate speech.
December 16, 2019
I am very wary of the commitment to enshrine in law the extra spending on the NHS. It smacks of just chucking money at the problem in the hope that it will go away. I understand why Boris wants to do it, but any legislation should incorporate testing requirements as to how bids for the extra money will be justified by better performance. The Government needs to recognise that many of the NHS’s problems are systemic and that addressing this is just as important as more spending. If they are serious about improving the NHS now is the time to face up to the reforms needed with a good majority and at least five years ahead of them.
The Tax system should be subjected to a root and branch review by someone other then the Office of Tax Simplification which has achieved nothing.
December 16, 2019
I pay for Netflix. I pay for Amazon Prime. I would welcome the opportunity to CHOOSE to pay for the BBC. I really bloody resent being forced, BY LAW!!!!! (how it ever happened is unbelievable), to pay for the bloody BBC – with their massive headcount, ludicrous expenses regime and massive salary and pension packages. It is the worst example of government self indulgence.
I would like the House of Lords replaced by an elected second chamber – with a PR voting system.
I would like our voting system changed to PR.
I would like to see Citizens Assemblies set up for each government department – Health, Defence, Education, Transport, Energy, Environment etc. that would provide legally enforceable guidelines on how our taxes are to be spent. This is to create continuity so we have plans that last more than one government/parliament and stop political parties in power using all their energy on ‘the next election’.
Notwithstanding the endless rants on here about ‘greencrap’, burning carbon is a filthy habit. I would like to see ambitious plans for renewable energy and clean air so our children growing up in cities don’t all have to have asthma ‘puffers’.
I’d like to see government led initiatives to grow more of our own food, produce our own energy and make more of our own goods so we are not so at the whims of large corporates and globalization.
None of the above will happen. It will be business as usual within a couple of weeks.
December 16, 2019
Can you put forward an amendment to the upcoming EU Withdrawal Bill along the lines of
“If a trade agreement is not completed and implemented before 31st December 2020 then the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU becomes null and void”?
And of course repeal the Benn Act…
December 16, 2019
I would like to see a reform of the House of Lords along the following lines:-
i) Compulsory retirement at age 80 or after 20 years service, whichever comes sooner.
ii) Appointments to be made by a committee, made up of MPs and Peers from all parties and chaired by a deputy speaker. Successful appointees should be experienced in Law, Business, Medicine or Science.
iii) The number of Peers should not exceed the number of elected MPs.
Justice:-
i) Assault on a Police Officer should attract an immediate custodial sentence.
ii) Any custodial sentence (regardless of offence) should not be less than 12 months
iii) Parole should not be available for any custodial sentence of less than 18 months.
iv) Parole should not be granted until 65% of the sentence has been served.
December 16, 2019
The UK needs to shift its tax base to make it more profitable to invest in making things we can sell to foreigners, rather than investing/speculating in land and property. Stopping foreign bandits laundering their loot through UK land and property, would reduce house prices somewhat; particularly in London.
Scrap Council Tax and replace it with a 0.5% per year Property Value Tax. Asset rich but income poor owners could get the tax man to take a share in the land and property. All land being hoarded, derelict or otherwise would be included. Business rates should be converted into a Land Value Tax until it gets residential planning permission. It would then be subject to Property Value Tax. All land and property taxes to be paid by the owners not the tenants.
Stamp Duty Land Tax. If you are going to keep (a tax on workersā mobility), make it payable by the seller not the purchaser.
Capital Gains Tax exemption on a primary residence costs Ā£28 billion a year in lost tax and should be scrapped. Most other asset gains are subject to CGT already.
Agricultural; Entrepreneur and Rollover Reliefs that allow farm land to dodge IHT and CGT are beyond a joke! Inheritance Tax should be replaced by a lifetime gift tax allowance and subject to income tax above the allowance.
When farm land and buildings ceases to be a trading entity and becomes an investment entity; that should trigger a windfall tax. All wealth tax rates should be synchronized to Income Tax rates.
How’s that for starters š
December 17, 2019
Tax, more tax and even more tax.
That is a classic left envy wish list.
Not surprising.
December 16, 2019
1. Move the BBC to a subscription service (this could be phased over a couple of years).
2. Have a market-based immigration policy where a Ā£bond is paid for entry by non-UK passport holders, and refunded on exit (if they had not overstayed).
