The EU plans to build back better

The President of the Commission has supported Italy in banning exports of the Astra vaccine to Australia and said she will approve more of the same if she continues to disagree with Astra’s actions. She has confirmed her view that the EU is right to control the vaccine supply and regulation, on the grounds that small countries would otherwise have lost out. She is not happy that Hungary has approved a Russian vaccine and that Slovakia and the Czech Republic are also keen to allow Sputnik. The European Agency is currently evaluating the Russian product but needs more data. She has drawn attention to the way the anti pandemic measures have hit female employment and income more, and promised policies to help redress this as the EU moves into the recovery phase. Today the U.K. is rightly pushing back hard against a false EU allegation that it has blocked vaccine exports.

The EU wants to help refashion EU economies coming out of lockdown and moving to rise from the damage done by anti virus policies. The EU has published the details of its new 7 year multi annual budgets and added the Euro 750 bn booster package of loans and grants called Next Generation EU from the additional EU level borrowing arrangement. The central feature of the new money is a large cohesion and resilience fund offering loans and grants to countries for projects which will mitigate the damage done by CV 19 and will encourage more sustainable and resilient development. 30% of all the money to be spent over the next seven years by the EU will be related to climate change policies.

The Next Generation fund will allow Euro 338 billion of direct grants to member states. Italy and Spain will get the most at around Euro 69 bn each, with Poland, France and Germany also receiving some of the bigger totals, though more modest in relation to the size of their populations and economies. It will be interesting to see what these grants will be spent on and how they operate under state aid rules.

Global commentaries and forecasts imply a disappointing rate of growth and recovery for many parts of the EU economy compared to Asia or the Americas. Germany, the motor of the whole, has to adjust to a large transition from its very successful diesel and petrol cars to electric vehicles. The EU is considering hydrogen technology for both vehicles and heating as well as electric systems. As more biting targets for fossil fuel reduction loom into view there needs to be decisions on which will b e the key technologies to drive the change so they can be scaled up to meet the size of the challenge.

193 Comments

  1. Ian Wragg
    March 10, 2021

    More climate change lunacy from the west whilst the east continues to plough its own very successful furrow.
    Why is Europe and the USA following such disastrous paths.

    1. oldtimer
      March 10, 2021

      Because people have been brainwashed for the past thirty years. The West is making a lemming like rush towards the cliff edge of economic disaster.

    2. Narrow Shoulders
      March 10, 2021

      365 million aging and polluting cars in China – much the same for India I imagine.

      Hamper ourselves and give the developing(developed) countries a hand up.

    3. Hope
      March 10, 2021

      Loony left Fake Tories have bought the global levelling up around the world, Paris Agreement. It was never about the climate but about transferring industry and jobs to third world countries. China is such an alleged country! Not just making coal fired power stations in their own countries but others as well!

      The only person to fight this utter rot, Trump! The left made sure He had to go.

      JR should be concerned about his own party and the disastrous comments about taxation. No longer will they ever be able to claim economic competence, low tax, personal responsibility etc. Big state, big tax, Blaire tribute act.

      1. Paul Cuthbertson
        March 10, 2021

        Hope – I agree but Donald Trump has not gone and Joe “c’mon man” Biden is not the President of the USA. Nothing can stop what is coming, Nothing.

        1. Hope
          March 10, 2021

          Paul,
          It is very worrying to see Biden incapable of remembering basic facts. Compilations of his dire memory or failing cognitive behaviour should concern All Western countries. Still no spontaneous press briefing. It is thought he is being trained over a period of days to give a short briefing!

      2. No Longer Anonymous
        March 10, 2021

        BLM, Greenism now the abolition of monarchy. That all this is happening in lockdown is not a coincidence.

        1. Paul Cuthbertson
          March 11, 2021

          NLA – Nothing can stop what is coming, Nothing.

      3. John Hatfield
        March 10, 2021

        +1

      4. Everhopeful
        March 10, 2021

        +1

      5. turboterrier
        March 10, 2021

        Hope

        You might well be correct about transferring jobs abroad.
        The GWPF have produced a report onthe high cost of manufacturing steel solely due to high energy costs.
        Do our politicians listen, learn or understand? No. About as much use as a flying **** in the wind.

        1. Hope
          March 11, 2021

          T,

          Fake Tory party allowed Tata Steel to go to the wall. Despite Jarvis returning from Australia stint, he did nothing. Steel is of national security importance, two world wars pay testament to the fact. It allowed China dumping steel.

          Steel, glass, pottery, ceramics all need high energy. Without cheap energy no competition for manufacturing of goods. Trumpet changed US fortunes to make it energy self sufficient.

          JR has pointed this out before. But his left wing party/govt ignores any sentiment of conservatism.

    4. glen cullen
      March 10, 2021

      We need a party that is pro fossil fuels

      You either believe that man-made CO2 emissions are the problem or the sun and weather patterns are the problem

      Lets face it, its 50/50 which is the problem as the science just isn’t there

      But it looks like we’re willing to destroy our economy for a media driven climate change hoax

      1. Paul Cuthbertson
        March 10, 2021

        The planet will look after itself regardless.
        Your final sentence is spot on but so many idiots believe all this BS.
        Paris Climate accord – ask yourself, WHERE is the money going!!!!!!!!

        1. hefner
          March 10, 2021

          In the pockets of the Illuminati????????

        2. glen cullen
          March 10, 2021

          We need to rely upon the Gaia Theory and stop trying to act like God

      2. Mike Durrans
        March 10, 2021

        Glen, I do not think there is a problem. They trouble makers also made a big mistake when they chose CO, the trace element so vital for plant growth.
        We must rebel against this farce as it will its self destroy our countries economy.

        1. hefner
          March 10, 2021

          2, … I mean CO2 carbon dioxide, not CO carbon monoxide.

        2. glen cullen
          March 12, 2021

          100% agree

      3. Lifelogic
        March 10, 2021

        Indeed and for 5+ reasons.

        CO2 plant food is not really a major problem anyway just one factor of millions affecting climate.
        A little hotter and more CO2 on balance a met positive
        The renewable and other solutions make so little difference to world output that they are irrelevant anyway.
        To reduce CO2 we need world cooperation which will clearly not forthcoming.
        Even if CO2 were a significant problem then there are far better ways to spend the billions now to save far more lives.

        I believe all of the above, but if you believe only one then the net zero CO2 war is insane. It clearly is.

      4. Hope
        March 11, 2021

        If Germany can have clean coal why can’t the UK?

    5. Tony Sharp
      March 10, 2021

      Thank you for your overview Sir John.
      I note the following “30% of all the money to be spent over the next seven years by the EU will be related to climate change policies. ”
      Frankly, such measure s will, if not a waste of the money will be deleterious to their economies.

      1. Lifelogic
        March 11, 2021

        A criminal waste of money to achieve almost nothing of value. Money that could do so much more to save and improve millions of lives if it were spent sensibly (As Bjorn Lomborg suggests for example). Rather like the £39 billion on the almost totally pointless and incompetently run track and trace. How on earth does one spend such a huge sum on this? This is about 1.2 million people on an average wage for a year. What were they all doing?

        Almost impossible to believe test and trace was not rife with corruption or pumping cash to vested interest, it should certainly be fully audited and investigate and money recovered where possible. What if any value was actually delivered to the public?

