Memo to an incoming PM – Growth is what we need

The kind of growth we need is growth in output per head, not more output because we have invited in many more people for lower paid jobs. This will come from improving the atmosphere for people setting up and expanding businesses, and companies making investments into the UK.Ā  It means sweeping aside the large hike in Corporation Tax planned for next year. We need a low headline rate by world standards to attract footloose investment and to leave more money for reinvestment for successful companies. The Republic of Ireland gets a bigger contribution to its total revenues by having a lower rate than us and attracting proportionately more investment.

We need a package of measures to help small business and the self employed. We need to end the IR35 pressures against more self employment whilst taking action against six figured salaried people who use a service company to disguise working wholly or mainly for a single employer. We will need more flexible local capacity in many areas which requires a more supportive approach for thoseĀ  venturing on their own.

The UK needs to rebuild its national resilience in a wide range of areas. It is good that it is building on its recent success with vaccine development to encourage a larger pharmaceutical cluster of research and production. We need to exploit more of our own substantial energy reserves at a time of western shortages, and to develop gas as a crucial transition fuel and feedstock.Ā  We needĀ  more home grown food and more home produced goods.

Controlling inflation requires a better money policy than last year’s, and investment in more capacity to ease supply shortages and cut import dependence.

183 Comments

  1. Mark B
    July 25, 2022

    Good morning.

    The politics and political parties have been captured by big State and just see business as a cash cow to grow both the size and reach / scope of the State. PM and politicians want to spend money and be seen to spend money in order to buy votes. Fifty plus years ago this was what was done and we all came to see the results of such stupidity.

    Nothing in the final two candidates for PM tells me we have people that understand the problems we face and, in one case in particular, will work to further burden us with more of the same.

    In less than two years this will all be over and we can have a proper Socialist government who can finish the job.

    Bugs for food anyone ?

    1. Mary M.
      July 25, 2022

      Counting on Liz Truss to build an excellent Cabinet around her, which will include Sir John Redwood and Kemi Badenoch amongst others.

      If her team is successful, the Conservatives would win the next GE. If she continues on the current trajectory, Reform will be waiting in the wings with their, by then, 600 candidates who hold genuine Conservative values and who love our country.

      1. Mark B
        July 25, 2022

        Sorry, Mary but I think you need to prepare to be disappointed – on all counts !

        1. Hope
          July 26, 2022

          JR,
          Why do we need growth? How about stop govt spending and stop importing so many people? Growth is for debt economies is it not?

          Come on JR, why do we need endless growth?

          Reply Growth in living standards not in numbers of people

      2. Sea_Warrior
        July 25, 2022

        Sir John for Chancellor and Kemi for DCMS.

        1. Lifelogic
          July 25, 2022

          What is desperately needed is a climate realist at energy. One who realises what a hugely damaging waste of money the net zero religion is and understands the reality of science and energy. A Peter Lilley/Matt Ridley type please. Net zero needs to be put on hold while they hold a very long inquiry for say 30 years or so with the climate realist scientists side of the discussion funded too.

          By which time every one will see what a total con trick & drivel it was anyway. Will save Ā£trillions.

          1. rose
            July 25, 2022

            Owen Paterson is your man, but he has been done in by the cowardly herd of Gadarene swine obeying the media.

      3. Ian Wragg
        July 25, 2022

        The conservatives have everything to play for but as we have just seen they won’t be allowed to do anything radical.
        The BBC, media and civil Serpents will block them at every opportunity.
        If they deviate from Brussels they will be undermined from within.

        1. L Jones
          July 25, 2022

          Or without.

      4. Lifelogic
        July 25, 2022

        I hope so but rather far from certain.

      5. John Miller
        July 25, 2022

        Excellent, Mary lets hope Liz Truss reads Sir John’s Diary and follows your perceptive suggestions!

      6. Lifelogic
        July 25, 2022

        Well we will see.

        Cox today in the Telegraph – Only Rishi Sunak has the strength and conviction to be PM
        I’ve served in Cabinets with both candidates, and I am in no doubt as to who party members should choose

        Almost all the Telegraph comments are for Truss. She is surely home and dry – what are the betting odds?

        1. L Jones
          July 25, 2022

          I listened to Mr Sunak just after I’d listened intently to Governor DeSantis of Florida. Oh dear. Oh dear dear dear. Why oh WHY don’t we have commanding, authoritative, committed, assertive and ALPHA people like Gov DeS lining up to run our precious country? …Rather than people who are so ”woke” they sound effete and self-serving… which is a pity, as they may be okay in reality.
          Give me an alpha person any day – and Mrs Thatcher was one.

          1. Lifelogic
            July 26, 2022

            +1

      7. Peter
        July 25, 2022

        ā€˜This is a great time to be a Conservative. ā€™ says Sir John Redwood on Conservative Home today.

        I donā€™t think so. We will get a new Prime Minister but nothing much will change. A general election in a couple of years and the Conservatives will get hammered.

    2. Bloke
      July 25, 2022

      Mark
      If someone performed the best for our nation, it wouldn’t matter which party they were from.

      1. Lifelogic
        July 25, 2022

        Well it would as no Labour, SNP, Plaid, LibDim leader would be allowed to do many sensible things even Tory one are often stopped.

        1. Hope
          July 25, 2022

          LL, I submit Johnson had a landslide victory because people voted for him not party because of the corrupt parliament trying to thwart the will of the people over Brexit. Labour voters leant their votes. May and her likes should have been ousted from the party to instil public trust that her treacherous behaviour would not be tolerated. Labour should have done the same.

          People were/are rightly sick of the corrupt MPs. Institutionally dishonest parliament. It should have been disbanded and in 2009. Now we have a Tory party getting rid of a PM without giving the people of the country a vote. Bad mistake.

          1. Peter Parsons
            July 25, 2022

            Johnson got a landslide victory because the Labour vote tanked in 2019. Johnson didn’t move the needle much compared to May in 2017 in terms of votes or vote share, but under FPTP, standing still is more than good enough if your main opponent declines significantly.

          2. Peter
            July 25, 2022

            People voted for Brexit not Johnson.

            After gaining office he then abandoned Brexit, pushing through legislation with no time for discussion and then kicking any later issues into the long grass. He concentrated on issues like Net Zero and allowed heavy taxation which did not really feature during his election campaign.

            Johnson himself was found guilty of dishonesty on numerous occasions and by-elections indicated he had to go or the next general election would be a disaster for Conservatives.

            I donā€™t really understand the talk of bringing back Boris. I suspect if you delve deeply it might be just kite flying.

          3. Mickey Taking
            July 25, 2022

            Did Corbyn have nothing to do with it?

          4. rose
            July 25, 2022

            Mickey Taking: Corbyn very nearly won the 2017 election. He had popular policies and he was able to appeal to people of all generations. He had a pleasant and civilized manner and he was hard to dislike. He was done in by the media and the metropolitan political class because they wanted a rejoiner to lead the Labour Party. The fable that he lost the 2019 election rather than the remainiacs losing it, is part of their black propaganda. Remainiacs of all parties came a cropper. Corbyn didn’t.

          5. Peter2
            July 25, 2022

            How do you know how and why people voted PeterP?

    3. ignoramus
      July 25, 2022

      Slightly confused by this.

      I thought the idea of Brexit was that we sacrifice the extra growth which being in the common market gave us in return for the right to be able to make our own laws. Most economists were pretty clear on this.

      We’re not going to get extra growth without joining a major market, and if we do, we will have to be subject to the rule-making body of that market.

      Truss’s tax cuts will simply return us to 2019, and I don’t associate that year with roaring growth.

      1. Mickey Taking
        July 25, 2022

        I thought the idea of Brexit was to control all manner of things frustrated by EU.
        Laws, Human Rights, Trading arrangements, International Peacekeeping, Scientific expoitation, Immigration, Health matters, H&Safety decisions, Standards – technical, Food etc.