3. Reduce funding for social services and other government interventions into people’s private lives in order to allow family and community back into this area
4. Remove some of the red tape and regulations that prevent youngsters from the age of 14 doing paid work
5. Remove the min wage. Employer/employee contracts should be a private matter between parties and nothing to do with government. Ensure that prisoners are doing meaningful work on low (or no) wages to allow us into competitive markets we abandoned years ago
6. Decriminalise all but the hardest drugs
7. Redeploy some armed forces to our borders
8. In general we need a thinner statute book, less quangos, smaller government and less taxes
December 16, 2019
The planning system probably need reforming. This is a once in a lifetime chance to do that.
December 16, 2019
The people’s parliament and government should hand more power to the people in all aspects of their lives, and away from arms of the state in all their forms, in schools parents should have much more say, in social housing tenants should control their own subsidy, in healthcare patients should call the shots, and so on.
December 16, 2019
Aside from the technical appreciation by politicos, I’m not sure most people understand why there is another Queens Speech two minutes since the last one.
All this would be a mere bagatelle for if it were truly HM The Queen’s Speech. One would be it. ( did you see what I did there? )
We The People lost, in the Civil Wars.
Though only now are we gradually coming to know it
December 16, 2019
I want to add a voice in support of the climate change act. Unpopular, as I can see from other comments, but I think for many people, action on climate change is a high priority. Also, any focus on supporting the funding in our schools would be very much welcomed.
December 17, 2019
Prehaps not giving more taxpayers money to brainwash children in unscientific green propaganda is a better idea.
A good idea, would be to sack any teacher pushing this bs.
You do know, you can vote for the green party, if you wish to believe in the climate change religion.
I don’t see why you want to force everybody else to pay for your made up beliefs !!!
I blame the BBC, I think it is time for them to be dismantled.
December 16, 2019
… law to increases in NHS spending.”
Of course it will come as a shock when the Labour Party says it is not enough.
December 16, 2019
As there is no proof of AGW, that complies with the acknowledged Scientific Method.
Can we repeal all laws that support this fake war on CO2.
December 17, 2019
I feel, I have not pushed the basic corruption of the climate change bs.
So here is a simple question :-
You have made some observations and calculations, which show that humanity is doomed unless it changes its ways. You have total belief in the accuracy of your predictions. Do you:
(a) Announce your results, but keep your workings secret for fear that someone will criticise them.
(b) Announce your results, but set up a group of companies to make yourself mega-rich on the back of the scare you have created.
(c) Drop everything, including secrecy and profit, and devote yourself to saving the human race.
December 18, 2019
BJ, so what have we been seeing in California, Australia, Northern Europe, Northern Russia. Drought leading to bush and forest fires. To me that looks very much like observations, furthermore consistent with meteorological analyses and 5- to 15-day forecasts by the US National Center for Environmental Prediction, the UK MetOffice, the Japanese Meteorological Agency, and other similar global met. services.
And contrary to what you seem to imply all these meteorological places, most of them National and therefore in the public sector, do not keep their results secret and in fact put them (thanks to the World Meteorological Organization) on a publicly-accessible World Weather Watch. (As an aside, thatās not what some non-Dr Corbyn is doing with his āforecastsā based on correlations with solar activity. He is selling his rather unsuccessful monthly and three-monthly āforecastsā and keeps secret his statistical ārevolutionary world-leading solar-based method of long-range forecastingā. He also makes sure of never comparing his results to those of these meteorological centres, or at least never telling the world outside his company how ābrilliantā his results compared to those more traditional meteorological centres.
BJ, your point 3 is rather meaningless as these met.services do not take political decisions. It is left to the various governments and the people to decide what to do with these data.
December 16, 2019
“It should limit the Speakers powers”
Yes Mr Bercow has made his mark
Though it can backfire if Labour ever has a majority again.
But as a principle, a government should be allowed to govern.
December 16, 2019
It seems beyond political will and real-politic to dismantle one-party Local Authority 50 year plus one -party states within a state.
It’s a pity. A pity for all of us.But Council Tax should not allow these Empires to exist. They should be allowed to bankrupt themselves and the whole of a political party forbidden to seek re-election for ten years to those Local Authorities. Impossible!! That is the problem
December 16, 2019
“I would like a simpler and lower taxes bill to incorporate the various tax measures I have proposed.
