People have suffered Ā in recent years thanks to the lockdowns, the Bank of England created great inflation and some tax rises. The public sector has witnessed a surge in public spending and a big increase in staffing levels. The problems Ā in the public sector are not austerity but a big drop in productivity and massive misplaced spending.
I used to take to Chancellors and Chief Secretaries short lists of large losses by the public sector. The state has clearly not been short of money because the Bank of England has pocketed Ā£75 bn so far to pay its losses in the last couple of years. We have seen a Ā£20 bn loss of productivity in public services since 2019 as they were given plenty of money to add personnel without adding output. The true figure is higher, and we now have a five year loss of any productivity gains during a period of big spending on smarter digital technology.
The public sector had billions to sign people off as permanently unable to work when more with support and training could get a job. Government tipped billions into a southern railway called HS 2, as its budget overrun more than threefold and the decision was taken that it would never get to the North which was the original big idea. The state afforded the luxury of a Post Office expensive management which ran up losses of Ā£799 m with no one in power objecting. The new government Ā has not queried or changed any of this.
The new government is worse. It thinks it fine to give out big pay awards with no clauses on boosting service quality and output for the extra Ā money. We need better pay with smarter working. Whilst they say there is a shortage of cash for pensioners winter fuel there is no shortage of cash for anti driver road schemes, for welcoming more migrants who came illegally, for importing more of our energy as we close down our own oil and gas prematurely.
The public sector is not short of administrative staff and not short of money, It is not short of expensive managers. It is short of effective managers who spend wisely. It is also now short of Ministers who care about value for money and know how to get back lost productivity.
September 25, 2024
SirJ you’re Spot On
September 26, 2024
Indeeed. That said, a simple question to public sector decision makers would save billions:
“Would you spend your own salary on this item?”
September 26, 2024
Indeed. He says āThe problems in the public sector are not austerity but a big drop in productivity and massive misplaced spending.ā Misplaced spending is largely the problem good productivity on mad policies makes things worse. Mad policies like net zero, extra employment laws, road blocking, rigging the car, boiler, housing rental, schools, employment and energy markets does huge harm extra productivity makes it worse still. Killing productive productivity by inconveniencing the productive sectors.
September 26, 2024
Good performance on GBNew with Mogg. But why do they have that potty interrupting lefty woman and their other daft lefties on like Nigel Nelson, Is it so we can all laugh at their inability to do rational thinking. This seems a bit cruel.
Mogg the other day pointed out the MPs like Starmer escape income tax on these free ābenefits in kindā as they are office holders and not employees. Also his income declaration show he is only paying tax at about Basic Rate not the higher rates usually due. I assume this is as he is putting large amounts into his (special act of parliament (just for his pension) scheme. Still we are all in it together as they like to lie.
September 26, 2024
Whilst I support GBNews, I am becoming increasingly irritated by their including speakers from the political Hard Left in discussions. How much are they forced by Ofcom, must they decide these people themselves to satisfy unreasonable demands for balance. It is going too far.
As for Nigel Nelson whom I ‘dumb’ on my volume, why is he their Chief Political …. whatever he is. They should not have someone on his side of politics.
September 26, 2024
Good performance on Moog last night. I would contribute to GB News if they take back the excellent Dan Wooton, Mark Steynā¦ and allow me to escape their tedious adverts for things I have zero interest in.
September 26, 2024
Mogg he has not started paying the synth as far as I know.
GBNews do not alas have enough climate realism, or people pointing out the Covid Vaccines did huge net harms as is clear, or people pointing out how dire our legal system is witness the sick joke Covid, and Tower Fire Inquires, the absurd conviction and refusal of appeal for Lucy Letby, the appalling prospect of an Islamic back door blasphemy law. See The excellent Sceptic podcast today.