        1. Paul Cuthbertson
          July 25, 2022

          MT – That was the intention but the Globalist UK Establishment did not want Brexit and have thwarted its progress EVERY step of the way, so this is where we are. Just remember that at present WE are subjects of HM and WE are irrelevant. Until the whole system of our government is changed nothing will happen. However change is coming.

        2. glen cullen
          July 25, 2022

          I have a dream…a dream that one day the UK will achieve ‘Brexit’

        3. ignoramus
          July 26, 2022

          Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.

          Brexit was never about growth.

  2. DOM
    July 25, 2022

    Washington and the EU won’t allow it. The public sector unions and Labour won’t allow it. The incoming PM won’t do it. The party is now Socialist, progressive and post-modernist.

    Das Kapital rather than The Wealth of Nations is now the bible of the British and international political class

    1. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      This government over the last decade has been interventionist, it just canā€™t help itself, it has to engage in social engineering, industrial modelling and world economic policies
      This conservative government could achieve a lot more by doing a lot lessā€¦.leave industry to market forces and leave people to their consumer choice

      1. am
        July 25, 2022

        They react to things to be populist. It was always about winning votes from others rather than driving a conservative plan.
        The new leader must ignore the media, any supposed problems and just get on with a plan.
        If this does not happen we will just have more of the same.

    2. a-tracy
      July 27, 2022

      Growth is so dependent on the State sector now, and they don’t grow wealth they spend it.
      We’re becoming France, with the Country virtually seizing up from the last week of July to the end of August. We’ve bus drivers on strike they’re on a reasonable pay rate for our area, and the number of passengers they carry at times other than school runs it’s why they are almost not missed.

      The people missing their local bus service need a Lyft or Uber type shared ride scheme then the council could stop subsidising these demands, a seven-seater people carrier could be used on a dial-a-ride round-robin service. An ideal time to trial it is now.

  3. matthu
    July 25, 2022

    Was there a report produced recently covering the safety of fracking – or has this been kicked into the long grass once more?

    1. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      It hasn’t and it won’t be asked at interview by the media or fellow MPs during the leadership debate…the instruction has gone out; whatever you do don’t ask or answer questions about ‘fracking’ for shale gas

    2. hefner
      July 25, 2022

      guardian.co.uk 15/03/2022 ā€˜Blow to fracking in England as only five of 138 MPs in target areas voice supportā€™.
      uk.news.yahoo.com 05/04/2022 ā€˜Fracking: Ministers order geological survey two days before unveiling new energy strategyā€™.
      telegraph.co.uk 14/05/2022 ā€˜Fracking review will undermine trust if risk mitigation factors ignoredā€™.
      news.sky.com 30/06/2022 ā€˜UK should have another go at fracking, says leading geologistā€™.

      1. hefner
        July 25, 2022

        A somewhat biased item on guardian.com 20/07/2022 ā€˜Why fracking in UK will not reduce your energy billsā€™.

        1. glen cullen
          July 25, 2022

          This government, any government, could cap domestic produced energy, allowing surplus to be sold on international marketsā€¦.where thereā€™s a will

        2. Lifelogic
          July 25, 2022

          Bias, economic & scientific illiteracy in the Guardian? Surely not!

          1. Peter2
            July 25, 2022

            Ll
            Why are we not surprised hefner is a Guardian reader

          2. hefner
            July 26, 2022

            The Guardian has an open policy to its articles so it is easy to go back in time and find old info on it. Simples. Try the same thing with the Mail, the Sun, the Express or the Telegraph and see how successful you will be.
            But you got it in one: a cheap meaningless comment. Well done P2.

          3. Peter2
            July 26, 2022

            It was a very relevant comment, because it is quite plain from your posts and your pompous sense of superiority which often descends into personal attacks and rudeness that your are a typical left wing Guardian reader heffy

        3. Fedupsoutherner
          July 26, 2022

          Hef. It’s not just about cheap energy – which would be good but it’s about energy security too.

          1. Peter2
            July 27, 2022

            Totally agree Fedupsoutherner

  4. Bloke
    July 25, 2022

    The former Chancellor acted like a rusty bucket of corrosive waste.
    Heat of need bends iron. We need a fresh Iron Chancellor.
    Liz Truss is the new Brexit blacksmith.
    Only she is poised to change the mould and cast a powerful new team.
    The former tools in the Treasury were useless.
    We need a new Iron Lady with a great big hammer.

  5. Shirley M
    July 25, 2022

    How many of you party colleagues will resist conservative policies? It hasn’t gone unnoticed how many of your MP’s supported Sunak and his socialist high tax, large government, wasteful spending.

    You really need to get rid of your undemocratic remainer and socialist MP’s, or have your own MP’s constantly undermine your democratic ‘Conservative and Unionist’ party, of which neither Conservative nor Unionist will apply.

    1. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      Agree – the real conservatives need to reclaim their party

      1. Lifelogic
        July 25, 2022

        Sure do. We do not want any more dire people like Osborne, Major, all the surrender act traitors, Bercow, Cameron, Clarkex2 and his dire choices as Chairman of the Party Lady Baroness Warsi and all those A list dopes. Select on ability and sound policies.

        Kick all the appalling Libdems and many far worse out.

      2. rose
        July 25, 2022

        As long as the Conservative Party is seen as the natural party of government, liberals and socialists will join it to enjoy office. As with the Tragedy of the Commons, they have fouled their own prospects by being too many.

  6. Denis Cooper
    July 25, 2022

    Somewhat off-topic, watching the anti-Brexit propaganda on Sky News last night it crossed my mind that it is now six years since the referendum and three years since the revelations about Operation Yellowhammer:

    http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2019/09/13/yellowhammer-is-that-it/#comment-1055271

    I imagined future historians debating whether the document was correctly dated:

    http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2019/09/19/the-eu-and-empires/#comment-1056676

    “Surely, some will argue, it is scarcely credible that on August 2 2019, the date given on the report, the country should still be so ill-prepared for a no deal withdrawal from the EU.

    On August 2 2016, shortly after Theresa May had become Prime Minister, yes, then that kind of cautionary report might have made sense.

    But after she had spent three years telling all and sundry that ā€˜no deal is better than a bad dealā€™, surely she would have made sure that by the time she handed the reins over to Boris Johnson all the necessary preparations for a no deal exit were well advanced?”

    And here we are three years later with the Rejoiners handed a major propaganda coup.

    1. Denis Cooper
      July 25, 2022

      Here’s some news about the EU’s legal actions against the UK:

      https://www.emergingrisks.co.uk/brexit-war-erupts-as-eu-plays-hardball/

      “Brexit war erupts as EU plays hardball”

      The first charge laid against the UK government relates to inadequate controls of the movement of goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, creating various hypothetical risks for the EU.

      Of course those controls are inadequate, because of what Boris Johnson told people what to do with the forms.

      https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/johnson-tells-northern-ireland-businesses-to-bin-customs-forms-38674258.html

      “Johnson tells Northern Ireland businesses to ā€˜binā€™ customs forms”

      1. ChrisS
        July 25, 2022

        It is, of course, no business whatsoever what goods move from NI into the rest of the UK.
        Brussels cannot make any reasonable case to justify controls on this internal traffic because everything that is exported to the EU (via Dover, for example), would be subject to customs checks on arrival in the EU as would any other goods from the UK.

    2. Denis Cooper
      July 25, 2022

      Oh, there was also an instructive passage about the EU’s flat refusal to re-open the protocol.

    3. Gary
      July 25, 2022

      All the pointers now indicate we should have remained in the SM and the CU – life would be so much easier

      1. rose
        July 25, 2022

        Code for “we should not have left the EU.”

      2. Peter2
        July 25, 2022

        All the pointers…….exports to the the EU are up.
        So not all Gary.

        1. hefner
          July 26, 2022

          15/06/2020 bmmagasine.co.uk
          Gary, please read how the exports to the EU are up. It is fascinating how someone can consider this increase in ā€˜exportsā€™ as something essentially positive.

