There is renewed interest amongst Conservative MPs in value for money and controlling public spending. We have just lived through an extraordinary two years when public budgets were increased hugely to combat the virus, find a vaccine, set up a nationwide free test and trace system , boost benefits, pay furlough Ā incomes , subsidise businesses facing impaired trading and offer finance to business in difficulties from banned or restricted trading.
The first part of controlling spending is reversing all of these special Ā measures as the Ā economy Ā has now returned to its pre pandemic levels. This is largely done though the NHS budget needs to be fully adjusted to ensure enough of the expanded budget that remains goes to non covid work and to waiting Ā list reduction. As answers to my various questions have shown the NHS needs to do more to have a good manpower plan goingĀ forward, to recruit the extra Ā medical staff it needs to handle demand. It may need more beds just as I and others strove to get to handle the first covid wave Ā through the Nightingales. Ā It needs to reduce overhead and concentrate resources on the medical services at its core. Much of the task of raising productivity in the public sector, raising service quality and improving value for money needs to come from this crucial service which absorbs 40 % of the state budget.
The government should urgently review overseas aid to eliminate payments toĀ countries supporting Russia and countries with space,nuclear weapons or other large armaments programmes.
The costs of providing initial Ā housing and other public provision for refugees should be charged to the overseas aid budget. The number of economic migrants should be controlled to allow a reduction in spending on additional social housing.
The government must work with the railway to make substantial reductions to the currentĀ very high level of subsidy. The Secretary of State is right to try to promote more use of the railway. The Ā U.K. will need to be realistic about ticket prices after his initial bargain promotions. It may be that more freight use of the railway is the quickest win for revenue and beneficial environmental impact, reducing road congestion.
The Cabinet Office Minister Jacob Rees Mogg is right to seek a slimmed civil service. Ending much new external recruitment , promoting from within and eliminating Ā posts would save substantial sums and boost productivity.
April 21, 2022
Today I’ve received my new electricity and gas tarrifs.
Both up 110%.
This is down entirely to the misguided policies of a 12 year tory government.
You won’t be let off lightly for this.
April 21, 2022
I’ve just calculated that if I have a heat pump and emersion heater for hot water my annual fuel bill will be over Ā£5 000per year.
That’s a sure vote winner (not).
April 21, 2022
You do not need to point the finger at anybody else apart from the Tory party
April 21, 2022
What are you paying now per kw/he for electricity and gas? And how much for the daily standing charges?
April 22, 2022
I think trhat you can also credit Ed Milliband and Ed Davey with poor judgement in this field
April 22, 2022
Example: Electricity based on my (presently) Standard Variable terms: daily standing charge increased by 65.3% and kWh rate increased by 36.8%
April 21, 2022
Good morning & happy birthday to the Hermajesty the Queen.
Very funny. But I think you missed April Fools Day by good 20 days, Sir John.
One may indeed ‘seek’ but never find. š
I mentioned controlling public spending yesterday (still in modertion). As stated, it still remains the one area that the government seems keen to avoid. I wounder why ? š
April 21, 2022
No reference to reform of the unionised, pro-EU and pro-Labour State.
No reference to depoliticisation.
No reference to removing the now controlling influence of the left and the Neo-Marxist unions that now influence Tory party policy
Typically, more policies to appease the left that now control John and his party and leave the private sector taxpayer and end-user to more abuse by Labour’s Socialist State
I like Mr Redwood as I believe he’s a decent man but this nonsense aims to insulate the Tory party from existential harm, achieve nothing, strengthen the left and promote indirectly the progressive status quo that is inflicting so much damage upon our fiscal position, upon personal freedoms and upon the indigenous majority who are know viewed with pure contempt
When GB sinks beneath the waves you can blame the Tory party for ‘going with the narrative’, that ‘narrative’ being the narrative asserted by Labour, the unions and the fascist left
April 21, 2022
No mention of those things because they are entirely in your imagination and not reality.
April 21, 2022
It might be a good idea to keep track of where the money goes.
I read that vast sums were ālostā during the plague and imprisonment era.
April 21, 2022
Ā£18 million for āCovid Passportsā.
What??
I thought all that was finished.
April 21, 2022
Oh ā¦.let them have a bonfire and burn all the money.
Chuck all the books on too. Thatād be about right!
Iāve stopped caring.
Or did I see a glimmer of sense? A government renewal of interest in growing food.
Just watch them screw that up with their heavy handed lunacy.
Not liblabconkip but one great commie blob.
April 21, 2022
I can understand disaster relief, but to be honest, I don’t understand why we give foreign aid to wealthy countries. Is it a bribe to curry favour? Is it a case of you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours, which would be a very dodgy reason as the ‘scratching’ is never equal and somebody takes advantage. Is it to prevent hostile actions against the UK? In the news today we are told we give Ā£12m to India and Pakistan for condoms! Whatever for? Assuming this is true, but it is believable knowing how much foreign aid is simply thrown away on stupid projects instead of providing vital services in the UK.
Does the UK receive any foreign aid? This may sound crazy, but we give plenty to China, don’t we?
When will UK citizens get a look in? We keep getting told the country needs more tax from the hard pressed taxpayer. What for? To give to other countries and to support all their economic migrants in UK hotels?
April 21, 2022
+1
We are seen ( how convenient) as wicked industrialists, slavers and empire builders.
It is now our turn to pay our debts ( or so the story goes) to those we have harmed.
Not to mention the fact that our clever leaders have got us into debt and goodness knows what else.
So we have to do as we are told!
Blackmail.
April 21, 2022
Johnson in India, reports he will actively allow more immigration for a trade deal! Another way to cut immigration-not. Anyone voting for this lying socialist outfit needs their head examined.
April 21, 2022
Should not today’s post be titled
Controlling Public Waste?
Agree with your post but until those in management positions want to address the wasteful practices there will be no controlling of spending.
The management and staff have got to want to do it and take ownership of the problem. Until they recognise the problems nothing will get down the empire building will continue.
Ministers have also be accountable for all the grandiose projects that are too expensive and over budget.
Responsibility and accountability has to become the order for the day. It is our money they are wasting.
April 21, 2022
We need rid of the spendthrift!
Wether by the MPs driving him out or by the people voting their party out, it must be done.
We need to rescue or beautiful country from the global trash. We must win!
April 21, 2022
I agree with all of this and an important starting point is bringing the Civil Service under control.It is overmighty at the moment and far too convinced that IT makes policy not the elected government . I hope JRM’s policies will make a difference?
This government has been far too slow to make changes. We have yet to see substantial Brexit dividend because of ministerial lethargy and Civil Service resisitance: several golden opportunities have been missed by Sunak ,the most egregious being the VAT and Green taxes on energy bills
The government is ever-so slowly coming to realise the sense of opening up North Sea oil & gas; fracking and coal mining in Cumbria . It allows minority pressure groups and Mrs Johnson too much influence on policy
The NHS is a nightmare in need of radical reform
April 21, 2022
Not just the civil service, also the FCA, FOS, NHS, MOD, et blommin cetera
April 21, 2022
That made me laugh. Why? Your government has made no effort in the last 12 years.
