When we had many nationalised industries they dominated public accounts and caused some of the overspending and over borrowing that damaged the Labour government of 1974-9. Nationalised industries sacked a lot of employees, over charged customers and often lost taxpayers huge sums. Rail, coal, steel were in painful decline. Telecoms fell well behind technically with shortages of investment.
Today the public accounts are being damaged again by two nationalised industries, rail and the Post Office, and by the colossal losses of the Bank of England. Ā Since 2022 the Bank has demanded Ā£50 bn from taxpayers to pay its bills. Network Rail has just got approval for Ā£30 bn of taxpayer cash for the next five years. The Post Office has lost Ā£1400 m in recent years and now expects taxpayers to pay up for all the repayments and compensation they owe the sub postmasters.
I have often reported on the needless damage to the accounts Ā being perpetrated by the Bank. The Fed does not send its losses to the US Treasury for reimbursement. The ECB does not sell its bonds at huge losses in the markets. Only The Bank of England does this.
Network Rail plans to rely on taxpayer grant for almost two thirds Ā of its cash needs. Only 4% will come from revenues of its commercial, property and freight interests. It has fabulous land and buildings, with key sites in the Ā centres of our cities and many towns . It fails to develop those and to harness private capital to make more stations good locations to visit with retail and services. It fails to develop land Ā adjacent to stations and rail yards for commercial purposes.
Nationalised HS 2 was a spectacular Ā failure at building the original northern rail scheme to something like budget and timetable . It is ending up building Ā us a ridiculously costly additional London to Birmingham line Ā when improved signalling and by pass track would have been a much cheaper answer to any capacity issues.
April 5, 2024
Indeed, gross incompetence or crony capitalism or just pure corruption? Snouts in the trough surely should MPs be allowed to be paid consultants to vested interest and even award honours and lordships to donars? HS2 was never a remotely sensible project & yet was supported by all the main parties.
The insanities of the net harm Covid Lockdowns, net harm (unsafe and fairly ineffective) Covid Vaccines (and even for the young and those who had had Covid) and Net Zero are even more insane and expensive. Again supported by all the main parties against all rational science and logic.
April 5, 2024
The railways should raise their own revenue. Why should we all pay towards something only 10% of the population use.
As for the BoE you’ve had nearly 15 years to sort them out.
Wait until the bills for nut zero come in, bankruptcy around the corner.
April 5, 2024
We need fair competition between road and rail. One is taxed to death, roads blocked and motorists mugged the other highly subsidised. Where are the fair competition authorities? The same applies for the NHS and private healthcare, state and private schools, state subsidies housing, universities, one size rip off personal mortgages from Andrew Baileyā¦ The competition authorities never address grossly unfair competition from the state sector.
April 5, 2024
The average subsidy per rail journey is circa Ā£7.51, more than the average fare of Ā£6.12. So over 60% is subsidy
Meanwhile the average car journey pays well over 50% in taxes for fuel, roads, vat, repairs ofter pot hole damages, motoring mugging taxesā¦
Despite this the train often costs 2 to 15 times more than a car depending on car occupancy. The car also goes door to door and needs no double journey taxis or drop offs at each end. Far more flexible too for carrying and storing luggage or picking up shopping, childrenā¦ on route.
April 5, 2024
A return rail journey from near where I live to Waterloo costs around Ā£60. Parking charges apply in the railway car park.
A return coach journey from near where I live to Hammersmith Bus Garage costs around Ā£24. No parking charges in the coach car park.
If I wanted to make the journey tomorrow by train …. tough ….. they’re on strike. I’ve never known the (private) coach company to go on strike.
As they say …. go figure.
April 5, 2024
More than 600 British jurists, including three retired judges from the U.K. Supreme Court, are calling on the government to suspend arms sales to Israel, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak after the deaths of three U.K. aid workers in an Israeli strike.
Where and how do they recruit these dopes? What do they think might be achieved by such an action?
Have these āJudgesā said anything about the tens of thousands of post Covid Vaccine UK excess death as a result of what was surely gross or even criminal negligence in coercing dangerous and ineffective net harm vaccines into people who never needed them?
April 6, 2024
One of these ‘dopes’, as you call them, was Jonathan Sumption, one of the very few members of the English legal establishment to speak out against the constitutional legality of lockdowns. Wasn’t he among the good guys ,for you?
April 5, 2024
The only evidence that anyone in Parliament or the government cares about these serious matters comes from you. Why do Ministers neglect the remedial action so much needed to benefit us all?
April 5, 2024
@formula57 +1 so very true the bulk of the HoC appears to filled with freeloaders, no interest in their job or serving those they ask to empower them, but expect to be paid from the same magic money tree all the other strange entities believe exists
April 5, 2024
I was surprised to see a YouGov poll showing that in most cases the public favours nationalisationā¦.NHS, Schools, Police but not airlines.
And Labour is determined to renationalise the Post Officeā¦more chaos.
Reply The Post Office is nationalised, never privatised
April 5, 2024
Apparently people have swallowed Labourās urging that all will be well when services are put into public hands.
They quite forget that it just means things will be run along left wing party lines.
And I doubt if they will be based on efficiency or ease of use or affordability.
Noā¦it will be unicorns and magik and a whole new raft of supposed hate crimes.
Like saying you prefer gas to heat pumps.
April 5, 2024
Reply to reply
Oh yes sorry.
That should be Royal Mailā¦65% want it in ( to stay in ?) public ownership.
I never could fathom the Royal Mail/Post Office divide. Still back in the days of GPO.
April 5, 2024
Oh dear!
I see below that you say Royal Mail is privatised.
So Labour wants to nationalise that?
HOW could the tories hand us over to the coming chaos when all they have to do is stop the boats and drop the wokery? And bring back Boris ( I donāt careā¦he just might save us from Labourā¦he could be made a Lord like Cameron?).
Basically anything to stop Labour.
April 5, 2024
Actually..maybe scrub that!
Iāve just seen the govtās latest.
The vastly expensive registration of back garden chickens/geese/ducks etc
Never in all my lifeā¦..