GBNew needs a sister internet only channel not under the thumb of Ofcom the ministry of propaganda enforcement & lies. With Dan Wooton, Mark Steyne and similar. The Ofcom enforced lies during Covid surely killed many thousands. Not safe, not effected and not even needed (even had they been so) by most people. But the dopes at Ofcon, Handcock, Neil O’Brian… with their PPE degrees thought they knew better.
September 26, 2024
We’re heading for full blown communism with everyone reliant on the states largesse. Problem is without a strong productive private sector there will be no money to pay for communism.
The rats are leaving the sinking ship and taking their money with them. Anyone with a saleable skill should be looking for employment overseas as we did in the 70s. Broken Britain getting more broke.
September 26, 2024
“state largesse” they have just removed winter heating from pensioners and are about to steal vast sums more in the Budget. These socialists have already run out of other people’s money like all socialist do – in just a few weeks of office. Well done Starmer and Reeves. It seems Starmer is quite rich but then he does not pay for much himself I suppose. Did he accept such free gifts from people seeking favours which at the DPP – I assume not. So where did all the money come from? After all his father was a toolmaker he tells us endlessly?
September 26, 2024
+++
Apart from taxing the rich ( remaining rich?) the left believes that UBI can be funded by cutting benefits.
This govt. seems to be very interested in doing that!
Oh AND apparently by issuing āsovereign moneyā as long as it doesnāt cause inflation!!
No idea but apparently the issued money must not exceed the output of the economy.
It will surely be a question of āWhat econ9my?ā
September 25, 2024
Wow! John! Superb.
September 25, 2024
If this government was a private company they would be in jail for corruption, extortion and theft. They intend to bleed the middle classes dry and pass our wealth to foreign governments and the feckless. Is there no law that protects the British taxpayer from these treasonous politicians?
September 26, 2024
Well put Christine!
It’s because they’re all on board with the idea of globalisation and one world government ideals! The UK doesn’t matter to them.
The UN meeting in New York would seem to confirm this. The UN seems to want to be the arbiter of all governments. So far this government’s ‘pals’ haven’t managed to stop warring amongst themselves! Perhaps globalisation isn’t so great?
September 26, 2024
+ 1
September 25, 2024
Lavrov has just said that the globalist collective west will understand nothing other than an outright Russian Victory.
Similarly the State sector will understand nothing other than a total financial collapse with the IMF instructing the State to cut itself – because there is nothing else left to cut in the U.K.
We are dealing with seriously stupid people who have read Saul Alinsky.
September 26, 2024
Lavrov and Russia needn’t bother. Political Islamists, in an unholy alliance with the Woke Left, is already well established inside the gates and busy destroying Western culture and economy.
When Liz Truss was despatched to Moscow in order to educate Sergei Lavrov and Vladimir Putin that NATO is not expansions Lavrov described the meeting as trying to talk with the deaf. Lavrov was right but it is worse than even he said. Our political elites are not only deaf but utterly blind to the real threat.
September 26, 2024
Humiliating wasnāt she? Did not know the difference between the Black Sea and the Baltic and had no idea whether a city was Russian or Ukrainian. You would have thought she would have looked at a map before sitting down – or if she did not know, ask where it was in the map.
Then Johnson and now Lammy. No wonder we are a laughing stock š
September 26, 2024
With an alternative trade and financial system in the making ,will the IMF still be around or have the wherewithal to come to the rescue?
Vladimir Putin,March 2024,(addressing western elites):
“Your Vampire Ball is over.”
September 26, 2024
The IMF canāt come to the rescue, they just will take control. Maybe divert some more money to that little hero, Zelensky. Thatās what happens when you lose control of your finances, someone else makes the decisions.
September 26, 2024
There’s a long history of that-see the Ottoman ‘capitulations’.
September 25, 2024
Everything the Govt spends and wastes tighten the noose around taxpayers.
September 25, 2024
Obviously they say spending is tight because otherwise they would have to explain why public services are so poor despite high spending. Let’s face it – the state of our public services is indefensible so the only thing they can do is say there is not enough money.
