In his speech to the CBI Annual Conference the Prime Minister called for more innovation and better productivity advances. He is right that innovation can accelerate growth, create more better paid jobs, and raise productivity. Waves of innovation in past decades have fuelled huge advances in living standards and pay.
The government needs to use its Brexit freedoms and its powers as an important buyer of goods and services in our economy to boost the ideas that will give us greater prosperity. A more productive economy is one with higher pay and with better service.
One of the ways to raise productivity is to concentrate more activity and people in the most productive areas. The suggestions below seek to tackle that:
- Pharmaceuticals and medicine. Allow access to generic anonymised data about treatments and success rates in the NHS to companies seeking to research new life saving and life enhancing treatments and medicines. Amend the rules on the conduct of tests on new drugs and products to make them competitive with US ones, whilst ensuring strong safety protections.
- Energy. This is an area of high value added and well paid jobs. The government accepts that oil and gas are transition fuels which will continue to provide the bulk of the UK’s energy this decade whilst the electrical revolution develops. It should therefore use its tax policies and licencing powers to develop more of our domestic oil and gas. Home produced produces less CO2, sparing the CO 2 generated by long distance transport for imports. It also pays a lot more tax to the UK Exchequer instead of paying huge sums in tax away for foreign governments.
- High energy using industries like special steels and ceramics, where there can be high value added from design and specification. Suspend emissions trading which imposes a heavy extra cost on our industry making it difficult to compete against imports.
- Defence. Spend more of the growing and substantial defence budget on UK procurement. Encourage greater UK R and D in smart weaponry, communications and cyber.
- Nuclear. Pump prime the production of small modular nuclear reactor to gain type approval and licences, ready to mass produce for home and export markets.
December 7, 2022
“Amend the rules on the conduct of tests on new drugs and products to make them competitive with US ones, whilst ensuring strong safety protections”.
Just like we did with Covid vaccines? Have you seen the official Yellow Card Scheme data regarding “adverse reactions” to these?
I wouldn’t want this approach.
December 7, 2022
Nor would I , Wanderer. The body that’s supposed to act as a regulator over vaccines, the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), declared a few months ago that it saw itself as an ‘enabler’ of new products, which to me raises questions about how it puts patient safety first.
Public confidence in new medical products depends on knowing they’ve been trialled properly, not on how fast they’re rolled out. It is very damaging when we discover that products supposed to stop the spread of an infection and stop the injectee from catching it in fact do neither, and furthermore this was already recognised at an early stage but kept from the public. Lessons need to be learned from this whole episode, in how not to react to a new public health threat.
December 8, 2022
JR,
I am confused by this blog. You have been watching and commentating on govt. financial related issues.
I presumed you fully understood Huntâs budget was to further destroy business and move it east to China and the like! Ensuring UK was not more competitive than the EU. Even treacherous enough to award Spain the contract for building our warships when he was deliberately creating a recession with the connivance of BoE.
Self employed and small businesses deliberately destroyed to help corporates as the EU would like it.
December 7, 2022
+1
Apparently they have now approved the jabs for babies over 6 months old!
December 7, 2022
have you ever opened the warning leaflet in almost all prescription drugs that GPs offer? In a risk analysis you’d have a dozen warning points before you stepped onto a pavement.
December 7, 2022
Standard prescription drugs have gone through a very, very long period of testing – up to ten or fifteen years, in some cases. New jabs approved for emergency use, like the covid one, have not.
December 8, 2022
Barbara
I take your point, but everything was new once, the covid vaccine was not mandatory, people had choice, take it or leave it.
The general consensus (from the experts) at the time of it’s release, was that it would give some protection to the worst effects of the virus. Time has shown that fewer people are now dying in the UK from the virus than before we had a vaccine, so I guess they were probably right.
If anyone was unhappy about any part of the vaccine then I guess they could wait for an alternative and/or risk Covid having no affect on them.
December 7, 2022
If all the data the NHS holds about symptoms and patient profiles were grouped, a simple analytical programme would reveal many causes and their solutions.
December 7, 2022
Exactly, read the full vaccine report published on 01/12/2022 on gov.uk âCoronavirus vaccine – Summary of yellow card reportingâ. 140 m doses injected, 500k adverse reactions, thatâs 0.4% i.e., nothing specially different from the mandatory vaccines given to babies in their first few years.
The difference? The whole population was supposed to get the Covid vaccine, including a number of half-wits, mostly old innumerate statistics ignorant people.
And funnily enough a number of them congregate on this blog, one can wonder why? Do I need to say more?
Wanderer, you didnât want the vaccine, fair enough, thatâs your choice, but please stop blathering on about things I guess you donât know the first thing about.
December 7, 2022
I would like to add electronics. We have got to learn to stop our advanced electronics industries from being snapped up by Chine, USA or others. Why do we give away this valuable know-how?
December 7, 2022
Well we sell it rather than âgive it awayâ and then hopefully use the money to invest in other areas the IP goes but the know how often stays. But I agree in part.
So a UK weather warning for cold and icy weather. Far more lives lost from cold weather in the UK and worldwide than from hot weather. Even more this year as the net zero religion has pushed up energy costs so absurdly. Best not to slip on the ice and break a hip as you might have to wait 12 hours+ freezing to death for an ambulance. The envy of the World NHS as the BBC types like say.
December 7, 2022
Why would the young and ambitious want to stay in Tory socialist Britain?
Unable to buy a home and subjected to punitive levels of tax, itâs little wonder that many are planning to leave
Madeline Grant today.
Why indeed? Unless they want to live on benefits and do black market and have lots of children to get free social housing perhaps?
also âThe sinister truth about bird-killing wind âfarmsâ
The Tory party must have a death wish now that it has fallen back in love with onshore wind turbinesâ
by Matt Ridley is spot on as usual, total environmental and energy insanity from this dire net zero religion government. Vested interest and circa 97% of MPs with almost zero science beyond GCSE level.
December 7, 2022
So those who put in the seed finance may put their monies elsewhere if they cannot get early returns.
December 7, 2022
JR, your party and govt by its budget has killed growth relatively and absolutely says a lot of economic commentators, who would invest here with corporation tax hike higher than most countries and wind fall taxes!! Fracking allowed within two weeks banned!
We read today Sunak agreeing to double the amount of fracked gas bought from US! So transporting fracked gas across the world rather than producing it here is helping the planet! Rubbish!