April 5, 2024
That will be an EU Regulation. The EU we’re supposed to have left.
They don’t want people keeping personal sources of food.
April 5, 2024
And for just one bird. How ridiculous. And you can get up to 6 months in jail and a Ā£5000 fine if you don’t comply. Do I have to register my Tesco chicken before Sunday lunch? The police and justice system just gets worse. Can you imagine the fine and prison sentence if you misgender your unregistered duck.
April 5, 2024
Everhopeful
April 1st??
April 5, 2024
I really don’t understand why anyone would want to bring back (boris ed)
No sooner were his feet under the desk in No.10 he morphed from a climate change sceptic into a raving Net Zero loony, gleefully sanctioning the blowing-up of our coal-fired power stations. He also bears a significant responsibility for the Covid Tyranny AND he deliberately put virtually no controls on immigration in place which led directly to 1.2 legal immigrants in one year, as well as the 50,000 criminals shipped in by the Border Farce and RNLI.
April 5, 2024
@Donna +1 – to me and many others he was a raving lunatic good fun on HIGNY but useless in the real World. People also need to remember we have Cabinet Government in this Country with all members sharing responsibility. They may have got rid of the Man but they kept all those equally culpable for the ever growing mess we are in. To that end you cant even comprehend why an alternative choice would be a previous member of the BoJo Cabinet they all own the mess created.
April 5, 2024
Indeed I tend to blame āTheatre studiesā grad new wife for this conversion From climate realist to the new CO2 devil gas religion lunacy – but perhaps I am wrong.
April 5, 2024
No, I didn’t want Cameron back and I certainly don’t want Boris back either.
Both had their day and I don’t look back on either terms in office as being helpful to my well being.
Boot Cameron back to the isolation of his Shepherds Hut and leave Boris (and his daft Dad) to continue on their merry way, without allowing any more of their ill conceived ideas foisted on the public. One of the few bright spots in the upcoming change in Government is that this will undoubtedly occur.
April 5, 2024
Iām open to any ideas/interpretationsā¦
But oh dear me ā¦a Labour govt. with I suppose a HUGE majority which wonāt be squandered!
Voter regret will set in after 3 days I predict.
I donāt think the party has published its manifesto yet?
But thenā¦they are generally lies.
April 5, 2024
I agree. The Conservatives don’t seem to understand that people feel betrayed by Boris and Cameron but that won’t stop them. They really don’t want to be re-elected.
April 5, 2024
His dad is indeed completely bonkers & dangerously so, especially on climate alarmism, the EU and China.
April 6, 2024
David Lord Cameron of Remain and Palestine is a prime example of what is wrong with the Conservative Party. His track record in government is a litany of failures, eg., appeasing Scottish Nationalists by cancelling warship building in England, leading the Remain campaign, and most recently siding with Hamas in that vote at the UN calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Cameron is clever but he is not on the right side.
April 5, 2024
Everhopeful:
Michael Heseltine gave a rousing Conservative Party Conference speech claiming Post Offices were already private. He demonstrated, holding up a Daltonās Weekly type small ads newspaper, reading aloud entries from many pages crammed full of ads offering sub Post Offices for sale that day.
Reply The Post Office has always been nationalised. Sub Post Offices can be private businesses acting under a franchise contract.
April 5, 2024
Maybe the confusion is in the names?
I used to think ( wrongly) of the Post Office as the buildings and the Royal Mail as the service.
Further complexity with sub post offices and Parcel Force etc.
Constant change and constant chaos.
April 5, 2024
Could not agree more Everhopeful. Our host tells you that the Post Office is nationalised and tells me that Royal Mail is a private company. Looks to me to be a formula for chaos, which is exactly what we have got. Even the sale of stamps is so badly controlled that there is now illegal competition in the form of fake stamps. Rather than resolve matters supposedly within the control of the PO, they take the easy option of fining the recipient. What a bunch of shyster their management are.
April 5, 2024
It’s all interwoven, many of the Post Offices themselves are private companies franchisees.
Most GP surgeries are private practices with independent contractors.
Even when water companies are private when things go wrong our government seems to step in so that shareholders don’t take losses, well if the Canadian pension fund invested in Thames Water and that companies defaults on its debts then why must the government step in and not just take over when it collapses?
April 5, 2024
Privatisation might have been more palatable had the companies not been even bossier and less approachable than the govt. run services.
Whatever happened to the customer always being right?
Yet the private companies snapped up state run bargains and proceeded down a route of remote and uncaring management.
And NOWā¦.goodnessā¦they are hidden behind websites that often donāt workā¦and nobody cares.
AND it seems to me that it is incredibly difficult to change provider.
So no real competition.
April 5, 2024
The Industrial Revolution has turned backward into Nationalised Retribution biting the bums of innocent folk being charged for government error.
April 5, 2024
Agree!
And am suddenly wondering whether the Industrial Revolution (1st) was actually such a good thing after all?
It caused a lot of grief and upset and gave the ordinary person ( after 2 world wars) only about 20 years of prosperity and some happiness. Very soon destroyed.
And now now we are, as you say, paying for it in spadeloads.
April 5, 2024
Competition, Natural Competition, is the key. The dogma addicted PCP tried to manufacture competition where no natural competition existed. Result is clear to see.
There are obvious services where no natural competition is viable, owing to cost of entry, so another form of ownership, mutualism and democratic management may be a solution. Take a look at Switzerland.
April 5, 2024
Totally agree.
Iceland with its natural hot water ( as far as I can make out) just makes a charge per household/business. (Originally farmers simply piped what they wanted).
So is that nationalised or socialised?
Donāt know how it would work for charging..on consumption or a flat rate?
But surely Iceland has not sold off that natural resource to foreign powers?
April 5, 2024
You may remember that Iceland had a major banking collapse a few years ago. I suspect that quite a lot of collateral was called in at the time.
April 5, 2024
Israel knows exactly what they are doing by escalating a wider middle eastern war. They are triggering a jihad across Europe. They realise this is the best chance for their survival.
