We now have the opportunity to get rid of regulations, taxes and charges imposed on us by the EU as we leave fully at the end of December. We need to use these freedoms to promote faster growth and more employment.
The government could begin by repealing the Ports Regulations. These were strongly opposed by our port industry when they were in negotiation, and are not relevant to the UK where our ports are mainly private sector owned competing businesses.
It could go on to make the Data Protection legislation less bureaucratic and more effective. The EU system has set off an avalanche of box ticking exercises, often impeding legitimate communication with groups of people who wish to be on mailing lists. Of course we need high standards of protecting sensitive data, but we doĀ not Ā need a system which stops legitimate sales promotion or information flows Ā to people who want to be in touch.
We need to remove VAT from a variety of items often mentioned here.
We need to tear up the fishing regulations and replace them with UK based ones that are kinder to our fish and to our fishing industry.
May 24, 2020
We also need to look at ‘ interview process’. I can mainly speak for the NHS but am supposing that interviews are similar everywhere.The interview is based on a point system where if you use their words in a certain way then you get a point . If you uses other words which amount to similar then this would be disallowed. The job goes on the day and what is said. The interviews are short listed by particular exams one has taken and not the overall experience which goes with them. As time goes on new exams and qualifications a evolve and the process does not take into account previous results and experience . They say you haven’t this or that when what has been gained are many other exams well thought of previously. For example a 2 day course does not substitute for many years practising originally underlined by strict criteria and updated. What we are left with is inexperience but recently added paper qualifications. Following on from this is that these appointed people are put in charge and will only appoint people who know or have experienced less than them and so the human resource waste goes on.
May 24, 2020
M B J
Your last sentence sums up precisely the situation explained to me years ago by a very senior NHS professional, who said covering your backside and protecting your position was now becoming more important than doing the right thing for the patient.
May 24, 2020
Your suggestion about promotion has also been confirmed by many who work in the NHS, instead of sacking those who are incompetent, they are usually moved to one side, and often end up in management where they are equally unsuited.
May 24, 2020
We also need to look at the practise of refusing British students in favour of foreign students for oversubscribed courses because their tuition fees are capped. British students should be given priority if they have the right qualifications.
May 24, 2020
The whole PC culture and criminalisation must go!
May 24, 2020
ā
May 24, 2020
I wouldn’t say the NHS way you describe is at all typical.
May 24, 2020
Does this apply to all jobs in the NHS ie at all levels including extramural and include qualified staff like doctors and nurses and technicians who work in hospitals or just to administrative roles?
May 24, 2020
Almost half our export trade is with the EU, so we will have to keep on following EU data protection rules, but with no say in their making. Same in lots of other areas. What a con Brexit is turning out to be
May 24, 2020
Can’t see the logical connection you are trying to make there. OK, under half our trade is with the EU, and when we trade with a nation we need to supply goods that are to their standards. That applies to every nation. One of the reasons leaving the EU will be beneficial is because we don’t need to apply their bureaucracy to goods we trade with non EU nations, and that is rising and will rise higher once we are free to trade on our terms.
May 24, 2020
@Corazon; That old europhiles Rotterdam con again… No, half our trade goes via the EU, it is not with the EU.
May 24, 2020
Only a small amount goes beyond the European Union through its ports. That myth was long ago exploded.
And agreement will be required to continue that access anyway.
May 24, 2020
There are other ports.
May 25, 2020
Such as? And how expensive is a sea crossing of days compared with a couple of hours?
May 25, 2020
You suggested the port of Rotterdam will refuse our trade.
That is ridiculous. They will not refuse our trade.
So you have built a strawman argument.
But to humour you, there are many other ports that would be keen to offer a service, like Hamburg or Le Havre
In the UK ports like Felixstowe can take the goods being redistributed to non EU countries direct.
PS
Rotterdam is about a 12 hour crossing not 2.
May 25, 2020
@MiC; Nonsense, Rotterdam, does not fully (un)load the container ships that pass through their port. In fact why would any company in the UK bother using containerised sea freight to send their goods to/from the EU27 when rail or road haulage via the Channel and North Sea ferry & rail crossings are cheaper, quicker never mind direct?!
The point you fail to understand is, under EU single market rules any goods for export destinations are regarded as internal market trade (not exports) until the last port of call before leaving EU waters.
May 24, 2020
USA and China are two nations who trade with the EU without following EU data protection rules.
May 25, 2020
In the limited agreed areas they do.
But such a deal would wreck the UK’s existing trade in many areas.
May 25, 2020
Limited areas!
They sell billions of dollars of goods into Europe every year.
Quite obvious you know nothing about international trade.
PS
I only used these two nations as examples.
There are many more who trade with the EU and do not follow EU GDPR. regulations.
Unless you can think of any?
May 24, 2020
And we are about to get a free ferry service in the English Channel in the middle of a lockdown with the redistribution of ‘children’ with beards to all regions.
It didn’t get mentioned once in Priti Patel’s briefing last week with the Border Force chief present.
It is never reported by the BBC.
Then there are senior government officials who think lockdown only applies to everyone else.
I simply don’t trust the Government anymore.
May 24, 2020
You are very sensible not to trust government.
The āfree ferry serviceā and associated issues is a taboo subject for politicians. You may get a few platitudes or possibly a few empty promises.
Donāt expect any action though.
May 24, 2020
You have obviously not heard of the “Rotterdam effect”. Do some research and find out how much of the figure you quote is for goods which are actually for shipment from UK to places outside the EU, but have to go through Rotterdam first.
May 24, 2020
Corazon:
All sales need to meet the customers’ specifications unless those customers have no choice beyond accepting what is available. We in turn may find better customers elsewhere within the world.
UK non-exporters will not have to conform to EU rules solely to sell to our own population as previously. Brexit delivers freedom.
May 24, 2020
The EU want to trade with us – Ā£bns from us in return for every freeloader/foreign criminal they can ferry halfway across the channel, to be met by Border Force.
May 24, 2020
Wrong! We donāt have to implement US or Australian laws to export to them. You Remainers either really donāt understand, which explains your fear, or you are mischievous.
Even Starmer has accepted Brexit. Time you did to – or at least stopped boring the rest of us with you old-fashioned prejudices.
May 24, 2020
The old “flat earth” argument.
Who’d have thought you could sail around the world, until you could?
Who’d have thought the EU was an outmoded anti-democratic, protectivist institution in a free world, until it was?
May 24, 2020
Corazon, You don’t seem to understand (well, you are a Remain!) that – once the UK is independent – only our exports to the EU have to comply with EU rules, not our whole country. UK exports to the EU amount to c12.6% UK GDP, therefore out of the EU, over 87% of our GDP will not be subject to GDPR provided we repeal it. So little knowledge, so Remain.
May 24, 2020
And you do not seem to understand how business works. EU rules and UK rules are currently the same. When the rules are no longer the same businesses have to comply with TWO sets of rules – doubling their workload.
Ah, you cry. But only businesses which export to the EU. Not so. Because businesses which export to the EU will tend to be large companies and they will insists that all of their suppliers adhere to EU rules too. But we no longer have any say in making those rules because you – really rather weirdly – think dishwasher regulation or rules regarding the safety of toasters or efficiency of fridges is about sovereignty. Odd.
Take back control of our toaster safety.
May 24, 2020
Again you show your lack if industry knowledge Andy.
There are three types of manufacturing companies.
Those that only supply their home market.
Those that supply their home market and the EU
Those that supply anyone on the planet.
If you supply into any market you have to meet their requirements.
It’s quite straightforward and manufacturing companies have done this for decades.
May 24, 2020
I wonder what exports have to do with the idiotic data protection laws.
May 24, 2020
Let me help you. Data is about services. Because exports are not just about goods – they are about services too. Or they were before Brexit.
The thing to know about trade deals is they they mostly donāt include services – except of course the single market which is, by far, the most advanced trade arrangement for services in the world. So the UK, which is strong in services, has little leverage because most countries wonāt put services in trade deals.
May 24, 2020
Services are not part of the single market.
May 25, 2020
They are.
Some aspects of that remain incomplete however.
May 25, 2020
Yes, but GDPR apply to all services whether they are provided within the EU or the UK, and this till the end of 2020.