        1. DennisA
          March 11, 2021

          There is a problem these days with terminology inflation. A billion here, a billion there, what does it matter. Thirty seven billion pounds on track and trace – that is £37,000,000,000, thirty seven thousand million, unbelievable money amounts that are created out of thin air, but once created, have to be paid back. If you ask about cost/benefit analysis you are accused of trying to decide who lives or dies, but NICE do that all the time in drug decisions.

          There seems to be no intention of stopping the roller coaster, before it comes off its base and crashes. What happened to government transparency on contracts, even after they lost the court hearing.

          1. DennisA
            March 11, 2021

            I note Lifelogic said 39 billion and I have said 37 billion. But what’s two thousand million pounds in the grand scale of things, just another £1666 per annum for those 1.2 million average wage earners.

            Now when we get into Net Zero, we are into the trillions, 1.2 of them at a conservative estimate, one million million pounds. Cloud cuckoo land.

            https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-committee/news/97557/chair-writes-to-chancellor-on-1-trillion-cost-estimate/
            “The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee held a session on Tuesday 18th June 2019, examining the rationale for going faster to hit the net zero target, hearing from witnesses including Gail Bradbrook, Extinction Rebellion, Isabella O’Dowd, Climate and Energy Specialist, WWF, and Baroness Bryony Worthington, Environmental Defense Fund.”

    6. DavidJ
      March 10, 2021

      +1

  2. Mark B
    March 10, 2021

    Good morning

    I don’t care what the EU do with their money, what I care about is why are we still funding them and, do we still give them our VAT money ?

     30% of all the money to be spent over the next seven years by the EU will be related to climate change policies

    As Germany burns more coal.

    1. glen cullen
      March 10, 2021

      Apart from the divorce bill, and continued payments for programmes we support I believe that 20% of the VAT receipts from NI are still sent to the EU (NI are still in the EU)

      So we’re still sending them billions – I can’t name one other country in the world that sends them money without membership???

      _____and don’t forget Poland is the biggest producer of coal in Europe

      1. glen cullen
        March 10, 2021

        Just to put things in perspective (source: afp fact check)

        China generates 1004 gigawatts (GW) with 3534 coal fired power stations 49.1% of world capacity

        UK generates 5 GW with 4 coal fired power stations a 0.01% of world capacity

        1. Ian Wragg
          March 10, 2021

          Don’t think there’s 4 stations anymore.

          1. hefner
            March 10, 2021

            Drax 5 & 6, West Burton, Kilroot, Ratcliffe-on-Soar (at the end of 2020).

          2. glen cullen
            March 10, 2021

            I think they burn wood pellets

          3. hefner
            March 11, 2021

            glen, ‘Drax power station to cease burning coal in March 2021’, BBC, 27/02/2020.

    2. MiC
      March 10, 2021

      I don’t think that anyone in the European Union has spent £22 billion going to £37 billion on a test-and-trace “system” which has produced no measurable reduction in case rates, and which still employs 2,500 “consultants” on £1,000-£6224 per day.

      What, exactly, do these people do, and what possible prior knowledge do they have to offer on something which has never been done in this country before? More to the point, and which still has not been done, quite evidently?

      1. zorro
        March 10, 2021

        There is a term for it, I think that it is akin to “money **********”…

        zorro

      2. Paul Cuthbertson
        March 10, 2021

        MiC – I think it referred to as, Government!!!!!!!!

      3. Know-Dice
        March 10, 2021

        Mic, I agree with the jist of what you are saying, but apparently ONLY £4 Billion to date with rest over 3 years and apparently that includes over 1 million tests per day.
        And a quick thought on false positives…. With so called “positives” running at 5600 per day, some simple maths could show 100% of those could be false… Now there is a thought…

        1. hefner
          March 10, 2021

          Not true, the maximum number of tests ever given was 938,635 on 13/01/2021. The curve from Public Health England updated to 9/03/2021 shows only 21 days when the number of tests actually given was over 900,000. And these figures refer to tests given, not to tests processed, which has only recently gone over 800,000.

          interactive.news.sky.com ‘Daily number of tests processed and COVID-19 tests capacity’

          As for the £4bn or £22bn allocated in 2020 for the test and trace programme, do you think the cross-party public account committee of MPs is not able to see the difference? And if the £22bn are to be spent over three years, do you know why another £15bn has been allocated for the same programme in 2021?

          1. Know-Dice
            March 11, 2021

            No I don’t but I guess you are across it…

        2. Fred.H
          March 11, 2021

          regarding school false positives -one sibling gets a false, proved incorrect by PCR 2 days later – parent now stays home with 2 other siblings now housebound for 10 days…..madness.

      4. Denis Cooper
        March 10, 2021

        But do you actually know anything about test-and-trace systems in other countries?

        According to a government minister from 1 hour 31 minutes in here:

        https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000t1wc/politics-live-10032021

        about 80% of the funding is going on testing, all of which is free, paid for by the taxpayer.

        So what you suggest? For example, do you think that families should have to pay for those rapid test kits which are an integral part of the plan to get their children back to school? And also pay for any further PCR tests which then become necessary? Or do you think there should just be less testing?

        Moreover according to that minister over 9 million people have been contacted and told to self-isolate, that would be around a fifth of the adult population, and she asks how could that possibly have had no impact at all as suggested by the Labour MP who chairs the Public Accounts Committee?

        1. hefner
          March 11, 2021

          DC, why should I care about other countries?
          Staying in this country, it was also said that 83m people were tested (or more likely 83m tests were used) since April 2020. If I take your 80% spent actually testing, that would be either £3.2bn or £17.6bn, that’s either the equivalent of £38.6 or £265 per test (whether it is lateral flow test or a PCR one).

          At the end of the day the question remains: Do you find this a good deal for the taxpayer, which should be something within the remit of the Public Accounts Committee (whether chaired by a Labour, a Conservative, or whatever party MP).

          1. Denis Cooper
            March 12, 2021

            The 80% was claimed by a minister, Baroness Vere. I have no idea whether that would be good value for the taxpayer but it would clearly be expensive for those who had to pay for tests for themselves or their children. I ask again whether the critics would prefer to make people pay for the tests, and if so what do they think would be the consequences of that policy? As for the chairman being a Labour MP I’m afraid that is a relevant consideration, as any hope that the opposition parties would not seek to make political capital out or the fight against the pandemic disappeared long ago.

          2. Denis Cooper
            March 12, 2021

            My question was directed at MiC who made a speculative comparison with the EU.

      5. glen cullen
        March 10, 2021

        £37 Billion……..Jesus Wept

      6. Everhopeful
        March 10, 2021

        It might be more about whom they know?

    3. Qubus
      March 10, 2021

      … and Russian gas !

    4. Lifelogic
      March 11, 2021

      I care as it is not “EU’s money” it is their taxpayers money and I want the EU to do well rather than being suffocated by bureaucrats, excessive taxation, socialism and corruption.

  3. agricola
    March 10, 2021

    The very best of luck to them. However you make no mention of the political undertow that has been pulling away at their cohesion during Covid. More countries, including Spain are contemplating Sputnik and assuaging the hard to obtain home brew. More are contemplating breaks from mother knows best in Brussels. Large dollops of printed money offered on loan may dampen this with the politicians but the people are more aware of the cracks in this mirror USSR edifice. Ultimately it is the people who will put an end to it.