I want to see better protection for armed services personnel against legal challenge, once cleared by an enquiry.
I favour new legislation on the BBC to decriminalise the licence fee.”
Yes to all three.
I would like boundary reform so that a vote in the Western Isles is no longer worth five times as much as a vote in the Isle of Wight. The SNP are not as representative as is made out.
I don’t want HMG to bind itself in future budgets. I can’t see any good coming from that and can only think of the folly of the overseas aid budget and the FTPA.
December 16, 2019
Reduce the number of seats in the HoL to 300, comprising:
200 elected (3 MP constituencies for one HoL)
100 appointed (from church, lawyers, Presidents of Royal Colleges / Engineering Institutions etc; i.e. respected professionals; and 20 senior ex MPs who achieved a ministerial post)
Term of 10 years, no-one under 50 or over 75.
December 16, 2019
Agree with others, legislation to force an MP who has crossed the floor to be subject to an immediate election.
December 16, 2019
I would suggest 2 actions for the new Government
1. Make Sir John Redwood Chancellor. He talks more sense on the economy than anyone else.
2. Reduce the size of parliament to 600 constituencies and as nearly as possible make them all of the same population. At 66 million that makes 110,000 per MP. At present some voters have twice the voting power of others and they are almost all Labour voting inner city areas.
December 16, 2019
Reduce Foreign Aid budget.
Ensure Doctors are required to ascertain patients right to non urgent treatment before commencing treatment.
Make BBC subscription only.
Increase number of fishery protection vessels.
December 16, 2019
Sorry to post twice but scrap Insurance tax, to tax people for doing the right thing and obeying the law is a disgrace.
December 16, 2019
“I would like a simpler and lower taxes bill to incorporate the various tax measures I have proposed.”
Is it impossible to give an immediate reward to all tax-payers for voting for Brexit? A truly massive tax-cut?
Yes it may unbalance the books for a time. Yes, it may “not be prudent”
Yes it will be called a wholly political “gesture politics” at best. Well haven’t we deserved a gesture other than the back to front victory V- gesture-sign from the Remainer Parliament?
The surest sign of political settlement of bringing the country together is a massive tax cut for all.
Let this be our Christmas present to ourselves. We’ll spend it of course.Some of it in the beloved High Streets
December 16, 2019
Replace climate act with import duties on goods proportional to their carbon footprint of manufacture and transport.
This will be far more effective in cutting global emissions, especially if we can get the US on board. I suspect we will be pushing on an open door with this one.
This will repatriate manufacturing giving us more jobs, and the WTO can hardly complain about cutting CO2 emissions.
December 16, 2019
Reduce number of MPs, reform the HofL and elect by PR to it. Simplify taxation esp IHT and CGT. Encourage pension provision and private medical insurance. Reduce corporation tax on companies with staff working outside of M25 corridor. Repeal Climate change Bill.
December 16, 2019
Good points Sir John. To them should be added the removal of the Climate Change Act and its replacement by one dealing with real pollution both at home and by trade embargos on such as China.
December 16, 2019
I should like to see ID cards introduced, that have to be shown in order to vote, receive benefits and “free” NHS treatment etc.
On the subject of polling, I should like the rules governing the granting of postal votes considerably tightened, or preferably reverted to the way they were before Blair.
I’d like an investigation into the high cost of spectacles which feels to me remarkably like the operation of a cartel.