Without the storage capacity is this a grubby underhanded deal to help out EU via gas inter-connectors to Belgium to help Germany? Hence why Germany wanting a bespoke deal with UK because under EU sell out agreement it would not be allowed. The same Germany who wanted to be hostile towards UK leaving and to punish us?
RoI (part of EU) is dependent on UK for gas. What has your govt got/achieved in return? Why cannot it be used as a lever to get changes to rotten protocol or better still scrap it! Remember vaccine ban, Jersey being threatened to be cut off from electric by EU. So it appears the UK is back in the EU energy pact in all but name!! More alignment and tying us in when UK should be independent! Any chance of getting the traitors in Govt. to act in UK interest?
The surrendering to EU on everything and never using levers at UK disposal shows why business and the nation cannot trust your dishonest party and govt. whose rules, regs and laws do they apply UK or EU! The protocol has already harmed N.Ireland and UK business through bureaucracy and cost. UK needs to scrap sell out agreement and be free from EU once and for all. Everyone knows where they stand and our country a co petit or in the world free to,choose itâs own path. Bit that would mean getting rid of Snake and Hunt who voted form vassalage under Mayâs deal!!
December 7, 2022
BD, what is the timescale you consider for such âearly returnsâ. I ask because it would seem that putting seed money into a start-up (even if successful) is usually not likely to provide any sizeable return before several years.
December 7, 2022
@Robert Bywater +1 – ARM comes to mind, the Government is a disgrace in that respect.
December 7, 2022
The Tory party only gets worried about the takeover of British companies that make bombs.
The Tories love bombing because they are sufficiently deluded as to believe they can do it to others with impunity, hiding behind the Rules-Based International Order which is in the process of being dismantled as large parts of the world are sick of it.
December 7, 2022
Good morning.
If you want growth and productivity you need to do two thimgs.
1. STOP listening to the likes of the pro-EU CBI.
2. STOP treating SME’s like ca$h cows and encourage them to invest more.
December 7, 2022
Agreed Mark. Industry will innovate and improve productivity where it makes financial sense. Government can help or hinder the process:
1) Reduce the supply of plentiful immigrant labour. Firms will automate and mechanise
2) Cut taxes on business. Firms will expand and boost profits in the UK
3) Reduce legislation/red tape. Again it will attract firms and encourage expansion
I could go on but you get the idea…
December 7, 2022
Indeed. Endless attacks on small businesses and the self employed and endless red tape diverting them from productive activity and so reducing productivity and ability to compete.
December 7, 2022
Just rang HMRC nearly an hour to get through at least it did not hang up this time. This must do wonders for productivity, keeping thousands of company directors etc. on hold for hours.
December 7, 2022
Mark B,
Once again, this about aligning with EU rules, regs and laws and not to be more competitive or diverge from EU!
This is about closely following and aligning to EU rules which always helps big business and corporates not small business.
People better wake and see the real agenda of Snake, Hint and the other traitors in Govt. selling out our nation for the EU.
It still puzzles me why Mitchell told the select committee that the sum of the overseas aid (% of GDP) was agreed with the world? Who does he mean? Was this not an independent decision made by our govt?
A bit like Snake agreeing to pay ÂŁ11.8 billion in climate scam reparations. How did he arrive at this sum? I am lost why JR and other do not demand an answer. Is this to attract business to other countries instead of our own? Which makes this blog a little bit irrelevant. Snake and Hint already transferring jobs and industry to China under claim the scam.
December 7, 2022
Net zero rules so nothing you recommend will be done as each one uses or produces CO2.
Business Extinction and Import Substitution is the government mantra and Rishy is a fully paid up member.
December 7, 2022
3. Ditch net zero/climate alarmism and go for cheap on demand energy.
4. Deregulate hugely.
5. Stop the endless government waste and corruption as we say with PPE and reduce and simplify taxes.
6. Halve the size of government.
7. Ditch loans for pointless degree. No point in people having worthless degrees, a loss of 3 years of income and ÂŁ50K of student debt plus interest at 7% hanging over them.
8. Ditch HS2
9. Go for easy hire easy fire employment laws.
10. Kill crony capitalism and corruption in government.
11. Have high skilled immigration only.
12. Get a health system that works and gets people back to work promptly.
13. Relax and speed up planning.
December 8, 2022
Not possible when deliberately not diverging but actually getting closer to EU.
December 7, 2022
@Mark B +1 The CBI has very little to do with the ‘British’ element it is primarily EU Companies that operate in the UK. British Companies left in their droves years ago and are now unlistened to by Government. So for the PM to be encouraging Foreign Companies to increase their hold on the UK Economy is contrary to what is needed. CBI members feed off the UK infrastructure but pay their dues in their home countries. Encouraging the CBI is encouraging UK decline.
December 7, 2022
+10
December 7, 2022
Well we all know the chances of any of these suggestions being implemented are pretty much zero. All he’s proposing on the energy front is more wind (unbelievable ) higher taxes and nothing in the way of fracking. I cannot watch much of the news anymore as I find it extremely depressing.
December 7, 2022
At least seven more years of green crap, crony vested interests & socialism is indeed very depressing. Majorities totally wasted by Cameron, May, Boris and now Sunak and May. They got all the big things wrong. Read the Boris manifesto, the Tories have delivered almost the complete opposite.
December 7, 2022
+1 FUS. The government doesn’t want Brexit Britain to thrive. It is more concerned with throwing unnecessary money at other countries (rather than be self sufficient) and inviting the worlds peoples into the UK with enticements of luxurious accommodation, free healthcare, free spending, etc. Your country not at war? No problem, you can still walk in here with no documentation and we’ll spoil you rotten while our own go cold and hungry. Likewise for criminals and terrorists.
December 7, 2022
It like theyâre doing everything possible just to piss off the people âŠthey appear to do the complete opposite of whats sensible, practical or what the majority want
Fracking Shale Gas = Windfarms
Growth = Higher Taxes
Leveling Up = Higher Immigration
Cost of Living = Increase in Foreign Aid
Democracy = Manifesto in Bin
Cost of Energy = Net Zero
December 7, 2022
glen…for you but others ought to be interested.
I have the latest RNLI MAGAZINE.
Craft launches: DOVER. boat ON1220
July 1,3,5,8,12,15,17 (x3),18,19, 24,25,29,30.
August 1,4(x2),7,9,11,(x2), 13,14 (x3),16,18,21,22(x3), 24,25(x2),27.
Sept 3,4(x2), 5(x3), 8,11,12,15,17,18,21.
BOAT ON1279.