Migrants that lived in tents in appalling conditions in Calais for years while trying to get on a lorry or train must be kicking themselves. All they had to do was buy a rubber dinghy and pootle over on a fine day – and luxury accommodation awaited them!
April 21, 2022
The government does indeed deserve plaudits for steering a course through the pandemic. But there is much to be done now the easy bit of printing money has allowed a splurge of cash. Now it’s payback time and the only people with the resources to fund that are Joe Public. So help us here.
April 21, 2022
This one is really whistling in the wind. They’ve spent money like water, on a scale which Corbyn could only dream about. They’ve raised taxes similarly. Why stop now?
April 21, 2022
One of the first ways to control public spending is to get it ingrained into the public psyche that public sector spending is a series of incremental costs which together add up to a lot of money. Therefore the phrase “it’s just” should be excluded from public discourse as many “it’s just”s add up to the whole that we are spending at present. Each spending decision needs to be viewed as essential or inessential and cut accordingly.
April 21, 2022
Public sector pensions and severance pay need to become inline with the private sector – this a long term saving rather than short term but MPs’ severance does not need to be Ā£60K after serving for one term. Public sector pensions should “ALL” become defined contribution rather than defined benefit. This is not just a saving but fair, as private sector pensions are now subject to life contribution limits whereas public sector pensions as defined benefits are not.
Police, army and firefighters retiring after 20 years on full pay is also unfair.
April 21, 2022
Wish I had some of that gravy….I must be on the wrong train
April 21, 2022
+ loads Narrow Shoulders
April 21, 2022
Renewed interest. Why isnāt it focussed on aggressively all the time? I guess worrying about your seat concentrates the mind and suddenly the voter becomes important.
April 21, 2022
HS2 procurement required bidders to fulfil diversity requirements, this precludes smaller, more nimble business from bidding. It also increases the staff costs for HS2 as overpaid, diversity professionals are employed and add in additional red tape and “bias” training. The best person for the job is more important than employing a range of sexualities, colours and fancy pronouns. Robust performance management processes drive efficiencies and make sure that the person on the role is competent and provides metrics which can be applied to the application process to make sure the best candidate is employed.
Public sector procurement processes need to become more SME friendly so that large firm (consultancy) monopoly does not drive up day rates.
April 21, 2022
Robust performance management practices also weeds out those working from home who are not “more productive”.
Nothing wrong with WFH a few days a week (and meeting up with colleagues in the workplace on other days) if you are the type of person who gets things done. I would speculate that wild policy interventions made up on the hoof in front rooms may be less productive than those developed in a room full of people and challenge.
April 21, 2022
Oh I am helping a large state department at the moment, we have 3 hour meetings weekly telling us how important diversity is, how all roles should be 50 percent female (even if females don’t want to do them), and other clear nonsense. 30 people in every single meeting with if you are lucky one or two qualified to discuss the subject. delivery is pants, and they keep restructuring to hide any accountability.
The senior leadership team all have PPE degrees, and seem to know each other from the small section of society they mix in. White working class accents actively discriminated against. really nobody could write fiction like this.
April 21, 2022
And in other news I see Johnson is pulling another one of his evading responsibility stunts to force his MPs to pushback the Commons standards vote and of course they will comply.
Doesnāt matter, I and many of my contemporaries are certain he āmisledā.
April 21, 2022
Public sector expenditure needs to become dependant on doing, not being.
Too much funding is grant based rather than activity or project based, the NHS being a case in point.
Public sector funding should be driven by invoiced activity with each intervention carrying a charge to the taxpayer. Charging by activity will focus minds on delivery rather than empire building (and wild policy interventions).
April 21, 2022
In short, nudge/elbow the remainers out of the way of keeping us EU aligned; and do the right thing for the benefit of the United Kingdom. I watched Dan Wootten and his Nadine Dorrisā interview last night. It was good to hear such a frank exchange. This message needs to be said more often so the word spreads.
Not sure about Matt Hancock. His interview with Dan Wooten went rather differently.
So JR, I agree with your views.
April 21, 2022
“There is renewed interest amongst Conservative MPs in value for money and controlling public spending.”
It’s the way you tell ’em, Sir John. š
Hint: Watch what they do, not what they say.
Are they scrapping HS2? No.
Are they scrapping any Quangos? No.
Have they cut the size of Government by cutting the House of Frauds; scrapping City-Region Mayors none of us wanted, and the Police and Crime Commissioners none of us wanted? No.
Have they made any Civil Servants redundant? No.
They have done nothing whatsoever to control public spending. As a result we have the highest taxes since WW2. This is just pre local-election propaganda.
April 21, 2022
Renewed interest after billions given to world health service and useless councils while hiking taxes against a manifesto pledge. You have to ask is JR taking the mickey?
April 21, 2022
All of the Government Departments that you list are all asking for more money, what incentive or controls has the Government unveiled to encourage them to reduce costs ?
With regards to commercial freight on trains, that will surely require big marshalling yards to be added in strategic places, throughout the Country, for loading/unloading goods for more local delivery by lorry.
Such areas used to exist, but many have now been built over, or redeveloped for other uses.
I would suggest such areas can only be created in out of town areas by virtue of the space required, or somehow within/close to existing ports.
April 21, 2022
Maybe if they had done their job in the past we wouldnāt be paying these egregious amounts of tax.
April 21, 2022
The railway cannot recover the revenues it has lost. It was being geared up for exponential commuter growth. The stock bought and leased for it was all designed to carry commuters on hard seats at high speed through London commuting corridors. Billions were invested in new fleets, training and connecting hubs with concourses with shopping arcades on them.
The debts and costs are still there whether we use the railways or not. The British taxpayer will be paying for train tickets even if she never sees a train in her life.
It is silly to imagine that these unimaginable Covid losses can be made up by re-imagining the railways and flogging off cheap tickets to Lego Land.
Those WFH must realise that they cannot expect to be able to hop on a train once or twice a week for work or to a race day or a theatre if that train has lost its core business. The railways cannot survive in anything like their present form and are but one of the casualties of the lockdown policies that some of us tried to tell you were an existential threat to our civilisation and infrastructure.
The railways can only be pared back dramatically to save money, there is no recovering from this. Hitachi units can’t suddenly be re-purposed and turned into freight wagons.
It is time that taxes were properly levelled against those lucky enough to be able to WFH to subsidise those who are not (and I’m not talking about railway workers here.)
Smug @Home seems unaware of the costs his new found benefit is inflicting on society.
April 21, 2022
I mentioned hard seats because the trains were not bought for long distance leisure travellers. They were intended as a resource targeted directly at commercial business in the City. That has all gone now.