Their other option is a nuclear war which will trigger a nuke to eventually be dropped on them. So they have ruled this out.
If I was to design a tree of probable options then this is going to be the most likely outcome.
April 5, 2024
Israel will survive as long as America is prepared to pay for its survival. So far that remains the case. I don’t see any sign of your ‘Jihad across Europe’, Javelin, just a lot of demonstrations that have had about as much effect on events as protests against Blair and the Iraq war. No good has come or will come out of Britain getting involved in foreign wars, no matter on which side.
April 5, 2024
I thought Israel’s aim was to wipe out Hamas having been brutally attacked on Oct 7th. Oh well. That’s me wrong again.
“Intense fighting in and around hospitals.” Say TV reports.
My goodness. Those child patients and those undergoing cancer treatment have turned out to be formidable fighters, haven’t they ?
Hamas is being made invisible by our own media. It’s as though Israel is attacking hospitals for the sake of it and are only fighting patients.
It’s as though Hamas has been
April 5, 2024
Amazing that an over zealous Israeli military campaign to defeat the evil perpetrators of the Oct 7th atrocities, has now been twisted to present the Israeli violence against starving children in hospital.
April 5, 2024
Israel escalating? What would you call the Hamas atrocities?
April 5, 2024
None of this is accidental. It is entirely by design.
April 5, 2024
Yes.
Such long term determination is really scary.
April 5, 2024
Heretical question, do we actually need railways. Free of taxpayer subsidy could they offer a competitive means of moving people and goods at prices that were attractive to customers. Would they be better utilised as motorways, dedicated in some cases to the movement of goods only. The separation of cars and trucks could be a big road safety bonus. Long distance passenger traffic could be better served by walk on walk off air transport. Would transport into the capital be better served by extending a fully automated underground by another 50 miles to its radius, with extensive, cheap, easy access car parking at its feeder points. Conversely have big cities priced themselves out of existence, and be better replaced by small industrial and residential villages spread around the UK.
The Post Office seems, from a households point of view, to be the main distributor of unsolicited junk mail that heads directly to re-cycling. What portion of deliveries are private letters to auntie Flo, or useful utilities letters. It would be nice to have it return to replace the one way email missives from corporate computers. Business to business may still be a profitable segment. I have no gripe with postie apart from the rubber bands he drops on the drive. The PO must buy billions of these one time attachments. However, from comparative experience, Amazon could do a better job. Government should look into privatisation by anyone keen to create a parallel Orinoco. Dealing with companies in the mass distribution business, not mates of ministers in another mask protection racket.
For sure neither service can be allowed to continue sucking up taxpayer money to no good end.
Reply Royal Mail is privatised
April 5, 2024
Your first paragraph Agricola.
Far too sensible, far too logical. It will never fly.
April 5, 2024
BOF
If it dd they would probably be made into Cycle lanes instead, given existing thoughts of those in power !!!!!!!
and before you ask, no I would not support that either.
April 5, 2024
Reply to reply.
It must be a very odd form of privatisation that allows it to have Ā£1.4 Billion of debt and still be in business. Do they have government backed assurances to compensate for their criminal activities. False accusation that lead to prison for the victim, blackmail and extortion normally have consequences for the perpetrators. By any normal standards the PO are bankcrupt, private or nationalised.
Reply The balance sheet is minus Ā£799 m. They are only allowed to trade because they have assurances of continued Treasury subsidy to pay the losses.
April 5, 2024
Please do not knock the rubber bands. In millions of years they will enable archaeologists to track yea old postal routes
April 5, 2024
‘The Post Office … now expects taxpayers to pay up for all the repayments and compensation they owe the sub postmasters.’ Where else would the money come from? Perhaps ministers in the distant past might have been quicker to spot that something was seriously amiss. The money? Find it from cancelling the needless Stonehenge tunnel. There, fixed it for you.
Anyways, another week of ground-rush gone. Has Sunak done anything to close the gap with Labour? No. He’s useless.
April 5, 2024
The govt. seems to have found another stick with which to beat Postmastersā¦forged stamps.
A sort of QE of postage?
April 5, 2024
Yes, and with all forms of QE the citizen is expected to pay. Easy solution, only sell stamps at Post Offices or from PO websites.
April 5, 2024
Yes, get a grip!! remind me again, who’s had a grip on government these last 14 years?
April 5, 2024
who’s had a grip? answer: nobody!
April 5, 2024
In answer to what government are, ask what they have been gripping these past 14 years.
April 5, 2024
The WEF, I believe.
April 5, 2024
Nationalised industries are losers compared with competitive efficiency. However the greatest national failures and losses are caused by sloppy government planning, lack of budgetary and quality control with incompetent management and neglect for years adding ever worse.
April 5, 2024
One is always amazed why your expressed conclusions ‘fall on deaf ears’. It is always and ever a frustrating event experiencing overpaid and under qualified people in positions of power continue in their disastrous mediocrity to blight all our lives. When does incompetence become sackable in the sectors of life we are discussing? This has to come about for the sake of common sense and logic. What mechanism can be put in place to have this happen? Thanks always, Sir John for your constant scrutiny and obvious frustration. (This last sentiment crops up time and again in all areas of ‘national activity’…When do we start insisting on good business men put in the necessary roles to do a proper job?…Ugh! Keep smiling…)
April 5, 2024
500 Labour seats are now predicted.
The most failing organisation in this country is the Conservative Party.
April 5, 2024
Congratulations must go to Sunak/Hunt. Is this prediction a record?
April 5, 2024
@Mickey Taking – they see it as their job done, they can leave the Country head held high. We the voter are forced into creating a Labour Government so as to clear out the WEF, One Nation Socialist in this Conservative Government and CCHQ – the Conservative ‘Party’ refuses us a Conservative Government. Can you imagine being a boots on the ground Tory canvassing at the GE having to tell the same lies that they have been spouting for the last 14 years about a non-existent Conservative Government, and a Manifesto that will be reneged on on day one
April 6, 2024
I can’t imagine any boots-on-the- ground activity at all – can you?