Sep 21,22(x2), 23(x2), 29,30.
Lots of foolish sailors?
December 7, 2022
Rescuing boats in distress of sinking and lives in danger = Receiving seaworthy boats on handover from escorted French navy
December 7, 2022
Mickey Taking
Foolish sailors?
No way pal, all the skipper and the crew are all guilty of aiding and a betting criminals involved in illegal trafficking and transporting of illegal immigrants.
The organisation should have its charitable status removed.
December 8, 2022
Correct and most of the time itâs the French calling the RNLI to collect small boats, aiding and abetting is collusion to a crime â maybe someone should bring a prosecution against the RNLI âŠif joe citizen went out, in their own boat, to assist the illegal small boats, theyâd be arrested
December 8, 2022
I should have explained my sarcasm for you!
December 7, 2022
Yes and the latest pamphlet asking for money says please donate so that we can bring in people safely. Not on your Nellie when you’re bringing in Albanian criminals and others.
December 7, 2022
True I’m afraid FUS. “Home produced produces less CO2, sparing the CO 2 generated by long distance transport for imports” – not to mention that it clearly costs a great deal more to import – and who pays the final bill? We do!
How often are we told that the US (and Joe Biden in particular) won’t consider a trade deal with the UK? Of course Biden doesn’t object to us spending billions on importing US fracked gas from them. Don’t let’s fool ourselves, the world is going to need fossil fuels for a lot longer than just the next decade and the UK will be no exception. Wind (where ever you build it) just cannot replace fossil in terms of energy density. Nuclear is probably the long term solution and currently we have one new plant planned. Start fracking UK or we are all either going to feeeze or be broke – possibly both.
December 7, 2022
Yes, but instead the govt. has actually destroyed many businesses.
Needlessly, wantonly (unless the destruction was intentional!).
No wonder there is (as JR tweets) a worrying drop in self employment!
Why bother?
(Did anyone spare a thought for those whose businesses revolved around delivering services to Retirement Homes?).
December 7, 2022
Why bother indeed. Many will choose to go on benefits and do a bit or bartering, fire wood gathering or illegal cash in hand work. Why bother working hard working 40+ hours just to be circa ÂŁ20 a week better off very many will conclude and they will often be right. They government will find that higher tax rates produce less growth, less tax take, less investment, less working and a doom loop.
December 7, 2022
+1
I keep hoping for all that to start up.
December 7, 2022
@Cuibono – That is a WEF instruction and what this Government is pursuing, the dictate from them is âmobilization of global leaders to shape the principles, policies and partnerships needed in this challenging new contextâ To rebuild in this new image you have to destroy remnants of the existing other wise they may return
December 7, 2022
+many
Yes, sadly I have been following the saga of our leadersâ sell out (sell off?) to global forces.
Totally denied when mentioned to local councillors.
Deleted on here until fairly recently.
Maybe now that it has âleakedâ it doesnât matter?
But our politicians surely must have all been in the know?
Many people were thrown off the scent because warnings of all this were cleverly given through the prism of apparent madness. So even now some donât believe what is happening.
December 7, 2022
Electrical Revolution.
The further smothering of our countryside with wind turbines is not the answer. The impact on the areas chosen is immense with all the infrastructure to support them.
They are very limited being wholly dependent on weather and too much or to little makes them inefficient. Every 15 years they need replacing so the cycle starts again and still no real safe solution for the disposal of their components. The energy bill paying is paying a lot of money for a power source which over its life span is operating in the low twenty percent ranges, but receiving millions for constraint payments to satisfy its owners and shareholders.
December 7, 2022
Bill payer not paying
December 7, 2022
“Allow access to generic anonymised data about treatments and success rates in the NHS …..”
Since the NHS is completely ignoring the FAILURE RATE of the Covid vaccines ….. refusing to investigate the 2.5 million adverse effects (many life threatening) and the 2272 deaths …… this looks more like gas-lighting than a serious proposal.
I have absolutely no confidence that either the CBI or Sunak are capable of generating innovation or productivity. The CBI is only interested in importing as many low-wage immigrants as it can and the Government does what is necessary to facilitate it.
Meanwhile the House of Frauds have produced a report explaining how supposedly free British citizens must be nudged, bullied, coerced, threatened, taxed and legislated into the Net Zero insanity. With no democratic accountability whatsoever!
December 7, 2022
Interesting figures on the Scotland Against Spin (SAS) web site that upon checking the results of a survey by Renewables UK showing high percentage support for on shore turbines, the vast majority paid responders supporting them came from London and other city addresses. NIMBY ? We take all the power, rural areas take the pain
December 7, 2022
That sounds interesting, TT, but I’ve spent some time checking that website and I haven’t yet found the item you refer to.
December 7, 2022
âThe electrical revolutionâ??
Laugh?
Iâve never been so cold in my entire life!
Whereâs my free wind power heating?
My solar powered potato peeler?
Surely all MPs MUST understand the direction of travel.
Literally back to the Stone Age with a huge chunk of some terrible authoritarian regime thrown in!
Regulated flint mines.
December 7, 2022
The only time in my memory that we had secure cheap electricity was in the 80s 90s 00s when power plants where fired with coal and gas âŠ.then began the season of climate crusader lobbyists and net-zero
December 7, 2022
So, Sir John, you’re suggesting that Sunak’s government should invest in the future of this country?
Very unlikely, I should have thought. That’s what other countries do.
December 7, 2022
The last I saw, the CBI was pushing for yet more immigration! Why is the pro EU CBI is still listened to?
December 7, 2022
BOF
Yes more cheap labour from abroad, whilst we pay people already here to do nothing, and at the same time encourage those who could get out of the benefit trap, to stay in it and limit their working hours.
People on marginal working pay rates after a while may decide that they are then better off on benefits.
Would be interesting to know the figures of all people who are on one benefit or another, and if it has increased or decreased over the past couple of decades, likewise what are the overall costs of all benefits over the same period.
December 7, 2022
Perhaps because only 17.4 million people out of 66 million voted Leave, and plenty of those are no longer here either?
December 7, 2022
“In his speech to the CBI Annual Conference the Prime Minister called for more innovation and better productivity advances”
You make the mistake of assuming that when Sunak “calls for” something he’s actually prepared to implement some policies to make it happen. He isn’t. He’s more likely to implement policies to achieve the exact opposite of what he’s “calling for”. For example his high tax policies directly prevent innovation and his high immigration (lack of) policies reduce the need for productivity increases. When he “calls for” something all he’s trying to do is prevent a few Conservative voters from switching to Reform or Labour. Same when he launches “inquiries” to “report urgently” into various issues – it gives a pretence of action to cover his preference for inaction.