April 21, 2022
‘The government should urgently review overseas aid to eliminate payments to countries supporting Russia and countries with space,nuclear weapons or other large armaments programmes.’ There will soon be calls that we contribute to the reconstruction of Ukraine. The vast bulk of that job needs to fall to the EU, which wanted the country to join. Our effort must be from within the limits of the existing foreign aid budget – and that means cuts to some budget lines within it. Pakistan is the obvious candidate.
April 21, 2022
āThe vast bulk of that job needs to fall to the EUā
Particularly those that continue to purchase Russian Gas
April 22, 2022
The UK purchases Russian oil and gas, particularly diesel.
April 21, 2022
Conservative MPs would do better to take an interest in the quality of government, recognizing it is typically staffed by no-hopers who could not deliver value for money and control public expenditure if their majorities depended upon those. Still, it is encouraging they have partly woken up and the forthcoming Sunak Slump may even make them alert.
April 21, 2022
Maybe if GPs pay was similar to dentists and dependent on patients seen, rather than the number of people covered by the practice it might restore some value.
April 21, 2022
I understand the Home Office is going to stop putting up illegals in 4* hotels , instead it is going to house them , which means the Home Office will be in a bidding war with local councils for the limited housing stock that we need for our own people.
I realise our political class are big on virtue signalling and pretty rubbish on practicalities , but at some point even our air head politicians must realise our small island cannot sustain the population they want to cram into it, or is that asking too much of our politicians ?
April 21, 2022
Perhaps the question we need to ask is what do politicians gain from cramming the country with immigrants because clearly someone benefits, or it would have ended by now.
April 21, 2022
+1 JH – the fact that failed asylum seekers are allowed to stay in the UK, and ‘uninvited dinghy guests’ are treated so favourably, tells us the government has no intention of reducing immigration.
April 21, 2022
The government benefits. It is the ONLY way they can get GDP up. Import a load of young people who will work and pay tax without putting a proportional demand on public services and part that you can grow the economy faster than government spending. Theyāve been trying it since the 1950s and have still not grasped that it does not work and causes massive social and economic issues.
April 22, 2022
and all signed up to Non-Doms status?
April 21, 2022
Apparently Johnson has said that ‘we’ need hundreds of thousands of extra immigrants as part of ‘our’ economy. He thinks he is running a factory. Meanwhile we are warned of food shortages and told that there may be insufficient energy for the existing population to heat their homes.
April 22, 2022
Why then have they commendeared the Maidenhead Holiday Inn until 2023 as reported by GBN? And, why have they made such a hostile environment for private landlords many of which are selling up as they can no longer afford the risk of being in this business. Who in their right mind would rent their house to an asylum seeker when they cannot evict them if their claim is turned down.
Rwanda will never happen. This was just a ploy to gain votes for the local elections.
April 21, 2022
And at the same time stop
April 21, 2022
Off topic, here is this morning’s latest dose of anti-Brexit propaganda over the Irish border:
https://www.independent.ie/life/travel/travel-news/warnings-sounded-about-tourism-impact-of-northern-irish-border-crossing-permit-plans-41571007.html
“Warnings sounded about tourism impact of Northern Irish border crossing permit plans”
After several hundred words enlarging on the severe problems this could create, with the pro-EU chairman of the Northern Ireland select committee chipping in with his own anti-Brexit contribution, there is a little bit at the end where an immigration minister tries to lay most of the fears to rest.
If this government really believed in Brexit it would not allow anti-Brexit propaganda to go unchallenged.
April 21, 2022
You say āThere is renewed interest amongst Conservative MPs in value for money and controlling public spending.ā
Really not in government clearly? So have they cancelled HS2, the soft loans for the 75% degrees funded that are largely worthless, cancelled net zero, allowed fracking, drilling and mining, allowed fair competition in healthcare, education, transport and energy, fired about 70% of the civil service that do nothing useful, cancelled grant and market rigging for EVs, cancelled the subsidies for the deluded Hydrogen and renewables agendaā¦ Until I see this I will not remotely be convinced.
A government that persists with for example the absurd basket case HS2 is either moronic, acting purely for vested interests or actually fully corrupt.
April 21, 2022
Are not acting for vested interests corrupt not the same thing? Acting for vested interests is unlikely to be in the public interest. In fact when you come to think of it what does this government ever do that is in the public interest?
April 21, 2022
Am I to understand that the Prime ministers ‘apology’ for breaking the regulations he imposed, is enough?
Other people who broke the regulations were defenestrated, had their businesses destroyed and were subject to punitive fines. Redwood! It’s not enough that Johnson gets away with this lie of an apology.
His pretext for not resigning is that he’s busy fomenting war in Ukraine? – a country we have no bilateral defence agreement with, nor is it in NATO.
Wasn’t it Johnson’s namesake, Samuel who said, ‘Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel’ ?
Well boy have we a scoundrel ( in the worst sense of the word ) as a Prime minister.
April 21, 2022
Controlling public spending with this government in one word ”HS2”
April 21, 2022
Can you do one on Controlling Immigration?
April 21, 2022
Allister Heath today in the Telegraph:- Boris Johnson is condemning Britain to French-style declinism and despair. The PM and Emmanuel Macron have much in common, as increasingly do our two countries.
April 21, 2022
The first part of controlling public spending is for our elected Parliament to assert its authority over the fifth column Marxists in the civil service and other public bodies and cut their numbers.
Since there appears to be a mutiny taking place at the Home Office over the Rwanda plans perhaps JRM can start his slimming down at this department.
The civil serviceās twin policies of the uncontrolled immigration of economic, but not cultural, migrants and Net Zero will destroy our economy, our social cohesion and then finally our security.
April 21, 2022
I doubt the mutiny will last long. As soon as they discover they can occupy themselves with making those people’s lives a misery, they will set about the task with relish.
April 21, 2022
Thank you for publishing the “functional finance” link in my comment yesterday. Please could I recommend reading the next four (32 – 35) in that series. You can get to them via the Primer at the top of the page. Together, they sum up sovereign currency accounting in the time of the pandemic. We have witnessed governments expanding the deficit to make government spending replace the forced decline in private sector spending.
April 22, 2022
acorn
It was truly a great read but, I did find their reliance of trusting governments to play by the rules and not to debase the currency (Zimbabwe style) hapeful at best. They dod not take into account political realities and basic human greed. ie If the government pays for everything and cannot run out of money thenjust vote in whoever is prepared to turbocharge the money printing presses. It is a flaw we are seeing over and over.
April 21, 2022
āI was able to see the bus coming for Mrs.May. I was actually helping to drive it.ā
Nice one Sir John.
āItās better to rise without traceā was also good advice for would be leaders not wishing to alienate potential supporters.
April 21, 2022
As a Conservative voter, the only thing concerning me right now is that our country builds Star-Wars-like Lasers to shoot down enemy, hypersonic missiles.
Lasers like Israel has built to shoot down drones and more ordinary missiles.
I think it’s possible – and we have to try.