    1. Andy
      March 10, 2021

      Support for the EU has continued to grow in many places. Notably in Italy. Which you lot always said was going to be next to leave. Unless you were hoping Greece or Spain would leave. Or Denmark. Or Sweden. Or Poland. Or France.

      None will – they have seen what a mess you made of Brexit – but carry on kidding yourself.

      1. No Longer Anonymous
        March 10, 2021

        Keeping us locked in the catflap for enough time for a once in a hundred year pandemic to arrive and an anti English PotUS to take office was a master stroke.

        Remainers made the mess of Brexit. They deliberately sabotaged it.

        1. DavidJ
          March 10, 2021

          +1

        2. glen cullen
          March 10, 2021

          by remainers I believe you mean the tory party

          1. Lifelogic
            March 11, 2021

            Well about 80% of the Tory Party.

            Some blatant traitors and people clearly guilty of treachery even elevated to the Lords by Boris.

      2. MiC
        March 10, 2021

        Yes, Draghi even has the backing of Salvini’s party – probably in large part thanks to brexit.

      3. Richard1
        March 10, 2021

        It’s virtually impossible for a eurozone member to leave. I think it’s v unlikely we will see any new leavers near term. In the longer term it depends how Brexit goes. I think your opinion polls pre-date the vaccine fiasco though.

        An interesting recent poll has rejoin down from 47% to 39% in the U.K. it will continue to fall most likely. In a few years we will be like Norway and Switzerland – where support for joining the EU hovers between 10% & 20%. Even though neither has an ideal arrangement.

      4. Alan Jutson
        March 10, 2021

        Let’s see how they feel in 5 years time when everything is a bit more settled shall we..

    2. Hope
      March 10, 2021

      Agricola,

      Shapps clearly spouting misleading information on talk radio this morning claiming the vaccination will stop the spread of the virus to people like his elderly parents. Not true. Has he read the PHE/NHS leaflet that comes with asking people to be vaccinated? It clearly states it is not known if the vaccination stops transmission!

      Perhaps he should have acted to support and advise his parents to stay in an isolate last year as the virus is more serious with over 80’s. Keeping contact to an absolute minimum. In fairness to Shapps he suffers from amnesia, even when played what he previously said, in contrast to current govt position and his comments this morning, he suffered amnesia.

      Exhibit A why no one can trust what he or the govt says.

    3. Qubus
      March 10, 2021

      Amen to that.

  4. Everhopeful
    March 10, 2021

    The vaccine hysteria has been turned into some sort of socialist, fairness fest. Utterly ghastly.
    Fancy politicising health! Not very caring.
    Still, COVID has been most useful.
    (A bit like smashing a priceless Ming vase and then blaming the cat).
    Never recovered from 2008 “crisis” and still lurching from disaster to disaster.
    Shame about the UK escaping and then morphing into something even worse!
    But never mind…just remember that fizzy drink advert.
    All will be well when the world comes together and holds hands!!
    YUK!

    1. jerry
      March 10, 2021

      @Everhopeful; “Fancy politicising health!”

      …and you’re not?

      1. Everhopeful
        March 10, 2021

        From “The Walrus and the Carpenter” by Lewis Carroll.

        ( Reminds me of the fake sentimentality of socialism).

        I weep for you,’ the Walrus said:
        I deeply sympathize.’
        With sobs and tears he sorted out
        Those of the largest size,
        Holding his pocket-handkerchief
        Before his streaming eyes.

        O Oysters,’ said the Carpenter,
        You’ve had a pleasant run!
        Shall we be trotting home again?’
        But answer came there none —
        And this was scarcely odd, because
        They’d eaten every one.”

    2. Hope
      March 10, 2021

      E,
      Comment above. Disgraceful conduct by govt.

      No proven scientific evidence for wearing face masks significantly prevents transmission. Droplets and sprays might be reduced, although heavy they will drop to the floor. Aerosols linger in the air despite masks! Why is the govt. forcing children to wear masks that are not of any benefit other than to scare them and parents into compliance! Forever!

      1. jerry
        March 10, 2021

        @Hope; You’ll need to try much harder if you want to debunk the science of infection control.

        Claiming surgical style masks do not stop someone passing on a virus is surely like debunking the common hankie, would there really be better infection control from say the common cold or Flu if people just (and sorry to be crude) snorted their snot out onto the ground?…

        1. a-tracy
          March 11, 2021

          jerry on March 7, 2021 you said “@a-tracy; The most recent official paper, published in the last 48 hours I believe, states that hospital PPE is often NOT Covid 19 secure, something doctors and nurses have been saying for a year now. Even if PPE was Covid secure accidents happen, an unfortunate fact.”

          So if hospital PPE is not covid 19 secure and on covid wards they’ve got the best FP2 filter masks, face visors then what is the effectiveness of a fabric re-washable unfiltered mask they expect children to wear,is there an ‘official paper’ that researched that? I ask this as someone who wears the best masks I could buy when indoors with other people in close proximity and when in shops and I told my children in London in March to wear FP2 masks from the off.

          1. jerry
            March 11, 2021

            @a-tracy; “then what is the effectiveness of a fabric re-washable unfiltered mask they expect children to wear”

            If you recall I was critical of general face masks this time last year for the very point you raise, not all masks are equal, back then many people were wearing DIY/builders masks that totally failed with regards outward filtration.

            Do I think school age children should be made to wear face masks, no, but then I do not believe it is time for schools to return, for many reasons including those you point out, but if children must be back in a school setting anything is better than nothing, even a t-shirt pulled up over the nose, along with other mitigation such as social distancing and testing.

      2. glen cullen
        March 10, 2021

        Its not science

        And every other Tory MP keeps saying that they’re following the science

        1. Fred.H
          March 11, 2021

          how would they know what science you can believe in?

      3. Everhopeful
        March 10, 2021

        Absolutely! Agree 100%.

    3. Hope
      March 10, 2021

      Or follow China by morphing vaccination passports to having digital access to places to reward good behaviour and punish with house arrest/lockdown when they say or speak out against govt!

      This is what the govts is effectively telling the nation at the moment. Left wing communist SAGE must be laughing their socks off.

      Follow the data is for the birds. Johnson has demonstrated he is following strict dates. Heaven blows his cover by inviting all European football games here in July! He knows he is not in control of their data, transmission or vaccination rollout! Johnson has lost leave of his senses and his idiotic party still follows him!

  5. Mike Wilson
    March 10, 2021

    It seems the EU has the sense to pursue hydrogen power rather than our insane move to electric power.

    We don’t have the generating capacity or the charging infrastructure. For the many people who live in flats or houses with no off-street parking, charging an electric vehicle is not possible.

    1. agricola
      March 10, 2021

      We must ask ourselves why we can see all the problems with 100% electricity, but those in politics cannot. Is it that the downside will never affect them.

      One piece of good news today. It was announced in measured tones that Piers Morgan would no longer be appearing on Good Morning Britain. Why will no doubt come later. What followed was sensible restrained discussion, no shouting , overtalking or bombastic verbal fighting for the stage. What a relief, au revoir the marmite presenter, joy all round. It was in response apparently to 41,000 complaints on his presentation of the current royal crisis.

      1. Mark B
        March 11, 2021

        Herd mentality and ambition.