You might want to read on the gov.uk website āSelling services to the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein from 1 January 2021ā to see how it will change, and to show you that your above comment to Andy is rather vacuous, as āservices not being part of the single marketā never prevented any British company from offering its services to customers in the EU27.
May 25, 2020
You are going off on a tangent Hefner.
If UK services comply with GDPR rules that doesn’t change my statement that services are not part of the single market.
I realise it will change when we leave.
Andy was, wrongly as usual, claiming leaving the EU and its fabled single market.will stop that trade.
May 24, 2020
Bear in mind that much of our export trade is transhipped via ports on the other side of the Channel, but still counted as EU exports when the EU is not their final destination.
May 24, 2020
But I bet we won’t. Whitehall is desperate to keep us in the EU orbit and will frustrate every move.
May 24, 2020
Yes, I agree. The EU not only wants the UK on an ECJ controlled level playing field, it also wants the UK armed and security forces under EU Commission control and our Government and top civil servants seem to be keeping quiet about this. According to a high-ranking former army commander, the defence autonomy of the UK is under threat from the EU even after the UK leaves the Brexit Implementation Period.
May 24, 2020
The choice is EU orbit, China orbit or do what we are told by the Americans.
You pick.
May 24, 2020
Andy, Quite untrue. Those are not the choices at all. We can, and should, be independent. But since you choose to make us a subject people, then being part of the USA is obviously far better than being ruled by the EU empire.
May 25, 2020
NickC
Being part of the US with their social system, please spare me
May 24, 2020
America anytime.
May 24, 2020
“And” do what we are told by the Americans, as now.
Which is why we have left the European Union in the first place.
May 24, 2020
Do nations have to choose?
When did that become compulsory?
May 24, 2020
The Americans. Happy now? Can we say goodbye?
May 24, 2020
Andy
Ok, if I had to I’d pick the Americans every time.
May 24, 2020
Nonsense. We donāt have to be in anyoneās orbit. We need to grow our own food and produce our own energy and make much more of our own goods. Why do we, or any country, have to be obsessed with global trade and, allegedly, be in the orbit of larger countries.
May 24, 2020
USA all day long.
May 25, 2020
They all admit it, Andy.
They are, almost to a man, US supremacists, who want a global US empire and the destruction of any competing union of nations.
That makes them the most loathsome form of traitor to civilisation and to democracy in my view.
May 25, 2020
US supremacists?
Destruction of any others?
Loathsome traitors to civilisation and democracy?
Rather jumping to a new conclusion there Martin.
The question was about who’s orbit.
Orbit was the key word.
China EU or America.
3 out of seven said they preferred just being independent.
Do try and keep calm.
May 24, 2020
I want to see all regulations retained and strengthened not removed.
Its going to be very bad to remove EU regulation and I hope for the day when a new future government reinstates all regulations.
Ordinary people simply voted to leave the EU on the basis of promised border controls. The majority did not think about trade or regulations.
We actually need more regulation and not less.
I will look very carefully for a future government who will reinstate/ keep all EU regulations
May 24, 2020
Good morning.
Sir John, all good nice and sensible things but ! As we have seen of late, when it comes to nice, and especially sensible things, this government does not do that.
I am sure you and others are having more than a few words, but I bet it is hard going š
The problem in all this is, we have a Civil Service and an Establishment that is stuck in the past and does not like change. It likes the way things are / were, where their lives are less troubled. Freedom from the EU has caused them, and those in the government, to seek comfort (Wet Nurse) elsewhere. This has come in the form of the UN and its offshoots as well as various international agreements, not to forget the ‘experts’.
Leaving the EU, well for me at least, was always the start, not the end. We still have Labour’s client state to battle.
May 24, 2020
Addendum and off topic – sorry.
I watched Nigel Farage’s video yesterday. He mentioned that the illegal immigrants (all men from what I could see) chanted to him; “England, England, England !” Now I doubt that these are football, cricket or rugby fans but people saying what country they would most want to live in. The thing is, they know the name of my country (England) yet, there are many MP’s and people in the media, who would rather drink poison then do the same. At least these illegals have the decency to name the country and its people who will pay for them unlike our own lot who will not. š
May 24, 2020
I have never heard such nonsense as Pritti Patelās defence of the French escorting migrants across the channel. It really is laughable and shows how weak our Government is. The French could easily agree to accept all these migrants return to France. Our Border Force could even deliver them back there. This would immediately stop the problem.
May 24, 2020
The other obvious solution is that our armed services could actually defend our seas by use of force, if and when necessary.
That would definitely stop the problem.
However, politicians are not actually very bothered about it in the first place.
May 24, 2020
Christing
“The French could easily agree to accept all these migrants return to France.”
Why should they? We’ve left the protection of the EU. It’s up to us now. Isn’t that what you wanted?
May 24, 2020
@margaret howard
Why are people fleeing from the EU to Brexit Bitain?
May 24, 2020
What was this protection of the EU? They sent us their migrants when we were in the EU and they send them still.
Your comments really are tiresome.
May 24, 2020
Because the law on asylum says nearest place of safety.
May 25, 2020
Since when did you care about the law, Edward?
The law said that Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful, and you didn’t accept that, did you?
May 25, 2020
I disagreed with the ruling by the Supreme Court.
But I accepted it as did the Government.
I do care about the law.
That is why I want future laws to be made by my elected UK Government.
May 24, 2020
Well said Mark B.
May 24, 2020
What they refuse to acknowledge is the name of the native population; try finding it on a government form.
May 24, 2020
Mark B, You are exactly right that we have a civil service which “is stuck in the past and does not like change”. Though the reason is power rather than nostalgia.
My senior contact in the civil service simply cannot see anything wrong with his assertion that the job of civil servants is to manage the politicians.
And the reason they have this attitude is the corruption endemic in the EU Council of Ministers where the civil servants collectively decide the laws and the ministers of the respective sub-states sign on the dotted line.
May 24, 2020
Well politicians come and go ( why is that I wonder?) but Civil Servants want to stay.
May 24, 2020
Mark B at 6.17am. His comment is 100% spot on. Sir John, I almost mailed similar, direct to you.
Oh how it drives me up the wall to have to ‘log on’ to this, ‘accept’ that every time I wish to speak to anyone. Oh but it must be right though The Wonderful Great god EU says so.
And yes of course we will be able to trade worldwide with less pernickety red tape once we are out. Sooner the better say I.
One subject you have not talked about (understandably) is the Corvid lock down. Personally I believe we should have stopped visitors coming in from the start. Now there should be no exceptions to quarantine. BUT while we knew less about corvid then and the NHS would have struggled to cope. NOW NHS has capacity. We (Handcock) are choosing the wrong experts and the economy has suffered enough. Time to end the lock down.
May 24, 2020
Make sure you leave safeguards in your plan so as to protect people’s privacy. There are individuals and organisations that abuse their access to personal information — in their own best interests, of course, and with gay abandon. Not everyone’s desire to “want to be in touch” is laudable or even legal. Do you agree that unlawful access to and use of protected information should be seen as abuse of position, JR?
May 24, 2020
@Irene; Indeed, there is a vast difference between giving implicit and explicit approval. Whilst I might āwant to be in touchā with a company with regards their product range A, that does not mean I want to be ‘in touch’ about ranges B to Z, even though I have asked them to contact me directly using my personal data to do so.
May 24, 2020
Even down to the govt giving a supermarket chain a list of thousands of disabled people.
May 24, 2020
Hardly an inspiring list and looks a bit like scraping the barrel. Following on from yesterday, ask one of your small businesses to keep for three months all the paper and requests for information they get from Public authorities, mainly HMG, the extraordinary cost (time) associated with that plus employment regs H/S etc.
60/70% of business fixed/variable cost is people, yet you propose to do nothing about it apart from increase it arbitrarily with national wage and time off when kids are born. Have you any idea the effect on a small business of having to keep a job open/offer it back after Maternity leave. I thought not. It is all geared towards big business who can afford specialists and absorb the cost.
Reduce air flight tax, you are penalising families. Create Freeportās. What about the 15/20 billion you have made us waste re smart meters and subsidy for renewables? Scrap them.