If we manage to deal with Pootin (please God), then we still have to consider China, Iran, North Korea, Terrorist-back states, and other new powerful nations who can use hypersonic missiles as power leverage in the world in general as Pootin is trying to do at the moment.
Bit task. Will cost a lot. But the cost can be used to help stimulate the economy as well. In other words, we have to develop it ourselves and / or with the help of others in our geo-political era.
The EU is like a quaint zephyr compared to the deadly winds that Pootin and others can send our way (God forbid).
April 21, 2022
Youāre a Conservative voter?!
For pityās sake, WHY?
April 21, 2022
Defence is one the key values of Conservatism.
And so it’s absolutely 100% Conservative to focus on developing defence against hypersonic missiles.
Which Boris already agreed to, I see, back on 6th April, along with USA and Australia.
April 22, 2022
Also, there’s a battle going on in the Tory Party about what Tory means. Various Tories with different ideas what it means. I support the Edmund Burke view of Conservatism as opposed to the Steve Bannon, say, idea of Conservatism even though he’s a Republican (I support a lot of what he says but a lot of what he says and his style is bonkers. Same for Trump).
April 22, 2022
Bannon, like his hero Putin, wants single-party rule across the West.
Wake up.
April 22, 2022
Putin really only cares about hanging onto power.
Bannon doesn’t have any power, and so just bangs on about the ideology of power instead.
April 22, 2022
I’d love to know what they teach at Oxford in PPE?
I’m beginning to think that university, for most people who are looking to be leaders, is a bit of a waste of time.
I think most people, including Oxford types, would benefit much more from shorter time at at university, and something more practical, like leaning basics about how to think logically, leadership (just study a few of the greats like Cyrus the Great), how to read a poem and write properly, coding / digital marketing, learn a language (abroad in a foreign university for a term or two). Followed by 6 months to a year Military National Service. Travel. And then get stuck into a job.
Where are the leaders today in politics?
April 22, 2022
Lastly, I vehemently opposed War in Afghanistan and Iraq. NOT because I am a passivist but for geo-political and financial reasons. Geo-politics because it would create more insecurity than security for us. And would cost billions. Something like Ā£30 Billion.
When that Ā£30 Billion could have been spent on creating the Star Wars Defence Systems against hypersonic missiles under the control of tyrants living in Russia or China or Iran or North Korea and so on.
Vast majority of Conservative MPs supported Blair’s wars in these parts. I was the TRUE Conservative here. NOT the majority of Conservative MPs here.
So if you’re going to suggest I’m not a true Tory then please provide me with an argument why (and that’s the true Tory way too: back up what you say with an argument. Thank you).
April 23, 2022
Apologies, i misunderstood your question … Best
April 21, 2022
And at the same time stop wasting parliamentary time on investigations generated by 20:20 hindsight such as the quarantine hotels and debating whether or not the PM goes in front of the Standards committee. None of these side issues are of any help to sorting out our energy and inflation/cost of living problems.
A lot of the blame for the mess we are in can be laid at the door of the Westminster Remainers. For 3 years from 2016 parliament took its eye off its main task of running the country trying to tell us we voted incorrectly and now we have a dual energy crisis from lack off security and complete exposure to to world prices.
We have successfully come through the worst of the pandemic, thanks to the PM and his team, and now the opposition parties are wasting time and our money trying to to delay Brexit benefits and advantages and discredit the PM. The first part of PMQs yesterday was no more than a ridiculous charade and a classic example of how these ardent remainers are trying to destroy this country.
Under PM May we wasted 3 years and Covid has added 2 more, now we need to put the Civil Service back in its box and get them working properly and continue to increase our influence as a leading nation in the world
Reply Labour applied to the Speaker for an emergency debate. The government had tabled other business for today.
April 21, 2022
Just to pick up on, plus comment on a few points raised in this article.
I have seen no evidence whatsoever that this Government is committed to providing ‘value for money’ and controlling public spending. We would love that to happen, but this Government continues to waste billions of our money.
The NHS needs reform, not more of our money chucked at it. It is utterly pointless giving more money to the NHS on its current setup. Management needs to be slashed. More front line staff required and ensuring those who aren’t entitled to NHS services, do not gain access to it. The NHS is not a free service, it is paid for by us.
It is an utter disgrace that Ā£5 million a day is be splurged on providing hotel accommodation for largely people whom shouldn’t be here in the first place. I’ve read comments today that more hotels are being booked for Government contracts. Indicating that Priti Patel’s policy won’t be making great strides anytime soon. This country cannot keep letting in unlimited numbers for ever more.
When will this Government grasp that the railways are not profit making but an essential service for many? Rail will always require Government subsidy. By penalising the fare payer with sharp increases every year, plus rip off fares – really doesn’t help the railways at all. Other countries seem to understand the importance of public transport and subsidise accordingly to make it affordable. Only in the UK there is this mentality of public transport subsidy should be as near to nil as possible. The arguments about ‘not fair on not rail users subsiding the service’ doesn’t stand up. There are many things I don’t think it is fair that I should be subsiding in this country but am forced to – including the Ā£5 million a day mentioned previously.
The easiest way of slimming the civil service is to get rid of those that don’t carry out Government orders. Today we have news articles about a proposed strike by Home Office workers over Priti’s migrant policy. If they can’t carry out what they are asked to do, then sack them for disobeying orders. There are plenty out there that would be happy to work in the civil service and do what is asked of them.
April 21, 2022
Controlling Public Spending is a strange phrase in that it is not the Public who are doing the spending, but it is their hard earned money that is being spent. It is a subject on which the Public have little say. It is GOVERNMENT spending by Civil Servants and Politicians, criticised but uncontrolled.
If Jacob Rees Mogg sincerly wishes to cut the civil service down to size he could start at the Home Office, many members of which are rebelling at the thought of implimenting government policy on how illegal immigrants will be dealt with in future. The fundamental question is who governs, the servants or the democratically elected government. PP should call her chief servant into her office, put that question to him and enquire what he intends to do about it. Just as Rwanda will message the illegals so will a few sackings message the civil service, and it is long overdue.
April 21, 2022
We need to be CUTTING Socialist State spending NOT ‘Controlling public spending. No wonder the Tory agenda is to manage rather than confront the cancer and then cut it out.
Thatcher chose confrontation as the only way to defeat the extremist left. The new Tory party appease them by giving them what they want and then in a most subtle and deceitful manner denigrate their own voters and the moral majority by acting against their voice, their identity and their dignity
April 21, 2022
Like all good socialists the Tories have run out of other people’s money.
April 22, 2022
The note left behind – instead of ‘ we spent it all’ it will state ‘ we gave it all away’.
April 21, 2022
Sir John I am genuinely disappointed with your diary entry this morning.