December 7, 2022
Every suggestion, Sir John, is excellent and logical but I have a vision that we have a PM who is completely out of his depth and paralysed like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. He does not know what to do or where to turn.
His Autumn budget put the brakes on growth and he hand-cuffed himself leaving no room to negotiate with the unions. He is no leader and appears to have little or no foresight and has allowed Hunt to box him into a corner.,
You mentioned his speech to the CBI which was, in my view, an insult to their intelligence and had absolutely no vision. We would be better off now we had Liz Truss in No10.
December 7, 2022
What we need is a 4 day week on full pay for all….And then UBI and Net Zero inspired State control of all private industry. And maybe Marxism. You know the type of crap that the Tories and their gloablist and Labour buddies have been pushing for some years
The climate change cult is a vehicle to enslave private and influence behaviour at all levels
The Tory party has been nobbled
December 7, 2022
+many
Climate change cult is also anti capitalism.
It wants to stop us consuming.
I still donât really get exactly what politicians think will be in all this for them.
December 7, 2022
I too fear for our society, community and tradition âŠevery day this government is taking us slowly towards a Marxist state â make no mistake ânet-zeroâ is a weapon against democracy
And the Tory haven’t been ‘nobbled’ they’re one of the main players
December 7, 2022
Indeed.
The Tory party needs to rethink its business model and before any pay rises must get its customers back – it must make efficiencies and change working practices.
I really don’t think it will exist after the next general election.
December 8, 2022
Excluding MPs lavish expenses, MPs salary 2022/23 increased by ÂŁ2,200 âŠno wonder all the public sector are going on strike â the MPs should have intervened and demanded a pay cut as a signal to the country
December 7, 2022
I prefer to invest in places and industries which I know about with huge demand and where the government walk the walk instead of just talking the talk.
December 7, 2022
I completely agree, however Prime Minister Sunak and Chancellor Huntâs increases in taxation including corporation tax is surely in total opposition to the aspirations raised in the CBI speech? Tax increases are the greatest disincentive to investment and growth including job creation. This administration is travelling in the wrong direction.
December 7, 2022
To increase productivity and innovation there needs to be greater training and employers must be allowed to handcuff the recipients of advanced training for a period to make it worth their while. Otherwise instead of better productivity employers will look for volume from cheap labour. One good employee can be worth three poor ones. That also requires greater flexibility in hiring and firing
December 7, 2022
China and India do not find their productivity hampered by net-zero initiatives.
I spent 2 hours yesterday answering a compliance “event” (questionnaire) for a major hotel chain so we could become a supplier. I answered “no” or “N/A” to most of their questions as they were completely irrelevant for an organisation of our size. We may not become a supplier to this organisation now. How is that productive for either of us?
December 7, 2022
Theyâll be still roasting marshmallows over a coal fire in China when weâre long dead due to the cold
December 7, 2022
He calls for it but zero idea how to achieve it, another all speak no action from this government. What about reducing tax, attract new business/entrepreneurs. Ha. Ha. Ha.
This is a socialist government, Tory in name only.
December 7, 2022
you will never get innovation in the way IT is staffed when its so cheap just to use Indian workers imported on uncapped intra company transfer visas, working for Infosys & their peers, when they are taxed significantly less than locals, and they spend a lot of their time moving the best British intellectual property abroad to undercut this country.
maybe you could pass that message onto Rishi…
December 7, 2022
+1 why would businesses invest loads of capital on extra machines and equipment for increased productivity when you have cheap imported labour available that is cheaper and needs little investment?
December 7, 2022
Would it be too bold though to start using Brexit freedoms as soon as 2023? We have waited all these years so there must be some cause for the delay.
December 7, 2022
Defence spending. Navantia, Spainâs state-owned shipbuilding company, will play a key role in the construction of three new British Navy supply vessels. Three 216-metre auxiliary ships that will carry supplies and ammunition to British Navy aircraft carriers, destroyers and frigates. The ships will be among the largest in the British fleet, smaller than only the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers.
December 7, 2022
acorn, you really couldn’t make this sort of thing up. I wonder how much less the Spanish quoted than British companies? Was the loss in Corporation tax, employees taxes and local supply chain worth the difference?
John, you tell us to improve productivity and innovate then your government gives away our work; passport printing (France), ships (Spain), Gas (USA).
December 8, 2022
Sitting ducks to supply sitting ducks.
December 7, 2022
Off topic;
Sir JR, at one time this blog included the tag line “speaking for England” I had hoped you would have something to say about Brown’s/Labour new Devolution plan, which as expected, refers to the “nations and regions” But of course does not include England in the nations. Once again they are hoping to split England up whilst maintaining Scotland, Wales and (probably) N.Ireland.
I agree we should remove the House of Lords. It should become the Federal chamber. Westminster should become the English parliament. Equality, Democracy and fairness for ALL the nations of the UK.
December 7, 2022
No MP in the Tory party speaks for England. They know the intent of government and the parties is its destruction.
Talk by some about not liking this or that is as far as they go. Regional devolution they say will be ok in the main and is done as a benefit.
They will though happily give Scotland more and more power which will make it in effect a single independent identity, but the Scots will never stop demanding. Surrender to them is normal behaviour.
They are not interested that the only decency would be a true parliament for England. That may of course reduce their personal profile in Westminster and they won’t want that. England will be sacrificed instead and broken into regions which will compete against each other. The destruction of England is a secret Tory policy as it must be kept weak.
December 7, 2022
Old Albion, I wonder about ‘regions’ in ONS calculations and other government statistical reporting.
Supermarkets are one of the UKs biggest revenue raisers ÂŁ190bn. They are all over the Country, yet are not headquartered in each region; most of the big ones are headquartered in the South e.g. Sainsburys in London, Tesco Welwyn Garden City, Lidl Tolworth. A few are foreign-owned, so is their revenue included as profits flow out of the UK rather than paying corporation tax on the profits made here?
Asda, since Feb 21 HQ is in Leeds and is British, (we should be supporting British-owned and based supermarkets), the split of the revenue shouldn’t all be claimed as being generated in London and the SE or even Yorkshire if the revenue is split up regionally, even the ONS say their regional figures aren’t definitive. Same for all the other big revenue companies like Construction.