Obviously HS2 and overseas aid, plus bloated head count, excessive senior salaries and bloated pensions in the Public Sector, useless and expensive quangos, all need serious cutting to give to us in tax cuts to regenerate economy but of course no comment or ambition in these respects from once Tory politicians.
Finally the usual guff about Fishing, an emotive subject and of course you need to do something to ābuyā their votes but major employment on a national scale,mm?
The biggest impact and one you have/do support (privately now?) is to reduce corporation tax, quietly dropped in selling out to the EU. Cut this dramatically and watch the large corporations flock here. Now that would make a difference.
Finally I note the comments re Huweii. Again you are happy to put this country back umpteen years economically by slowing up 5G purely for virtue signalling political purposes. It will make no difference to the Chinese government or generate any change as if they cannot get all the āSecretsā they want by any number of other means.
May 24, 2020
What are the government going to do about the deal just sealed between the Chinese and Imperial college to help fund their new technology complex, including installing 5G? The Chinese have a track record of infiltrating universities for nefarious purposes, and it is instructive to see all the recent prosecutions in the USA of those in academia who have been spying/selling secrets to the Chinese.
May 24, 2020
Historically Unis were weak internet positions, lack of secure connections, allowing an access point to multiple organisations.
A hacker’s dream.
May 24, 2020
Nigl Do we actually NEED 5G? Why can’t we wait a bit while our own boffins can do it.
Also scrap HS2. That again was favoured by Civil Servants acting on behalf of their like in EU.
Certainly abolish foreign aid,most of it goes to corrupt politicians/ organisations anyway.
I’m sure Sir John wants corporation tax reduced. Some of your points while good, seem to be misdirected actually. Smart meters are not and never have been compulsory. Big business = Bad Small business = Good!!
May 24, 2020
To do all this the politicians need to be back in Parliament to repeal and introduce new laws, Perspex doesnāt cost a fortune so the Parliament benches could be partitioned off to accommodate MPs or just move somewhere else that could take all MPs, and donāt say it canāt be done after all it only took 9 days to create the London NHS Nightingale hospital
May 24, 2020
@Mick; In hindsight the ExCel venue might have been better converted to a modern parliament, MPs spaced 3m apart, each with their own desk and electronic voting console etc.
Time to build a new modern parliament, the existing parliament can then become the museum it truly is, it’s restoration can then be carried out like any other historic (listed) building.
May 24, 2020
The national trust could take it over. Another wonderful tourist destination.
May 24, 2020
Why canāt government use the Nightingale hospital just put a chair and microphone in each booth instead of the bed? Weāve already paid for it!
May 24, 2020
Early hours of this morning on the radio -saying that millions going to be spent on ending homelessness. Why not use the Nightingale there to house the ones in London? Or is it just govt policy to keep throwing yet more and more and more cash on things – cash that we haven’t got?
May 24, 2020
Early hours of this morning on the radio -saying that millions going to be spent on ending homelessness. Why not use the Nightingale there to house the ones in London?
>
What an excellent idea.
May 24, 2020
Let’s not wait for November 5th – We need a bonfire not just of quangos, but of so many restrictive EU regulations, as well as socialist inspired PC social regulations that have changed our country for the worse.
Rather than simply replacing regulations that don’t work – revoke them and then study if any are needed…
Anything that increases the tax burden should be removed, along with as much red tape as possible.
Let’s not fiddle around at the edges – We know our tax system is beyond repair – Reduce taxes all round, then pledge to put something a whole lot better and less complex in it’s place.
May 24, 2020
āSocialist inspired PC social regulationsā – like?
May 24, 2020
Andy, Safe spaces for snowflakes?
May 25, 2020
And where is that in the Statute books, genius?
May 24, 2020
Every major piece of legislation for the last 20 years+
EG Same sex marriage
May 25, 2020
That is a Tory law, brought in by Cameron’s government.
It’s hardly a “major” law amongst the thousands of Acts passed in that time either, covering everything from land registration to freedom of information to growth and infrastructure.
You really don’t know how a country works, do you?
May 26, 2020
Are you blind – that one act has created so many idiotic reactions and unfair prosecutions – It was major to a lot of people
Even the Tories have crept to the absurd left … But labour are even worse with their confounded equality laws
May 24, 2020
I fear we will get nothing significant, BH, as we have a civil service/mandarins still absolutely committed to the EU apparently, and running circles round our politicians. It is no coincidence that Dominic Cummings is suffering a well coordinated and aggressive campaign against him.
May 24, 2020
I fear you are right Chris – but one has to get these things out in the open – Someone somewhere might listen and do something.
You are also right in what you say of the civil service – as part of the political establishment they control far too much
May 24, 2020
Maybe the Senior Civil Service at Minister interface & executive level should be subject to a ‘political’ clearout. Particularly any who hold allegiance to the EU & not the UK.
May 24, 2020
Reduce taxes all round? Love the idea – but it won’t happen. The govt needs evermore money to keep funding the lives of everyone ( and then their families) who Border Force ferry into the UK. That’s why the govt will NEVER release the true figures of the number here and their cost to us. 170 unaccompanied minors this year? – all anchors to bring in whole families.
May 24, 2020
I see refugees from Hong Kong are now on the agenda. Still, what’s a few more between friends?
May 24, 2020
@BigNeil
The government has the option to ruin us economically by shutting down our will to live by taxing us into an early death …. or creating an economy that has the potential to bloom and boom..
The way they handle this will show how far left they are….
The debt will likely be there for decades so no real rush – the vital thing is to get the UK Ltd up and productive…
May 24, 2020
Have we the new fishing regulations for us all to see?
May 24, 2020
EU (read the French) wants access as at present, but UK offers, Norway style, annual acess deal, IF we do a sensible FTA. With no FTA, ie we are on WTO rules, the French get NIL access.
Message to Mssr. Macron, better to have half a loaf than none…
May 24, 2020
I’ve no problem with offering the EU a multi-year deal; it makes sense given the cost and life-span of fishing vessels. But the EU must pay a fair rate for OUR resources, and if the British fishing industry wants to increase its quota then that want must be accommodated, at the expense of foreign fleets. If we do not charge the EU for access then the national governments will just continue to sell licences to their boats.
Q. Sir John, Do you see evidence that the EU will have to pay to fish here?
May 24, 2020
Peter; your plan gets the UK fish sector NIL access to EU Ports to sell its catch. BTW, Norway pays an associate membership fee to get access to the EU market.
You appear unaware that the British don’t eat the fish the UK fishing sector catches; its catch is sold mostly unprocessed into the EU 27. The fish products the UK does eat, are imported from mostly the colder waters of the EU-EEA and processed products from the Far East with a lot of food miles on them.
UK fishing is owned by an oligopoly of fishing families, that have turned the sector into a nice little earner for those families, with the active cooperation of Conservative governments.
Naturally, Conservatives don’t make their profits by physically going fishing, they make their profits by simply buying and selling the fish in a “free market” Hence UK fishermen are allowed to sell the free quota given to them by the UK government, to EU Super Trawlers for cash and they stay home with their feet up. Hence they are designated as “Slipper Skippers” and UK waters end up with a lot foreign fishing boats in them.
May 24, 2020
Acorn,
You missed the point of my comment, however, as to your points, I have only three letters: CFP..
May 24, 2020
“Message to Mssr. Macron, better to have half a loaf than noneā¦”
and the equivalent ratio of fishes :
= 0.1 !
May 24, 2020
Good comment. Lets see the chart delineating conservation areas. For each area , who can do what with what, employing what fishing methods and who from the EU might be invited to subscribe to an annual licence to fish by subscribed methods and to what extent. Finally what system of drones, aircraft/helicopters and RN protection vessels will be employed to police it with a final list of fines for violations of the new regulations.
May 24, 2020
It’s been a while since I did this sort of stuff, but the RN and SFPA have enough patrol vessels for the task. The RN does not provide routine air support for the patrollers; that’s done by DEFRA. The fines are eye-wateringly high and don’t need amending. I once detained two Dutch boats. They were ‘weighed off’ the following morning and the penalties – fines, confiscation of catch, confiscation of gear – came to just shy of Ā£100K.
May 24, 2020
@peter Wood / agricola
Thing is, those who voted leave, i.e the majority, will not tolerate EU (French) access to UK waters. So if Boris makes concessions here it won’t bode well for him at the next election and could well be the acid test.