The Government did nothing to combat the virus! Instead they abandoned a perfectly good pandemic plan to replace it with the ultimate in ignorance and stupidity. Lock downs that failed, school closures, business closures, masks (symbols of state control) that made no difference, closed private health care and turned the NHS into a Covid HS. Then there was the campaign to terrorise the people (don’t kill granny) then the daily ‘get your jab’, and I am old enough to recognise sales patter. The tax payer has poured hundreds of billions of Ā£’s into the coffers of pharma. For what? Experimental gene therapy that quite patently failed and has and still is causing immense harm as well as over 2000 deaths (yellow card reports).
There is no need on this site to explain the damage done to the economy.
Meanwhile it was all done for our own good, for our protection. The Marxist mantra.
April 21, 2022
+1, BOF, well summed up.
All of that – and not a birthday cake – is what Johnson should be apologising for.
Personally, I could still just about let him off : he’s been in bad company and he’s been listening to the wrong people!
But he needs to stop listening to them and start doing the right thing PDQ.
April 21, 2022
BOF
Sounds like you have not lost anyone to Covid, or have anyone who is/are suffering from long Covid symptoms.
For some (maybe even the majority) it may be just like a cold, but for others it has proven to be an absolute nightmare.
Yes it certainly is up to each and individual to do the best to look after themselves, but unfortunately we have a few idiots who are not bothered about anyone else, or for taking minimal sensible precautions against the possibility of infecting others.
April 21, 2022
Alan, please understand that other people’s rights don’t end where your fear begins.
April 22, 2022
Hat man
Not fearful, just simply making a comment that the virus does exist, does cause harm to some people, is not some sort of a made up conspiracy by Government.
I agree fully that I think the Government went too far with some controls, and that people have a responsibility to look after themselves as best they can, but sometimes some people need help because of the vulnerable position that they find themselves in.
Likewise when looking after ourselves we should try not to do that at the expense of others.
Unfortunately we seem to have far too many people who complain about everything, but offer little by the way of a sensible solution !.
April 23, 2022
Agreed, Hat Man.
A few obsessives’ fear of wearing masks, for instance, should not impede the right of government to impose simple, good sense, emergency public health measures to protect millions of people’s Right To Life and general amenity of it.
April 21, 2022
Apparently a cording to official government figures more people have died with Covid that have been boosted than those who’ve not been boosted. Food for thought.
April 22, 2022
Yes, because almost all the elderly and vulnerable – millions – have been boosted.
That is the group most likely to die of any cause.
Think.
April 21, 2022
A J
I went to ICU three times!
Read up how well Sweden has done.
April 22, 2022
BOF
So not a conspiracy theory then, the virus does actually exist and does some harm to some people !.
April 22, 2022
BOF
It was a Chinese virus and, yes we had a good plan but, instead we went for the WHO prescibed one. A WHO that is very well funded by the Chinese government, who were themselves very much in favour of lockdowns.
April 23, 2022
As of 31/03/2022,
53,087,704 first doses,
49,661,362 second doses,
39,125,015 boosters,
ie, a total of 141,874,081 Covid vaccine injections in the UK.
According to BOF, the yellow cards show 2,000 deaths from the vaccines, thatās a 0.00141 % death rate. Does that require such an apocalyptic comment?
As for Sweden vs. UK, per million
deathā¦.1,827 ā¦ā¦.2,530
casesā¦320,058ā¦244,634
It is indeed (a bit better) than the UK but the death rate is rather worse in Sweden than in other Nordic countries, with similar population densities, particularly Norway and Finland.
ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦..DKā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦Finlandā¦ā¦.Norway
death..1,040ā¦ā¦ā¦.655ā¦ā¦ā¦..ā¦..522.
cases.507,436ā¦.180,063ā¦ā¦.258,878
(worldometers.info, 22/04/2022)
It is usually better to look at figures before than after writing comments.
And, Mark, anybody who took the time to read books on the pandemic (like āFailures of Stateā by J.Calvert & G.Arbuthnott, 2021, Mudlark, HarperCollins) would know that the UK did not have a good plan (nao.org.uk, 19/11/2021 āThe Governmentās preparedness for the Covid-19 pandemic: Lessons for Government on risk managementā, 61 pp) and that the Government just prevaricated, then could not decide where the priorities should be and made a mess of the whole thing, and this repeatedly.
Other countries were as bad as the UK, no doubt. But saying āwe had a good planā is absolute fantasy.
April 21, 2022
An excellent blog by Matt Ridley – ” THE HAIR SHIRT ECO-ELITE DONāT WANT PAIN-FREE FUSION POWER
The green zealots are far more interested in lecturing others than improving lives and the planet through technology.
Fusion energy is coming. Last weekās announcement of a significant energy yield from the Joint European Torus in Oxfordshire is just a milestone on the path but all the signs are that thereās probably going to be reliable fusion power on tap some time in the next decade thanks to breakthroughs in superconductivity.”
Indeed – or at least the Eco Loons do not want fusion power unless it is located on the sun and then rendered unreliable and vastly expensive by collecting it as wind, hydro, wave and solar energy. Strangely this fusion energy then gets renamed as “renewable energy”. GCSE and A level physics are now infected with lies & politics rather than real physics and logic. BBC bytesize has all sorts of pseudo scientific drivel on this topic.
April 21, 2022
Is it a fact though? Or is it like the end of oil, always 30 years away as has been the case for the last 40 years. Hope you are right, but you know how technology etc. gets bought out by some interests and buried. Climate change is so big a money spinner now, I can see anything opposing it will get killed off.
April 23, 2022
Well, almost four months late after the actual breakthrough in Culham (21/12/2021 reported in Nature 09/02/2022) and after Matt Ridleyās 12/02/2022 posting.
G46, if you read Mattās posting, you might see Matt talks about 2050 or 2070, he is more cautious than Good Old LL who talks of āreliable fusion power on tap some time in the next decadeā.
Ridley is more likely to be on the ball.
namrc.co.uk āFusion steps forwardā, N.37, Q4, 2019, 20 pp. Watch these intrepid builders (some in suit and tie) with their shovels.
gov.uk, 03/10/2019 , updated 20/10/2021 āUK to take a big STEP to fusion electricityā: Ā£220 m.
neimagazine.com āUK takes the next STEP on fusionā, 18/11/2020 announces a āfull concept design in March 2024, and says āthe goalā is āto deliver a prototype fusion power plant by 2040ā. Expected to provide sustained 100 MW.
The international ITER project is scheduled to produce 500MW in a sustained (but still experimental) way from 2025 (or 2035, the different sites give different timescales).
The EU- and Japan-supported EUROfusion DEMO project for 2GW is not expected before 2051.
April 21, 2022
All sensible, but will it happen?
It would be interesting to hear how your new role is going and how much effect it’s having on these issues.
April 21, 2022
Also, we got to deal with this nutter Pootin as soon as possible. With the chaos he could cause, he could cost our economy billions and billions (as well as who knows how many lives he could destroy in his desperate plans to cling on to power at any cost).