          1. Peter2
            July 26, 2022

            The ONS say they are up complain to them heffy

      3. Denis Cooper
        July 25, 2022

        I have to condemn you for preferring a so much easier life as a vassal state. Have you forgotten that we will never ever be slaves? However I must commend you for understanding that it would have to be both the SM and the CU, a chap with a letter in the Times today thinks life would be so much easier if we had just stayed in the CU.

  7. Donna
    July 25, 2022

    Yup – that’s what a Conservative sounds like and it demonstrates that what we’ve had foisted on us for the past 12 years bears no resemblance to it.

    Until we have a Conservative Prime Minister who understands that they have to reform and clear-out the Establishment, lefty group-thinkers who infest the Senior Civil Service, Quangocracy and Public Sector (including the Universities and BBC), nothing will change. The Blob will prevent it.

    Sunak is offering no change/no hope. Truss is at least making some of the right noises, although I very much doubt if she has the cojones to do what’s necessary.

    1. Jim Whitehead
      July 25, 2022

      Donna, +1, you’re so right about the lefty group thinking quangocracy, and one that gets a free pass is the CQC (Care quality Commission) which might well be the most important reason why there has been a decrease in GP numbers when there’s a high demand.
      My GP says, “They don’t listen, they just don’t listen.”
      The extra burden of bureaucracy which is usually cited by medics and staff as their reason for leaving the profession and taking early retirement is largely due to the inflexible overbearing arrogance of this Quango, a sad spawn of the Blair Government and instituted by a Conservative Health Minister of the succeeding Government (no names but you can guess).
      This extra burden is most severe in it’s impact on the single-handed or small GP or Dental practice, easily explaining the slow demise of these much valued contributors of continuity, familiarity, approachability in the health care system.
      Medicine, a ‘Vocation’, or is it?
      Is it the ‘calling’ that the young aspirants wanted to be a part of, or if not, why not?
      Why would so many seek early retirement from a ‘vocation’. Do nuns and priests take early retirement from their vocational work?
      Just ask your doctor or dentist and don’t be surprised if you hear that old refrain, “I’ve had enough.”
      Bureaucracy will be cited.
      Fear of heads above parapets will be evident too, and the usual litmus tests will be there in any correspondence with the CQC, viz. ‘diversity’ and names followed by their chosen pronouns.

      1. rose
        July 25, 2022

        All very true but there is also the problem that since Blair stopped home visits and weekend working, the numbers of women medical students have soared. It is an attractive and lucrative career for married women now it can be part time. There have not been the extra numbers trained to make up for this development.

        1. anon
          July 26, 2022

          Indeed. Better planning would have anticipated this and scaled up the number of Doctors to the point there is actually small but persistent positive surplus. This would allow for some Doctors to reduce hours and enjoy some free-time.

      2. Sir Joe Soap
        July 25, 2022

        The 100k marginal tax rate and pension restrictions don’t help.

    2. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      ā€˜ā€™Sunak is offering no change/no hopeā€™ā€™
      The conservative party is offering no change/no hope, once the new leader is in post as PM, I predict that our government will still fund billions on HS2, the EU & UN, foreign aid, still follow the policies of net-zero, ban the car and gas boilers, accept hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, sell our fisheries short and sell NI short etc etc
      Nothing will change

  8. Frances
    July 25, 2022

    Sir John
    I had an aha this morning while listening to yet another news item about NHS staff shortages. When people get into social housing they cannot move for work. So make it legal for people in those areas of work to move for work while keeping their social housing.
    Secondly provide accommodation for staff as we used to. We used to have accommodation for lots of NHS staff not just nurses. This is particularly necessary in places where accommodation is very expensive.

    1. SM
      July 25, 2022

      +100%

  9. Sea_Warrior
    July 25, 2022

    Have you covered the power-grab by the WHO, Sir John? If not, could you please do so.

    1. turboterrier
      July 25, 2022

      S W
      +1

    2. Christine
      July 25, 2022

      Yes, this is very important.

    3. Diane
      July 25, 2022

      + Agreed – As of this a.m. 153951 signatures on the Petition to Parliament Number 614335 & waiting 70 days for date for debate. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/614335

      1. Christine
        July 25, 2022

        I signed this and had a reply from the Government saying the decision to sign it had already been made and I shouldn’t worry about it.

        The latest WHO decision on Monkeypox should have everyone worried. Do politicians not follow what’s going on? They just seem enthralled with Globalists.

    4. Mickey Taking
      July 25, 2022

      and reference to China’s power grab of WHO?

      1. Barbara
        July 25, 2022

        And the fact that professional ā€˜nudgerā€™ Prof Susan Ritchie of Sage has just been appointed nudger-in -chief at the WHO.

  10. Nigl
    July 25, 2022

    Zero on public sector efficiency. As most/all correspondents say, Politicians are wedded to spending]. My budget is bigger than yours and unfortunately your party allows the left to control the narrative. So we see 13 billion swallowed up by the NHS, seemingly to little effect and already a nurse is trying to start a petition for even more money.

    HS2 started at 30 billion odd, current projection 100 billion and still going. I truly donā€™t know how many of you can look in the mirror. My guess is you donā€™t because you would see what we do and donā€™t like.

    It will be interesting to read the report on the Ā£45 billion or so spaffed out via the British Business Bank. Rules of finance are like the laws of physics, you canā€™t break them, when you do, you lose

    Johnsonā€™s personal spending habit was a metaphor for his administration and we see no change from the two following him.

    The poll tax riots came through contempt for the voter. Be careful you are not going down that route again.

    1. Bryan Lewis Davies
      July 25, 2022

      Dont forget Hinkley Point

      1. anon
        July 26, 2022

        They have just signed up for the same again. Perhaps another subsidy to the EU/EDF ?. Another globalist tie. They reckon Ā£20 bn. Reckon it will be a lot more. Plus no guarantee’s it will start on time or work for 40 years.

  11. margaret
    July 25, 2022

    You talk about growth in the economy , you talk about people being invited in for less well aid jobs. It is impossible not to see the other side of the coin ; the growth in the population, the NHS , education and all other services rare struggling because there are too many people to deal with. One cannot keep having more and more people in without thinking about the demands they will make on the UK’s services. Yes we can fix it temporarily with bringing in more staff BUT these people will have children of their own , there will not be enough jobs to go around , they won’t want to stay in the low paid jobs , they will want housing etc etc .. We don’t want a population growth ! Stop immigration all together , manage with who we have,. This has all come about by free movement and our pathetic inability to say NO .

    1. turboterrier
      July 25, 2022

      Margaret
      Brilliant entry, all the boxes ticked.
      It is the scourge of industry, commerce and governments the inability to identify the real problem and eradicate it.

      1. rose
        July 25, 2022

        One more point: Brown’s in work benefits, by which he muddled up taxation and welfare, have enabled employers to pay rock bottom wages, knowing the taxpayer will make up what is needed for housing and the rest.

    2. Michelle
      July 25, 2022

      They will not stop immigration. Full stop.
      They know it has been a hot potato with the electorate for a very long time. They make vague reference to it, some even make promises which they immediately break once in power.
      They avoid the topic like the plague and plough on with their own wishes. To ignore the electorate for so long on an issue that is having an effect on the electorate in more ways than one, is not democracy.

      I note one Conservative MP was complaining about the huge amounts of housing being put up in his constituency and his constituents are not happy about it. Neither are they happy with being called NIMBY’s, or indeed the dreadful quality of the housing being erected.
      Well, tough. He is in a party that advocates mass immigration so he obviously agrees with it, so no special clauses should apply. Every MP should have as much mass building as is possible in the town or village they live in and as close to their home as possible. All the illegals coming in should go straight to Patels constituency.
      They want it, they should have the full experience of it.
      It’s the only way they will ever listen.

      1. rose
        July 25, 2022

        Mrs Patel does not want it. She is being thwarted by the HO, Border Force, RNLI, the lawyers and NGOs, and Parliament.