December 7, 2022
Hear hear +1
Sir John, can we have more information about this, please. I am sick an tired of what I, and I am sure amny others see, as the continuation of EU type policies even though we should have left.
December 7, 2022
The law of government intervention 101
âInnovation and productivity will decrease in direct proportion to the rise in government red-tape and business taxationâ
But this government has a plan â lets import innovation & productivity
December 7, 2022
You’ve been in power 12 years. You’ve done none of this. Time to go
December 7, 2022
Theyâre not going to lose the next election because theyâre inept, corrupt nor incompetent⊠no no no theyâre going to lose the next election because we just donât trust them anymore
Brexit for the whole UK â What about NI
Immigration in the 10s of 1,000s â Immigration all time high
Protect our fisheries â Sold off to the French
Cheap secure energy â Expensive net-zero
No rise in NI tax â Rise in NI tax
Yes to fracking â No to fracking â Yes to fracking â No to fracking
December 8, 2022
Add to that the debacle of onshore wind.
December 7, 2022
Todays submission contains one gross ommission, the Public Sector. They and their paymasters in government do not know the meaning of the word productivity. In fact government are that permanent sea anchor trailng in the wake of the private sector in addition to their abysmal efforts in the public sector. Amateur government are a luxury we cannot afford.
Just one example the NHS. By repute short of 130,000 employees with medical training. However burdoned with 47.0% of none medically trained staff, around 650,000. Solution , make redundant 130,000 of them across the salary range to pay for more medics. Then train far more medics at zero cost to them if they contract their first ten years of post training medical work to the NHS. That is the longterm solution to a lack of medics, in the short term import them on 5-10 year contracts. Export willing patients to suitable overseas centres with spare capacity. Yes that could mean Australia, transport being a negligable element in the overall cost.
Audit what 650,000 none medics actually do and pare them back to essential activities, diversity operatives being the first to go. Introduce Kaizen to the medical units from Consultants to Porters, they being the ones who know where and how productivity can be improved. The private sector has competition to weed out lack of productivity. Short of writing a book that is enough for one answer.
December 8, 2022
All too obviously toxic to conservative woke thinking. We often learn more from the way you moderate than from what you write.
December 7, 2022
I see Charles has capitulated to the social justice warriors.
Game over for the Royals and the Tories. Both have absolutely sold their souls to the Left. Shameful
Farage can take the Tories to the cleaners. People are sick and tired of grievance mongers
John can moan all he likes about the issues he raises but when Labour get back in all his energies will have been wasted. Labour will destroy what’s left of this Stalinist dump that is now the UK
December 7, 2022
Self employment is dropping, JR because non-VAT-Registered start up businesses pay 20% VAT on energy bills that they canât reclaim.
All innovative businesses being as a start-up.
December 7, 2022
Lynn
All governments have been against the Self Employed for decades, by steadily raising taxes, reducing allowances (Fiscal Drag) and by introducing more and more regulation which requires more and more time to complete, all because they cannot easily control them, unlike PAYE employed people.
Self employed people tend to think outside the box in order to grow and survive, hence the reason the government have problems finding a box to put them in !
So they try to remove the box altogether, but in doing so they destroy the very competitive drive that such people have in abundance, and thus levelling down the innovative and productive people that the Country desperately needs.
December 7, 2022
Berkshire Alan
Totally correct very well said.
December 7, 2022
We urgently need a government with a sound industrial strategy (that should certainly seek innovation and productivity) and the will to pursue it aggressively given the worldwide protectionist measures being adopted, by China and the USA and with the Evil Empire on the verge of abandoning its fondness for free trade.
December 7, 2022
The majority of Defence spending appears to be used in producing devices that go bang, destroying lives, buildings and other things of high value.
Since it is mostly people that activate those devices, innovation should create instruments that prevent those malevolent persons at source.
December 7, 2022
Good morning Sir John
Energy. There is an item in today’s Telegraph which says it all âA cargo ship loaded at a port in Nantong in China’s eastern Jiangsu provinceâ The cargo? Windmills/turbines for the world.
If the UK is to pursue this erratic supplied wind energy, all production should be in the UK not just the assembly. Securing a future doesnât happen when the UK increases World CO2 emission from imports or when âALLâ our supplies are at the whims of Foreign Politics.
We need a UK Government, we need people that direct procurement to be on the side of the UK.
December 7, 2022
Sir John,
Sunak “Talks the talk but does not Walk the walk”. I presume because of the agenda of his puppet masters who put him in place in the first place (with no mandate).
December 7, 2022
âHome produced produces less CO2, sparing the CO2 generated by long distance transport for imports.â
There is no need to reduce anthropological CO2 emissions.
CO2 does not drive global temperature as shown by the Antarctic Vostok Ice Core Data and ridiculous to believe the UN/Marxist/BBC propaganda that western CO2 is bad but Chinese CO2 is good.
There is no empirical evidence that we have a climate catastrophe. We simply have some beneficial warming â a 1 degree C rise since the Little Ice Age. In fact it is illogical to believe that this warming leads to more extreme weather :
Global warming is a misnomer. It should be called polar warming as most of the rise or fall in average global temperature occurs towards the poles. There is very little change at the equator. Weather is driven by temperature differences across the planet, so if there is global warming and consequently the polar regions are warmer and closer in temperature to the equator, then it follows that the driving force/energy for weather extremes will be reduced.
December 7, 2022
“oil and gas are transition fuels which will continue to provide the bulk of the UKâs energy this decade whilst the electrical revolution develops.”
It’s time for a proper debate on this so-called electrical revolution. I don’t see mining tons of copper and other minerals as being green and good for the environment. I also don’t see the benefit of importing fuel from other countries when we are sitting on a vast amount of our own resources. Politicians seem to have bought into this net zero nonsense without understanding the bigger picture.
December 7, 2022
……..government accepts that oil and gas are transition fuels which will continue to provide the bulk of the UKâs energy this decade……….
Plus decades to come.
December 7, 2022
Sensible, but how much of this fits in withe HMG’s 2130 agenda?
Without reasonably priced energy and lower taxes this will never be achieved.
December 7, 2022
“In his speech to the CBI Annual Conference the Prime Minister called for more innovation and better productivity advances.”
This may be what our PM tells us, but his actions are the opposite.
He imports hundreds of thousands of low calibre/low productivity legal and illegal immigrants with a completely different culture to the native population whilst driving out the entrepreneurs and skilled workers with high taxes to pay for a generous welfare state to attract even more low calibre/low productivity immigrants.