December 16, 2019
1. Repeal Fixed-term Parliaments Act.
2. Scrap Blair’s Supreme Court reverting back to Law Lords
3. Wipe Bercow’s actions from the records and reinforce in law, speakers impartiality
4. By election for any MP switching parties.
5. Invest in the deprived areas of the country
6. Scrap TV License
7. Strengthen laws around media impartiality
8. Close down CH4 news if possible or at least make them represent the people, not a very vocal minority
9. Implement findings of the 2018 Boundary Review
10. Scrap HS2 – spend money instead on Northern infrastructure projects, more parkways etc
11. Reopen closed rail lines where possible & where there’s a demand
12. Stop university lecturers from radicalising our children
13. Sign trade deals with the world and do not agree a level playing with the EU
14. Invest in technology including projects following the Xerox PARC/DARPA/JASON models.
15. Cut immigration and introduce family friendly tax policies – see Hungary
16. Allow house prices to fall to a level where they are affordable for young people (3x salary).
December 16, 2019
Housing is a contentious issue between the haves (older generation siting on paper fortunes which typically they won’t realise) and have nots, the young with large student debts, no means to buy a house and still living with their parents or paying someone elses mortgage/pension. Personally I’m on the side of the young and I think the Tories need to be on their side too. They are the ones who need help, they are the ones bringing up families, they are the UK’s future & potentially future Tory voters. If you don’t do anything about it then the young will continue to vote for parties promising to help them and next election you won’t have the Brexit factor to help you win.
There are lots of options that you can do to bring housing down to a more sensible price including:
– limit bank lending to the historic 3x salary
– heavy taxes on overseas buyers
– reduce stamp duty to get the market moving
– encourage the elderly living alone in large family houses to down size using tax incentives
– build more houses
– heavy tax on anyone with vacant property
– drop “help to buy” & similar schemes that help maintain prices
– use taxes to make BTL unattractive
– allow interest rates to increase – would help young buyers and savers but not going to happen currently given US economy
– fix planning system
– tax companies who hold land banks for extended periods without building
– time limit planning permission on land so companies can’t just hoard land waiting for the best time to build
– no more QE
I lived through a time when house prices went through cycles of boom and bust. Since the late 90s we have had boom after boom. Prices should have slumped following the 2008 financial crisis but the government saved the banks with QE which had the effect of inflating asset prices still further including housing. It’s interesting to compare how Iceland let their banks go bust.
For the sake of our young and ultimately the country, the housing crisis needs fixing.
December 16, 2019
I am not certain decriminalisation of the Licence Fee is an adequate response; it is likely to increase the BBC’s debt collection costs enormously, create uncertainty for its funding stream, and create operational uncertainty for programme makers. It doesn’t really achieve the objective of removing the “TV Tax”, and if the objective is to bring BBC News & Current Affairs into line, then it is a poorly focussed approach which will impact the broader BBC (such as often excellent drama and documentary output).
A better response might be to first enforce the BBC’s commitment to pay for the over-75s licences as it originally committed to do, and then require it to set out plans to move towards a subscription model in time for December 2027, with incentives for it to happen earlier. Savings will have to be made, and scrapping the unwatched BBC Alba and newly created BBC Scotland HD (to be funded direct by a scottish parliament subsidy if necessary) would be a good start; savings should be incentivised.
Most of all, a cultural change programme such as many of the Banks went through post 2008 should be initiated, paid for by savings generated as a result of an independent review of expenditure. A new Hiring policy should be initiated to be genuinely diverse, rather than politically correct.
Importantly, to support the elimination of the compulsory TV Licence, the BBC should be empowered to become more commercial, charging for use of iPlayer and facilitating even greater commerciality in its BBC Worldwide and iPlayer arms (for instance, facilitating international access to iPlayer, which many expats would appreciate, and pay handsomely for). A proper discussion about limited use of advertising (especially in News and Current Affairs), and in between programmes, should be begun.
December 16, 2019
Restore fox hunting!
December 16, 2019
Implement the recommendations of the Constituency Boundary Commission report in full without any further delay.
December 16, 2019
My suggestions:
1. More help for 1st time home buyers and the homeless.
2. Legislation to prevent rogue buyers of professional football clubs. These teams are community assets and are often prey to crooks of various types. Change of the law is needed so that the FA/Premier League can properly regulate the finances of the football industry.
3. Beef up rehabilitation in the prisons.
4. Minimum sentences for knife crime and acid attacks – maybe 5 years like gun possession.
December 16, 2019
There is a major problem in science in that half of published papers can’t be reproduced. Further any paper without “exciting” results doesn’t get published.
I would propose a public database whereby any paper can be published and all can be referenced subject only to the method being clearly described and the results and calculations included, to solve the second problem; and diversion of public research grants to reproducing work already done to solve the second.
The peer review system should be abandoned for this database, though of course private journals should remain free to do as they please.
This will take us nearer to a world where science is telling us that which is true rather than that which attracts money and fame.
Remember, it ain’t what you don’t know that hurts you- it’s what you know that ain’t so.