        1. hefner
          July 26, 2022

          Poor little Priti, sheā€™s just only been minister for three years and has not yet found her marks ā€¦ what about sheā€™s simply as incompetent in the HO as she had been in DfID.

          1. rose
            July 26, 2022

            The FO civil servants ganged up on her when she was at DfiD, and Mrs May lamely acquiesced, just as the HO civil servants do now. But this PM has not rolled over for them. They will not brook a departure from their Blairite programme.

  12. Narrow Shoulders
    July 25, 2022

    The kind of growth we need is growth in output per head, not more output because we have invited in many more people for lower paid jobs.

    And to do that, to encourage all potential workers in the UK to actually work, we need a complete overhaul of the benefits system. The new administration needs to be able to resist cries of “what about the children” and “food banks” to put in place long term changes which remove the crutch of payments to those who won’t work. Conversely there may be a case for increasing minimum wage to make it attractive to work but also to ensure that business aims for those positions to be productive to pay the rates required. Of course that may just offshore more roles too.

    1. turboterrier
      July 25, 2022

      Narrow Shoulders
      When you see the people coming out of these food banks the majority hardly seem from their appearances to be starving and they slouch around the corner to get in their cars, very few seem elderly. One has to ask the question ” is this every right” and its a two sided question?

      1. Michelle
        July 25, 2022

        Food banks like so many other things have been hijacked for political purposes by the usual suspects.
        The more there are on the books, then the more the usual suspects can bleat about social injustice etc.

    2. Lucan Grey
      July 25, 2022

      Why not just offer everybody a job at the minimum wage? Local councils can then be required to offer work to all those that want to work for the local council.

      That’s instantly sorts the workers from the shirkers.

      It’s nothing more than a practical improvement on the current “universal credit” requirement to spend 35 hours a week looking for a job. Don’t do that. Just get them to work for their money.

      Everybody has to put their 8 hours in, and all the private sector then has to do to get labour is offer better terms and conditions. The local council won’t up their bid to get them back.

      Bad businesses die through lack of labour. Good businesses move in and flourish. Demand is held up in local areas because everybody is employed and is earning a wage. It automatically adds money to depressed areas while restricting money into booming areas.

      1. a-tracy
        July 25, 2022

        Lucan, i donā€™t understand why people arenā€™t expected to work for their community after 8 weeks if they canā€™t find work for their benefits. Time off allowed for interviews but expected to give to receive. As you say the local councils have plenty of work they can no longer afford to do from cleaning off graffiti to sweeping up road chips which fill our pavements now and regularly crack vehicle windscreens and hit walkers. Pulling up grass growing in every curb crack, weed verges, rake up grass, polish empty shop windows, cleaning local monuments, helping sweep up glass in public areas and collect litter, removing posters and old banners, higher qualified unemployed cleared people could help in public services like hospitals – general care, company, feeding and cleaning, care homes and schools etc. The cost of the public services would be more manageable and provide more money to pay for social care if labour intensive jobs were covered.

        1. anon
          July 26, 2022

          I would wager a lot of older people would take that job guarantee even at min wage. Health & Job and other commuting expense requirements permitting.
          Many may not even sign on or bother enduring the help and just cut expenditure to minimum to survive.

          1. a-tracy
            July 27, 2022

            I agree, and it would stop a lot of depression and eventual incapacity if left too long out of work. My mother asked me for an electric blanket for her birthday so she can prepare for winter because my dads told her she wouldn’t be able to have the heating on as usual!

  13. wab
    July 25, 2022

    “We need to end the IR35 pressures against more self employment whilst taking action against six figured salaried people who use a service company to disguise working wholly or mainly for a single employer.”

    The entire point of IR35 is to avoid having people “use a service company to disguise working wholly or mainly for a single employer”. Is the suggestion that it is ok to try and play this game if you earn 99k but not ok if you earn 100k?

    Get rid of NI and replace it with income tax and the IR35 situation will sort itself. Silly statements from MPs do nothing.

    1. None of the Above
      July 25, 2022

      Just speculating but when Mr Sunak increased the NI allowance to match the Income Tax personal allowance, he may have been motivated by the idea of amalgamating the two taxes into a unified single Income Tax system. This will remove a tax on jobs.
      But wait, I hear you cry, NI is used to calculate a persons State Pension!
      Yes it is, but the Chancellor has already made that redundant for a considerable number of people because they won’t make any contributions until they have earned more than Ā£12,360 per year.
      I am sure, if the State Pension is going to stay (and I’m not convinced that it will for my Grandchildren) there will be other ways to calculate entitlement.

      I would welcome Sir John’s view on this hypothesis.

      1. Peter Parsons
        July 25, 2022

        People above the state pension age don’t pay NI on their income even if they are working. The Conservative voter base has a lot of strength in the population above the state pension age.

        If such a policy were to be enacted, I think it would be unlikely to be done by the Conservative party. It would be electoral suicide.

        1. rose
          July 25, 2022

          You might have thought suspending the triple lock was suicidal.

        2. a-tracy
          July 25, 2022

          Peter the people above pension age will pay a little now and their employer pays the full national insurance cost 15.05% over the threshold.

          ā€œ For those earning over the threshold when NI kicks in ā€¦ there will be a 1.25 percentage point levy on earnings over that sum. The change is expected to affect more than 10% of pensioners over the age of 65 and still in employment.ā€

    2. oldwulf
      July 25, 2022

      @wab

      +1

    3. Lucan Grey
      July 25, 2022

      Far better to go the other way. Get rid of income tax and replace it with employer’s NI.

      The purpose of taxation is to reduce the amount of people the private sector hires, so that they can then be hired by the public sector to achieve the public purpose parliament has decreed.

      Far better to be explicit about what is going off than to hide behind multiple taxes that all end up causing reduced private sector hiring anyway.

    4. formula57
      July 25, 2022

      @ wab “…Get rid of NI and replace it with income tax…” – recall Nigel Lawson said he looked at doing that but soon found it was a bad idea, for reasons I do not recall. Some caution is due therefore. It is also not at all clear how it resolves the right to claim against tax all manner of expenses (Schedule D taxpayers) denied to Schedule E taxpayers, which is surely central to IR35.

    5. Mark B
      July 25, 2022

      +1

      Look at the root cause of the problem and not use highly damaging legislation to crack a nut.

  14. Berkshire Alan
    July 25, 2022

    Whilst I agree with your comments John, successive Governments over the last 30 years seem to have gone to war with the self employed and small business with endless regulation, form filling, employment law, increasing varieties of taxation and the like.
    Past Governments do not appear to like then because they tend to be free spirited, tend to think outside the box, and therefore cannot be easily controlled.
    With all of the handouts during Covid who suffered the most, those who were self employed, who were simply left just to get on with it, even though they had a record of past earnings with HMRC.
    What makes you think either of the two candidates will change matters.

    1. Jim Whitehead
      July 25, 2022

      B. A., +1, I had your astute comment very much in mind when I posted citing Donna. Excellent comments they are, thank you.

    2. BOF
      July 25, 2022

      Well said B A. I retired early, over 20 years ago for those reasons. Incentive is not what government understands.

  15. Dave Andrews
    July 25, 2022

    A step back is needed and a look at education. It’s no good having the potential of good work in this country and no workforce, so education needs to match with industry.
    Discipline is now frowned on and we have some kind of woke morality disseminated. No doubt the kids will discover it’s all nonsense by themselves, but end up instead deciding there’s no morality and turn to savagery.
    I hear today there’s a shortage of 12,000 doctors and 50,000 nurses in the NHS. Plenty of scope for employment, but the kids of today just aren’t interested in that kind of work in sufficient numbers. With all the money going into the NHS, how is it being spent if there aren’t the wages to spend it on?
    I think we all know the answer to that.