It seems the more you give to the public sector, the worse the service gets.
September 26, 2024
The whole tax structure from birth to death, and beyond, if you should leave anything, stunts efficiency, invention, marketing of desirables, motivation and trust in state organisations.
Failure of management, owners, majority shareholders and Public Officialdom has blunted prosperity in the UK ably assisted by punitive taxation.
September 25, 2024
All of this is a recipe for disaster – spending out of control and a high tax agenda sucking life out of the economy.
When are political commentators going to recognize that the political agenda now is not one we voted for or asked for. It is utterly destructive and will mean a great deal of pain as we crash and burn. The direction is deliberate and supported by the vast majority of those in parliament, who no longer work for our good.
We’ve gone beyond asking why – we all know that – the question of the day is when enough good people will recognize what is going on and start doing something to stop it!
September 26, 2024
Only about one fifth of the electorate voted for another Government who aim to destroy the social and economic status quo. It just shows us how meek and timid, let alone politically ignorant they are! Four fifths were so divided that either they just accept the gloomy future and couldn’t be arsed, or the answer was split too many ways.
We reap what we sow. With leftie teaching and university lecturers preaching nonsense, how do we reverse this failing?
September 26, 2024
We start by encouraging those with a voice to use it…
September 26, 2024
“Everything was forever,until it was no more-The Last Soviet Generation.”Alexei Yurchak,2005.
The title says it all!
September 25, 2024
Whilst my generation were too proud to ask for benefits,the present middle aged and part of the younger generation, do everything they can to get more free money,try and sue to get money by making up scenarios with their friends as witnesses and laugh when they get the money.They don’t pay tax but have bundles of notes in their pockets and drive BMW,s badly .
September 26, 2024
And I think they get Winter Fuel Allowance too.
One benefit unlocks a cornucopia of others!
September 26, 2024
Good morning.
The Public Sector is where a lot of former MP’s and their friends go to recieve nice little jobs. Another SCAM that needs shutting down.
September 26, 2024
Brings a new meaning to ‘a support network’.
September 26, 2024
Sir
Everything you say is right.
We currently need a strong and committed opposition party to hold this Government to account until the electorate is permitted to do its job (and to correct its previous mistake) … unless maybe the Labour MPs meanwhile come to their senses.
September 26, 2024
This submission appeared briefly yesterday evening, was commented on and then disappeard along with the comment. I see four comments survived.
Basically, government does too much, does it badly and at great expense to the taxpayer. It long ago reached the point where it impacts negatively on enterprise, choking its own income stream through excessive taxation.
Government must back off, and only do what it has to do and do it better, first candidate defence. The only possibility of this happening is with a Reform government. The rest are just different degrees of socialism, which have been demonstrated not to work.
September 26, 2024
At the last election Reform were inadequately developed and prepared, yet they still managed to gain high votes shares and victories. Since then, they are growing stronger and better organised. With up to five years lead-up they should be well-poised to win a majority, and dump Labour to sort out this crazy incompetent government.
September 26, 2024
and dump the remaining so-called Conservatives.
September 26, 2024
@agricola – as all sane people know, the ones not bound by ideology/religion/obsession that individually, collectively they can achieve more with less. One of the prime reasons being as we are individuals peoples, areas etc one size doesn’t fit all situations equally.
Sir Keir Starmer has said the state will take more ācontrolā in peopleās lives. That according to labour is to appeal to those that vote Reform?
September 26, 2024
Terrifying what folk do when they view everything through the prism of ideology/religion/obsession.
And always they do those things with other peopleās money.
( Mrs T was right)
Apparently there is now a huge baby puppet called Lilly in the town square Rochdale.
Its purpose is to encourage children to talk to it about climate fears.
September 26, 2024
Be careful. There probably is a hidden camera and microphone in the puppet so don’t be rude to it or you will be locked up and, to make room for you, another violent criminal will be released to run riot among us.