It’s essential that we squeeze his war in every way possible. The most obvious is hydrocarbons. It could cost each person and our economy a bit more in the short-term (a few months) but with big medium to long-term gains for our economy. So for the next month or two or three, we got to:
1) Use less hydrocarbons
2) Try and persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil
3) Find other fuel sources for now
4) Accept there will be a hit to our economy in the short-term but saving in the medium to short-term i.e. 6 months down the line and longer).
Our economy will never be stable and confident if it relies on Pootin and his hydrocarbons and the unpredictable and dangerous nature.
April 21, 2022
Problem is, it is not us taking much Russian gas. The big users are Germany, thanks to the genius Merkel. Germany is not interested in cutting its use or supplying anything against the Russians to Ukraine. Not surprising when Merkel came from similar stock and it is only a human lifetime since Germany was doing its own war crimes, so I guess sympathy for Russia is not a shock.
April 21, 2022
I agree. But what I suggest isn’t such a big deal considering the benefits to our economy medium to long-term. Dictators such as Pootin are a serious threat to our medium to long-term economy.
If we can squeeze his economy a bit more the next month or so or three, then good. Worth trying for sure.
April 21, 2022
Don’t forget, private enterprise is always willing to take a hit in the short-term for medium to long-term strategic gain. Similar with this scenario of squeezing Pootin’s economy as much as possible over the next one to three months. We’re more likely to benefit a lot more in terms of economic stability and security in the medium to long-term.
April 22, 2022
The recent fires at the defence building and chemical plants in Russia might be of interest, and also those at ammunition magazines in recent times.
April 21, 2022
Translation services on every form and for NHS services must cost millions. English is the easiest language to learn. Free translation is not offered in other .countries
April 21, 2022
i actually agree. I think that it is bad manners even to visit a country without learning enough of its language at least to be polite, let alone move to live there.
However, many British do exactly that.
April 21, 2022
As many who go to live in English speaking countries do too.
April 21, 2022
NLH – so what if Brits donāt learn the foreign language? The point Stred is making is that other Countries donāt pander to Brits that canāt be bothered to learn their language, they donāt translate all their forms for FREE they donāt make things easy you have to pay for your own interpreter and its time we reciprocated because people who move to Britain should be more polite and get with the language program.
April 22, 2022
If you notice, I agreed with Stred.
April 22, 2022
How is your Welsh coming along Martin? Bore da.
April 21, 2022
It is interesting that your piece only refers to saving money for the Treasury. Most people are concerned right now about how to pay extortionate fuel bills, keeping warm in winter and feeding their families. Are you going to lobby to get the green subsidies (a tax on the poor to featherbed the rich land owners, wind farm owners etc.) taken out? Together with VAT this represents almost a third of energy bills. Then there is the excessive profits being made by the oil companies which are totally windfall and which the Tories show no signs of wanting to control and would rather hit the public so their friends can continue to make their rip offs charges. I realise that your incompetent government and the one before signed long term contracts to pay these to the rich at the expense of the poor, so I suggest they be taken into general taxation which is less regressive, and therefore might be of more interest to the Treasury in trying to reduce them. As it is nothing is being done other than a paltry refund of council tax (which may not arrive until autumn) and a loan which no-one will be able to pay back after the next lot of price increases.
April 21, 2022
I take that as a ‘No’ to stopping the green subsidies from people’s bills then. Never mind, Nigel Farage is going to start a campaign for it. Maybe the Tories will take fright again.
April 22, 2022
Graham
I too have just had my gas and electric bill in. I looked at the total VAT charged per month and calculated that, if this amount was the same for the whole twelve months the sum of which could pay for a whole months supply. So without VAT on my bill I would in effect be paying for eleven months not twelve. Now that along with other savings here and there really does add up.
The government is taking more in tax and can afford to lose this amount.
April 21, 2022
Controlling Public Spending.
Boris is abroad again. Stand by for a few more hundreds of millions to be sent away.
April 21, 2022
And another million+ immigrants.
April 22, 2022
Yep !
Scorched earth š
April 21, 2022
Graham
Yep, happens every time our Prime Ministers visit anyone, has happened with them all for the last few decades.
Just remember it is not their money, so it costs them nothing !
April 21, 2022
The government should recover the billions of forlough fraud before leaning on the general public to pay for the debt.
This is more important than chasing up a few hundred pounds of unpaid tax from tax payers. Those who were responsible for outsourcing contracts for NHS PPE which couldn’t be used should be brought to task .
April 21, 2022
The government ministers need to learn to say NO more frequently than they have been doing.
April 21, 2022
Children’s Tsar calls for ban on smacking I see – lets save some money by firing her. Has she ever had her own children I wonder? If this become law we will have endless more government officials and courts doing positive harm to families also children threatening parents with reporting & legal action. It will also be dragged into deforce proceeding and child custody battles. The police cannot even stop endless grooming and rape of children in care – Zahawi is right to say no but better to fire her and same the money.
Deaths and accidents (caused by young children doing dangerous things like crossing dangerous roads, playing with matches… are likely to result without such chastisements too.
April 21, 2022
The main topic.
BBC news website.
The government will attempt to delay a decision over an investigation into whether Boris Johnson misled MPs about lockdown parties. MPs were set to vote on Thursday on a Labour plan for a Commons committee to investigate his past comments about Whitehall gatherings.
But ministers now say that vote should wait until probes by the Met Police and civil servant Sue Gray have finished. The PM said MPs should have the “full facts” before ordering an inquiry.
(Sue Gray — anyone remember her? – it seems so looonnng ago).
Mr Johnson will miss the vote himself as he is in India for an official visit.
Speaking during his trip, he said he was “very keen for every possible form of scrutiny”, but he wanted to focus on the “amazing opportunities” developing between the UK and India
Earlier, Mr Johnson had told reporters he would fight the next general election and would not say if there were any circumstances under which he would resign.
April 22, 2022
Yes, those amazing oppotunities will come at a price. Modi wants unlimited immigration into the UK and Alexander Johnson MP is the man that will deliver. Mark my words.
April 21, 2022
Isn’t it high time that the Chancellor scraps the unfair marginal rate of tax relief on pension contributions for higher rate tax payers and instead introduce a flat rate of tax relief at the current standard rate of 20%. Currently higher rate tax payers receive tax relief at their highest marginal rate of tax ( 40% – 55% ) whereas standard rate tax payers only receive tax relief at 20% on pension contributions. I understand that 75% of all tax relief given on pension contributions is received by higher rate tax payers. Absurdly unfair. By adopting this suggestion a saving of anywhere between Ā£10bn to Ā£30bn annually is available for the Govt to make and they will have put in place a fairer system as well.
April 21, 2022
Colin, good luck with your very common sense proposal.
April 21, 2022
The Nightingale hospitals deserve special mention. So little used as to be pointless. I expect OURNHS demanded them. A huge waste of money and resources and they coped anyway. All your excellent questions brushed aside with non answers and flannel.
The whole Overseas Aid budget needs scrapping and aid directed as and when needed. Unbelievable that anyone ever thought a fixed percentage of gdp was the right way to go.