    1. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      ā€˜ā€™I hear today thereā€™s a shortage of 12,000 doctors and 50,000 nurses in the NHSā€™ā€™
      The staff shortages quoted are ā€˜on paperā€™ ā€˜max capacityā€™ planning staffing levelling that canā€™t actually be recruited as there isnā€™t any spend budgets in that yearā€¦the same is true for the military and police ā€“ theyā€™ve always have been about one fifth under strength on planned establishment

    2. Michelle
      July 25, 2022

      Shortages, or far too many people here?
      They have been bringing in millions, all of course we have been repeatedly told to cover shortages in every area.
      These millions in turn seem to create even more shortages.

      Regarding NHS shortages, is it shortage of work force or is it too many patients, too many chiefs, too much incompetence in the running of things, too many within with a political agenda?

  16. Mike Wilson
    July 25, 2022

    Why do we need more ā€˜growth in output per headā€™? Output of what? What are we to do with all this extra ā€˜outputā€™? Is it some sort of panacea? Is there a magic ā€˜output per head numberā€™?

    Iā€™d like to see less of everything. Less hours in a working week. Less new clothes bought. Less petrol burned in car engines. Less new cars. Less food wasted. Less energy needed to heat our homes. Less government. Less public sector. Lower house prices.

    The only thing I want more of is higher interest rates šŸ˜€

    1. Mickey Taking
      July 25, 2022

      fewer?

  17. Roy Grainger
    July 25, 2022

    If the new PM proposes a radical solution to a problem, such as leaving the ECHR, then enough Conservative MPs will vote against it to defeat it cheered on by a Civil Service, Establishment and Media propaganda campaign. The Conservatives are a two-party coalition and the LibDem wing can always vote with the opposition to defeat the Conservative wing.

    I’m vaguely persuaded by the LibDems demand for PR. They think it would hand them permanent control over which of two main parties govern but it wouldn’t at all – it would mean both Labour and the Conservatives would split with a new Corbynite party and a new right-wing party gaining significant numbers of MPs. In my case, in a constituency with a big Labour majority, there would be then an incentive for me to cast a vote – the overall outcome simply wouldn’t be the votes as they were at the last general election mapped onto a PR voting scheme.

    1. formula57
      July 25, 2022

      @ Roy Grainger – you might become vaguely unpersuaded about PR voting by viewing Oxford Professor David Deutsche’s short (15 minutes) YouTube video on the AV Referendum. He points out the crucial characteristic of a voting system is the ability of voters to dismiss those in power, but the substantial risk under PR is that the third party stays in power in perpetuity.

    2. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      Leaving the Council of Europe ECHR would send the right signal from day one

    3. Peter Parsons
      July 25, 2022

      There should be an incentive for everyone to cast a vote, and parties should be incentivised to campaign for every vote.

      If you live in a safe seat, I expect that you are not bombarded with leaflets or advertising or campaigners knocking on your door, all of that is thrown at the relatively few marginal constituencies where persuading people to vote differently (or at all) makes a difference under FPTP

      1. Peter2
        July 25, 2022

        Would you give voters money to vote?
        Would you make it legally compulsory?
        Do tell

        1. hefner
          August 2, 2022

          Yes, P2, I would make voting legally compulsory so that the present situation where a majority of old farts decide for the whole population including children and youngsters would become a thing of the past and that would let the UK enter the 21st century. And obviously it would include moving out of the worst voting system, FPTP, as its argument for creating ā€˜working majorityā€™ does not hold water when one sees the differences in outlook between the extremes in both the Conservative and the Labour parties, all hidden by the proto-fa whip system.

          Satisfied P2, you got your proof that I am ā€˜a lefty Guardian readerā€™. I guess you will sleep better tonight. The pleasurable feeling of always being right, isnā€™t it?

  18. Wanderer
    July 25, 2022

    “…building on its recent success with vaccine development to encourage a larger pharmaceutical cluster of research and production.”

    I’d be concerned about this unless we first turn science to an area where critiquing is encouraged and lobbying by Big Pharma is exposed to the light.

    A lot of well qualified scientists have bravely put their heads above the parapet and questioned whether mRNA treatments are effective or safe for a large swathe of the population. The rollout of genetic therapies to treat ailments other than Covid should at the very least proceed with extreme caution.

    1. formula57
      July 25, 2022

      @ Wanderer “…unless we first turn science to an area where critiquing is encouraged …” – of course, and the disturbing YouTube video by Dr John Campbell on “the illusion of evidence based medicine” strongly suggests our next Health Secretary (who will have too much to do to have a chance of coping) will need to get a grip.

    2. Hat man
      July 25, 2022

      +1

  19. turboterrier
    July 25, 2022

    Roy Grainger
    All these Tory MPs who keep blocking the changes required to move on, should have the whip withdrawn as they are not supporting the party let alone the country in trying to break free from these restrictive rules and treaties. We are told to stop living in the past and it’s the new ideas that will be the panacea to all that change everything.
    Very little is new its only a variation of something different. We really need but never get the wiser, experienced, qualified, respected people to even be considered for real high office. And we all pay the price for shutting them out

    1. Mickey Taking
      July 25, 2022

      A government if doing what their manifesto promised, and the elected MPs agreed to, should not require handcuffs called ‘whip’.

      1. anon
        July 26, 2022

        The ‘whip’ should be local constituents voters rights of recall!

  20. None of the Above
    July 25, 2022

    OT but I hear Mrs Balls has said that Labour will scrap ‘The Ruanda Scheme’.
    I don’t wish to encourage complacency but we might learn to relax a little about Labour’s prospects at the next GE.
    I agree with your post Sir john, I would like to see tax reductions that would reduce supply side costs, particularly energy and vehicle fuels coupled with a modest increase of interest rates.
    What is your view of the possibility of unifying NI and Income Tax?

  21. John Miller
    July 25, 2022

    The main thing the new PM has to do is invite a new Cabinet, this time comprised of Conservatives, not liberal democrats or socialists or ex-bankers who say one thing and do the opposite. Some of your commenters have provided good suggestions and I hope Liz Truss appoints them. So much to do! So many enemies!

  22. oldwulf
    July 25, 2022

    “Growth is what we need”

    I think there are three underlying economic problems.

    Energy – the short sightedness and incompetence of successive Governments
    Interest rates – in the hands of our “independent” B of E
    Taxation – in the hands of our Chancellor (not in the hands of HM Treasury !!)

    Taxation is the most obvious area for immediate reform.

    Growth would be very nice but maybe we should be grateful if we merely avoid a contraction/recession.

    1. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      Agree
      However I donā€™t wont growth if it means higher levels of illegal immigration, higher taxation, more laws, erosion of our culture, the banning of the car, pursuing the targets of net-zero and tipping our hat and paying tribute to unelected undemocratic international organisations

    2. Dave Andrews
      July 25, 2022

      Add a fourth – skills shortage.
      Big problem.

  23. miami.mode
    July 25, 2022

    Growth per head was destroyed by the Labour-led influx of immigrants which has continued under the Tories over more than 20 years.

    Necessity is the mother of invention and if the cheap labour had not been available technology would have replaced it. We are now playing catch-up but if we allow immigration to continue in a similar manner growth per head will remain static.

  24. acorn
    July 25, 2022

    The headline rate of corporation tax has been cut from 28% in 2010-11 to 19% in 2017-18. UK Business investment remains the lowest in the G7; economic growth minimal since the 2008 crash.

    Businesses invest when they see customers heading towards them with spending money in their hands; aided by improved national infrastructures, transport and communication systems. Otherwise they use the extra profit to buy back their own shares and increase dividends while those customers are currently saving not spending.

    There little evidence that tax cuts that mostly favour the rich generate growth. Reagan proved they didnā€™t in the Eighties, He ended up increasing federal spending every year and tripled the government debt in eight years.

    Trump did the same. ā€œPresident Trump sold his 2017 tax cuts as ā€œrocket fuelā€ for the economy, arguing that freeing up money for the wealthy would allow them to hire more workers, pay better wages and invest more.