September 26, 2024
Could we have a puppet looking like an older man, bearing presents, but with a warning about not talking to strangers.
And no he should not look like Father Christmas.
September 26, 2024
Brilliant!
September 26, 2024
Govt. says spending is tight because it wants to constantly blame the tories for all possible ills.
Also spending has a political tinge.
Old people are viewed as natural tories and must be punished.
Govt. should remember it was in opposition for 14 years and could have worked to change what it did not like.
It also had ( I believe) access to OBR figures.
September 26, 2024
In opposition Labour (and the SNP and the Liberal Democrats) cried shrilly for more money for public services and criticised Ministers for holding the civil service to account.
Labour may not complain about the state of public finances as they would have spent more and asked for less (as recently demonstrated).
We need a new generation of politicians and a new electorate who do not try to buy the electorate and which does not need to be bought.
September 26, 2024
100% agree.
September 26, 2024
The answer to the question is because people are not told the truth about how high public expenditure is which is around Ā£42,000 for each household in the country or roughly half of all the income generated in the country. With the other half everybody has to feed, house, heat, entertain themselves, often fund dependants and generally live while they get next to nothing from the government’s half of their income. People are much more skilled at spending their half of their money than the government is in spending their half. Time to campaign for governments to spend much less of people’s money and for people to pay much less tax and be allowed to spend much more of the money they themselves generate.
Reply Indeed. Many people are made to spend more on tax than on everything they buy for normal living.
September 26, 2024
ONS figures for some years have shown that the net contributors to the state are a minority of households.
September 26, 2024
If you invest say Ā£1 m in the uk and it produces say 10% return after tax then incomes tax, CT tax, VAT, stamp duty, CGT and IHT over 20 years can easily take 90% + of your investment off you, Very hard to beat inflation after taxes.
JR pointed out the Irish get four times as much CT per person with CT at half the UK rate. When will the mad Treasury (and our duff chancellor and ex-chancellors from Brown to Reeves wake up?
September 26, 2024
Reply-Reply
Your comment sums it up exactly John.
We now work for the State before ourselves.
That cannot last as people will eventually give up, and say what is the point when others get rewarded for doing nothing.
Goose and golden egg ?
September 26, 2024
@Berkshire Alan – as 2TK summed things up yesterday as a policy he now wants Labour/The State to control every citizens life.
September 26, 2024
My household has nowhere near Ā£42,000 spent on it per year and there are four of us so we should be attracting Ā£168K even when accounting for blanket defence and law and order coverage.
Perhaps it is time for smaller government and contributory public services.
September 26, 2024
For most people their most expensive purchase is taxation not their house or car. So what do they get back of any real value for this not very much at all. Tow tier do nothing but snatch microphones two Tier police, zero border control taxies and hotels this way sir, blocked and pot holed roads, motorist mugging, over restrictive planning, a very poor and rationed NHS, rigged markets in energy, housing, cars, schools, transport, a rather poor defence system, billions in student debt for usually duff degrees that will often not be repaid.
Plus they gave us the mad Covid lockdown, net harm covid Vaccines then the unequivocal lies on this, the postoffice scandal, Hillsborough cover up, the postoffice scandal, blood contamination scandal, pointless HS2, tower block fires by cladding building for zero reason, net zero lunacy, locked up Lucy Letby on scant and duff evidence, the fund OFCOM the propaganda enforcement outfit, road blocking,
September 26, 2024
What proportion of this Ā£42,000 is spend doing harm and inconveniencing the productive? Net Zero, road blocking, market rigging, over regulating… What proportions just wasted and what proportion delivers real value. If on balance it delivers a net positive after the negatives are subtracted I would be surprised. 46% of GDP probably delivering a net negative.