December 16, 2019
Legislation stating that we will Leave under WTO terms by end 2020 without payment to the EU (or better sooner, but I am keeping to what has already been stated) if no suitable FTA is agreed, might concentrate EU minds to offer and agree something reasonable. Ideally though stating we will leave WTO without payment and with a near date, say 31st January, would be even better.
December 16, 2019
Dear Sir John,
I would like to see an English Parliament and Westminster a truly UK wide issues only Parliament. I don’t want 48 Scottish MPs having a say in how England is run.
The SNP should support this. They are always banging on about Democracy except when the people of Scotland voted to remain in the UK. They did not like the result so want another referendum. Clearly the SNP is just like some of the Remain MP’s we had in the previous Westminster Parliament. I would not trust them to have the interests of England upper most when they vote.
December 16, 2019
Itās not going to happen but a referendum on the death penalty, or at least much tougher sentences and ālife means lifeā. Rising crime is a huge problem and we simply donāt have strong enough deterrents.
December 17, 2019
There is the small point that our Courts keep finding innocent people guilty.
December 17, 2019
Well over 100 people have been murdered by murderers set free from “life imprisonment “
December 16, 2019
Dear Mr. Redwood,
The aims and objectives of the PM are laudable. More police, more nurses, more this and more that. However, there is a much more pressing issue.
Who is going to take the place of Mr. Dennis Skinner and continue his long tradition of providing a witty comment during the presentation of the Queen’s speech? Such an integral part of the ceremony cannot be allowed to perish. MP’s only have a matter of days to decide if they fit the bill. Of course, it does not need to be a Labour MP…..
December 16, 2019
John,
1a) Please be very careful about introducing *legislation* for money resolutions and queen’s consent. It is an invitation for the courts to get involved in parliamentary procedure which is something that I think we do *not* want.
1b) Instead, it might be more effective to introduce more transparency. Or perhaps to give a speaker only a fixed number of times he or she can go against his advice after which he is obliged to stand down. That way things can progress but not without consequences for the speaker. Certainly introduce a procedure for removal of the speak (I believe there isn’t one formally, at present). Perhaps the speaker must have a supermajority?
2) A bill to introduce the 2015 approach to the human rights act. Probably more than we can chew at the moment but I’m still a fan.
3) Devolution, with roughly the same powers devolved everywhere – it’s impossible to know what has been devolved to where at the moment.
4) Immigration controlled mostly by money. Raise the minimum income to something more like Ā£40k or stick with Ā£30k but for those with less than 5 years’ tax receipts, there should be an annual contribution to the NHS equivalent in cost to comprehensive health insurance. Similar contribution for education if there are school age kids.
December 16, 2019
As the (coldest, darkest, poorest part of the U.K.) North subsidises the (warmest, lightest, richest part of the U.K.) South in eg. Solar panels rebates, where solar panels are not financially viable in the North because itās dark, but we subsidise te rebates paid to southerners on their energy consumption. it would be great to reverse that entire attitude.
The North also subsidises the South via the delayed business property re-rating and then the delay in implementing the re-rating – in fact the recent change in attitude to business rates is due purely to the squeals from southern businesses, northerners having been ignored for years.
As for empty property rating, my husband lost half his income and his tax doubled. Hammond told him changing the empty property business rates āwas not affordableā – well he got that right but was not thinking of the High Street investors! We have to pay VAT on property repairs or register the property for VAT which entails charging VAT on the rents for 20 years – in the north thatās a canāt-do!
The VAT threshold kills off successful start up companies which reach the VAT threshold because often they have few inputs to offset and canāt pass on the VAT charged to their customers, so suffer a drop of profitability which wipes out the owner. VAT has nothing to do with profitability either – about time the Treasury understood the meaning of the word āsolventā, and taxed accordingly.
December 16, 2019
Scrap IR35. As someone who has run a business as a contractor for over 20 years I have felt an increasing burden on both my mental state. I feel this legislature criminalises me as a self employed person.
Why? Because HMRC have consistently proven they are unable to understand the IR35 law themselves. They have consistently refused to define what employment means in law.
If they fail to grasp their own legislature then how am I expected to? I use my own equipment, my own workspace, do not get recompense from my clients when I am ill or when I want a holiday nor do they make any contributions to a pension scheme on my behalf. Yet still it appears I could be deemed an employee of my client.