April 5, 2024
Indeed. The Starmer opposition is even worse in policy terms though very similar to Sunak and Starmer is even more tedious than Sunak. Yet the Tories have so failed on the economy, immigration, crime, healthcare, public services in general, Covid, the net harm lockdowns and net harm vaccines, tax levels, all the woke and net zero lunacy, botched Brexitā¦they are thus quite rightly hated and despised hence a wipeout beckons – even against the dire Starmer.
April 5, 2024
The Not-a-Conservative-Party learned a lot from NuLabour, including how to wreck the economy and socialise the costs of their failures.
Post the Covid Tyranny we’re in Ā£3 trillion of debt and counting. When the Net Zero Tyranny really kicks in that will look like a bargain.
Meanwhile, the Not-a-Conservative-Party has decided British taxpayers will pay for Shell Oil, a private company, to dismantle “toxic” oil rigs. That’s another Ā£400 million (minimum) socialised onto taxpayers by this appalling government. No wonder we’re effectively bankrupt.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/04/02/taxpayer-foot-shell-bill-dismantle-toxic-north-sea-oil-rigs/
We can’t afford another Uni-Party Government. Blue-Green, Red-Green, Yellow-Green makes no difference. They are all signed up to deliver the destruction of our economy.
April 5, 2024
@Donna +1 agreed
April 5, 2024
Seems so!
April 5, 2024
I ask you to look at how we can reduce the massive costs to the taxpayer of governance. Devolution is clearly a failed project, and a very expensive one lauded by divisive nationalists and need to be abolished. But no we actually gave them man that dreamed up this nation splitting idea a Knighthood. The House of Lords is far too large and really needs a clear out with better guidance on who gets in, with a freeze on new entrants for 10 years. They certainly do not need the Ā£330 per day, have that means tested right now. The recent elevations to the Lords were absolutely farcical. MP’s need a pay freeze until the freeze on the personal allowance is lifted and put them on performance related pay. That will save a few pounds. Who asked for police commissioners, (Jobs for the boys) the politicising of the police. There was nothing wrong with the police authority.
Why are politicians allowed second homes at the taxpayers expense. I had to travel miles to work as do many others, I wasn’t offered that benefit.
Governance is crippling the nation. With the invention of new taxes, the new “Expensive Car tax supplement” Ā£400 a year on top of the road tax, dreamed up to further fleece the motorist.
Instead of wasting time and tinkering around, start getting rid of the strangling effects of governance.
The this morning I am asked for Ā£86 to continue with my garden waste. This used to be covered in my council tax. It wont be long before council tax is only covering council wages and pensions. What will they farm out next.
That’s my take on reducing costs
April 5, 2024
and then they have the nerve to expect you to pay for the compost your garden waste made!
April 5, 2024
BW
The simple reason/answer.
The Government and Local Authorities have lost the plot completely, and got far, far too involved in the attempted micro management of the population. It’s a cancer of control that has been steadily growing for many decades with more and more laws, regulations, taxes, benefits, subsidies, etc all designed to manipulate and restrict choice, and the way we lead our lives. Those in charge believe more Government is the answer, when in effect the exact opposite is true.
April 5, 2024
Just very dispiriting that all this has happened and continues to happen after 14 years of Conservative / Conservative-led govt. ministers could and should have some something about it.
April 5, 2024
Sir John you keep on about Telecomms falling way behind in the UK whilst owned by the tax payer.
I agreed that the phone type was limited in choice. That is push button as opposed to rotary dial and colour. But the network behind was advanced and moving from electro-mechancial to electronic. Research into telecoms improvement was seconded to none by the Post Office. I was working on a fully digital exchange nearly 60 years ago. The inhibitor to development is more down to the Politicians in Government than lack of funds. The lack of Engineering thinking at the Political level results in funding things that don’t work and waste money.
Did privatisation remove this Goverment interference by Politicians, which was good, but put the profits made, into private and non-UK hands, and not that of the tax-payer by way of re-investment and lower end-user cost.
We see the effects of this lack of re-investment today with all our Utilities.
If you only think of profit, just big towns would have gas, water, and electricty, and in the past land line telephones.
The Bank of England is privatised. The Post Ofice lost Royal Mail and Telecommunications. You chop away the bits that make a profit and wonder why it don’t make a profit to fund social need
Reply The Bank of England is 100% state owned with the Governor appointed by government/Parliament.
BT in its later nationalised years was spending a lot of money putting in electro mechanical Strowger when the US was investing in electronic. No other country wanted to buy our Strowger product. You could have to wait months to get a phone line, you had to rent rather than buy your handset and had very little choice of phone or add on services. All this changed rapidly on privatisation when the industry went electronic and caught up with the US
April 5, 2024
John McDonald,
Correct – a lot of first rate work was done at Dollis Hill and Martlesham, when telephony was part of the state owned GPO (Tommy Flowers etc.).
Crediting technology changes to privatisation served to justify other, more dubious, public utility models further down the line.
Looking at cost, to the exclusion of anything else, was another short-sighted government failure.
April 5, 2024
Sir John,
You have not mentioned the TXE range of electronic exchanges in operation before privatisation working with 2000 and pre 2000 strowger exchanges and crossbar exchanges. The move to replace electro-mechanical was progressing before privatisation.
The Post Office did not make exchanges. These came from STC.
Maybe the Government made the Post Office buy british made old mechanical exchanges as opposed to electronic imports from canada and us ? The role out of STD was a factor and the availablity for electonic equipment to do the number translation. We can put the slower development down to Government influence on telecoms role out not just lack of investment.
Why could the Govrnment ( tax payer) not invest in telecoms to speed up developement.?
I agreed that North America was developing full scale production of Electronic exchanges before the UK.
So the Post Office could have purchased from North America.
Why not ?
Reply Ministers would not have told the PO to buy older kit. That would have been a decision by well paid nationalised industry managers. I did not say PO made the switch machinery. You cannot deny the nationalised industry was well behind the US technically, rationed its lines and restricted added value services over them.