Better to have nothing whatsoever to do with France, we don’t need them, and they certainly don’t respect us.
In fact I’d go one further and offer some kind of fishing deal but with the exclusion of the French.
May 25, 2020
and the Chinese, Japanese and sea-bottom scraping trawlers.
May 24, 2020
Why do you need to see them? Virtually none of you read the withdrawal agreement – so you donāt know what Johnson signed you up to anyway. Sorry, I said Johnson. I meant Cummings.
May 24, 2020
Did you read the Withdrawal Agreement, Andy? Given your persistent claims that we are no longer ruled by the EU, I somewhat doubt it.
May 24, 2020
Oh yes! āFishing for Leaveā are much relieved.
May 24, 2020
They wonāt be when they have nowhere to sell their fish.
May 24, 2020
they could sell to the UK consumers.
May 24, 2020
Letting the fish stocks increase may be a good outcome of no deal.
I can see UK fish consumption rising as a direct result of recent health scares. The UK fleet could expand into that space and maybe purchase new kit & equipment to do that.
May 24, 2020
fishing for information we’d rather like to see?
May 24, 2020
Starting with a UK essential-needs-based system, tempered by what the purchasers of our services find convenient, would reveal what fits. From there we could adapt our existing regulations or re-write them completely.
Our use of VAT resulted from conforming with what the former EU happened to us for their own purposes. It is a complex and clumsy method involving wastefully charging and re-claiming incremental fragments. Removing VAT would relieve much of the legacy of EU nuisance.
May 24, 2020
Hereās a prediction. There is zero chance of VAT being axed.
Interestingly, when VAT came in when we joined the EC in 1973 it replaced the Purchase Tax. Which was a significantly higher tax.
May 24, 2020
Andy, As usual you are mixed up. A tax’s rate has no causal connection to the type of tax it is.
VAT is an unnecessarily complex and bureaucratic form of sales tax. As you would expect from the dirigiste EU empire. VAT can and should be replaced by a simpler purchase/sales tax.
May 25, 2020
NickC
Sorry, but what empire has anybody been conquered?
May 24, 2020
Andy:
Your Zero rating is one way of removing VAT, as are exemptions. If Purchase Tax was high, it helped reduce needless purchases. Our Govt shall decide where it charges to raise income or moderate behaviour according to its own preferences suited to the future.
May 24, 2020
Yes but applied only to luxuries so not as regressive as VAT.
May 24, 2020
Purchase tax was largely confined to luxury items.
May 24, 2020
I seem to recall that Purchase Tax was on āluxuryā items. VAT is on almost everything.
A nice little earner, if ever there was one.!
May 24, 2020
Agree – VAT will not be axed because our betters believe it to be an invisible tax
May 25, 2020
It also produces north of 100 billion a year.
May 24, 2020
Purchase tax only applied to luxury goods.
VAT applies to a much wider range of items.
May 24, 2020
Adam
Back to the good old days?
“Until 1973 the UK had a consumption tax called Purchase Tax, which was levied at different rates depending on goods’ luxuriousness.
Purchase Tax was applied to the wholesale price, introduced during World War II, initially at a rate of 33ā1ā3%. This was doubled in April 1942 to 66ā2ā3%, and further increased in April 1943 to a rate of 100%, before reverting in April 1946 to 33ā1ā3% again.
Unlike VAT, Purchase Tax was applied at the point of manufacture and distribution, not at the point of sale. The rates of Purchase Tax at the start of 1973, when it gave way to VAT, were 13, 22, 36 and 55%.
When the UK joined the EU Purchase Tax was replaced by Value Added Tax on 1 April 1973. The Conservative Chancellor Lord Barber set a single VAT rate (10%) on most goods and services”
May 24, 2020
The effect is similar.
Purchase tax was on luxury goods
VAT is bigger in scope and at 20% collects far more.
And on non luxury goods too.
May 24, 2020
Fine , but let a civil service group create a list of all those regulations whose gestation was the EU. Publish them sector by sector for comment by those affected. Let those garnering adverse comment be consigned to a legal dustbin
May 24, 2020
Yes start repealing useless and counter productive regulation. In fact given that this government has done more damage to the UK economy than any British government in history repealing laws is all they should do. Stop all interference, stop all snooping and stop creating fear. Let productive people put right the appalling damage inflicted by the Westminster parasite class.
May 24, 2020
Steven, Excellent. We will prosper when government gets off our backs.
May 24, 2020
Sir John
Can you explain to us how your party and government has failed so drastically in preventing illegal migrants from arrive by the thousands?
May 24, 2020
I will: it’s because most of their MPs don’t care.
May 24, 2020
Roger P, No the government cannot explain how they have failed to prevent illegal migration, and failed to curtail general migration. The government is helpless in the face of the rotten anti-British civil serpents and has no answers.
May 24, 2020
I’d express it more strongly. I’d ask why does this government and all its linked bodies actively encourage illegal migration?
May 24, 2020
Maybe they failed to implement e-Borders properly, so the UK has no idea how many leave after entering normally?
That number dwarfs those coming in on small boats.
And they scuppered Labour’s ID card plan, so people can work unseen in the cash economy?
May 24, 2020
Why will an ID card stop people working for cash?
Please sir I’ve lost my card
May 25, 2020
Ask the French.
That is why many of these people want to leave France.
May 25, 2020
Really? ID cards are the cause? Not because they are left to fend for themselves in filthy unsanitary shanty camps, Martin? Still, if they have ID cards, they will have no problem identifying themselves to the UK authorities who can then send them back as a French problem.
May 25, 2020
So now you smear them as tax dodging cash in hand people.
Oh dear.
Off for re education on a Momentum diversity trading course.
May 24, 2020
Great question , hope your not holding your breath for an answer.
May 24, 2020
Since the Tories have been in power don’t you mean hundreds of thousands
May 24, 2020
What a sorry list of reforms. If this is the best your party can come up then the UK’s heading towards an unpleasant place
We need systemic change not tinkering at the edges and these recommendations are meaningless
What would Tory Eurosceptics have done without Farage delivering the Brexit vote?
What does it reveal when an individual and an outsider like Farage can shake the very foundations of the Europhile political establishment. It reveals that true systemic change can only happen when those that they aren’t captured act in manner not constrained by fear and doubt
A morally bankrupt party clinging onto the coattails of the Left and the unionised State led by a man whose beliefs would not be out of place at a New Labour party conference
The Tories are utterly bereft of ideas. They enjoy being part of the Punch and Judy environment we’ve had since 1990 but they don’t desire true change.
May 25, 2020
Yes morally bankrupt and destroying (destroyed) the economy, but not short of ideas. They had two large and effective ideas; declare one group of people heroes and with furlough and grants give another a large paid holiday. The lack of morals, the damage to the economy, the lost quality life years to come, this doesn’t matter to the Tory Govt – they have created both need and appearance to fill it. Whether voting for the Conservative left or the Labour left the aim is not to improve the country for the majority, the aim.is not to increase liberty and opportunity, the aim is to maintain power for its own sake and that can be done even when (by) destroying a country and its people.
May 25, 2020
Another example of the disgusting need creating by the hero Govt and the catostrophically damaging Mr Sunak is the signalling we read that the Treasury will support a firm’s if its failure “would disproportionately harm the UK economy”. More Govt patronage, Govt power, Govt distortion, Govt bias and Govt bailing out. A plan to support existing and create more zombie companies. Either the companies are viable in the new world that the Govt has contributed to creating or they are not, this should not be the Govt’s decision to make – but it is another idea of how to buy support and remain in power (no morals, many ideas).
There is one thing that has disproportionately harmed the UK economy and it it the Tory Govt’s uncosted, futile and relentless lockdown.
May 24, 2020
What type of jobs should we seek to promote ?
In the public sector, my perception is that we need more front line staff (health, education, security, transport) which might be paid for by a reduction in bureaucrats (particularly the ones who are overpaid) and by an increase in the tax take. We might need some clever (bureaucratic) economists to get things right and, in particular, to increase the tax take by improving our economy in preference to increasing tax rates.