Then we have to lost returns. Has most of this Ā£42,000 been left with productive people and business we would have had huge positive returns – rather than circa zero returns. Then a stronger and larger tax base next year and so on. We are in a doom loop as Truss puts it.
Higher tax rates give lower tax and a smaller tax base so they raise tax rates and higher tax rates give…
September 26, 2024
Small technical issue:
The link at the bottom of your newsletter is:
https://public-api.wordpress.com/bar/?stat=groovemails-events&bin=wpcom_email_click&redirect_to=http%3A%2F%2Fjohnredwoodsdiary.com%2F2024%2F09%2F25%2Fwhy-do-most-politicians-and-commentators-say-public-spending-is-so-tight%2F%23respond&sr=0&signature=09dfbca4f94ced03c443bfac438bf5d3&blog_id=211616667&user=131847375&_e=eyJ etc etc etc _z=z
It takes us to:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2024/09/25/why-do-most-politicians-and-commentators-say-public-spending-is-so-tight/#respond
which gives “Oops page not found”.
It should take us to:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2024/09/26/why-do-most-politicians-and-commentators-say-public-spending-is-so-tight/#comments
So I think the bookmark should be ‘comments’, not ‘respond’.
September 26, 2024
Austerity is a political narrative but then this entire nation and all that it’s been turned into is a political narrative.
By the way, the white working class is not the enemy. Who will represent them?
September 26, 2024
Agree totally with your post JR, but it would seem matters are never going to get better whist we have politicians who seem too dumb to understand, or have absolutely no wish to understand.
I am sure the figures you have gained are open and available for all to see, but are simply ignored.
So much easier to say a black hole left by others, nothing to do with me !
September 26, 2024
I saw a report about someone who lost Winter Fuel Allowance.
So they applied for Pension Credits and were awarded a sum per week adding up over a year to almost the WFA.
But as they thus qualified for Pension Credits they then got WFA.
Almost doubling the govt expenditure.
September 26, 2024
Pension credit requires the recipient to have almost no savings and no additional income.
Therefore it will be withdrawn from those who have savings who must then use those savings to pay for their winter fuel.
There is no merit whatsoever in being prudent unless you can store huge sums to support you in retirement as the feckless get more money handed to them as they have none because they have spent it or not earned it.
There is a disconnect in the criteria and it rewards being irresponsible.
That is why these awards should be universal or withdrawn completely because they encourage poor behavior
September 26, 2024
I wonder if we are near the point where further tax rises overall will no longer increase government revenue overall, a grand Laffer curve of the entire economy. You can see small elements of this like the removal of non-dom status not bringing in any extra money as non-doms simply leave, and the VAT on school fees not bringing in any extra as some schools close and pupils have to be accommodated in the state sector, but there must be other effects so if Reeves removes some level of pension tax relief then the wealthy simply won’t pay into pensions.
September 26, 2024
RG :
Reducing the tax take is not an unfortunate consequence. It is part of the plan.
September 26, 2024
More and more taxes collected by smaller amounts spent per person for lower impact.
Oh haven’t we been enriched by population expansion?
September 26, 2024
Might I suggest that an easy win for lower spending in future years is an immediate cessation of defined benefit public sector pension accumulation?
Move them all onto defined contribution going forward with 3% employer contribution as in the private sector.
September 26, 2024
Ain’t that the truth.
What a shame you’re not in Parliament so you could stand up and say it to their smug, grifting, faces.
Reply I did point all this out in Parliamentary speeches
September 26, 2024
Put simply , public spending is tight because government is maxed out on tax, money printing, private financing initiatives, and bond selling. Current government are cutting off investment with at the moment unspecified threats of austerity and an even greater threat of financial penalty. None of which will motivate enterprise. Leave if you can.
September 26, 2024
Very well said. Those short lists of large public sector losses must have become an entire wing in the Treasury by now!