April 5, 2024
The Bank of England – if owned by the State was it private before ? It is in recent years that there has been a change in how it functions in relation to the state/ Parliment.
I see privatisation more as removing from the control of Politicians rather than private investment. If we had tax-payer investment free of politics that would be ideal. But perhaps not possible ?
April 5, 2024
I do not deny that the UK was behind North America. It is important to include Canada because this is the home to major Telecoms companies and advanced development of Electronic Exchanges at the time in question. How much did their Government support telecoms ? The managers you refer to were not that well paid then as now. I suspect there was a layer of Civil servants between the Minister and the technical management. The Minister could have said to the Post Office we are falling behind our North American Cousins why is this. What can we do about it.
I agree that privatisation removed the involvement, or lack of responsibily of the state for Telcomms. But at what actual real long term cost to the tax payer. Did the Minister have a background in Telecoms or even Electrical Enginering ?
April 5, 2024
Are we supposed to believe that the Postmaster Generals had no budgetary influence on capital expenditure when we know governments usually had much higher priorities like financing warmongering and bribing voters?
April 5, 2024
Off topic: where does CCHQ find idiots like William Wragg? Do they have a special unit for identifying and recruiting idiots?
April 5, 2024
Just listening that two more MPs fell for the same honey trap. A reflection on the growing number of useful idiots and lobby fodder who have as much influence in our farce of so called democracy as we do. We desperately need Reform.
April 5, 2024
Do not forget the not so Conservative Party operate a quota system for selection. Therefore under the LBGQ rot/whateverā¦. Not ability or merit in the party. Local associations have a choice of three clones from CCHQ to choose from. With Cameron back advising and directing Sunak it will remain a catastrophe.
The good news is that a group of Tories members/supporters are drawing up a list to deselect conservative MP imposters selected by CCHQ.
April 5, 2024
On the other hand,well done to Alan Duncan(someone I’ve never warmed to in the past)for mentioning unmentionable truths….and naming names.
More,please.Much more!
April 5, 2024
š¤£
April 5, 2024
He will not oppose the wrecking of this country in any way, so he’s ideal for their purposes.
April 5, 2024
But Donna, Jeremy Hunt has just praised Tory MP William Wragg for offering a “courageous and fulsome” apology so he must be a bit of a hero, full of courage!
April 5, 2024
I replied nominating famous schools but Sir John declined to publish.
April 5, 2024
Sir John
When you say Post Office, I presume you really mean Royal Mail. The PO is predominantly private operated franchises (The ones the PO management steals from) it is mainly the PO internal accounting that projects a different view. The Royal Mail situation is handicapped in that they are empowered to establish a universal mail service that reaches all of the country equally, while having to endure competition picking off the lucrative main conurbations.
It would have been a level competitive playing field if all participants were on the same footing, balance could be achieved by having those that donāt give a full service having to charge VAT.
Again, another governmental failure, not thinking it through ā just going for destruction
Reply The Post Office is and has been a nationalised corporation. Royal Mail services were privatised.
April 5, 2024
What do you expect when the political class are generally, er, political?
Their business nous is often nowt and with a virtually unlimited supply of money they act politically.
April 5, 2024
Sir John
Reflecting on your recent posts and the need for effective privatization. I have seen the main barrier to it being effective for some services due to the criteria of competition not being possible. The ongoing problem areas have just created a situation of government trying to dump things on the consumer whom then is blackmailed by a private monopoly, a situation that is unreasonable and unfair. These situations still come back to haunt government as they donāt know how to regulate, they appoint their people that they are then responsible and everything still fails and the taxpayer still finishes up the paymaster of last resort.
The one all government dance around is the NHS, the way it is now constituted it could be privatized overnight. Then the patient would have real choice get real service as there are natural alternatives to create the much-needed competition. Only if the Government in it overbearing ineptitude doesnāt create big monoliths and keeps all units small and tight.
With the NHS, NI should/could become exactly that, compulsory insurance to pay for the services – it would probably have to increase but it could dial incompetent governments out of the equation. Why does the UK alone in the so-called advanced countries have to be burdened with the worst service possible by government decree?
Reply The NHS is very different. There is huge support for its model of not charging patients for care but levying taxpayers. I am discussing how to run profitable customer friendly businesses where customers pay for service.
April 5, 2024
I’m replying to Sir John’s reply on the NHS. Yes there is huge support for ‘free at the point of delivery’. Obviously, 1) people want free stuff and vote for it, and b) they are aware that someone must be paying for it and that in the majority of cases it is not themselves, because the majority are net beneficiaries of the state, payed for by the minority who, according to the ONS, are net contributors. What is not to like for the majority when someone else pays for their healthcare? The answer is that because you are not paying for it you have absolutely no control over how much or on what the money is spent.
April 5, 2024
What if Labour get more than 500 seats? With the SNP having 30 or 40 and the Lib Dems the same, will the Tories only have 70 seats or so?
Itās odd when you think about it. The Tory Party is in power but facing oblivion. Why isnāt anyone doing anything about it? Why arenāt members haranguing their MPs? Why arenāt MPs yelling at the Prime Minister? Itās as if the whole party is paralysed and sleepwalking to insignificance. Surely some amongst you want to save us from a Labour government with a massive majority.
Why will so many vote Labour? Because they embrace them – or because they think the Tories are useless?
It strikes me the Tory Party has one chance – start appealing to your core vote and forget your attempt to be all things to all people.
1) Stop the boats – physically if necessary. Yes, there will be bowls of outrage but 50% of people will privately think āAt last!ā. Then you can say āLabour will let the boats start againā.
2) Cut immigration massively. Set a limit of 50,000 a year. Then you can say āLabour will increase immigration and we cannot accommodate any more peopleā. Again, a silent majority will approve.
3) Even at this late stage, replace the nonentity that is Sunak with someone with a bit of something about them.
Time is running out. But no one seems to care. Itās weird. Itās as if you (Tories) have had enough and want o let Labour take a turn.