It makes no sense. Please repeal this stupid law.
December 16, 2019
1. A law to criminalise UK citizens working with foreign powers to undermine the will of the people
2. Re-introduction of the automatic right of British Citizens who marry Commonwealth Citizens to be resident in the UK. This was removed in 1973 on joining the Common Market to make way for EU Freedom of Movement.
3. A five eyes (UK, NZ, AUS, CAN, US) wide trade and freedom of movement agreement.
December 16, 2019
Dear Sir John, it was a big mistake for Messrs Cameron and Osborne to try to cut the number of MPs at the same time as equalising representation. The population is rising steeply and the saving was only about Ā£10-15 million a year. Please repeat the exercise with 650 constituencies well in time for the next scheduled General Election.
2)Start reducing the House of Lords to 650 by a two out/ one in discipline until we can agree on a long-term reform.
3)Consider a modest electoral reform to bring in a run-off round for MP elections, except where the leading candidate either has more than 50 per cent of votes or, say, 40 per cent with a 10 per cent lead over the runner-up. This would give more scope for minor parties and at the same time ensure that, in a run-off, the winner would be the positive choice of more than half the voters.
December 16, 2019
I would like to see a Great Tax Reform Bill. I’m sure you have mentioned it on this site before but I’ll do it anyway. At 21000 pages and growing, our Tax Code is too big, it stifles growth, entrepreneurship, makes it difficult if not impossible to understand and is wholly inefficient. The most effective Tax Code in the world is that of Hong Kong. It stands at 276 pages. I am not saying we should be aiming that low but certainly we could do something extremely effective and efficient in the 500 page region. A reformed tax code would drive so many other areas in the public and private domain it almost seems a sin not to do it.
December 16, 2019
Tax simplification. I would even argue for a flat rate income tax with minimal/zero allowances. But at least get back to the 20% (or lower) basic and 40% (or lower) higher tax system.
Likewise simplify IHT if you cannot abolish it. Again I would favour a (very) low rate and minimal allowances. The current system where the liability of potentially exempt gifts is reduced over the seven years ONLY if the gift exceeds the Ā£325k allowance is a miserly fix because it means for most people that the taper relief is meaningless. Goodness knows how it applies if a double allowance (from the previous death of a spouse) or if the housing allowance can be claimed; I have been trying to fathom it all and have failed.
December 16, 2019
Equality for the English with a stand alone Parliament with the house of Lords becoming a UK wide Senate
December 16, 2019
Dear Sir John,
I agree with all you say .
I would just add the knife at our throat is the SNP
They had 4% of the vote, and end up with 4 8 seats, that is ridiculous ?
December 16, 2019
I would support those advocating for abolishing the House of Lords and replace it with an elected chamber.
Sadly, I can’t see any government undertaking this change.
December 16, 2019
Immigration must be curtailed and ideally brought down to zero for the next 5 years. This will give us a chance to get NHS, housing and other services improved to a level where they are more able to support the current population.
Amnesty to illegal immigrants must NOT occur otherwise we are inviting the whole world to descend illegally on our small island.
All immigrants must commit to obeying British Law in full with no exceptions. All are equal under the Law. Immigrants must commit to integrate with British culture and society and to learn the language properly.
Our green and pleasant land has limited capacity and is already seriously over populated.
The UK must increase its Border Force and make it truly effective. The Governments first duty is protection of the indigenous population and our society.
December 16, 2019
Two areas. The NhS nust have a more competitive beds per thousand persons compared with other developed countries. The Government should come clean on global warming and inject millions into the pockets of the electorate by removing the energy surchare and repealing the nonsensical Climate Change Act.
December 16, 2019
Please sort out Ir 35 and also cut stamp duty on buy to let and on large value homes.
December 16, 2019
It’s a remarkable victory and we need to secure it. I would like it secured and improved in the best way possible. I feel that is with income tax cuts for the lowest paid upwards. Like Margaret Thatcher achieved with ‘Essex Man’ and we achieved in the 1990’s with ‘Mondeo Man’. Giving the means to aspiration is essential. Even a GBP 50 / month increase in income now is a start and it will make a tangible difference for those on low pay who want to get on in life. It’s something we can continually build upon too. It would be especially felt in the North of England and Scotland too
December 16, 2019
In addition to most suggestions above, I’d repeat withdraw from EHCR. There is a specific Scottish reason for this.