    2. Nig l
      March 10, 2021

      Yet

    3. Roy Grainger
      March 10, 2021

      There are two ways of making hydrogen – one involves burning gas and generating lots of CO2 and the other uses lots of electricity. The former will presumably be unacceptable so a switch to hydrogen vehicles, while the better option for car users, will still need lots more generating capacity.

      1. MiC
        March 10, 2021

        There’s direct photolysis too, an area of ever-accelerating research.

    4. oldtimer
      March 10, 2021

      That is the whole idea! Private car ownership is for the chop unless you are wealthy enough to afford a property with its own driveway and access to a charge point. The great unwashed will be required to walk, use a bicycle or public transport. If they are lucky they will be able to rent, at great expense, a self driving vehicle ( in the distant future).

      1. Fedupsoutherner
        March 10, 2021

        Talk of 75p a mile. That’s me off the road then. £15 to drive 10 miles to my local shops and back home. Utter madness.

    5. Alan Jutson
      March 10, 2021

      Mike

      Would agree Hydrogen needs to be looked at seriously, especially when Toyota are planning to release a production model later this year with a range in excess of 400 miles. The only thing holding that back is hydrogen storage and fill up facilities, but with a 5 minute fill up time from empty to full, I guess existing fuel stations may well be able to be converted.

    6. Ian Wragg
      March 10, 2021

      Hydrogen offers an unlimited source of fuel which when burnt it actually cleans the surrounding atmosphere. The ultimate green fuel.
      The green blob don’t like it as it has the potential to extend the life of the ICE and does nothing to get the sheeples off the road.
      The electric car mandate is to force the little man off the road whilst the hoy paloy wizz down the centre lane in their Zils.

      1. hefner
        March 11, 2021

        Could you please give the chemical reaction involving hydrogen that ‘actually cleans the surrounding atmosphere’? I agree that 2(H2) + O2 -> 2(H2O) + energy looks good …
        but what about the process to make H2 to start with?

        Do you have one such reaction that is both clean (no use of CH4 + 2(O2) -> CO2 + 2(H2O) which produces carbon dioxide) and does not require energy.

        Electricity is required for electrolysis (2(H2O) + energy -> 2(H2) + O2) and only solar energy could produce relatively clean electricity (assuming one does not talk of what is required to build the solar panels).

    7. Lester
      March 10, 2021

      You’re not supposed to be able to charge your EV….. that’s the whole point!

      1. DavidJ
        March 10, 2021

        Indeed, their aim is to destroy life as we knew it and create a truly Orwellian world.

    8. glen cullen
      March 10, 2021

      Agree

    9. Mockbeggar
      March 10, 2021

      How will they make the hydrogen do you suppose?

      1. Denis Cooper
        March 10, 2021

        That’s OK, there are huge reserves on Jupiter just waiting to be tapped and piped down to the earth …

    10. Lifelogic
      March 10, 2021

      Hydrogen or battery are not really a source of “power “ they are just a way of storing energy and both have very serious problems.

      Batteries are very expensive per MJoule stored so very limited range, slow to charge, short lived & thus heavy depreciation, heavy and bulky which (wastes more energy), environmentally damaging to produce, wastes energy on charging, standing and discharging, have recycling issues.

      Hydrogen is very expensive and energy wasteful to produce and very expensive to store effectively. Though quick to recharge and far less range limiting.

      With both you still have to generate the electricity or energy somehow in the first place.

      1. Lifelogic
        March 10, 2021

        Mad given current technology and the far better and far cheaper currently available alternatives that is.

    11. MWB
      March 10, 2021

      Plus the unsuitability of batttery electric cars for anything other than local shopping.

      1. hefner
        March 11, 2021

        Then question must be: how many times per week, month, year does one use a car to do more than a 150 miles return trip? From the answers, it should be possible to figure out how many of these travels could be made with an electric vehicle, keeping the ICE vehicles for trips longer than 150 miles.

        Before the pandemic, I usually made only 4 to 6 such long trips a year, all the others being within 30-40 miles return. Which means that for about 95 -97% of my trips an EV would have been perfectly suitable.

        1. Fred.H
          March 11, 2021

          In the dark using lights, heater, sitting at traffic lights, stuck in jams, minus temps in winter? All factored in, fully charged battery prior to every trip?

    12. Bill B.
      March 10, 2021

      Exactly, Mike. So they won’t be able to run a private car, that’s all. Think of this as the intended solution, not as a problem. After all, how would enough electricity be generated under the Green World Order if everyone was charging their car battery every night?

    13. John Hatfield
      March 10, 2021

      I would imagine that hydrogen production, short of some miracle new discovery, will require perhaps the same amount of electrical power as is needed to power electric cars. Small modular reactors of which we hear nothing from the government would seem to be the answer. If SMRs are proved to be viable of course.

  6. Grey Friar
    March 10, 2021

    “Global commentaries and forecasts imply a disappointing rate of growth and recovery for many parts of the EU economy compared to Asia or the Americas” – but nothing compared to the catastrophic numbers coming in from Brexit Britain, its exports tied up by Brexit red tape and its companies having to move their HQs to the EU, losing jobs hand over fist in the UK.

    1. agricola
      March 10, 2021

      Grey Friar, you are looking through the wrong end of your telescope.

    2. Richard1
      March 10, 2021

      No it’s the other way round. The OECD forecasts much faster recovery in the U.K.

    3. MiC
      March 10, 2021

      When the struggle is in essence between those with principle and those with none, you can’t really expect the other side to play with a straight bat, can you?

      1. Peter2
        March 10, 2021

        Thanks for your explanation mic.
        I now understand why the EU is doing its best to be awkward and difficult in the way it deals with the UK

    4. jerry
      March 10, 2021

      @Grey Friar; “Britain, its exports tied up by Brexit red tape and its companies having to move their HQs to the EU”

      Why are UK exports to the RotW being tied up by Brexit/EU red tape, and why would a British company trading in US or Far Eastern produces for example have to move their HQs to the EU?

      The EU exports more to the UK than vis-versa, also do not be taken in by what became known as the ‘Rotterdam fudge’, were UK RotW exports were being counted as either UK exports to the EU or EU exports to the RotW, sometimes both due to the way container ships visit multiple ports.

    5. Ian Wragg
      March 10, 2021

      Evidence please.

      1. MiC
        March 10, 2021

        Hilarious.

    6. Denis Cooper
      March 10, 2021

      Come on then, give us some of those “catastrophic numbers”, actual numbers rather than hyperbolic words, and don’t forget to put those actual numbers in the context of the actual numbers for the UK economy.

  7. Nig l
    March 10, 2021

    And in other news 23 billion spent on test and trace made no discernible difference,.this blog has been suggesting the same for months.

    Any one taking responsibility. Ha. Here’s a suggestion. Next time tell us what the likely cost will be. We will all drink to that value and pee it up against a wall.

    Seriously how are you holding the executive to account, they seem out of control to me.

    1. Mark B
      March 11, 2021

      You can never effectively hold the Executive to account, not whilst they are made up of the same body and the Executive run a Whipping system. We need to split the two and elect them separately.

  8. Sea_Warrior
    March 10, 2021

    May I wander off topic a little? In the past few weeks I have lost voting rightsfor my EasyJet shares – these now being reserved for EU nationals. But yesterday I learned that the German Eurowings (part of state-supported Lufthansa) will be flying between the the UK and Spain. It seems that the deal for air-travel between the UK and the EU is a one-sided agreement, without parallel. Perhaps MPs need to look at the situation.