April 5, 2024
Oh, and housing is another easy win. Labour want to build 1.5 million homes in the next 5 years – on top of the huge number of houses the Tories have built in the last 14 years. Tory supporters donāt want this. Forget everyone else. You need to appeal to your core vote.
April 5, 2024
Mike,
I think both are used to implement EU laws, rules and directives so whoever is in power makes little difference. They are both for EU lock step and are preventing divergence. So it matters not which half is in govt.
April 5, 2024
I expect most of the senior ones who are largely responsible for implosion of the Not-a-Conservative-Party have got their post-governmental Globalist jobs lined up. The lobby fodder is dispensable.
April 5, 2024
The situation you set out is truly scandalous, but as scandalous is the fact that the same message is not being proclaimed from every part of the government benches in the House of Commons: it seems that you are almost a loan voice.
Instead Hunt and Sunak, with the full endorsement of their Parliamentary party, are completely happy with the performance of the Bank, no real efforts are being made to reform the Post Office, and the Conservatives have steadily extended re-nationalisation of the railways. Then there is the biggest nationalised industry of them all: the NHS. Hunt says it makes him proud to be British, and that says it all.
Most of the general public are now too young to remember the full horror of the nationalised post war era, which probably explains why a recent Poll found a majority in favour of more nationalisation, but that is not really surprising when none of the major parties are prepared to stand up and explain and promote the essential part that private enterprise plays in building prosperity and preserving our freedoms. This is what one should be able to expect from the Conservative Party, but if it no longer believes in these values, and is not prepared to stand up for them, it is clearly time for someone else.
April 5, 2024
A good place to start would be to abolish the NHS advertising budget. All over the press and every other advert on TV and radio they are promoting terrible diseases and urging us to see our GP when they know full well that is usually impossible. Golden rule of business if you have too many customers stop advertising!
April 5, 2024
I suppose they would argue that they are seeking early intervention to lower treatment costs. But with the huge backlog for conditions such as cancer that is leaving those already in the queue for late diagnosed cases (thanks to lockdowns and the NHS holidays for consultants etc.) in the lurch.
I know two women undergoing breast cancer treatment currently: one was a late diagnosis who has at least been treated promptly, and the other was caught fairly early by screening.
April 5, 2024
Too politically sensitive to mention that the NHS is a similar failure John? It’s one of the countries biggest problems precisely because politicians treat it as sacred. We cannot go on ignoring it’s vast waste and mismanagement. The voters already know it is a massive failure, it would be refreshing for them to see some politicians prepared to be honest about it. Rishi is wrong to think that the main thing that defines Brits is a love of the NHS, everyone I know who comes into contact with it thinks it is crap.
And the same could be said about the state regulators and enforcement agencies, the FCA, the financial ombudsman service, planning depts, building control, ofcom, and so very much more, truly terrible levels of service and quality for far too much money.
Reply The NHS is not a nationalised industry trying to turn a profit
April 5, 2024
Is any nationalised industry supposed to make a profit? I thought we paid tax so that public sector organisations could deliver a service. There is the cost of delivering a service and investment needed to maintain and develop the service.
April 5, 2024
reply to reply…correct but it ought to have as its distributed Budget 1) do not overspend 2) buy everything incl services wisely 3) staff and equipment to be used to its maximum 4) design services to operate 7 days a week just like illness happening 5) remember who pays your salaries ie the patient, or refer foreigners to ‘the Office’.
April 5, 2024
Reply to reply: Perhaps if it did try to turn a profit it would become a lot more efficient?
April 5, 2024
I think this is the last Conservative government ever now. The ridiculousness of the whole inconsistent mess is beyond a joke now. There will be no recovery in 5 or 10 years, the party is over.
Lets hope some of the challenger parties do better.
April 6, 2024
Replying to Iain Gill. The NHS is sacred because all attempts at reform have proven to be sure fire ways to lose votes. The only action that gains votes is to give the NHS shedloads of money. Governments touch it at their peril. This is the first time in the history of the NHS when it has lost a significant measure of public support. That the Brits so love their NHS is a great puzzle to the rest of the world, which observes the uniqueness of the NHS and its third rate outcomes and wonders how it can possibly be so strongly supported and loved. The best answer I can come up with is that it is free at the point of delivery and, for the majority, paid for by others as ONS statistics have shown for many years.
Looking on the bright side, one good outcome of the Coronavirus pandemic is that it has awakened the public to the truth about the NHS: it’s lousy and there are far better ways to structure and manage a health service as more than a few countries demonstrate.
April 7, 2024
the main reason it is “supported” is the vast amount of money spent hyping the NHS, officially and unofficially. the reluctance to be honest in public about criticism of the NHS.
but the truth is rather different to the hype, and the increase of channels like twitter (or X) bypasses the fake hype that health reporting gets from the old main stream media.
April 5, 2024
How is it possible for a Government to allow such huge losses when it is able to adopt a different approach ? . The finger has to be pointed at 10 Downing Street and the incompetence of the Ministerial team . We have all had enough of their mistakes and change is long overdue . Another Maggie is badly needed to turn things round . We pensioners have suffered the most and the only choice for us is the ballot box .
April 5, 2024
Persuasive arguments as usual, but I am not sure that your general comparison between nationalised industries and US tech companies is entirely fair.
If a private enterprise fails, it goes bankrupt, all its employees are redundant and it disappears without a trace. Not so with essential public services and infrastructure. They simply cannot be allowed to fail.
Comparing Network Rail and Water, for example, it becomes plain that nationalisation (at least how it was done in the past) and privatisation both prove equally ruinous and degenerate.
Our national water infrastructure is privately owned, large profits have been made, and vast debts have accumulated. Water infrastructure cannot be allowed to fail, so those debts are leveraged against assets and simple necessity. Buying back the infrastructure is massively expensive, so the only real choice is to underwrite the debts and permit the water bills to be increased, rendering the regulator impotent. After all, what use is fining a company for bad practice when ultimately that fine increases debt and customer bills to pay for it?
Appears to me to be a circular jaw. Unless I am missing something….