In the private sector we need more businesses, particularly profitable businesses (either profitable now, or with a reasonable expectation of profit in the future), to create jobs. A reduction in red tape would help them as would a reduction in the costs of employing someone (in particular I’m thinking of National Insurance). The private sector needs help so that it can help support the public sector.
For the charity sector (the so called “third sector”) the decisions are a little more nuanced. Some charities probably need more front line staff in order to deliver their primary purpose. To pay for their primary purpose they take money from the public sector and the private sector, in the form of donations and tax advantages. In principle most taxpayers would probably have no problem with that. However, questions sometimes arise as to the efficiency and bureaucracy of charities, and also their (non primary purpose) presence in our high streets where they sometimes unfairly compete against tax-paying businesses which have to pay their workforce.
May 24, 2020
We need to be much less dependant on imports of essential items.
Whatās the plan for making our own medicines?
Where are the PPE manufacturing facilities opening?
How do we encourage more efficient horticulture on the Dutch model?
We canāt pretend to be able to act independently while we are dependant on Chinese factories for all our needs.
May 24, 2020
Iād suggest taking a hard look at Mifid2, the EUās 30,000 page set of financial regulations which has done so much to shut down liquidity in the equity markets even for quite sizeable companies.
Obviously the whole range of green crap also, but I guess there isnāt much chance of that. And I hope it goes without saying that the CAP and the CFP will go.
On a separate subject itās amusing to see the left get so worked up over Dominic Cummings having made what seems to me an entirely reasonable trip to make sure his child was cared for. Mr Cummings really terrifies the left and continuity remain! Of course he mustnāt be hounded out for doing something entirely within the guidance.
May 25, 2020
Hounded is true every single one of those journo and camera š„ yesterday breached the rules hypocrites, thrusting that Mike at everyone on a long pole should be checked out too, people are knowing to emit saliva when they talk and thereās a big wool cover on the mike put in front of shouting people then thrust at the person theyāre on the hunt for.
I will not stand aside as rocks are put on Boris chest to crush him on this matter when other people just get a tap on the wrists. Gary Lineker joining in yesterday on twitter so go on Gary all your friends in the football profession who jumped on planes after lockdown and moved around or visiting each other in the U.K. and weāre having parties even just the ones who paid fines and got a warning should we now be asking for their dismissal they are after all role models?
Ian Blackford hypocrite no2 travelling to Skye after lockdown I presume not solo in a car but put himself either train or plane with others before locking down 600 + miles from London the most infected City to an Island home with limited nhs resources.
May 24, 2020
Slightly cheaper tampons, something about fish and scrapping data protections.
Your Brexit really is the gift which keeps giving.
Genuinely – by now you should have detailed lists of all these thousands of pointless regulations youāre going to scrap. This would allow businesses to actually prepare.
But after four years youāve not done this. There is no list of regulations there is just old men complaining about tampons.
May 24, 2020
Let’s see how the EU fares after the virus.
May 24, 2020
The EU will be fine. The recession will be hard but itāll come through the other side stronger. Unlike Brexit Britain. Global laughing stock.
May 24, 2020
Says the man who gloats over elderly Brexit voters dying; who admires authoritarian control by the EU; who has nothing good to say about an independent UK; who thinks the world should be run by bullies like the EU; who thinks preventing diseased migrants from entry into the UK is xenophobia; who would destroy UK democracy because he has had a tantrum about Leave; who has never been able to specify what the EU has done for us that we couldn’t do for ourselves; who . . . etc, etc.
Genuinely, Andy, you should have had a plan for Remain. But after 4 years you’ve not done this. Just so we could compare your EU dystopia with independence and freedom. And laugh at your pathetic efforts.
May 24, 2020
Diseased migrants! Brilliant. We are literally the worst affected country in Europe thanks to the incompetence of the Tory government.
And I clearly donāt want elderly Brexit voters dead because I have been protecting them by obeying the lockdown.
Which is one up on Dominic Cummings.
May 25, 2020
and doing their shopping, calling on them to check well, a model citizen.
May 25, 2020
NickC
“who has nothing good to say about an independent UK”
Independent UK? You mean 51st US state.
May 25, 2020
Check the GDP per capita figures for America versus the UK
Be nice to increase ours to that level.
Another 20,000 dollars per head.
May 24, 2020
Just another very silly post from you Andy.
You have repeated this post many times and many times people have given dozens of regulations we can remove after we leave including me on several occasions.
Are you forgetful or just trolling?
May 25, 2020
Edward2 – – (Andy) trolling.
May 24, 2020
Get with it Andy. B.J. is not T. May. John Redwood is not ‘The Tories’
As a matter of fact I believe info has been made available which rules and regulations will no longer apply end this year. As for the tampax tax Sir John Redwood, to my knowledge, in a previous post recommended scrapping VAT on DOMESTIC FUEL.
May 24, 2020
Andy
“Slightly cheaper tampons”
Good news for you then.
May 24, 2020
Actually Andy, I think you will find most of the people complaining about tax on sanitary products are women, and the people that repealing it would make the greatest difference to are those on low incomes.
Personally I don’t think there should be a tax on healthcare products, particularly not one that hits the poorest hardest, but you may disagree.
May 24, 2020
Grant Shapps is on Sophy Ridge speaking honestly for the government. He did not seem his self. Reading more into it there does seem there are three of him. But at the time they denied that’s true
May 24, 2020
The Government could take the interest rates negative therefore encouraging borrowing promoting demand therefore increasing job vacancies . A number of papers are running stories on negative rates and the Bank Of England are not ruling it out. I fear savers will already be looking for safe havens for their money, looking towards Gold and electronic currancies.
People with money will look to buy larger house or buy homes to rent just to avoid paying to deposit their money in the bank or building society. I sense a run on the banks as soon as charges are imposed. If we have a run on banks the government will look silly just like they did when there was a run on Northern Rock. The government should look to protect savers now from any charges otherwise come the next election voters will not forget.
May 24, 2020
Off topic:
Sir John, yesterday I made a somewhat popular post that social distancing is a complete nonsense.
I added a further comment that that view was supported by medical evidence (it is still in moderation? – Note: I do appreciate all the work that goes into this – I rarely have time to even read all comments, so you do a fantastic job. Nonetheless: I think my point deserves full debate.) So today I will try again:
The two Bakersfeld (California) doctors who had their video notoriously removed by Youtube made the point that it was necessary for humans to mingle, to touch, because in that way they built up their immune system (this is basic epidemiology theory) – and they feared that social distancing would, within weeks, lower human immunity, and that, after lockdown, they would now see a vast increase in other diseases due to this loss of immunity.
There is a recent video by Professor Sunetra Gupta on the Unherd website (the summary article is very helpful) – the highly respected epidemiologist from Oxford – who makes the same point:
She believes that longer-term lockdown-style social distancing makes us more vulnerable, not less vulnerable, to infectious diseases, because it keeps people unprotected from pathogens:
āRemaining in a state of lockdown is extremely dangerous from the point of view of the vulnerability of the entire population to new pathogens. Effectively we used to live in a state approximating lockdown 100 years ago, and that was what created the conditions for the Spanish Flu to come in and kill 50m people.ā
Will Jones in Conservative Woman has written an informative article ‘Social Distancing – the case against.’ He argues effectively that social distancing not have any consistent, observable impact on the growth of infections and the shape of the epidemiological curve – basically, it doesn’t achieve what it sets out to do; it doesn’t work. [From the Unherd article: Observing the very similar patterns of the epidemic across countries around the world has convinced Professor Gupta that it is this hidden immunity, more than lockdowns or government interventions, that offers the best explanation of the Covid-19 progression].
This is plain-speaking from epidemiologist Professor Wittkowski, an interview on Spiked:
spiked: Should people practice social distancing?
Wittkowski: No.
spiked: Why not?
Wittkowski: Why? What is the justification for that? People need to ask the government for an explanation. The government is restricting freedom. You do not have to ask me for justification. There is no justification. It is the government that has to justify what it is doing. Sorry, but that is how it is.
I also read somewhere that the evidence was pointing to infection spread occurring mainly through long term exposure indoors to the virus (most were catching it from their partner) – whereas most social distancing rules/ advice are based on preventing brief passing contact, often outdoors.