How better to destroy the morale of the nation, particularly the young, by importing Albanian criminals and giving them full 4 star hotel accommodation, free health and social care, ÂŁ40/week pocket money and the complete freedom to roam our streets to do as they please whilst the natives are treated with contempt with high taxes, high house prices, high living costs, and the coming restrictions/rationing of energy, travel, heating and food?
December 8, 2022
+1000
December 7, 2022
Another basic ingredient is Education . Providing knowledge at the right time has a significant effect on careers . AI has an increasing role to play in the economy and it needs to be stimulated in a school’s regular time table .
December 7, 2022
Another idea to accompany modular nuclear energy is utilise the waste heat fom the turbines to heat nearby homes using “heat and power” technology, similar to heaters in cars, by piping the waste steam normally cooled and condensed back to water in cooling towers to homes, offices or factories.
December 7, 2022
âMPs and peers tasked with completing a year 6 SATS examen have scored lower results on average than the countryâs 10-year oldsâ, Guardian/Grauniad 06/12/2022.
âOnly 44% of the cross-party group of the parliamentarians dubbed the Westminster Class of 2022 achieved the expected standard in maths and just 50% achieved the standard in spelling, punctuation and grammarâ.
âOut of the Blueâ (H.Cole, J.Heale, 2022) reports that Ms Truss was asking her SpAds and CSs some arithmetic questions to check their numeracy (a very entertaining book, BTW).
December 7, 2022
Para 1. True, but strippjng out EU restrictive rules and regulation could accelerate growth and productivity.
Para.2. No arguement with this.
Para.3., Activity yes, more people can reduce production ler capita, hence lower prodhctivity.
Numbered para 1. Yes create a partnership but make sure there are tangible benefits in unit price to the NHS when a new product emerges.
Numbered para 2. Do not overlook coal. We should aim at energy self sufficiency.
Numbered para 3. Yes remove artificial accounting schemes that allow politicians to virtue signal.
Numbered para4. Yes ++++
Numbered para 5. Give RR every support tk get SMRs up and running ASAP.
December 7, 2022
Yes, these are all fine ideas, but you omit the two most important policies:
1. Make ALL expenditure on R&D 120% tax deductible. This super-deduction will encourage a wave of innovation that will help make British companies more successful.
2. Adopt a 100% Buy British policy for ALL public spending – whether by central government, local authorities, or any public body. These bodies are all funded by the British people so should be banned from using that British money to give employment and profits to foreigners.
The US has adopted strongly patriotic economic policies through their Inflation Reduction Act which are proving very effective at inducing European companies to move production there. So much so that the filthy EU are whining hysterically about it! Why don’t WE adopt similar policies? Oh yes, I know, because we are governed by TRAITORS. It just makes me so angry.
December 7, 2022
You point number 2 should be made law today
December 7, 2022
Yes, but with protection, buy British but looks what happens when we have âno choiceâ but to use British. The Unions go crazy, never satisfied, never appreciative of all the hidden perks and benefits. More wants more.
The British public subsidise the railways up from ÂŁ7.2bn in 2010 to ÂŁ18.2bn the year before covid 2018, then ÂŁ27.48bn in 2020/21 and ÂŁ25.2bn 2021/22. Its just rip off Britain, they canât afford to pay the rail drivers ÂŁ65,000 some ÂŁ75,000 never mind a further out of control rise, they didnât drop to 80% when not used during covid lockdown, they got paid in some instances to run near empty trains they say.
Our NHS had worse outcomes than all the other EU countries bar Romania in a league of treatments.
December 8, 2022
Not a âbuy only britishâ but a âbuy british firstâ
If the british product doesnât meet the contract specification, build or cost then you can go worldwide âŠbut the first tender should only be for british products
December 8, 2022
Agreed glen.
The tender application should also take into account the tax received straight back if a British company is used.
December 7, 2022
@X-Tory – Adopt a 100% Buy British policy for ALL public spending, – or at least factor in the cost of lost taxes to the UK. Profiting from UK infrastructure then escaping to pay tax elsewhere is ‘freeloading’ on those that contribute to the UK economy. Or in other words the indigenous UK business is subsidising the theft of their own business by those not domiciled here – One of the causes of the excessive high tax on those still here.
December 7, 2022
120% tax deductible! And what else, do you want a box of chocolate truffles with it?
A large fraction of SMEs strictly speaking do not have any real âresearch and developmentâ. So even if costs linked to hiring buildings, machinery, computing hardware and software, possibly employee training were to be included in âdevelopmentâ, I do NOT see any reason for such a company to get a 120% rate specially for a nonexisting âresearchâ. A 100% rate might be acceptable in some circumstances with justifications, anything above would be taxpayersâ money (from the public purse) given to private interests. And as a good (X-)Tory you would not want to be subsidised by the State, wouldnât you?
In that respect Mr Johnson was right when he said âf,,k businessâ, some âentrepreneursâ are really out there only to try and sponge as many subsidies as possible. Where are the so often acclaimed ârisk takersâ?
December 7, 2022
We had software developed for our company to improve productivity, reports, utilisation of resources, to cut down on administration. It was very costly and has required lots of development as technology has changed and improved. Yet that is not considered R&D.
Not everyone manufactures a product.
December 7, 2022
X-Tory
You forgot to mention charities.
Buy British goods or lose your tax benefits.
December 8, 2022
+1
December 7, 2022
These are good suggestions by Sir John but is the Government listening? My jaundiced view of the new PM so far is that he is a managerialist without a strategic thought in his head.
December 7, 2022
@David Paine – you are wrong, if the PM knew anything about managing (he is in charge of managing the UK, he is in charge how the departments of State perform and he is in charge of the UK’s laws and regulations ) we wouldn’t be in such dire straits.
December 7, 2022
Its the continuation of Boris Johnson saving the Planet by going for Net Zero before any other Nation and putting imports ahead of our own welfare. Something no other Country would contemplate
December 7, 2022
This comment is in the wrong place – should be acorn below
December 7, 2022
I had a letter from from the PM inviting me to donate to ensure that the Consocialists won the next GE, all the usual guff, the Russians are responsible for the huge increase in the cost of energy, our defence secretary is lauded for helping poor little Ukraine and so onâŠ.
Are there still people out there who arenât aware of exactly what is going on?
I wrote on it why I wouldnât be donating and returned it in the reply-paid envelope, I also had a request from Fataturk to donate to the Critical Seats fund some time ago which got the same treatment.