    1. Andy
      March 10, 2021

      You voted to lose your voting rights. Ironic.

      What would you like the UK government to do about Germanwings? Remove the right of an EU carrier to fly between the UK and the EU?

  9. Lifelogic
    March 10, 2021

    Insanity as usual, especially the mad hydrogen agenda. Hydrogen is merely a very expensive, very energy wasteful, difficult to store and very inconvenient method of storing and distributing energy produced earlier. You have to manufacture the hydrogen, we have no hydrogen mines.

    Moronic bureaucrats & politicians seem to very excited by hydrogen, simply because it has no Carbon in it. An insane agenda as damaging as these far more harm than good lockdowns.

    1. Brian Tomkinson
      March 10, 2021

      They also ignore, or are ignorant of, the fact that when burned hydrogen produces water vapour which is by far the most abundant ‘greenhouse gas’.

      1. hefner
        March 10, 2021

        … by far the most abundant ‘greenhouse gas’. Indeed, and? Have you ever heard of condensation, precipitation evaporation, well of the whole hydrological cycle?

    2. agricola
      March 10, 2021

      You have found a new rant, congrats.😲😲😲

    3. Mike Wilson
      March 10, 2021

      @Lifelogic

      Insanity as usual, especially the mad hydrogen agenda. Hydrogen is merely a very expensive, very energy wasteful, difficult to store and very inconvenient method of storing and distributing energy produced earlier.

      And yet it isn’t. One of the biggest complaints about solar and wind power is the lack of storage. Using that form of energy to create hydrogen is an obvious and logical way of, for example, using wind energy at night. New catalysts mean it is much less wasteful. It is easy to store and can be distributed using the existing gas network. Town gas, of old, was 60% hydrogen.

      1. Lifelogic
        March 11, 2021

        Storage in a compact compressed form (for a car for example) is expensive, sure you can pump it to houses but methane is far superior and naturally available for this anyway. Why spend a fortune building wind farms that produce very expensive energy at times that are not needed then use a very expensive and wasteful way to store it as hydrogen?

        Building expensive wind farms (using lots of fossil fuel to do so) then using any surplus energy to manufacture hydrogen, then compress and store the hydrogen then use to fuel a car, then burn to produce motion and heal. Do you realise how expensive and hugely wasteful of energy this all is? Insanity with current technology.

        1. hefner
          March 11, 2021

          LL, you keep talking about expensive wind farms in terms of fossil fuels (and I guess CO2 production). Have you ever considered how much CO2 is generated producing the thousands of cubic meters of concrete required in building a nuclear power station like Hinkley (thought to be 35,000 m^3)?
          Various company sites give an average of 400lb CO2 for a cubic yard of concrete, i.e., 236 kg CO2 per m^3 of concrete. So 8,260 tonnes of CO2 just to build Hinkley.

          We all know here, Hinkley bad, SMRs good.

          Then SMRs usually assumed to be 10 to 25% the size of a traditional nuclear power plant. Good. Is the amount of steel and concrete only 10 to 25% the amount required for a traditional plant? Absolutely not, they are likely to take a higher proportion of steel and concrete by GW produced than a traditional plant would. Different studies give contradictory results about how much higher, but appear in agreement about a particular distinction between ‘affordability’ and ‘cost-effectiveness’: SMRs might be more affordable (a good point for decision-makers) but less cost-effective (will the taxpayers via the Public Accounts Committee ever be told about that?)

          Interesting future debate for any decision-maker clever enough to work through the figures the industry will not fail to bandy around.

  10. Fred.H
    March 10, 2021

    Appliances such as fridges, washing machines and TVs should last longer and be cheaper to run under new rules. Ministers have confirmed that from the summer consumers will have a right to repair on goods they buy. They are keeping a promise to implement EU rules aimed at cutting energy and bills – and reducing the need for new materials.
    Many consumers have complained that goods don’t last long enough, then can’t be fixed in the home.
    Manufacturers will be legally obliged to make spare parts for products available to consumers for the first time – a new legal right for repairs. The aim of the new rules is to extend the lifespan of products by up to 10 years, and officials estimate that higher energy efficiency standards will save consumers an average of £75 a year on bills over their lifetimes.
    ‘Protecting the environment’
    The new rules will be estimated to reduce the 1.5 million tonnes of electrical waste the UK generates a year and to contribute to reducing carbon emissions overall.
    Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Our plans to tighten product standards will ensure more electrical goods can be fixed rather than thrown on the scrap heap – putting more money back in the pockets of consumers whilst protecting the environment.

    1. Fred.H
      March 10, 2021

      SO WHY NOT PUBLISH?
      BBC website !!

    2. Fred.H
      March 11, 2021

      A high proportion of the white goods and televisions UK buys are imports from EU or Asia. The new rules will need to be complied with by EU and Asian manufacturers.

    3. glen cullen
      March 11, 2021

      Government want to control our behaviour and social engineer how we should live and what we should buy?
      Government now want to control how things are made, social engineer business and limit choice to consumer

      I don’t like where this is all going

  11. jerry
    March 10, 2021

    Yawn, someone appears to still be fighting the battle for Brexit, or are we going to have similar articles dealing with how China, the USA, Australia etc are going to rebuild the economic damage caused by the pandemic?

    Oh, and just to point out, the German Power house is more than just motor cars…

  12. Alan Jutson
    March 10, 2021

    I wonder if Astra Zeneca are thinking twice about further investment and manufacturing in the EU now ?

    Not a good sign when governments can determine who your eventual customers are.

  13. Iain Gill
    March 10, 2021

    Why dont we just have the presentations from Davos publically available? seems an easier way than bothering with manifestos, voting, and journalism…

  14. Andy
    March 10, 2021

    The business secretary has said consumers will benefit from a new ‘right to repair’ law which is coming in this summer. He says this will save consumers money as manufacturers will have to keep parts to be able to fix costly electrical law for much longer.

    Stronger energy efficiency standards are also being introduced. Also hailed by the government.

    Having left it is nice that the Tories are now explaining the benefits to consumers of EU law – because this is EU law. Meanwhile has anyone found a benefit to Brexit yet. How are fish exports doing? Oh.

  15. Bryan Harris
    March 10, 2021

    In summary then, The EU plan to make no changes to how badly subservient states are served by it’s central beaurucracy, but will follow their old golden rule of throwing money in the general direction of problems to hope they go away.
    Additionally they will retain the 2 main pillars of European destruction, allowing the invasion by foreigners who have no love of western values to continue, along with the economy wrecking falsity they call climate change.

    ….all that and still they allow false CV reporting of statistics to keep people locked inside and otherwise suppressed from life.
    Do we really know what the actual EU is all about? Unfortunately yes, we see it much clearer now.

    Then we have to ask – Is the UK any different?

    1. Andy
      March 10, 2021

      Who are these foreigners who have invaded?

      And as for the EU throwing money at problems:
      £37bn on test and trace
      Unknown billions on PPE a& vaccines
      Unknown billions on problems caused by Brexit
      Pay rises for Dominic Cummings
      A newly decorated flat above No 10
      David Frost’s salary
      Settling bullying claims against Priti Patel

      It is just as well this Tory government doesn’t just throw money at problems.