I’d be grateful if you would post this comment so that we can have a proper debate about this evidence.
May 24, 2020
More and more evidence from around the world that lock-down – as opposed to voluntary social distancing and self-isolation of the vulnerable – has been a mistake. It has achieved little or nothing and certainly cost a lot. Those societies lifting lock-down are not seeing a resurgence. Itās an excusable mistake as it was being done more or less everywhere and was the clear scientific advice. (letās remember in future that itās possible for well-intentioned expert scientific advice to be damaging bunkum.)
But itās essential to move to end it now, not to follow perceived public opinion. A very revealing survey showed that public sector workers feel better off in lockdown! Of course they do, they are in many cases (all?) on full pay and in many cases have nothing to do. It is delusional to allow this kind of opinion to influence policy. The country needs to get back to work or the economy is stuffed, and with it all the plans the govt might have, including potentially any sensible form of Brexit.
May 24, 2020
Promoting jobs would be facilitated by removing the barrier of employer’s national insurance costs. It’s a job suppression tax.
Also, make it easier for employers to remove poor staff. Right now, an employee has to be so bad before an employer could entertain the tortuous process of removing them. The onus needs to be on the employee not the employer to justify their retention.
If it’s easier to fire staff, a new employer will also more readily hire without worrying they might be lumbered.
May 24, 2020
Dave, Never mind about private sector employers being able to to remove poor staff, what about the civil service management being able to weed out poorly performing or unpatriotic civil servants?
May 25, 2020
“Unpatriotic” meaning holding any view that you personally do not.
And yet you shriek about the “thought police” and “free speech”, when people are rightly held to account for inciting groundless hatred.
May 24, 2020
Exactly the same applies to landlord and tenants.
May 24, 2020
I see Prof. Hill who is leading the Oxford team has reduced the likelihood of their success in rolling out a vaccine from 80% to 50%.
Bad news? Well not really because the reason is that the outbreak is declining so quickly that he is running out of places in the U.K. to test his vaccine.
This isnāt the first time by any means this has happened. Itās the most likely outcome in these situations – by the time the vaccine is ready the disease has gone away, even when developed at unprecedented speed as in this case.
May 24, 2020
Brazil could help.
May 24, 2020
Taxes on smoking stop people from smoking
Taxes on jobs stop people from working
Taxes on goods stop people from buying goods.
30% of tax is government profit, the difference between tax and cost of services.
Strikes me government is the problem not the solution
Hence MPs demand that extra 50 MPS
May 24, 2020
The inability to fire people easily and without financial risk is a huge deterrent to taking anyone on. It is hugely damaging.
May 24, 2020
Sir John, I agree with all your point please initiate without delay….you do have a large mayority
However please plan for July as the EU talks don’t look like achieving anything
May 24, 2020
Our Government comes across as very weak. Even when they put new legislation in place, like charging immigrants for the NHS, they back down as soon as the media complain. Boris now has less than five years to make some beneficial changes in this country but only seems to dither and U-turn. Iāve been very disappointed by the quality of his cabinet when he has such a good choice of MPās to pick from. We have some very hard decisions to make in the next few years if we are to navigate fully leaving the EU and surviving this virus. All he seems to be doing is throwing our money away rather than making the reforms this country so badly needs if it is to succeed on the World stage.
May 24, 2020
One further downside to GDPR for small businesses is the “subject access request” – requirement for production of copies of all internal paper and e-documents bearing the subject’s name – often used by malcontent ex-employees on a fishing expedition for material that they think might enable the pursuit of a flimsy tribunal claim, or out of sheer bloody mindedness. The time and effort inflicted by GDPR for compliance purposes is burdensome, but there is no meaningful scope under the legislation to refuse the request altogether. The sooner GDPR is repealed, the better.
May 24, 2020
Yes…well…letās just make sure that quango etc burning actually happens this time. Much talk always…little action.
And on the subject of courage and decisiveness….PLEASE tories donāt let this Dominic C stuff run and run. PLEASE be bold and brave and just QUASH it!
He isnāt even an MP…just an advisor. Shut the Left up!!
Dominic and his corona- suffering family were just locked down in a house TOTALLY separate from his parents!
Honestly the non lockdown stuff from day 1 here. And āclappersā every man jack oā them!!
We need this imprisonment to end…NOT pursue an endless and ludicrous and spiteful and untruthful campaign so that the Left can ā Get Borisā.
May 24, 2020
Everhopeful – Totally agree – Boris needs to stand his ground over this, MSM should be more concerned about the forth coming recession than a witch hunt against a man who was looking after his family! Disappointed with Steven Baker to be honest and other Tory MPs throwing fuel in the fire , in my opinion they should all shut up!
May 24, 2020
Yes we do!
Less tax. Simpler tax. Fewer bureaucrats. More money coming inā¦
May 24, 2020
Mike S, Spot on – Less tax. Simpler tax. Fewer bureaucrats. More money coming in ā¦ It’s not too difficult for even the government to understand, is it?
May 24, 2020
Fewer obstructive regulation that generate endless parasitic jobs in both the state sector and the private sector.
May 25, 2020
“Parasitic jobs”.
Says………….a landlord.
May 24, 2020
Are the Tories going to go down as the Government that needlessly killed our pubs, theatres and cinemas ?
This is a huge problem for you and is one of the reasons that you must continue to impress the deadliness of CV-19 upon us and thus are in a death grip with the public sector Unions.
Whether true or not you cannot admit that CV-19 is less deadly for healthy people than first thought because you have killed so much that we love already and so must continue to kill young people’s jobs to save your own faces.
Promoting jobs ? REALLY ?
(We’re not allowed to blame anyone else for it so the Conservatives must carry the can here.)
May 24, 2020
None of these regulations taxes and charges were imposed on us by the EU. We had a place at the top table for more than forty years and could have called a halt at any time- but we didn’t.
With regard to ports I presume you want to take them back into public ownership- all very well but without a British Merchant Navy worth talking about is just another piece of rhetoric- as we will still have to continue to use foreign flag and foreign owned ships to maintain trade especially when it comes to these new trade deals with countries far away.
Then there’s the old chestnut ‘the fishing regulations’ as if tearing up a copy of the rules will make a blind bit of difference to the presently constituted EU EEZ fishing agreement. You still don’t understand that we still have to negotiate our way out of this if we want to proceed with what we want to do in other areas. Tearing up regulations is childish in the extreme and will make no difference to anything.
May 24, 2020
Those pushing for changes will have an entirely different agenda to that of the government, so there will be relentless pressure to amend specific legislation, relax rules, etc, to advantage those with vested interests. It’s important, therefore, that each change works in support of the government’s overall vision for the future of our country.
We’ve had 40+ years of proscriptive governance and a new ethos will be perplexing for many people, especially the indoctrinated. We should, perhaps, reflect that Mr Johnson’s Brexit message was incredibly strong and withstood sustained attacks by a Remain establishment and the Opposition. I’m hoping the government can find a message of equal strength to hammer home their key overall objectives and unwavering belief in our abilities as a nation It should help to divert the energy-draining pettiness of the puritanical mind and give an inspirational lead to our dynamic go-getters. The level and scope of legislation, etc, required, will soon become evident if we keep our eye on the prize.
I do hope that, separately, we can take a long, hard look at the role of the education sector as a means of countering the damaging “Long March” strategy favoured by the EU. The influence of memory in respect of the EU will soon diminish and we need to ensure we future-proof our change of direction.
May 24, 2020
Yes.
Small organisations and local clubs and societies should be set free and excluded from the GDPR requirements – there was never a problem in the first place – and free us from having to behave as if we are in a secret society – it puts onerous and undue demands on officers (often volunteers) of small organisations.
May 24, 2020
Indeed it does.
May 24, 2020
Odd how “The Best Health Care System in the World, the NHS, is doing so poorly relative to lesser systems. One wonders whether lockdown, done so very well in the UK was responsible for the virus accelerating. Yes it was and is. Linear thinkers!!!!!They could not get the picture. Thick!
May 24, 2020
All my life I’ve been told that all other medical systems are inferior to the NHS….told by the govt and our NHS
Think I’ll have to start questioning that assumption
May 24, 2020
brought up on ‘nobody does it better’.