The whole civil service needs shock treatment and a drastic cut in size. It could be cut by a third, and that would not be enough. Sadly it will not happen, not with a full complement of socialists in Parliament.
April 21, 2022
I am pretty grateful for a fixed percentage of GDP while Boris is in charge. I would fear him spending even more, so eager is he to please other countries! I would like to see it down to zero, and restricted to disaster relief only.
April 21, 2022
So what is Johnson offering in return for a trade deal with India?
Unlimited immigration? Because we are short of IT specialists apparently.
April 21, 2022
Rwanda, the Channel, Partygate, Ukraine.
All distractions from the real agenda.
Immigration by the hundreds of thousands!
We will all freeze and starve together then!
April 21, 2022
All the filthy stinking LIES!!
āTake back controlā
My ****
April 21, 2022
If the French have refused to accept the return of their immigrants shouldnāt we impose trade sanctions or ban them from our fishing territory
April 21, 2022
+many
Of course we should!
But with our congenitally weak kneed govt ( except towards the tax payer) itās all nice little fishes on little dishes when les bateaux de pĆŖche come in. And they donāt even have to dance!
April 21, 2022
Have you not noticed how Kent becomes a lorry park at even the merest squabble with French fishers yet?
April 21, 2022
The French fight for France while the UK fight for Europe
April 22, 2022
yep the French most used word ‘Non!’
April 23, 2022
It might be to you, Mickey, yes…
April 21, 2022
Any spending project immediately creates a vested interest in its continuation, even though the need may long ago have disappeared.
To address this problem we should make many projects fixed term so they terminate automatically. For others an annual review to decide if project is still relevant would be the way to go.
April 22, 2022
The USA has the, NunnāMcCurdy Amendment. It relates to defence spending but could be used for other areas where large scale projects have the potential to spiral out of control. ie If a project goes over a certain percentage then it has to go back to Congress for scrutiny. If goes over and even higher percentage, the project is cancelled automatically.
April 21, 2022
It’s disappointing to see Boris Johnston claim a “shortage of IT workers” warrants concession to India on a free trade agreement. The IT industry has changed a lot of my 35 years in it. In the late 80’s US companies would invest in the U.K. as its workers were seen as relatively cheap. However by the late 90s far cheaper workers became available in India and China and whatever could be outsourced there was. This has left U.K. workers doing those jobs that absolutely must be located here to be close to the customer, I.e. in sales or support with all other activities including research & development off-shored. No U.K. company today is facing a shortage of U.K. workers because they already employ Indians and Chinese in their own countries at far reduced cost to fulfill those tasks. If Boris Johnson now concludes a trade deal with India that allows western companies to import staff into Britain it will have the effect of making British workers in the remaining customer-facing roles redundant.
South Reading is an area of high-employment for these sales and support roles and Wokingham is a popular place for them to live. Your constituents stand to either see their salaries cut or their jobs lost entirely by this wheeze, all in the name of a U.K./India trade deal which will have little affect as very few goods can be manufactured in the U.K. and profitably sold in India anyway.
April 22, 2022
It is a backdoor into more MASS IMMIGRATION and more houses being built to fund developers who are buying up land and making donation to, guess who ?
April 21, 2022
Listening to events this morning, I am disgusted at the failure of Conservative MPs to support their own Prime Minister against a blantant party political effort by the combined opposition parties to bring down Boris Johnson.
The fine he received was at best a dubious decision by the Metropolitan Police. All that happened was that he happened to be present when he was presented with a surprise birthday cake in the cabinet room which successive PMs have uses as their office and in which he was holding meetings throughout the day. In the case of the Chancellor, he was there for a meeting and just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I imagine any fair minded group of magistrates or a jury would have thrown the case out.
With the international situation as it is, the media, led by the BBC are completely out of step with reality and I can imagine that other countries are looking on in wonderment at what all the fuss is about.
enquiry
April 21, 2022
possibly into millions of people would love to have had a birthday cake given to them by family, colleagues but were banned. Again they would like to have socialised for just 10 minutes with work-mates but were banned, millions were not allowed to enter their workplace and had to find a way of sharing a home with working spouse, schoolchildren off with Covid testing etc. Funerals were limited to below 30, sometimes 20 and even 10. No visits to dying immediate family, waving at uncomprehending relatives one side of a glass window to another…..Chriss I just have to hope you will never be able to pass judgement on anybody about anything.
April 21, 2022
Furthermore, Chris S, why did the Director General of the Covid Task Force who wrote the rules, not advise the PM he should not go in the Cabinet Room? Why did the Director of Ethics and Propriety, the Deputy Cabinet Secretary, not warn the PM and the Chancellor about what might happen to them?
April 21, 2022
And if these two ladies thought it was all in order, why did Sue Gray pass it on to the police?
April 22, 2022
that name rings a bell – -confined to 15 hours (certainly exceeded more than minutes) of fame, never to be repeated?
April 21, 2022
According to the FT
“Live from the Johnson plane over Iran, PM says Britain needs “hundreds of thousands” of new workers – particularly in IT and programming. Hint of more visas for Indians ahead of his visit to Gujarat and Delhi”
and that my friends is why the Conservatives will not be getting my vote
April 21, 2022
+many
Utter two facedā¦.
āTake back controlāš¤¬
April 21, 2022
I wonder where these hundreds of thousands are to be housed. Do we have enough hotels for them all and if so, who will be paying for the hotels?
April 21, 2022
I know of some ancient farmland where they are building over 1000 houses.
Big ones, you know.
For the big families.
April 22, 2022
always big ones make big profits….yet those wishing to downsize end up with no alternative to staying put.
April 21, 2022
About 300 a day are dying of covid19.
So that makes room for around 100,000 a year on top of those dying of other things.
April 21, 2022
Itās taking over a year for probate to get sorted on the simplist of estates with wills so houses are tied up unable to be sold for months on end.
April 22, 2022
We’ve found it to be about three months in our family cases, but each is different.
April 22, 2022
ah! …the legal system ensures delays, justification for costs to escalate, the gravy train forever overflowing.
April 22, 2022
Thats interesting NLH 3 months was this in the past two years or prior to lockdown? Two people I know have probate held up on very simple estates worth less then Ā£180,000 including properties, clear uncontested wills. All processed by a probate solicitor.
April 22, 2022
Because, of course, there are no births in this country.
April 21, 2022
Does India need hundreds of thousands of social studies graduates in return?
Thought not.
April 22, 2022
+1
April 21, 2022
My own recent experience of public services is:
1. Staff refusing to do work
2. Phones not answered
3. Websites out of date or giving wrong information
4. Staff chatting from their sofa (to no useful end that I can work out).
We need more do-ers and less zoom talking heads
April 21, 2022
+1
Not public service I know but THREE carpet fitters have let me down in as many weeks!
Is it a supply problem or is the country still being paid not to work?