  16. hefner
    March 10, 2021

    According to the OECD, the March 2021 forecast report for 2021 gives 5.1% for the UK, 3.9% for the eurozone with 3% for Germany, 4.1% for Italy, 5.7% for Spain and 5.9% for France. Obviously one should not consider these forecast figures by themselves and should put them in context with how much the GDP had fallen in 2020: -9.9% for the UK, -6.8% for the eurozone, -5.3% for Germany, -8.9% for Italy, -11% for Spain, and -8.2% for France.
    The USA had -3.5% with a forecast of 6.5%, China had +2.3% with a forecast of 7.8%.
    with a forecast growth rate for the world at 5.6% and 12.6% for India.

    OECD.org ‘Strengthening the recovery: The need for speed’ Interim Report March 2021.

    1. hefner
      March 10, 2021

      And these numbers are for real GDP (adjusted for inflation, past for 2020 figures and future for 2021 figures).

  17. bigneil(newercomp)
    March 10, 2021

    Just seen £37 billion spent on Track and Trace. Someone has pocketed a LARGE fortune on that. It could have been FAR better spent. All those illegals that aren’t being deported could have been put in much better hotels, and their families flown in First Class, then chauffeur -driven to their new taxpayer funded detached 5 bedroom house with new BMW on the drive.

    1. Caterpillar
      March 10, 2021

      bigneil,

      Is that number real, in one year? That is equivalent to 83% of Phase 1 of HS2 (over multiple years). How? How can TaT cost 83% of Phase 1 of HS2? It reminds me of stories of billions going missing in countries ruled by dictators.

      1. glen cullen
        March 10, 2021

        And MPs of both party’s just nodded the budgets through……along with their extra expenses

        1. Caterpillar
          March 11, 2021

          And MPs on both sides leave their ‘leaders’ in place / don’t leave their shameful parties. MPs were willing to leave parties, careers and seats over the details of the Brexit agreement, but they are so immoral they cannot act over what has and is still being done now. There are only a handful that are not an utter disgrace – and disgrace is the polite word.

          1. glen cullen
            March 12, 2021

            correct – they forget who they serve

      2. Fedupsoutherner
        March 10, 2021

        Caterpillar. Yes those figures are correct. Mindboggling eh? Who on earth thought I was ok to pay a ‘consultant’ £6.5k a day? They certainly do know how to waste money.

        1. Caterpillar
          March 11, 2021

          Mindboggling for a democracy, par for the course for a dictatorship.

    2. Paul Cuthbertson
      March 10, 2021

      bigneil- unfortunately so very true.

    3. Mike Wilson
      March 10, 2021

      with new BMW on the drive.

      Let’s not spoil things by providing a German car. A nice British Toyota or Nissan would be fine.

  18. Newmania
    March 10, 2021

    In modern history the closest we come to the damage and debt of today is the post war period when National debt was over 200%. This is not really comparable though as the economy could be redirected from arms to production and swords to ploughshares so to speak .
    Debts initially rose still higher and not until the early 70s was the country in safe waters (50 %or so). During that period our Continental neighbours rebuilt , out grew ,and overtook the UK which became Europe`s old sick man.
    Only after joining the Free Trade area on our doorstep , ending subsidies to lame duck industries and breaking with post war Butskellism did the UK escape this cycle of failure.
    It is interesting don`t you think that Sir John , who must have experienced this time , is now so intent on repeating every single mistake the country made .Squander, protectionism and absurd dreams of “Global ” Power and influence. History does not repeat itself they say , but it rhymes

    Reply Our growth rate fell in the EU

    1. No Longer Anonymous
      March 10, 2021

      We became incredibly London-centric in the EU.

      The Brexit vote was actually a revolt against arrogant white Londoners and not the EU and not foreigners.

      You weren’t listening. That you still seem to be in a state of shock about Brexit proves you weren’t listening.

    2. Denis Cooper
      March 10, 2021

      JR, you should not confuse him with facts.

    3. hefner
      March 11, 2021

      Reply to reply: The UK growth rate certainly did fall from 1973 to 2016. Next question for which I guess Sir John does not have a proper answer (i.e., an answer he could properly justify): how much better (or worse) would it have been if the UK had never been part of the EU?

      Interestingly enough, with bumps and potholes in slightly different years, the decreasing trend in GDP growth rate from 1970 to 2019 also appears for Germany, France … and the USA, Canada, Australia …

      ons.gov.uk ‘Changes in the economy since the 1970s’
      macrotrends.net/countries

      So what about trying not to reply with a one-line statement that anybody can check and show to be biased?

  19. Mike Durrans
    March 10, 2021

    Sir John,

    Being in my late seventies, I have only one ambition left. That is to witness the inward implosion of the eu. I do my little bit by not buying anything from eu.
    I boycott all eu products and farm produce as I firmly believe the pound in my pocket is able to be weaponised

    1. steve
      March 10, 2021

      Mike Durrans

      Well said mate. You’re certainly not alone in boycotting EU produce. Millions of us are doing it.

      Keep it up !

  20. Denis Cooper
    March 10, 2021

    Meanwhile, although we have left the EU, and moreover that ludicrous oxymoronic “status quo” transition period during which there would be no transition, that is to say nothing would change, has now ended:

    http://www.eureferendum.com/blogview.aspx?blogno=87907

    “The Commission is said to have identified legal grounds in the Withdrawal Agreement which would give the ECJ jurisdiction.”

    over the UK government’s alleged infringements of our new agreements with the EU.

    Which is directly contrary to all those frequently repeated and unequivocal promises that once we had left the EU we would be free from the jurisdiction of the EU’s court.

    1. Fedupsoutherner
      March 10, 2021

      It was all lies. Just as we thought it would be. We have come to expect nothing less than bull shit ftom politicians.

  21. BW
    March 10, 2021

    Did the EU sign a different deal to the UK. Was something lost in translation. I thought we were not answerable to the ECJ. Yet apparently the EU are taking legal action against us. over the NI protocol. And what’s more if we don’t comply with any fines we will be sanctioned. Are we actually talking about the same agreement. I really don’t think the EU have any idea of what they are playing with in relation to NI. The government need to get rid of the protocol. Withdraw if necessary and fast.

    1. Denis Cooper
      March 10, 2021

      Earlier today I watched the Commons debate on an Urgent Question on the Northern Ireland Protocol tabled by the Labour party, available here:

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000th3k/house-of-commons-live-northern-ireland-protocol-urgent-question

      and that confirmed my growing conviction that the Tory party has lost its collective marbles.

      How can any sensible person believe that regulation of the trickle of goods carried across the land border into the Irish Republic is best achieved by checking all goods crossing another border, a newly invented border in the sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, plus relegating Northern Ireland to the status of a buffer zone and in effect a UK-EU condominium?

      Yet this “unique” (in my view “uniquely stupid”) solution to this “complex” (in my view “basically quite simple”) problem was willingly supported by all Tory MPs apart from two.

    2. glen cullen
      March 10, 2021

      I believe you’re misinterpreted the deal – we haven’t actually left

      1. steve
        March 10, 2021

        Exactly, Glen.

        Fishing and NI tells you it’s BRINO. But the penny is starting to drop with the punters….and the Conservative party is finished.