Reply Modern infrastructure crucial to our futures include privately managed data centres, software services etc
April 5, 2024
Brighton Municipal Water co which supplied water from two wells sunk into the water table was forcibly incorporated into Southern Water when the whole of the industry was forced into regional water companies.
Southern Water was subsequently forcibly privatised and is now owned by foreign shareholders who are responsible for dumping raw sewage on our beaches whilst selling us back our own water. What was the actual need for any of these changes other than the pathological desire of politicians to meddle and thereby make things worse?
April 5, 2024
You’d expect, in normal times, that many heads would roll, given the incompetence of these quangos – but it is HMG that leads the way in incompetence and ruination of the economy. The Cabinet from this government are failing to put anything right, so what is left?
Morally deficient, the heads of most quangos do not follow government requirements or policies, but still expect to be bailed out by the taxpayer. Where will the pressure come from to get quango-heads working properly to fully earn their huge salaries?
The huge salaries and bonuses should be stopped right now until their performance has improved — But I don’t imagine HMG will do anything as momentous.
April 5, 2024
Although, Sir John, you have included the BoE in your post you have omitted the biggest elephant in the room, the unelected Civil Service, which includes the many quangos and regulatory bodies, who it appears are now becoming our de facto government and who are no longer controlled by the uniparty in Parliament.
The inevitable result is defined by Robert Conquestās 2nd and 3rd laws of politics :
– āAny organization not explicitly right-wing sooner or later becomes left-wing.ā
– āThe simplest way to explain the behaviour of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it led by a cabal of its enemies.ā
Weāre on the path to Marxist driven chaos.
April 5, 2024
Hold on a minute. We used to pay taxes for public services – we would pay bills for utilities and for government to run them. Now the utilities are privatised – but we pay higher bills and more tax. Whatās going on? Council tax used to be a minor cost – before councils outsourced lots of services. Now it is a major tax. Strikes me we are ticked up at every turn. The public sector is a greedy, inefficient monster that costs more and more and delivers less and less.
April 5, 2024
Mike,
Look at the creation of the Environment Agency by Blaire in 1997. Council tax was not reduced to fund EA. The Ā£3.5 billion the EA costs comes from general taxation. Councils took back some of the EA work for flood defence, this was not top sliced from EA, but added to our council tax! Same for adult social care.
The EA spends about Ā£500 million on infrastructure projects but overwhelmingly the majority of budget goes to salaries and pensions! EA should be scrapped, its work put back to councils without charge to the taxpayer. Quangos need to be scrapped, the govt could the afford public services.
The reason this will not happen is because the EA implements EU environment policy without too much notice. The scandal of the EU environment policy came in 2014 when the EA was responsible for the flooding around the country by gold plating EU policy. It was only the Queen and Prince,Charles,intervention that anything was done by this wretched govt. The EA should have been scrapped immediately. Here we are years later paying twice for an extremely poor expensive service.
April 5, 2024
The problem Mike, is that Local Authorities have morphed into a money collecting and distribution model based on Government dictates.
They collect huge sums in Council tax, car park fees, collect fines as well as Government grants, then pay out over half of it for Social Care (a legal obligation) for private rentals for the homeless (another legal obligation) before they even think about maintaining schools, roads, paths, drains, ditches, playing fields, parks, street lighting, or even sweeping the streets, and maintaining their own properties (Council Houses) offices etc etc.
Thus the old fashioned duties which we used to know, have been relegated to, only if we have any time or money left !
I am not making excuses for Local Authorities because they are also wasting Ā£ millions on Cycle paths, endless road signs, Diversity and Woke Nonsense, which seems to be a required feature nowadays !
April 5, 2024
The latest Spectator TV episode starts with Fraser Nelson talking to John McTernan, an adviser to PM Tony Blair.āMcTernan thinks the polls may be underestimating the number of Labour seats.āInstead, there could be enough for a Government plus more than HM’s Opposition leftover.āThis allows Labour backbenchers to push for more revolution, more quickly.āProgramme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTPxUcdQSk8
An ex-Tory now-Reform voter might think this ideal.āThey’re sending a signal to the Tories to become more conservative.āThey want the Tory party ravaged, hoping the ideological will likely hang around rather than seek better paying jobs, join the Lords, the Lib Dems, etc.āThey’re concerned it starts a run of Labour terms but if the Government’s backbenchers hold much sway then Labour may push their Net Zero, identity politics, etc. too quickly, prompting a single term.
The interviewee raised the Canadian election of ’93.āThe Reform party went from 1 to 52 seats.āThe incumbent Progressive Conservatives from 156 down to 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Canadian_federal_election
April 5, 2024
Itās funny how life goes in cycles. The next election is just falling into Labourās lap. You can look at their shadow cabinet – David Lammy leaps to mind – and no matter how people perceive their capability, they are still going to get elected.
Iād be worried if I was a Tory. Labour always have a core support – and money from the unions. After the Tories are electorally wiped out, who is going to support them and keep them going in opposition? When Labour suffer a heavy defeat – 1983, 1987 and 2019 leap to mind – they carry on and wait for the Tories to fail. This next time, when the Tories are wiped out, who is going to carry on the fight. Your core supporters are mostly old now and past caring.
April 5, 2024
Sir John
“Get a grip on nationalised industry costs” the answer is easier than is inferred by the tag line. Go out find some Conservatives and make sure it is they that become the Government.
Unfortunately the UK has to go through the horrendous up upheaval of bringing one set of monsters so as to clear out the equally horrendous imposters.
April 5, 2024
The amount of money this government gives in subsidy, you might as well say that all renewable energy companies are nationalised ….they wouldn’t survive without it !
April 5, 2024
And ? Youāre surely not suggesting that voting Conservative again will help ? Sunak/Hunt havenāt said a single word against the BoE actions so obviously they support them and yet you suggest we vote to keep them in power ? Odd idea.
April 5, 2024
Spot on again, Sir John. But why are only you saying these things? Are all the other Conservative MPs Braindead
and fast asleep? What do they do all day because they don’t seem to take any interest in making the UK a better place to live and work?
Even the imminent threat of a wipeout at the next GE seems to make no difference.