    The tax savings, in other words, would trickle down from the rich to everyone else. But, just as many economists predicted, slashing individual, corporate and estate tax rates was mostly a windfall for big corporations and wealthy Americans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act did not pay for itself, failed to stimulate long-term growth and did not lead to sustained business investments.ā€ (Washington Post)

    Growth occurs by making the below median income household richer; they spend it; the rich don’t spend tax cuts. The benefits system is much more efficient at making the poor richer than the tax system. Time to ditch Reagonomics thinking, a complete anathema to Conservatives I know.

    1. Peter2
      July 25, 2022

      The Conservatives have kept increasing the starting point for paying income tax
      And kept increasing the minimum wage.
      Plus tax credits for less well off families.
      You missed that bit acorn.

  25. XY
    July 25, 2022

    “We need to end the IR35 pressures against more self employment whilst taking action against six figured salaried people who use a service company to disguise working wholly or mainly for a single employer.”

    I’m afraid this is muddled Treasury orthodoxy.

    Many businesses who have a number of staff have a main client. They keep that client sweet, winning repeat business because they know it’s the main income stream for their business. So – why is it different for a one man band company or a small company of a married couple?

    Imagine there were no Employers NI. Now you don’t have to care.

    Because the taxes are more or less the same, the only difference is that the business can deduct its operating costs from its profits before tax whereas those with no such expenses… can’t.

    The media like to spin people operating through self-employed structures as “tax dodgers”, but the reality is that the taxes paid are the same, only the NI varies.

    Income tax appears lower at first sight for those paying dividends, but the tax return means that HMRC then assess an “effective gross salary” and will issue a demand for the difference between tax due and tax paid. There’s no tax benefit.

    Just get rid of the ridiculous Employers NI that no other country is daft enough to apply – and all this nonsense goes away.

    Apart from anything to do with IR35, in a global employment world, it makes no sense to hamper the British-based worker with extra payroll taxes.

    Bottom line: there is no need to discrimiate against people who earn their crust winning repeat business from one client. Government really doesn’t need to care about this just because the media stirs up green-eyed hype based on the modern journalist’s lack of understanding.

    1. a-tracy
      July 25, 2022

      XY they don’t call it national insurance but they do have charges on the payslip for the individual benefits that national insurance is meant to fund, such as a pension, healthcare, and unemployment benefit. UK NI hasn’t paid sick pay for a long time as the employer covers that and sick holiday pay.

      In Germany for example 9.3% contribution for employees and employers. 7.3% for employees and employers. Long-term care 1.525% for employees and employers. We just try to match these contributions through a convoluted personal allowance system. Altogether, income taxes and social security contributions in Germany will take up around 35% of your gross salary. For example, if your gross monthly salary is 3.000 euros, then after deductions you can expect to take home around 1.950 euros per month.

  26. Shirley M
    July 25, 2022

    Off topic, but very worrying is the selective way the NHS are operating. I have had reason for many tests in the last few months, and noted that one document stated that treatment was not recommended, but a footnote stated that because of coronavirus “many of these decisions would be different in normal circumstances”.

    Then today I receive a letter regarding coronavirus stating that ‘Your medical records currently show you ‘might’ (the word might printed in bold) be suitable for treatments if you get coronavirus.

    I take part in forums dedicated to my illness, and people with far more serious and advanced cases than myself are getting good care and treatment. Without treatment my illness is terminal. I am fighting to get some treatment, and hope I am successful. I am grateful that I have had a very healthy life so far, having had no chronic illnesses or hospital stays. It seems ironic that when I do need the NHS, the NHS doesn’t appear to want to help!

    Is this another postcode lottery, or are all areas rejecting patients to lighten the workload? I wonder what the criteria is? It certainly isn’t based on contributions as I worked for 53 years and took nothing out, not even unemployment benefits or regular medical care! I note that the country often invites foreign citizens in for some serious and expensive treatment, even during the pandemic! Just another case of glory seeking being more important than the people who fund it, I suppose!

    1. Berkshire Alan
      July 25, 2022

      Shirley
      Keep on pestering your GP or whoever is responsible for your future treatment, because if you don’t nobody else will, also do not be afraid of requesting a second opinion.
      In the meantime do some of your own background research and try to find who is the respected expert on your condition.
      The above has worked in gaining treatment in the past for a number of friends and family members
      Best of luck, although luck should not have to come into it !

    2. Mark B
      July 26, 2022

      Sorry to hear you plight, Shirley. Good luck to and all the others.

    3. rose
      July 26, 2022

      Shirley, when up against a heartless bureaucracy, the only way to get anywhere is to make it more trouble for them to ignore you than to serve you. This means a lot of persistence and perseverance, but you can break them down in the end as they are human beings, despite not appearing to be.

  27. Listener
    July 25, 2022

    Don’t care who does best tonight.
    Will be counting how many times Sunak says
    “You know what “

    1. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      Iā€™d be more impressed if both candidates refused to do public debatesā€¦.Iā€™m against presidential showcasing, stop kowtowing to the media

    2. Mickey Taking
      July 25, 2022

      Either might repeat ‘err…, massive, like, prudent, inflation, tax, benefits, aid, and start a lot with ‘I’.

  28. Javelin
    July 25, 2022

    Kier Starmer to make economic growth the centre piece of his next election, based on Net Zero.

    You couldnā€™t make it up.

    Following the new German economic model, he also announced a new shared European currency of flints, furs and seeds to be known as FFS.

    1. a-tracy
      July 25, 2022

      In Germany – Freelancers pay income tax four times a year, in March, June, September, and December, based on estimations of income for that year. These are known as quarterly advances or prepayments (Einkommensteuer-Vorauszahlungen).

      In France – If your company is liable for corporate tax, you’ll need to file an online tax return within three months of the end of your company’s tax year, or by 30 April the following year. Payments are quarterly in most cases. New companies or those who paid less than ā‚¬3,000 the previous year can qualify for annual payments.

      We’re just following the leaders

    2. glen cullen
      July 25, 2022

      All our politicians have gone mad

  29. Rhoddas
    July 25, 2022

    Own the problems & create the solutions:
    Stop government spending so much… and balance the books!
    * E.g. All the Ukraine spend is International Aid. On your watch Liz!
    * Recover the big Covid Fraud payments! On your watch Rishi!
    Push back the illegal dinghy refugees… then no need to send them to Rwanda! On your watch Priti!
    Call natural gas ‘green’ and drill/mine/frack/store in UK. On your watch Kwasi!
    Reciprocity for EU malign actions against UK… On the watch of many incl Gove!

    Need I go on….

  30. Rhoddas
    July 25, 2022

    Own the problems & create the solutions:
    Stop government spending so much… and balance the books!
    * E.g. All the Ukraine spend is International Aid. On your watch Liz!
    * Recover the big Covid Fraud payments! On your watch Rishi!
    Push back the illegal dinghy refugees… then no need to send them to Rwanda! On your watch Priti!
    Call natural gas ‘green’ and drill/mine/frack/store in UK. On your watch Kwasi!
    Reciprocity for EU malign actions against UK… On the watch of many incl Gove!

    1. ukretired123
      July 25, 2022

      “Push back the illegal dinghy refugees” – mobile windmills directed to France…

    2. miami.mode
      July 25, 2022

      Rhoddas, there are criteria for International Aid one of which is “the World Bank High Income threshold” so Ukraine might be outside the threshold for aid.

      1. rose
        July 26, 2022

        That rule should be changed. It stopped us giving much needed aid to a West Indian island after a hurricane.

  31. ChrisS
    July 25, 2022

    The Treasury has been quietly working towards their terrific new wheeze of demanding the self employed and small businesses submit quarterly tax returns. No reason has been given for this imposition, but anyone with a business can see what’s coming a mile off : once the system is introduced, we are then going to have to pay tax quarterly based on those returns.