December 7, 2022
I am a daily reader of your diary & like many people am thoroughly fed up with what our so-called “conservative” government is doing. There appears to be no understanding of how to motivate & encourage people as the recent budget showed. Just who do the PM & Chancellor listen to, as it is obviously not you! Does anyone in government from top to bottom ever talk to you?
You have the right ideas but seem to be a lone voice in the wilderness. Can you not build a grouping of conservative MPs who will force the government to listen & change course? Jeremy Hunt is so stupid he does not understand the benefit to our economy of VAT-free shopping for visitors from overseas!! What hope is there?
December 7, 2022
Totally agree, Keith.
December 7, 2022
Talking visitors from overseas. Since October 1st, 2021, any European citizen wanting to visit the UK has needed to hold a passport when previously a national ID card was sufficient. Since the ID card can be used for travel anywhere within the EU, many French families donât have passports; meaning, parents need to apply for a passport for their children, in order for them to go on a school trip to the UK. Hence, school trips to the UK have dropped by three quarters.
December 7, 2022
Sir JR
”the government needs to use its Brexit freedoms ”
This must be a joke we have had five years to the freedoms that never arrived.
Why, should they suddenly show up?
It has just made our exports to Europe that much more difficult
December 7, 2022
Bill, that is a blatant fib, we didnât have five years at all, we were stuck in the withdrawal agreement unable to negotiate or change until January 2021.
What is a joke is that Boris didnât move fast to grab the opportunities he could.
December 8, 2022
Just after the referendum, in July 2016 the Department for BEIS was created with deregulation officially among its objectives. We have successively had Greg Clark (7/16-7/19), Leadsom (7/19-2/20), Sharma (2/20-1/21), Kwarteng (1/21-9/22).
From Febâ22 we had JRM first as Minister for Brexit Opportunities and Government Efficiency, then from Sepâ22 to Octâ22 as Minister for BEIS.
Can you remind us of all the Brexit-related achievements during that period. You might want to focus on the successes post Janâ21. Thanks in advance.
December 8, 2022
Interesting hefner. I thought we couldnât diverge from the EU regulations all the time we were in the withdrawal agreement, do you have evidence or something I can read that says otherwise.
I would love Kwarteng to answer what he and his department achieved from January 2022. You never much see any pro-Brexit changes in the papers I guess Iâll have to try to trawl through the pro-Brexit websites for you like https://facts4eu.org/ although they are very frustrated with this Conservative government that promised so much if they were given sovereignty back. Jacob should have concentrated on ten regulations at a time instead of trying to do too many but are you claiming he did nothing at all? Perhaps John could invite Jacob on here in an interview to ask why?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-benefits-of-brexit
New UK pro-competition regime for digital markets. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1054643/benefits-of-brexit.pdf
December 8, 2022
Thanks. Pages 5-19 have indeed a list of the âAchievements So Farâ (some time in H21 I suppose). Of the listed 76 achievements under seven headings, which ones do you think have now (near the end of 2022) positively affected the average Britonâs daily life? the average British SME? the major British companies? the financial services and the banks?
Do you expect more benefits to come within the next two years? next 10 years? (As once said by JRM) next 50 years?
December 9, 2022
Hefner, what is H21 (gas projects?)? I am pleased that manufacturing businesses have been re-siting back in the UK arenât you? Iâm pleased that people are regaining manufacturing employment. We are supposed to have a co-operative trade agreement, it doesnât seem very co-operative to the UK and this government let us down not being able to put the same restrictive practises in place to overturn some of the ridiculous decisions. Iâm pleased that some trade balances with big deficits to the UK are reducing.
I quite like reading Robert Kimbell on twitter 7am to 8am to read about people siting in the UK and expanding. Exports are up to the USA our no 1 export market, South Korea and several EU export markets.
Fabricant today said red-tape cutting by h treasury will finally start to unlock ÂŁ100 billion of private investment, hopefully this will be reinvested in UK infrastructure projects.
The public sector is freezing purchasing since October half-term that is doing much more damage to the UK. I think Sunak and Hunt are doing everything possible at the moment to create a freeze of the benefits of leaving, much worse than Brexit did to the Country.
December 7, 2022
Sir John:
I don’t know why you bother. Everything this government does is the opposite of what should be done. High taxes and net zero and high immigration: why bother voting?
The WEF coup is complete. The Conservative (in name only) Party is a busted flush.
December 7, 2022
To increase productivity :
1) Cancel the Net Zero Strategy where ÂŁ3tn+ is going to be spent on the completely pointless exercise to reduce our 1% contribution to global CO2 emissions and leave us with meagre/rationed supplies of expensive and intermittent energy and impractical heat pumps and evs and totally dependent upon China for our energy, raw materials and goods. There is no empirical evidence for a climate catastrophe and even the UN has âclimate actionâ only as number 13 in their list of âSustainable Development Goalsâ
2) Cut down by half or even by three-quarters the universities. Firstly this will release people who currently have little to do but dream up ways to destroy our economy and glue themselves to roads back into real, worthwhile jobs. Secondly it will stop our young people spending 3 years being indoctrinated with Marxist ideology and then leaving with an unpayable debt for life and a useless degree. A bonus would be the removal of the 120,000 Chinese âstudentsâ who inhabit our universities and most of the foreign students with all their âdependentsâ.
December 7, 2022
Ref innovation & productivity, its time to stop the pantomime of the PMQs, itâs a farce, its two head school boys trying to out debate each other â the house of commons is no longer the mother of parliament
December 7, 2022
Another hard-hitting truthful article on Net Zero Watch from Matt Ridley in the Spectator.
Just about says it all
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/12/01/the-tories-wind-power-delusion-matt-ridley/
December 7, 2022
The BBC reporting yesterday the new construction of the Mersey tidal power plant, to be built by South Korea âŠ.another net-zero initiative at a cost of ÂŁ3.5bn to the taxpayer that will NOT reduce anyoneâs domestic energy bills
December 7, 2022
John, when earnings are mentioned as not growing in ‘real’ terms, I wonder how that is because the NMW/NLW has pushed up differentials considerably over inflation over time. Plus holidays were increased to a 28 day minimum in the Working Time Directive. The WTD pushed down overtime, hours of work, and more part-time work as more women had to go back out to work as their partner’s overtime got cut.