Where is the tough, conservative MP who, as PM, could transform the fortunes of the party?
With the local elections on May 2nd, as a previous loyal conservative voter, I am thinking of not voting or voting for the Reform candidate. The Government seems to have a death wish and is doing nothing conservative to attract and keep loyal voters.
April 5, 2024
These problems are allowed or brought about by individuals, but Mr Redwood never blames any of them.
April 5, 2024
Sir John
As I understand it, the PO, Railways, then the BoE, along with OBR & ONS, lets throw in the NHS that for the last 14years has been managed by the Conservative Government, as when you give something money that you take from the taxpayer you take on the accountability and responsible for the return. Not one single thing they took on the management for has improved. In fact, rather than managing controlling expenditure they shied away from all responsibility and instead kept stealing money from the taxpayer therefore taking spend from the market ā the economy, removing the merry-go-round of wealth from every corner of the Country. A very Socialist alignment to Labour, with a 70-year record high for tax take. You see why some of us say this is just another Socialist Government, a WEF Socialist Government, the people in that doctrine are to abused and used by the Politburo they are the minions to serve those that think they are Elite. The opposite of democracy
The Conservative Government were empowered and paid by the people to take control, manage, improve lives keep the Country resilient safe and secure. They failed on every count, they failed to serve ā they have deserted the People, the electorate even the middle ground of Conservatism.
Then we have the Boat People invasion, a Criminal offence in the UK, yet they are re-warded by taking money from our less well off, treated a cosy way of life all with a shrug of the shoulders by those we pay and empower.
Blair/Brown incarnated but with more ego and less interest in the UK.
April 5, 2024
There is the question of balance, as with everything, but between what should/could be Nationalised, and that, that could be Privatised!
And, unless the Ideologues (on both sides) accept the need to develop both, there really is no chance of getting a stable and efficient model! I my mind; this includes the NHS! No other country has a Monolithic structured health service, most, with any sense, have hybrid systems, and for a reason!
Meaning; You would not need to consider full Nationalisation, or allowing some Foreign Company to asset strip another British Asset! British Primary Steel making is a good example! All it requires is for the British Government to hold a ‘Golden Share’, and to support the investment in new blast furnaces! A core industry, of a mostly efficient Private set of company’s!
In the long term, any one with any sense at all, not a growing currency within the Conservative Party these days, would focus on designing out Monopoly’s, and not allowing the Nationalisation into State control Monopoly’s, getting us back to where we started! It’s easier to take a Libertarian stand point, and allow the continued asset stripping of this country, undermining the British Interest! But, it’s based on ignorance, really! Until Labour get back in (Soon), and they do the exact opposite!
The true burden, will end up on the British People; It’s the Lazy thinking of British Politicians, both Central, and Local!
I’m not saying I’m Right, just that it’s the Obvious position to take, challenging the thinking that has got back to the 70’s (I thought we left that behind during the 80’s, some of paid the price for that, and still have not recovered)?
I can’t wait to see what structure they come up with for the Nuclear industry, or even Rail? But, there are so many other issues being left behind simply because they won’t accept Britain cannot not be a completely Open Market, left exposed to foreign Powers, but it’s certainly not Free (as in a Free Market)! Currently, we are left as aligned to the EU’s customs Unions, and it’s, Single Market Rules, acting as fools? We are in a Geopolitical environment, and always will be, and we will always need too protect the British Interest, and that requires a balanced approach!
Well, in my mind, anyway!
Regards,
RDM.
April 5, 2024
āI have often reported on the needless damage to the accounts being perpetrated by the Bankā¦. Only The Bank of England does this [sell its bonds at huge losses]ā
You are failing Sir John to persuade the BoE to change their policies but then as Jonathan Swift said :
āYou cannot reason a person out of a position he did not reason himself into in the first placeā
Similarly for the Marxist CAGW activists at the BBC who call themselves journalists and who have shamed the country by undemocratically denying any alternative views to be expressed on their programmes.
April 5, 2024
O dear – Kemble Water. What a surprise…
Shareholders break deal because not allowed a 40 % increase in bills.
What next? Government bail out perhaps? Or go ahead with the 40%?
Water is more important for life than data…
April 5, 2024
True blue Tories ābanned from standing in the general electionā by the dysfunctional Conservative party who want more woke / more broke wished on us. That explains what has been going on by a puzzled electorate.
Unbelievably undemocratic and treacherous.
April 5, 2024
The Party under Rishi Sunak held an Away Day in March 2023 and made a conscious decision to chase polls instead of working out a conservative philosophy of government in the national interest and on that basis what policies and actions were needed. Since then it has tried to avoid doing things that must be defended on principle and might encounter opposition or that are difficult. So there is much talk and policies that are designed to deliver in future but not in the near term lest they cause too much opposition this side of a general election. Rwanda is an example. When the weather is bad and Channel crossings decline, that is not an act of God, but a government success. Even though international law fully enables the UK to turn the boats back, the prospect of conflict with France and the EU must be avoided to pacify the Remainers in the Party such as David Lord Cameron of Remain and Palestine. Domestic law allows UK to punish the drivers of the boats for endangering human life at sea (The Offences against The Persons Act 1861), but that would upset the human rights lobby so it won’t be done. the Conservative Party is in chasing votes from anyone for any reason.
Its rapidly waning support for Israel is another example. First sign of trouble and it concedes ground without asserting principles because it has none to assert. therfore it has no political will. It just goes with the flow.
It has chosen not to do principled government in the national interest.
April 6, 2024
Australia Post is also a nationalised industry with local post offices operated as franchises. That would seem to be the same structure as UK’s. The Australian system works. The UK one apparently does not. What is the significant difference?
April 6, 2024
Australia still has a valued entrepreneurial and meritocracy culture and Australians are direct when it comes to highlighting weaknesses and not afraid to say so. It goes way back to things like the Gallipoli disastrous carnage in WW1, which catapulted Mr Murdoch Senior into world fame.
We have much to thank Australia for who still have backbone unlike some spineless managers of large organisations here.