    Never mind the fact that our cash flow will be badly affected when we have to pay tax on a large profit one quarter, only to ask for it back when we make a big loss the next !

    The only possible benefit to the Treasury from this nonsense is a one-off cash flow benefit in year one. The business owner has got to buy new accounting software and learn to use it rather than maybe just using a spreadsheet to keep an eye on cashflow. Then there is the work necessary to prepare and submit the return four times a year rather than once. Not sure whch Chancellor came up with this idea but if it was Sunak, he should be shot.

    Let’s hope Liz drops the idea once she gets her feet firmly under the cabinet table !

    1. Berkshire Alan
      July 25, 2022

      ChrisS
      This underlines my comment posting today, Governments and HRMC do not like the self employed or small businesses, so they will try to bleed them to death through punitive legislation taxation and regulation. Unfortunately at the same time they will kill the goose who lay’s the golden egg, for a one off, one time benefit to the Treasury, because those people, employ more people in the UK than big business.
      Can you imagine the hassle and timescale of trying to claim money back from HMRC.
      Only someone who has never been self employed or run a business would even contemplate this sort of a nonsense.

  32. The Prangwizard
    July 25, 2022

    Very nice, but when will leaders in government, and parliament and the Tory party emphasise the need and demand absolute priority be given to production of goods here by home owned businesss. Seeking foreign money, which often is to close down home manufacture, is short-term and subversive, all surplus cash does of course go abroad if production does continue.

    We have been turned into a lazy consumer nation, that whatever we need can always be obtained from overseas and we can always prostitute ourselves to pay for it – just keep selling our assets and printing money as well. Why trouble ourselves to make things.

    The idea that we must make more of the goods we need has not been considered important for decades and as a result we are insolvent, City spivs do very well but very few others do nor are the people thought much of, spivs and their elite friends wouldn’t dream of sacrificing their immediate pleasures or getting their hands dirty.

    We must have urgent change, and Brexit must be implimented in full urgently too.

  33. Iain gill
    July 25, 2022

    Action against six figure people using service companies, er no.

    You need to figure out what the approved way of being self employed and getting business expenses like hotels tax free, and level the playing field with the big consultancies who often have staff on one customer site for decades getting tax free expenses the whole time.

    1. Iain gill
      July 25, 2022

      There has got to be some clarity on the legal framework the government wants freelancers to use. They need to acknowledge that freelancers should get expenses tax free when working away from home etc. In exactly the same way that employees of the big consultancies can get expenses tax free. They need to acknowledge that genuine freelancers sometimes take on long engagements just like employees of the big consultancies, and this does not make them disguised employees. Currently umbrella companies have had their activities curtailed, and they cannot operate similar expenses policy to the big consultancies. Single person companies are frowned upon, despite them being a massive engine for wealth creation for the country. Even John redwood here has swallowed the nonsense from the big consultancies lobbying, and is failing to understand the point of view of the individual freelancers.

  34. ChrisS
    July 25, 2022

    Whether she offers our host a cabinet role or not, I so hope that Liz Truss is taking economic briefings from him.

    1. The Prangwizard
      July 25, 2022

      I am assuming she is which is why, if I were a Tory member, I’d vote for her. To go for Sunak is just to promote a member of the international global elite. I do not believe he has any loyalty to the UK. If we are to ever get ourselves out of the mess we are in his type must be removed.

  35. ukretired123
    July 25, 2022

    We also need a reset on the terminology (introduced over the years) to cherish, champion and distinguish positive contributors to the economy and the rest who rely on thier efforts as it cannot be taken for granted as the MSM often do.
    “Benefits” sounds attractive because it actually is and benefits some to choose it over work, especially when there is much taxation, hassle and groundwork after poor schooling on airey fairy real life skills due to the lefty blob.
    When it was known as “being on the dole” for temporary gaps in employment it was regarded for unfortunates, never a career option or badge of honour to be acceptable.
    Benefits is in reality misnamed, kills aspirations, dreams and the joy of achieving something by giving instead of feeling entitled and vulnerable. If you decide to work there are too many obstacles added today. Don’t get me going on IR35 – abused by BBC and other high earners who know all the loopholes yet HMRC go after the SME real contributors, often professionals and regard them first as tax evaders.
    “The small stones in a wall often keep it strong” as do key pinch points like Dover…..

    1. ukretired123
      July 25, 2022

      their

  36. turboterrier
    July 25, 2022

    Will the party capitulate against the ever growing demand from card carrying members about getting Boris back on the election paper?
    If by some strange quirk they manage to achieve it I trust that the older more senior and experienced members will be listened to. The process is simple deliver what the people expect. If members have a problem with that resign. The days of playing games is over. Get the ####ing job done. If we have to upset the French so what? They have taken great pleasure in making our lives a misery ever since we voted to leave.
    Stop pandering to the remainers and their woke partners. Sign on or ship out.

  37. a-tracy
    July 25, 2022

    So what should the optimum ‘output per head’ be? Based on someone doing 37.5 hours per week for Ā£20,000, what should his output be to fit your model of ideal? What is the optimum holiday allowance for that person? Do they get full sick pay and duvet/rest days on full pay?

    I know someone who claimed her partner didn’t live with her after her baby was born, and she wanted just 16 hours per week and 13 weeks of holiday per year; she was fine if seven weeks of there were unpaid as she still maintained full benefits that way. Is there an optimum turnover for this worker?

    1. 35 yrs NICS
      July 25, 2022

      a-tracy
      A million years ago watched a prog re Russkie nurseries with rows of tots in cots looked after by the state enabling the mothers to work.
      In a way Lone Parents who stay at home with a partner round the corner could be regarded as the resistance.

      1. a-tracy
        July 26, 2022

        Yes I understand your point 35 yrs NICs, a relative told me I was mad having children if I worked if these clever Mums all educated their children to a high level due to being at home all day and as they are able to clean their home in school time and plan lessons and help their children after school and if they cooked hearty meals with basic ingredients and vegetables, or even volunteered whilst their children were at school in care homes, local schools and for the council it wouldn’t be so bad.

      2. Mickey Taking
        July 26, 2022

        reminds me of Romanian orphanages – rows of cots – no meaningful contact, little hygene, no comfort, no stimulation.

        Is that worth having?

        1. a-tracy
          July 27, 2022

          The many Romanian young adults I know were educated to a very high standard, they took Latin and another foreign language from primary school and many specialised into different areas depending on their personal skills at High School, the families often share childcare obligations, and informal arrangements are made as it used to be in the UK with childminders {they aren’t forced through too many hoops to care for their children and children of their friends}, they are ambitious, hard-working and rather like the teenagers of the 1980s wanting to make it on their own. Not at all like many of our own woke pampered pooches schooled to 18 yet still not reaching basic standards of employability. Too many do not want to get their hands dirty to train in city and guilds professions and won’t even move into the next City along let alone across the World for work.

  38. Pauline Baxter
    July 25, 2022

    Yes Sir John. I hope you are explaining this to Liz and she can explain it to the party members.
    Otherwise, heaven help my country.
    Incidentally, Sunak supporters’ claim that only he can win the next G.E. was a load of hogwash.
    The only grain of truth in it was that his Big Tax, Big State, philosophy, would be more at home in the Labour Party.

    1. R.Grange
      July 25, 2022

      OK Pauline, but Sir John had better explain slowly…

  39. Lindsay McDougall
    July 25, 2022

    “Growth is what we need”. I’ve just seen Sir Kier Starmer express exactly the same sentiment. The problem is that Sir Kier envisages implementation through Government “working with” all sections of industry in some great big fascist corporation. No doubt the CBI (which does not represent business) and the TUC (which does not represent labour) would be prominent.