And on that subjectā¦ how about the energy bossesā idea of charging higher rates to richer people? ( ie working tax payers).
Democratising energy ā¦to stop inequality!
Basically so the hot tubs can keep humming!
April 21, 2022
Kenneth – I also wonder how data security is maintained when civil servants work from home.
April 21, 2022
I’m afraid our public services are a lost cause. Until our Government reverse the madcap Wokery that has embedded itself in these organisations waste will continue. My NHS trust has wasted money changing all their literature to say ‘pregnant people’ rather than ‘pregnant women’. It makes my blood boil that my taxes are being spent on this rubbish yet vital medical care is being delayed.
April 21, 2022
All these expensive ‘initiatives’ to comply with the woke agenda. NHS staff are no longer allowed to say vagina, or breast milk and have to use ‘front opening’ and ‘human milk’. What a palaver, and exactly how many pregnant trans people are there likely to be? So we upset and offend 99.99% of pregnant women, just to avoid offending the 0.01% of pregnant transgenders.
Beam me up Scotty. I no longer fit into this society, and no longer want to fit.
April 21, 2022
+1
Good grief.
Stranger in a strange land ā¦me tooā¦and nowhere to flee to.
Thanks a bundle politicians. You have your escape routes worked out? Mars?
Obviously this dystopian rubbish is what they and the govt want.
They always stop what they DONāT want!
April 21, 2022
Belay that order Scotty.
I do not fit either but we should not vacate and leave these weirdos to run things.
We are a democracy and I am sure we can deal with a minority that caters for a smaller minority.
I hope Nigel Farage (or someone like-minded) will put themselves forward as an alternative to the current socialist regime. First job is to sack many of these no-good civil “servants”.
April 22, 2022
Someone made those changes for political reasons precisely to make your blood boil, not through the need to comply with any law, I aver.
This is how Conservative interests stoke their appalling, divisive culture war.
April 21, 2022
How is the Defence budget being impacted by the donation of free weapons to those whose strategic plan is engaging in terrorism against the civilian population to the East of the Dnieper to drive them out of Ukraine which they have been pursuing since the US engineered coup in 2014?
This is a woeful government whose every initiative is counter-productive to the interests of the English people: not a surprise really when the English are not well represented in it at all.
April 21, 2022
So an unlimited number of refugees in Rwanda, some or all of them with mental health problems, will be able to come to this country, according to the agreement signed by Priti Patel. How is this in the interests of this country? But such a consideration is literally of no importance to this government.
April 21, 2022
Iago
Not seen this being reported widely as yet, but with any Government the devil is always in the detail which takes days, or even weeks and months to surface before it comes into the light.
Sounds like a crazy idea, so guess there must be some truth in it somewhere.
April 21, 2022
The Conservatives obsession with competition and free markets, led to the likes of the Lansley 2010 Health Act. This introduced an artificial split between purchaser (GPs) and provider (Hospitals). Foundation Trusts became profit centres and GPs became the cash cows having to supply those profits with unnecessary investigations and multiple referrals; plus, suffer Ā£20 billion dose of Osborne austerity.
Alas, the government (the Payer) had no idea how much money was needed in that money-go-round. Exactly the same occurred in the Power Industry and the Railways. Deregulation, privatisation, disintegration, disconnection and more intermediary cherry pickers than you can shake a stick at.
At least the Great British Railway plan is getting back to a more vertically integrated structure. IMO, the only way to āmarketizeā a natural monopoly.
April 22, 2022
The railways were privatly built and run long before the UK Government nationalised them. And it had to do so because post war, both they and the country were knackered and broke.
April 22, 2022
The railways were privately built before the advent of the automobile. They never provided a good return for the investors even before they had competition.
April 21, 2022
The government is failing to control public spending just like it is failing everything else. And that’s not just me saying that, but the country as a whole. The latest net satifaction ratings for the government make sobering and shocking reading. Here they are:
Inflation: -60
Immigration: -57
Tax: -52
Housing: -47
NHS: -45
Economy: -44
Welfare: -38
Crime: -32
Transport: -27
Environment: -25
Brexit: -24
Education: -21
Only on defence and anti-terrorism is the government in net positive figures. On everything else the government is now seen to have been a complete disaster. And yet Tory MPs still do nothing to force Boris Traitor Johnson to change his policies. Oh well, they will only have themselves to blame come the next general election …
April 21, 2022
An impressive list of cost-saving and efficiency-enhancing policies, Sir John, thank you. I’ll vote for it.
Oh, I can’t, no party supports it.
April 21, 2022
How is this for a waste of NHS money from the British taxpayer? Seen in the Basingstoke Gazette today 24/04/22 “HAMPSHIRE hospitals have formed a partnership to undertake collaborative global health work across the world. ” Where do they get the time and the money, John?
April 21, 2022
After reading the comments that despair at the lack of action and traction to get things done I am surprised Sir John is still sane persevering as he does so systematically each day.
Nothing seems to change under Boris other than his improved appearance and wardrobe whilst his track record looks threadbare by contrast.
April 22, 2022
The energy policy is changing and the shutdowns etc have stopped.
April 22, 2022
And something is at last happening about the channel.
April 22, 2022
What? Are we building a wall down the middle? Is there a request to make an armada of small boats to repel invaders?
April 21, 2022
Itās depressing reading the comments here. Nothing ever changes. Iāve been listening to the same hymns for the last 60 years. If I may sum up:
The British political system is useless
The Tory and Labour parties are useless.
The civil service is useless.
The public sector grows inexorably bigger and progressively less efficient.
The public sector will consume the entire economy in due course – at which point we have a communist state.
April 22, 2022
All of which is true.
April 22, 2022
well the Elite are creating division between mere pointless-voting masses, and the rules don’t apply to us!
Yes a choice is presented but we struggle to determine the difference between candidates….as in other regimes the candidates are all from the same party! The ‘humble’ MPs must rise up against the apparatchiks and move to throw them out else the ring of defence measures secure the ‘Dear Leader’.
April 22, 2022
well the Elite are creating division between mere pointless-voting masses, and the rules don’t apply to us!
Yes a choice is presented but we struggle to determine the difference between candidates….as in other regimes the candidates are all from the same party! The ‘humble’ MPs must rise up against the apparatchiks and move to throw them out else the ring of defence measures secure the ‘Dear Leader’.
April 22, 2022
sorry about another copy – not sure what I did there!
April 22, 2022
Mike. I can only agree with you. I’m fed up listening to politics in my house. It’s all bad news with nothing to look forward to. We are being bombarded with foreigners who are taking up housing and putting a strain on services etc. It’s becoming difficult to pay the extortionate energy bills while watching developers and land owners become more wealthy while the poor get poorer and food prices going sky high. All our parliament can talk about is partygate and I haven’t heard one good idea come ftom this cabinet addressing all these problems. What has this country become? More importantly which direction is it going in? We are surely governed by idiots with an opposition no better and with no better ideas. We need rid of the lot of them.