Hmmm……Cars, planes, warships, docks, factories, computers, health, law, Government, business, tolerance…….need I go on?
A steady downgrade on the lot?
May 24, 2020
I know formerly healthy people who used to go to gyms who are getting depressed and fat in lockdown who are now making themselves at risk of CV-19.
Lord Sumption has the right idea. Make shielding voluntary. Get the rest of us back to normality and to work as soon as.
It seems that many powerful people don’t believe in their own lockdown advice.
Let’s not continue to destroy this country to save faces.
May 24, 2020
hear hear
May 24, 2020
Yep – the Ports Regulation was definitely not wanted by the industry. Does the government have plans for a quick review, followed by immediate legislation? If not, why not?
May 24, 2020
All what you mention above John would be a great start but I think we might have to wait until we have a Conservative Government for it to happen.
May 24, 2020
Reduce red tape ,imposed by the EU on all business. God only knows how many hours are wasted with box ticking and filling in useless forms that hamper business.
May 24, 2020
I didn’t see that you said much to promote jobs.
Reduce the employment burden rules!
Reduce the NI rates on lower incomes.
Reduce Corporation Tax.
Encourage production of the health essentials we keep hearing are in short supply.
Encourage production of the prescription drugs we rely on from overseas.
Reduce costs on food production, encourage investment in large greenhouses for supply of more out-of-season produce.
Deter import of all things Chinese.
Encourage garden centres to promote ‘grow your own’.
Increase intake training and grants for NHS nursing staff, reduce need for higher academic level examinations.
Increase support for English scientific training and centres of research and excellence.
May 24, 2020
you don’t like my posts do you Sir John?
Too accurate, too troublesome?
May 24, 2020
Yes, we can get rid of all the regulations which prevented disasters like Aberfan, Flixborough, and a whole litany of industrial accidents and harm to health in the workplace.
Marvellous.
May 24, 2020
In truth we outsourced much of that risk and it came back to us in the form of a virus which has killed thousands of our people directly and vastly more in the ensuing lockdown indirectly.
That risk killed plenty of foreign workers on our behalf and I’m no more happy about that and nor should you be, Martin.
Not marvellous.
May 25, 2020
CV only killed a few hundreds or tens even, in New Zealand, in Greece, in Australia, in S. Korea, in most of Scandinavia except Sweden, and in many other countries. It only killed a few thousand in China, a country of 1.4 billion, reportedly.
Now why do you think that this should be? I say that it is because the UK and the US are structurally vulnerable, being the tin pot, shambolic Anglo-American models that they are. We couldn’t even get masks for front line medical staff, never mind the entire population, as others have done.
Yes, the UK exported those risks however. That is absolutely why the European Union, being the primarily moral project that it is, will not strike deals with countries which have poor H&S regs etc.
May 25, 2020
Heath and Safety Act in the UK…1974.
May 24, 2020
Yes we need to extend the troll shooting season.
May 24, 2020
I know, Martin, let’s have a regulation against coronaviruses!! More bureaucracy = a better world – in your and the EU’s view. Perhaps fortunately, it doesn’t work like that.
May 24, 2020
Who has called for those actions?
More fake news posts from you Martin
May 25, 2020
Edward 2
Thank you Constable very informative
May 25, 2020
Trolling again I see bill.
I see irony is lost on you.
Where is your long factual post?
May 24, 2020
The UK pioneered H&S legislation and monitoring for more than a century before the EEC began to dabble in it. There were already adequate UK industrial H&S laws in place, and enshrined in criminal law, to prevent both those disasters.
The Wilson (Labour) Government fudged the Inquiry, and chose not to bring criminal prosecutions against those found responsible for the Aberfan disaster, such as the Head of the NCB, Labour’s own Lord Robens, and its local employees.
Flixborough was swiftly addressed by the UK Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) – an exclusively UK measure. The EEC did not yet have any relevant legislation. It pondered laboriously over Flixborough and Seveso (1976) until finally in 1982 it produced the Seveso Directive.
May 24, 2020
MiC
is that the best you can come up with ?
May 24, 2020
Regarding the accidents you mention and regulatory results, the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Acts of 1969 and 1971 were passed before we joined the EEC. Similarly the UK Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974 preceeded its EU equivalent by 8 years (the 1982 Seveso Directive). Both originate in Britain so neither of these should be in danger of being repealed due to Brexit.
May 25, 2020
Martin – -what about the Titanic too?
May 24, 2020
Let’s hope that Cummings stays in place so there is some hope of all this happening. Of course th cynic might say there is nothing to stop Boris ‘letting him go’ but keeping him on the end of the telephone.
May 24, 2020
Of course the General Data Protection Regulation was drawn up by no-nothing civil servants (generalists) who were passed some poorly drafted regulations by the EU and instead of trying to understand what they were trying to constrain and limit the reach accordingly, decided to draft in such a way as to capture any organisation with a mailing list including non-profit community organisations such that they had to maintain databases as to by what means members were prepared to be contacted, whether by letter, email, phone and in what specific context, thereby creating massive administrative burdens for organisations run by volunteers with resources which were previously directed towards the aims of the organisations rather than fulfilling regulations concocted by incompetent generalists in a government department.
JR talks about reducing regulations; what needs to be reduced is the army of generalist civil servants who see it as their job to waste productive people’s time and money with gold-plated legislative turds.
The whole system by which a senior civil servant can be put in charge of a portfolio such as education and then moved to something like healthcare has proven to not work and needs to end. Rather than hit the ground running, they fall flat on the faces as we have seen. This is what government ministers do, of course, which partly explains the very inferior governance of our country.
May 25, 2020
+1
May 24, 2020
All these suggestions, and may more, will be extremely important in freeing up British industry from EU bureaucracy but, given current circumstances, is it possible and is there time to get measures such as the repeal of the ports legislation through parliament ?
Furthermore, our civil service has a habit of gold plating legislation – the 2m social distancing measure is a highly topical case. It is very clear that 1m outside is perfectly safe and acceptable and for most countries 1m is also considered enough when indoors.
The viability of a great many businesses is going to depend on social distancing rules
so changes need to be made here and quickly.
May 24, 2020
Raise the VAT threshold on small purchases from overseas, as George Osborne wanted to do. The EU ordered him to reduce it instead. Thus if you buy a DVD from America you are at risk of having your item impounded until you pay the VAT AND a ripoff ‘handling charge’ of Ā£10 or so. This tax costs more to collect than the revenue it generates.
May 25, 2020
It is also a real impediment to sending & receiving small gifts to from non-eu countries.
Im sure the post-office & others would like more air freight/sea freight business.
May 24, 2020
Never, ever give in to a Fake News Frenzy. It feeds the crocodile and no good can come of it.
May 24, 2020
Rose, So true. And the entirely confected frenzy about Cummings’ visit simply shows up the MSM for what it is.
May 25, 2020
Yes, it is amazing that they, the MSM, can work themselves into a frenzy over a UK national traveling in his own country but, cannot raise a single word about those travelling into the UK illegally by boat.
May 24, 2020
opt out of the EU/India “free trade” agreements (nothing of the sort) and stop agreeing to print uncapped work visas for their nationals in return for supposedly opening up their domestic market to our financial services businesses. this whole approach is a failure as Indian consumers are very patriotic and will continue to buy FS products from domestic businesses, and all we end up from such deals is decimated workforce, loss of intellectual property, and immigration the voters dont want. change the tax rules so that everyone on a work visa pays at least as much tax, including national insurance, as locals do.
May 24, 2020
What an excellent set of short comments precisely capturing what we need to do right now. My next list includes evening up the constituency boundaries, rationalising the effect of the Welsh assembly and Scottish Executive on laws only affecting England, reducing the number of MPs and sorting out the Lords….
May 24, 2020
CANZUK for FTAs with Australia, Canada & New Zealand & also CPTPP for additional FTAs with Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore, & Vietnam.
I exported all over the world in the 1980’s-90’s to many of these countries along with many others, so about 85% of our turnover was exports. It is a great way to expand a business & your global horizons.
May 25, 2020
But we donāt want āfreedom of movementā which is included in the CANZUK proposal – it took us 47 years to escape from same re the EU!