Just behind that, either remove two thirds of the Lords and Ladies in the House of Lords, or replace, and reverse the Supreme Court introduction.
December 16, 2019
Automatic by-election when an MP switches parties.
December 16, 2019
Your ambition as regards the BBC is too limited. The licence fee concession for OAPs must be preserved as the BBC agreed while the fee itself has to be reviewed with a subscription replacement as the best option. No further subsidies for the staff pension fund should be allowed.
December 16, 2019
hope you are having a good first day back!
December 16, 2019
JR
“once cleared by an enquiry.”
I assume your spellcheck caught you out.
I agree with all you say, and on the matter of the BBC I think extra legislation will be needed to prevent spiteful retaliations that could affect people’s lives. For example selling a debt, assumed or otherwise to a collection agency.
In any event revenge should now be taken against the BBC for their disgraceful bias. It needs a deep clean.
December 16, 2019
Sir John, Re Bank Charges and Banking Overheads
In recent years the traditional High Street banks have struggled to maintain branches due to high costs etc and many are or have closed.
I feel the new government should explore options to merge the High Street banks into one customer point of contact. The banks would remain independent traders in terms of profit and cash flow etc, however there would be one High Street building that houses the traditional banking services. There is a the potential to save on individual overheads, it does not matter what individual bank customers are with. If they need to seek banking services there is one point of contact for all the major banks, eg cash withdrawals or deposits etc at the till. So for example Nat West, Barclays, etc are all in one building, this could mean more services available where branches have closed. There could be bank savings that I hope could be passed to customers. The post office has an arrangement with WH Smiths so in my opinion banks could have a one point arrangement with each other. I feel at least this is worth exploring and potentially helps many older people who have complained about lack of banking facilities in their area.
December 16, 2019
Hello Sir John,
Thank you for your request for comments / ideas.
I believe MP’s are too scared to do anything meaningful with regards to the BBC.
There needs to be a referendum (I know!) on whether to retain the licence or not. Government shall not pick up the tab in the event of a no vote.
Like many others, I am heartily sick of the remoaner left wing nonsense output in all of their programming.
I no longer take any BBC output on TV, radio or online and it galls me to contribute against my will.
December 18, 2019
If you do not watch any BBC TV, either whilst being transmitted or later on i-player, you do not need to have a licence, so long as you do not watch any of the commercial channels at the time of transmission either. You may watch all self-funding channels on catch-up with impunity: My5, ITV Hub, UKTV Play, All 4 etc. Be galled no more.
December 16, 2019
Dear Sir John,
Although Brexit is number one priority, my view is that housing must continue to be a key priority for the Conservatives. If we are to give the economy the much-needed boost it needs, we need to reduce the burden of stamp duty across the whole of the UK housing market.
I also consider we should be addressing the problem of immigration.
These two issues seem to have been put on the back burner.
December 16, 2019
Take.action against.electoral fraud. If it ever becomes significant the beneficiaries will certainly not act.
Set up a commission to examine how it could be done, including of course every way it has been found to happen, and propose methods to block those routes.
There will of course be complaints about people being deprived of their votes. Banks check that those asking for their money are who they say they are. Presiding Officers and returning officers should do the same for those asking for their votes.
December 17, 2019
Agreed.
December 16, 2019
Scrap the fixed term.Parliament act and return to the status quo ante.
December 16, 2019
Scrap the supreme court.and return to the status quo ante.
December 16, 2019
Make the HoL elected, but at different times and.by a different system than the commons. May I suggest 1/4 every eight years.
But a return to hereditary qualification would be less awful than what we now have.
December 16, 2019
Off topic, Sir John, but I would like to congratulate you on your re-election to Parliament and sincerely thank you for providing this site from your own resources. Your wise and insightful comments during the three year outbreak of Brexitosis the British have suffered, have been a shining beacon of sanity in a tempestuous sea of Brexit darkness. May you and yours be richly blessed.
December 17, 2019
Agreed. Totally well said, also.
December 16, 2019
(1) The House of Lords is an abomination. It needs to be elected and rediscover its purpose of scrutinising and amending legislation.
(2) Less money from central government for Scotland. Let them raise their own taxes.