    3. Alan Jutson
      March 10, 2021

      The EU have not ratified the agreement yet, they are still thinking about it, hence the reason for the possible chaos.

    4. Andy
      March 10, 2021

      It’s legally binding. You could have read it before Tory MPs voted for it. I did. Most of them did not.

      PS: It’s rubbish.

      1. Fred.H
        March 11, 2021

        If only we had you as an MP.

  22. formula57
    March 10, 2021

    ” Today the U.K. is rightly pushing back hard against a false EU allegation that it has blocked vaccine exports.” – alas the Evil Empire judges others by the standards it applies to itself so no wonder it thought its false allegation had credence. I suppose there is a small chance is there that this incident might even alert our own Foreign Office to the fact the Evil Empire is a hostile power?

    The EUR 750 million (how much has the UK supplied?) I have seen said is not only a comparatively small sum but a good portion is not scheduled to be spent for some years: so much for alleviating the Covid downturn. And hard luck on those nations that are not deemed worthy of the largesse extended to Italy and Spain.

    Reply Billion not million

    1. formula57
      March 10, 2021

      Oops, yes sorry, but billion is what I meant when I said “comparatively small” (in relation to the 27’s GDP).

      1. hefner
        March 12, 2021

        A quick look for 2019 gives the US GDP at around $20tn, the EU27’s at $15bn. So if PotUS puts $1.9tn to fight Covid and the EU27 €0.75tn, it means that the EU27 only put 61% of the equivalent US effort to fight Covid (accounting for €1 = $1.19). How quickly these pots of money will be spent and how they will be distributed are indeed meaningful questions.
        It would be good to have the equivalent UK figures for comparison.

        Reply UK Treasury said in 2020 UK and US supported with 16% of GDP whilst EU countries were in the range 4 – 10%, from memory.

  23. kb
    March 10, 2021

    The mention of EU hydrogen technology made my ears prick up. The UK seems committed to a path based only on rechargeable Li-ion batteries. This could be a grave mistake going forward. Batteries do not have the energy density required for vehicles, and as for aircraft, forget it. There is also no chance of us having the infrastucture in place by 2030.
    Forget the 2030 target, start incentivising hydrogen technology like the EU, and when that reaches a good state of development set a new, later, target for phasing out ICE vehicles.

    1. glen cullen
      March 10, 2021

      Where is our choice, our freedom of choice, the freedom to purchase items, spend our money and live our lifes as we see fit

      STOP ALL SOCIAL ENGINEERING

  24. John Payne
    March 10, 2021

    EU plans you describe must be taken as State aid through the back door. Even loans can be written off by their inability to expose why their annual accounts have so often failed to be signed off.

  25. Malcolm White
    March 10, 2021

    It seems that the fervour of the Climate Change Religion (is this an entry on the National Census questionnaire?) is running amok with the notion that there’s a magic electricity tree that is going to provide unlimited so-called green energy to support the needs of humanity.

    I understand that without some goal or target for which to reach, progress would not be as fast in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, but there appears to be no plan B. What happens when all the conventional power stations are decommissioned and suddenly we, the people, find that we’ve been sold a pup?

    1. Mike Wilson
      March 10, 2021

      @Malcolm White

      What happens when all the conventional power stations are decommissioned and suddenly we, the people, find that we’ve been sold a pup?

      It will be like it was when I was a kid. We were one of the first families on the vast council estate we lived on to have a car. In the 1950s we played football in the street and probably had to stop once or twice a day for a car. That’s where we are headed. Mind you, I lived in London then and you could get around on buses and trains. Now, living in rural Dorset, I would be stuffed without a car.

      1. Everhopeful
        March 10, 2021

        Yes..but there will be nowhere to go.
        Look at our present situation.

    2. glen cullen
      March 10, 2021

      COP26 and today’s HoCs debate on ‘UN Climate Change Summit Spending’

      Every MP patting each other on their backs for the Paris Agreement and the sacrifice that all UK people are going to make

      Every MP scared to talk against ‘climate change’ in fear of being call a denier

      1. steve
        March 10, 2021

        glen cullen

        …and without the guts to cite China as being the real culprit behind climate change. But oh no we can’t be upsetting bussinessmen raking it in by exploiting cheap unskilled labour and flobbing us all off with plastic useless crap, can we.

    3. Everhopeful
      March 10, 2021

      We will just have no power.
      Similar in SA according to a cousin.
      And no one cares.
      See how little the govt. cared about our lack of healthcare and access to food in recent months.

    4. steve
      March 10, 2021

      What happens when all the conventional power stations are decommissioned and suddenly we, the people, find that we’ve been sold a pup?

      ……we go after the buggers that did it, and make them pay for their crimes..

      1. Fred.H
        March 11, 2021

        We make candles, go to bed early, dig up the lawn for spuds, and dust off that old bike.

        1. glen cullen
          March 11, 2021

          did that 6 mths ago

        2. hefner
          March 12, 2021

          Fred.H, yes, more likely than steve’s ridiculous ‘call to arms’. Has he ever met and seen how the riot squad is equipped? Well, if this type of comments helps him feel better and soothe him before bed, who am I to disagree?

  26. Sir Joe Soap
    March 10, 2021

    Use article 16 to get out of this ridiculous bureacracy in “exporting” to our own country, then to ditch the whole protocol, which is a threat to trade and to peace in Northern Ireland!

  27. Nick
    March 10, 2021

    The EU has always been happy to engage in state aid whenever it suits them and harms their competitors – in which latter category they always placed the UK, even when we were members! Hence the state aid to Airbus, and of course the state aid that Slovakia was allowed to offer JaguarLandRover, while the UK was banned from matching this, which is why JLR’s biggest plant is now in Slovakia and that is where they are making their newest models.

    The UK always lost out by stupidly obeying the state aid restrictions, and it seems we are still mentally shackled by them. Why else would we not be offering multi-billion pound state aid packages to companies here in the UK? As a result we will once again lose out to the EU, who will forge ahead, especially in the new industries of the future (batteries, electric cars, hydrogen, computer chips, etc), while we will scramble for a few crumbs left behind. We need to go big on state aid if we are to overtake the EU, or even just keep up. But there is no sign of that coming from either number 10 or number 11.

  28. Paul Cuthbertson
    March 10, 2021

    With “Build back Better” in the title, once again this all part of the World Economic Forum agenda. Have you listened to Klaus Schwab and noticed which individuals support this agenda.
    CONTROL of the Masses. Wake up people, governments do not have your interests at heart.

  29. agricola
    March 10, 2021

    True Roy, why not use a solar investment in Morroco or perhaps Almeria to generate the required electric power to produce the hydrogen which you then ship in seventy five hours to Milford Haven.
    Buses are already in production I believe in the UK, powered by hydrogen which logically means we can do it for all heavy goods vehicles. Add that to private cars and put an end to all the nonesense drive for electric vehicles.

    1. agricola
      March 10, 2021

      This comment just floated free, a weakness in this new site.

      1. hefner
        March 10, 2021

        agricola, +1, Sir John’s new website blog configuration would not be used in a company where everybody would want to know in which order the contributions have arrived and how they link with each other.

  30. forthurst
    March 10, 2021

    William Happer, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Princetown gave a presentation recently on Climate Change at a seminar at Hillsdale College; it is well illustrated and presented and should be watched by all those whose opinions on the topic are based on a belief system rather than an understanding of the drivers of climate. It should be mandatory viewing for all politicians. It is currently available on Youtube.