Average working hours have dropped considerably. Net pay has dropped because the government introduced workplace pensions, taking a further 8% out of people’s pay. The only people not feeling this are public sector workers who already had minimum contributions with their employer making up 20 to 25% of employer’s contributions to get defined benefits and using half a million ÂŁ of ratepayers’ money to top up council pensions, and using money that should be spent on doing up houses and building new housing stock on Housing Association ex-council pensions. Check it out.
Some of these train drivers are earning ÂŁ78,000 and asking the public to support them without giving us their whole package. Give us their whole package, not the cleaner in the railway station, the qualified staff and how long their training period will be replaced. One thing that is cutting through is that the government is giving subsidies to the railway companies even on days when the service is cut, so sort that out by removing the subsidy for any day the trains don’t run!
December 7, 2022
Fracking.
The USA is sending us gas which has been fracked.
Honestly!
December 7, 2022
Agree â its beyond ridicule, its almost treason
December 7, 2022
@Mike Stallard – and adding on CO2 delivery miles, while UK Gas stays in the ground.
December 7, 2022
The UK government does not have an equity stake in its oil and gas resources, it just takes some tax and fees. Unlike Norway’s government which makes two and a half times as much out of each barrel. Hence its large sovereign wealth fund, helped by selling large quantities of gas to the UK.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/image_data/file/156774/Chart_1_-_2022.png
There’s reckoned to be about 200 – 250 billion m3 of gas left in the UKCS, equivalent to three years of UK consumption. Production declined to 29 billion m3 in 21/22, similar to that imported from Norway. It will be interesting to see who has a high risk appetite in this highly volatile market, to literally go scraping the bottom of the UKCS barrel.
December 7, 2022
@acorn – little old Norway with the Worlds 2nd Largest Sovereign Fund. The UK doesnât invest, as in seek a reinvestable return, they have taxpayers for that. But the UK will just give away money with no accountability attached, the give even more ÂŁ50billion to China, ÂŁ90billion to India in order that those Countries can maintain their Nuclear Arsenals and Space Programs.
December 7, 2022
@acorn – Its the continuation of Boris Johnson saving the Planet by going for Net Zero before any other Nation and putting imports ahead of our own welfare. Something no other Country would contemplate
December 8, 2022
Norway is the 11th country donating money to the Global Fund but the first donor per capita to the GF. As for accountability, it is also the third country donor in aid to development, most of it (74%) as unmarked to UNHCR.
(Theglobalfund.org, oecd.org/dec, oecd.org/oda, unric.org)
As pointed out a couple of days ago, UK money to India has not been going to the Indian government since 2015 but is distributed to companies chosen by the UK.
(icai.independent.gov.uk, 02/08/2022, Aid to India/Approach paper/Rationale,purpose and scope).
4th paragraph: âThis review is to examine how the UKâs aid spending in India has developed since DFID ceased direct financial aid to the Indian government since 2015â.
But despite this reference I donât doubt that some other contributor(s) in some weeks, months, possibly years will go on with âUK aid helping India maintaining their nuclear arsenal and space programâ.
December 7, 2022
You talk only of already discovered fields acorn.
All my life we have been told how fossil fuels are finite and will run out.
Yet decades later we have more reserves now than ever before.
December 8, 2022
Correct and if climate change is in doubt or a scam ….LETS USE IT
December 7, 2022
We have heard all this before ?
You have forgotten Life long learning, and Adult Education and Training, for that high valued employment policy, as part of your Brexit migration policy?
So, what has happened?
We are still stuck with councils that are pushing their small c conservatism (Customs Union) policy’s ! Based on, cheap labour migration, with a few Albanian drug barons mixed in!
Productivity, in this country, has been falling or static in parts, since the 2008/9 financial crash?
Even Labour Wales recognises the need to reform Devolution, all we get is your patronising crap !
Yes, you can expect my vote, NOT !
December 8, 2022
I see that a new gas deal has been struck between the UK and USA and a coal mine has been given the go ahead to be reopened, I wonder when we will see the effects of this. Sunak has the clout because of money and influence ; it shouldn’t be , but it is . As Trump says my beauty is because I am rich.
December 7, 2022
‘Electrical revolution’
Hahahaha
You can heat your home, but you can’t use coal, gas, oil, or wood. You have to have a heat pump (ÂŁ25000).
Slight technical hitch peasant, the wind is not blowing.
Freeze to death, you don’t matter.
December 7, 2022
If I am to believe GB News, and they usually get it right, the Michael Gove is going to open the Cumbrian coal mine to service our steel industry. Nice to see the Millipede in a tizzie at this. Doesn’t like the thousands of jobs this will create or the elimination of carbon miles in getting someone elses coal to us. What a w….r, now lets go on fracking.
December 7, 2022
Woooo!
A coal mine has been approved!
No U turns please.
December 8, 2022
If they can approve mining they can approve fracking
December 7, 2022
“the Prime Minister called for more innovation”
At least as far back as the first Wilson government, Prime Ministers have routinely called for ‘technological innovation’. It’s just a phrase they feel they have to repeat. None of them would be able to tell genuine innovation from craziness, charlatanry, or clichĂ©.
December 7, 2022
Cutting the salaries of the NI MLA’s would be a start.. but lucky Sir Jeffrey DUP ’cause he sits in a different house.
December 8, 2022
Surely more logical to cut the salaries of Westminster government ministers, as the government by agreeing to the Northern Ireland Protocol in effect (as the High Court found) tacitly repealed Article 6 of the Act of Union and have caused a massive anti-Union breach in the Good Friday Agreement, about which Northern irish Unionists are quite justifiably protesting.
Sir John, most creditably, did not vote for the NIP – but his colleagues did.
December 7, 2022
Perhaps a trustfund could be set up, funded from the ‘overseas aid’ budget . This could be used to investigate cheaper drugs, treatment and or natural therapeutics. It would save the NHS money. It could then make those studies freely available for regulatory approval if considered risky enough to warrant an appraisal. This is how we create win win with aid budgets, instead of no doubt vast waste and worse.
As covid vaccines have been declared safe and effective , it should not be hard to reach the same conclusion on a raft of other off labels uses. It might even be that some of them are out of patent and could save the NHS some money.
Emeramide was mentioned in an article on TCW.
December 9, 2022
The most irritating thing about nuclear fusion is our slavish worship at the foot of the Russian idol Tokamak, which is arguably crap.
Cant we think for ourselves anymore? Whatever happened to the legendary British ingenuity and engineering creativity? Subsumed by conglomeration.
No point even trying, as any British success seems to be promptly sold to the highest foreign bidder, and expertise with it…