December 16, 2019
Fix the hate crime legislation so the police can get to work on actual crimes and petty, revenge-driven hate-crime reporters (many of them MPs) are charged with wasting police time.
December 17, 2019
I would like to see a radical overhaul of national insurance in order to properly fund social care..
Thank you..
December 17, 2019
I would also like to see proposals to build a milk processing plant in Northern Ireland to do away with it being transported back and forth across the Irish border; proposals to build new fish processing plants in the major fishing ports (to process our greater catch and make it available to UK citizens); a motorway usage vignette (a la Switzerland) for foreign lorries (UK lorries being deemed to have met it through their road fund licences); proposals for Freeportās in (at least) Tyneside, Tilbury, Southampton, Belfast, Cardiff and Glasgow.
December 17, 2019
A genuine recall bill, of the sort put forward by Zac goldsmith, allowing constituents to initiate recall should they be displeased with their mp. Such a law would probably have helped in the last parliament, and curbed the enthusiasm of some MPs to jettison their manifesto commitments
December 17, 2019
On BBC: Completely get rid of BBC licensing. It is a bias network and does not represent the Nation’s values but pushes its own social left agenda. Viewers can endure advertising more than we can endure arrogance.
On education: sort out the imbalance that has sprung out of the boost to LGBTQ rights. The situation we have now is, in aiming to protect them, is that the part of society that morally objects to their morality on religious grounds has lost much of its freedom of speech and is threatened. Also, revamp the infrastructure of education so that teachers are able to teach rather more than do paperwork and satisfy red tape on child protection and political correctness gone mad.
On Freedom of Speech: Invest more time and effort in the protection of Christianity/freedom of religion of Christians in the nation and in the world against religious persecution (Christians bear 80% of the persecution world wide).
H of L: limited term; no more peerages; revert to the blood ties to prevent/limit its self-serving and political nature as was originally intended.
December 17, 2019
I have already sent these to my MP, Julian Sturdy, but you did ask!
1. Produce a low tax, pro business budget that will stimulate investment and yet show people that they are best able to spend their own money.
2. Repeal the awful Fixed Term Parliament Act which paralysed Parliament and held the PM to ransom. Never again should this be allowed.
3. Legislate to prevent the Supreme Court ever again overturning an edict from the Monarch. If necessary disband it and return control to the House of Lords.
4. Take our fisheries off the negotiating table with the EU. They may be able to have some fishing rights, but our fishermen have priority.
5. Donāt sign up to a ālevel playing fieldā. Let the most competitive, efficient and dynamic businesses succeed.
6. Adopt the recommendations of the Boundary Commission, to stop the absurd bias towards the left.
7. Reform the House of Lords, or at the very least ensure that the Peerage reflects the nation. No more should Liberal peers be able to prevent the business of the government when they only have 11 seats.
8. Allow the SNP their Independence vote, but only after the full details of the arrangements with the EU have been concluded. This will allow the Scots to have the facts before the vote. I would also suggest that there should be no further offers of money or more powers; the case for the Union should state itself.
9. Invest in our armed forces. They are woefully weak. Use money from the International Development Fund, and while there, break with link between GDP and the fund.
10. Cancel HS2 and use the money to upgrade and improve the rl links in the north, particularly the Trans Pennine Routes. Itās absurd that an electric train can go from Leeds to London, and frm York to London, but cannot go from York to Leeds.
December 17, 2019
1. Invest in the University side and align them with commerce to create commercially viable products and services that are both innovative and desirable. Concentrate research spending and State funding to useful outcomes with quantifiable qualitative results for people..
2. Ensure we train sufficient nurses, doctors and IT specialists, reducing numbers of University courses which a majority of graduates donāt get repayment jobs within 5 years.
3. Sort out our trade deals and phase 2 negotiations, we are already aligned with the EU so what the hell is all this prevaricating. Get Denis Cooper in the working team.
December 18, 2019
The HOL needs a revamp as it is no longer fit for purpose. Why, once an mp is removed by the electorate, they are allowed to come back into the legislature – for life? Personally, I’d love to see something like the US Senate where each county or metropolitan area would return two ‘senators’ (elected in countywide elections). This would provide local issues to be factored in to the legislative process. Each ‘senator’ would be at least 35 years old, be term limited to 10 years with the elections held at a different time to the general election.