    1. formula57
      March 10, 2021

      Thank you forthurst, an illuminating and persuasive talk from Professor Happer. His graph showing the virtually indiscernible effects from doubling CO2 from 400 ppm to 800 ppm is rather shocking. It is astonishing that so much of the scientific community is content to overlook the information he presents.

      (He was clearly talking to sane people for he failed to provoke a riot at the end when he cast doubt on Greta Thunberg’s saintliness.)

      1. hefner
        March 12, 2021

        The problem is that his graph (around 25 mn in the presentation) showing the reduced outgoing long wave radiation (OLR) at the top of the atmosphere in the CO2 band around 15 micrometers (‘frequency’ between 600 and 750 cm^-1) when the concentration of CO2 goes from 400 to 800 ppm only tells one part of the story: so, yes, only 3 Wm^-2 reduction in OLR (from 277 to 274 Wm^-2). But where does the difference go? within the atmosphere below? as a heating? as a cooling? as an increase in the downward long wave radiation at the surface? If so, what impact such radiation change could have? Could it change the temperature profile, the amount of humidity? Could it contribute to warming the surface?
        Is the impact of a change from 400 to 800 ppm of CO2 smaller, equivalent, bigger than the impact of the actually observed change from 330 to 410 ppm? Are all these ‘thingies’ linear or not?

        Anybody with a bit of knowledge in radiation transfer would have noticed this sleight of hand from the dear retired (‘emeritus’) professor (81 years of age) obviously unnoticed by the audience in Hillsdale College nor by the most curious on this blog.

    2. glen cullen
      March 11, 2021

      A good presentation – as you suggest MPs need to see it

      1. hefner
        March 12, 2021

        The following question should be: what would they make of it?

  31. agricola
    March 10, 2021

    All you hydrogen denigraters check out Wright Bus and their manufacture for Aberdeen. Just the sort of manufacturer that HMG needs to get behind with orders and plant expansion capital before we read that their next customer is in Cologne.

    1. agricola
      March 10, 2021

      Birmingham is due to begin receiving its first fleet of hydrogen fueled buses next month. They have a fuel range of 300 miles and refueling takes ten minutes max. We need a company with the drive of a JCB to start producing trucks. We need to stop this lunatics in charge of the assylum drive for pure electdic vehicles with all their patently obvious disadvantages. Wake up Westminster and smell the cooking.

      1. hefner
        March 10, 2021

        Wrightbus (in NI), Arcola Energy (London), the Optare Group (Leeds) are such companies! And they are already producing hydrogen-fuelled buses. Three thousands of them are expected to hit the road in 2021.

      2. glen cullen
        March 10, 2021

        +1 Agree

  32. The Prangwizard
    March 10, 2021

    Interesting. I dare say we will read more on the subject as we haven’t left the EU in most respects, have we? Still paying them. Still tied to their rules in respect to fishing and sovereignty not restored. Northern Ireland still under direct EU control. Many trading behaviours need their consent to change. If they don’t consent we can’t change them. Betrayal or deception, what is it?

    1. glen cullen
      March 10, 2021

      Betrayal of the referendum

  33. Stephen Reay
    March 10, 2021

    Sorry for being off topic. George Osborne says VAT should be risen to pay for the covid 19 debt. It’s so easy for millionaire George Osborne and others to say so. But what about the poorly paid and pensioners who only have the state pension to live on, not forgetting single parents. Where do we stop VAT at? 25% ,30% or more. I’m putting my money on the next government to put up VAT , this will be their poll tax moment if they do. We all know that VAT is regressive and hits the poorest in society . Millionaires would rather see the poorest pay the most. I wonder if this is what Boris means when he says build back better, I fear so.

  34. No Longer Anonymous
    March 10, 2021

    * pop star*

  35. David Brown
    March 10, 2021

    I think you are much better to focus on the severe economic problems of Britain and the future break up of the UK, then constantly being very interested in the EU.
    This is typical twitchy curtains envy of the mighty and powerful EU.

  36. bill brown
    March 10, 2021

    Urssla, might not be happy but according to the EU agreement on the vaccines and legislation each country can determine what they use and when they use it, so Ursula can really say what she wants to say it makes no difference

    1. Fred.H
      March 11, 2021

      so naturally when life saving solutions can’t be got out of the monster, some countries cry ‘we’ve had enough, we’ll buy from behind the curtain’.

  37. jon livesey
    March 10, 2021

    The EU’s real long-term problem is that it is no longer perceived as adding some unique value to Europe, as it was when it was first created. Instead, it is just managing what already exists, and that obviously leaves it open to challenge from better ideas and better managers. Given the repeated EU crises since the euro crisis in 2007 we should expect an attempt at a soft coup before too long.

    The obvious candidate for a takeover is a joint action by Berlin and Paris to take control of the existing institutions. Clearly, Brussels can predict such a challenge as well as ayone, and so it would respond with promises of economic stimulus for the smaller and weaker members as long as they don’t support a Berlin-Paris axis that would sideline the current Commission.

  38. beresford
    March 10, 2021

    Apparently Boris has ‘demanded’ the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in a phone call to the Iranian President. Or he will do what precisely? After his previous disastrous intervention as Foreign Secretary, we can only hope this doesn’t result in another prison sentence for this luckless woman from her forthcoming trial. Private diplomacy stands more of a chance of success with the Iranian regime than empty bluster.

  39. steve
    March 10, 2021

    I’m not an expert on vaccines, medicines and stuff like that so forgive my ignorance BUT –

    Is’nt the Astra vaccine otherwise known as the ‘Oxford’ vaccine ?

    If so, then what business does the EU have to decide if a British Commonwealth country should have it? Or any other country for that matter?

    About time Boris got the pliers out and set to getting that big ungrateful EU nose out of our affairs.

    1. Fred.H
      March 11, 2021

      Oxford being the inventors, AZ being the chosen manufacturer -at least they manage to manufacture in UK, not quite up to scratch in that place ‘ all pigs are equal, but some are more equal than others’.

  40. Lindsay McDougall
    March 10, 2021

    The President of the European Commission is a German and she has an Agenda. The Phizer/BioNTec vaccine is German designed and Pfizer, who have been given the task of producing it, have located their factories inside the EU are keen to maximise sales world wide. To this end they have temporarily reduced production in order to expand production capacity in the medium to long term. The President of the EC approves this objective. The role that she wishes to allocate to Astra-Zeneka is to fill this temporary dip in supplies of the Pfizer vaccine while charging a lower price to the EU for its vaccine than it can obtain from the UK. Why would Astra-Zeneka wish to do something so manifestly contrary to its interests?

  41. Gareth Warren
    March 11, 2021

    I listen to many politicians confidently tell us they will build back better, yet they have no experience or have shown any interest in doing this in the past.

    If they were interested in doing this then why did they become politicians? I have heard a little of this coming from this government, but so far they have done a small number of tasks, but done them well, I hope this approach continues.

    I live in hope one day that we can see more politicians call out the politicians who confidently promise so much when they have no experience, even worse we know from experience the results of large scale state capital allocation have been from bad to horrific. I suspect large scale state spending in the EU will be no more successful than it was in China or the USSR.

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