May 24, 2020
JR, Quite simply the government must put the UK first. Every law, every trade deal, every agreement, the question must be asked “does it benefit the UK?” on balance. Quite obviously joining the EEC/EU fails that test because no benefit is worth the loss of independence – nothing can benefit the UK if the UK ceases to exist (other than as a vaguely ethnic province of a foreign empire). It means that if you won’t put the UK first you are putting the UK second – at best.
May 24, 2020
They were pretty good at thinking weren’t they
May 24, 2020
And repeal the climate change act. Expensive energy is killing this country and we cannot compete with others.
May 24, 2020
Dominic Cummings has to stay. The government wonāt have credibility to deliver a clean brexit and trade deals with the rest of the world without him. There are simply too many rotten remainer MPs like Simon Hoare and Tobias Elwood still in the Commons.
May 24, 2020
There are many opinions of the financial difficulties firms and people are experiencing . Hot headed comments and replies are abundant. All I can say is what do you expect me to do about it? I am subject to all enforcements as everyone else and all people want to protect their nearest and dearest , so negativity does not help. I put into place in the area in my practice strict guidelines before any other’ for the sake of prevention , having many immigrants from Europe register with us , but now it has been closed down until further notice. At the time I didn’t wait for any government advice. I implemented professional standards. As far as I know we have not cases of deaths from Covid-19.
May 24, 2020
Locked=Unlocked
Down South=Up North
May 24, 2020
Sadly Boris has shown he is not a leader by keeping Cummings. A big mistake to think that the population who have kept to the rules will accept this. Boris has lost his grip and we are now in free for all.
May 24, 2020
Cummings did keep to the Guidelines. The media who are trying to bring him and the PM down, don’t.
May 25, 2020
+1 – the media who admit to āsome wrong reportingā need to feel the heat and be sacked!
May 24, 2020
I like your agenda. It’s people like you that the EC, France and Germany are afraid of. Keep up the good work.
May 24, 2020
We should certainly abolish the more idiotic bits of GDPR – including the intrusive and timewasting Accept/Reject Cookies message before opening any commercial website – the user has already pre-set those decisions on the server.
Of course, every step of the way the government will have its hands tied by the usual suspects in the HoL. This will continue until the Lords is abolished – a much overdue reform – and replaced by a more representative second chamber: more direct democracy (referenda on e.g. social and constitutional issues) must now be installed to counterbalance the groupthink of the political elites. It is also essential to reform voting and voter registration procedures: their widespread fraudulent exploitation must be halted.
May 25, 2020
The casual visitor won’t have set those settings on the server because they don’t have acess to it: the site owner controls the server-side aspects of the account. If the useless pop-up was replaced with a directive that users can set their browsers to accept or reject cookies from a particular sources – e.g. block tracking ads, analytics, or double-click permanently in the browser and sites and cookies have to obey those settings – that would be more effective.
Currently certain third party software gets round blockers by using the hosting site’s domain name instead of their own as an identifier, but still sends the data to that third party’s central repository for their own commercial use.
May 24, 2020
Sadly my comments on here have not been posted. Thought this was a country of free speech, clearly it no longer appears to be. My comment about Boris Johnson failing to to deal with Dominic Cummings has touched a nerve. Boris said it was ok for Cummings to see his family in the north due to instinct. Well my instinct to see my family and other people to see theirs is the same so I guess itās fine for us all to use instinct as our rational too to see our families. Opportunity totally missed Boris and you missed your chance to show real leadership.
May 24, 2020
Philip – totally disagree with you I am afraid – Boris needs to stand firm against this and not be bullied by MSM! I have been adhering to the rules but this week after a strange conversation with my 77 year old mother who lives alone – I went to see her to check she was ok and no one would have stopped me as I was that concerned about her. We socially distanced and used common sense so no harm done and I feel better for seeing her and knowing she is actually ok!
May 25, 2020
Philip, I disagree and I believe the media are being unfair here. Hereās a couple of reasons why:
I know LOTS of people who following their last working or study day in London cleared off out of the City and home to family homes elsewhere, their other homes and to stay with friends/family in large homes with big gardens elsewhere – at the time I commented that if London was locking down because the virus was rampant in London they shouldnāt travel people disagreed with me then. So why should it be different for Dominic C to do this, he was a key worker whose work in London didnāt end until the PM was put in isolation at the end of March and would have been required to stay in London until his work finished as did for example:
Ian Blackford the SNP leader who was in London on the last day of parliament (after the lockdown) staying in his London home, he then travelled to Skye, over 600 miles, where he put on Twitter he isolated for 14 days – but did he? And he is there criticising DC every tweet but I suspect he flew rather than drive alone for 12 hours potentially putting more people at risk than DC did in his car.
As for people not going to hospital that was the hospital rules for safety he didnāt go to hospital to visit anyone?
I heard 6 people could go to a funeral and I know people who did this?
May 25, 2020
+1 Cummings did not seem his family. Steven KINNOCK travelled from South Wales to London and back to wish his father a happy birthday! Of course he had already travelled to South Wales from London in the first place!
May 24, 2020
John what’s the matter with my comments?- I didn’t use intemperate or bad language- suppose it must be some kind of local ERG cencorship
May 24, 2020
Crush the BBC before they crush democracy
May 25, 2020
+1
May 24, 2020
What do you mean leave fully- we have already left fully in January- now we’re into talks about the future
On another note what about these new trade deals we were promised with US OZ and NZ havn’t heard a word since Fox was the secretary?? any updates
May 25, 2020
To answer both of your questions. You have been deceived on both counts. We are still under the ECJ and still paying in. Plus. As we are still under EU jurisdiction we cannot negotiate trade deals with other countries.
Hope that helps
May 24, 2020
It’s getting worse on social media by the minute Brexiteers… Tories it now appears even ones who are ladies and for years have kept cool but NEVER declared their Toryism are now using four letter words and ranting about people against the viewpoint of Mr Cummings and Boris. Even fellow Brexiteers and one or two Tories of the libertarian strand. All are now their enemies.
This travelling has certainly knocked the stuffing out of many Tories…I’m guessing…there are more than one of two possibly believing deep down they are on loser… with Boris.
A strange event. I am blocking a number who for quite some time have communicated with calmness and satire and fun with myself and others. Now they show ugly sharp teeth. Disappointing. My view is they smell defeat when they thought victory was for sure.
Boris… he is a big disappointment to me. The Economy had it made, The UK had it made.
May 24, 2020
1. Publish and publicise how low the risks from coronavirus are for the majority undo the lockdown now and stop with the smoke and mirrors, jam tomorrow childish behaviour.
2. Do not complicate VAT further with more exemptions and mutiple rates. Increase it to 50%!!!!! but then resdistribute all additional revenue to adults as about Ā£5000 per year each. This means those who consume less than average get more back (so children’s clothes and food can be VATed without being regressive) and those that consume more will be paying more overall. This can be upped by 1 or 2k per year for those of working age (not pensioners) by scrapping some non-state pension benefits. Add in a carbon tax and dividend (+border adjustment) for all adults and a fair few pounds can be taken off the minimum wage.
May 24, 2020
Slight aside – I’ve heard several people comment about the superiority of old style job centres over DWP benefit claimant focussed job centre pluses.
May 25, 2020
take money off the minimum wage- are you mad?
It should either rise or basic Income Tax allowances must go up (I’d prefer).
When benefits are roughly equal to or better with lots of children, why worry about getting a job on mere minimum wage?
VAT could be zero’d on more items.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-of-vat-on-different-goods-and-services
May 25, 2020
Yes that should do for most of the jobs in the country, and as we all consume less the 50% VAT will not stretch to Ā£5k income per year, maybe Ā£500.00 – can you live of that with marginal taxes at 98%?
May 24, 2020
Your collective faith that this government will do anything along the lines suggested is very touching.
May 24, 2020
With Cummings protected in situ- don’t think it’s not exactly taking back control- in fact it only highlights the worry I have of just exactly who will have the control?
May 25, 2020
Repeal the Climate Change Act and halt the preposterous zero carbon plans before they kill what’s left of our manufacturing.
Rupert Darwall stated Boris and his government will be toast if they continue with zero carbon (though he might have added may yet be saved even if the country isn’t by opposition parties following the same infantile policy.)