    Older bloggers may remember the days of Harold Wilson’s first administration and Labour’s National Plan, which Wilson wisely delegated to the hapless George Brown (no, not Gordon). The idea was that central planning was going to lift the UK’s growth rate from 2.75% (happy days) to 4.25%. Each company had to submit plans outlining their expected growth over a 5 year period. These plans were collated and an overall uplift factor was applied to each company plan to ensure compatibility with 4.25% growth. The modified plans were then returned to the companies for action. Who would take responsibility if the modified plans turned out to be infeasible? Not the Government who created them!! So where did the 4.25% target growth come from? It was what the EEC had achieved during the period of German reconstruction after WW2. Needless to say, the National Plan collapsed in ruins.

  40. Paul Cuthbertson
    July 25, 2022

    Slightly off subject of the present MSM promotions of the “conservative in name only party” leadership challenge and the global warming BS induced by recent hot days and the met office promoting the RED maps of the British Isles, did anyone notice the statistics published by the ONS regarding the jab in the arm deaths.
    I thought not. Wake up people.

  41. Mickey Taking
    July 25, 2022

    OFF TOPIC.
    Britain paid the highest price on record for electricity in London last week as the capital narrowly avoided a power blackout, it has emerged. National Grid paid Ā£9,724 per megawatt hour, more than 5,000% than the typical price, to Belgium on Wednesday to prevent south-east London losing power.
    The hottest UK days on record led to power system constraints amid high demand, as first reported by Bloomberg. Increased demand for energy across Europe, combined with a bottleneck in the grid, forced National Grid’s Electricity System Operator (ESO) to buy electricity from Belgium at the highest price Britain has ever paid to keep power flowing.
    Other factors, including planned maintenance outages of overhead lines and a storm in Belgium impacting solar power, put the system under severe strain. While the amount bought at the record amount was minimal, reportedly enough to supply eight houses for a year, it has exposed the UK’s reliance on importing electricity from interconnectors overseas, particularly France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
    A spokesperson at National Grid ESO said that while other generation was available on Wednesday, power outages during the summer period meant a specific circuit was needed to get electricity to the right place.

    1. Mark
      July 27, 2022

      Actually the payment was so we could maintain our exports to France, which could have been cut to keep SE London supplied. Nevertheless UK consumers will pick up the bill for helping to keep the lights on in Calais.

  42. Mickey Taking
    July 25, 2022

    Today I responded to an invitation to take part in ‘Public perceptions on trade on behalf of the Department for International Trade.
    A resident from 4,000 households were invited across the UK.
    It was concerned with high and low priorities and possible (or not) free trade deals with other countries, regions and EU.

    Have any other contributors on here been randomly chosen?

  43. Mickey Taking
    July 25, 2022

    Debate. Sunak clearly winning how often did they rudely interrupt and change the subject. Shows a shouting down tactic which I hope doesn’t impress the Tory members in constituencies.
    Truss not really breaking in to make her points very well.

  44. glen cullen
    July 25, 2022

    ā€˜ā€™Sunak the Great Interrupterā€™ā€™

    1. ukretired123
      July 26, 2022

      “The Great Defector / Deflector”
      Rishi wishi disappear please.

    2. hefner
      July 26, 2022

      And Truss the not so brilliant debater. At least she recognised it. We can expect some pleasant PMQs from September.

      1. Peter2
        July 26, 2022

        Difficult to have a successful debate when the opposite side continually interrupts and are allowed to do so by the Chair.

  45. Mickey Taking
    July 25, 2022

    Sunak using a checklist of points to make and how to counter challenge. He’s marking them off with a green /yellow highlight pen !!! Truss arguing on her feet – not a script pre-written.

  46. Mike
    July 25, 2022

    She’s a disaster – well out of her depth – a bimbo who hasn’t a clue

    He’s not much better forever telling us about his hard life during his childhood – jeez

    1. Clough
      July 26, 2022

      What you were seeing was Liz Truss as soon as she comes under pressure, I’m afraid.

    2. glen cullen
      July 26, 2022

      I thought that Liz came across as calm and collect

      1. rose
        July 26, 2022

        Not just calm and collected, but dignified, and obviously well advised. But much of what she says is either not understood by the biased collective mindset in the media, or it is deliberately misrepresented.

  47. ukretired123
    July 25, 2022

    Brits like an underdog and are suspicious of any super slick salesmen especially those you can’t get rid of, who talk a lot, nonstop over you and don’t ever listen.
    Rishi is a classic executive tap dancer prancing on stage not wishing to hear anything but loving the sound of his own voice, strutting around and displaying his feathers like a bird of paradise. Shouty, aggressive and repeating ad nauseam nothing new and totally uncontrollable by the BBC who favoured him by letting him rabbit on. It backfired spectacularly as he fully painted himself into a well deserved corner. No grace or style or composure.
    Empty vessels make the most sound. His actual track record legacy was left unscrutinsed (Andrew Neil will relish Rishi for breakfast and toast).
    Boring it sure was, spoilt by the unbalanced one and so much for so-called white privilege.

    1. rose
      July 26, 2022

      I have been wondering why the BBC woman allowed Mr Sunak to go on and on shouting down the Foreign Secretary. I genuinely can’t decide whether she did it to show him up or to give him the advantage. Perhaps she was just intimidated.

      Whichever it was, this type of television programme is a very bad way to discuss the nation’s future. Islam/Mason focusing on earrings and suits rather than growth and borders just about sums up the BBC’s level of understanding about the public’s concerns.

  48. mancunius
    July 26, 2022

    We ned to show that we mean business in every respect: the UK must peg Corporation Tax at 1 per cent below the RoI – i.e. as they are currently at 12.5%, ours will be 11.5%. If they move their rate down further we move ours down, so as to remain 1% lower than theirs, and if they increase their tax rate to e.g. 15% we move up to 14%.
    To be globally competitive, we determine not raise our Corporate Tax level above 15%. We let this pledge be known, and publicise whatever additional inward investment it attracts.
    At the same time we liberalize the free ports regime that the leftwing tax-hungry civil service has tried to squash.
    A constnatly updated smart information system will bypass the MSM to fully and objectively inform everyone of the benefits accruing from these radical moves.
    The OBR will be disbanded.

    1. Jason
      July 26, 2022

      There is much more to Irelands success than its corporation tax – for instance Shannon Free Industrial Zone was the first of its kind to be set up more than fifty years ago. When the Irish invented irish coffee mainly by chance and for the Americans business people passing through the nearby airport it was the icing on the cake. For those who need to know FDI doesn’t come easy it has to be worked at and in different ways, ie sometimes by lateral thinking hard work and good attitude to make a lasting success – it cannot just be whistled up by tweeking corporation tax – if we don’t understand that then we are still in the area of navel gazing.

      1. mancunius
        July 26, 2022

        Yes, I’m sure the Irish coffee and work ethic – and not US corporate tax rates and the much lower tax rate in Dublin – are the reason why Google, Apple, Facebook, PayPal, Microsoft, Yahoo, eBay, AOL, Twitter and Intel. Pfizer, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson have major bases in the RoI (incidentally, a notion that itself sounds rather like southern Irish ‘lateral thinking’.) And the RoI’s low rate of corporate tax – which the Republic’s politicians have been fighting tooth-and-nail in Brussels to preserve – must be somehow a side-issue.
        So when the UK persistently undercuts their corporate tax rate that won’t affect the RoI at all.

  49. mancunius
    July 26, 2022

    Corporate Tax to be pegged and maintained one per cent lower than the RoI rate, but never to rise above 15%.
    We announce this to the world’s corporates.
    Free Ports to be taken out of the clutches of the remainer Treasury officials, and to be genuinely freed and liberalized, to bring new wealth to the regions.
    NIC rates to be lowered, to incentivize new jobs and business expansion. Tax breaks for tech entrepreneurs.
    Ignore the
    It’s not that complicated. It never was.

  50. Mark
    July 27, 2022

    Probably written by someone who couldn’t explain why our wholesale gas prices are much lower than those on the Continent. The reality is that the cost of our imports depends on how far away we have to be supplied from. Back out more distant sources such as Peru and our costs are lowered on all our LNG imports, because prices are set by the most costly marginal source.

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