The public sector has been able to expand its workforce with what seems to be the sole purpose of diluting their existing workload. Why didn’t they expand the workforce and sustain the same productivity requirements? If they had, the extra employees would have worked to the established productivity standards and the public sector output levels would not have slumped. Alternatively, they should not have increased the workforce at all.
The media should be raising all of this with ministers when interviewing them. It has a direct bearing on GDP.
September 26, 2024
Exactly, they(Governments) think they can keep taking tax and refusing to manage spending and the World will be all right. Conveniently forgetting that every pound the take from the Taxpayer is a pound removed from the economy.
The taxpayer has to cut back, balance their personal budgets to cope with Government inspired price rises and taxes. Governments don’t bother they just take more then wonder why the pot is diminishing.
2TK now wants Labour to control every citizen life, is that so he can define how much pocket money he will permit for us to spend each week while he keeps throwing OUR money away?
September 26, 2024
Well done last night on GBNews, I find it hard listening to that woman shouting over everybody but you calmly dealt with her ignorance.
you have my admiration.
September 26, 2024
I tried to phrase that comment earlier but deleted.
I totally agree with you on all counts.
Very well played by JR and JRM.š¤
September 26, 2024
Slightly side of todays topic.
An amazing interview by Beth Rigby with Mr Starmer.
Is he really so thick that he cannot see why the rest of us mere plebs wouldn’t love to get Ā£20,000 of tax free freebies.
And on a personal level is it a good idea to move someone preparing to take an important exam out of a home situation where they SHOULD be quite settled and comfortable to an unknown location and situation?
What a strange man.
Where is the Conservative opposition all much too slow and quiet, they REALLY need to have a new leader in place BEFORE the coming budget to do a “Truss” on the Labour leadership.
September 26, 2024
@ Know-Dice “Where is the Conservative opposition all much too slow and quiet” – in a wilderness of their own making wondering if choice of yet another new leader will help at all. The true Leader of the Opposition we can see in action above, highly articulate and accurate as always.
September 26, 2024
You need to take a look at the Conservatives’ YouTube channel to appreciate just how utterly useless CCHQ is. How difficult can it be to get an MP in front of a camera each day, talking for a minute about his/her conservatism?
September 26, 2024
āIt [the government] is also now short of Ministers who care about value for money and know how to get back lost productivity.ā
It is far worse.
The UN and the fifth column Marxists in the UK government, Parliament, Civil Service, quangos, ācharitiesā, institutions, regulators, academia and the judiciary and elsewhere know the path to control is through causing chaos and impoverishment.
The perfect vehicle to achieve this is using the UNās false claim of a climate crisis and the Net Zero āsolutionā applied only to the West.
Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy Security & Net Zero and Chris Stark, Head of Mission Control Centre for Clean Energy, have written an āSOSā letter to Fintan Slye, Executive Director of the National Grid ESO, to ask how net zero CO2 emissions for electricity by 2030 can be achieved with options and costings as this was a manifesto pledge.
Fintan Slye has replied that he needs first a government definition of Net Zero as he well knows that it is totally impossible if at the same time the definition has to include the words āaffordableā and āreliableā. So neither the Government, nor the National Grid know how it can be achieved.
Not that these two words will matter to Ed Miliband. He is so desperate to achieve his āGreat Leap Forwardā to the UK becoming a āClean Energy Superpower by 2030ā that we can expect all hydrocarbon electricity generation to be closed down by 31/12/2029 bringing chaos and impoverishment.
Unfortunately there will be no opposition from the Conservative Party, the official “Opposition”, as they are all fully on board the Net Zero Titanic.
September 26, 2024
These days it is well nigh impossible to make further comment on Sir JR’s posts, as they are all so comprehensively on the nail.
It was clear from Day 1 that the new PM was clueless, and has nobody around him who can remedy his cluelessness.
September 26, 2024
….and to make matters worse, in the last 24 hours both Von Der Leyen and Starmer have posted on social media. Notwithstanding the UKs democratic Leave vote, apparently their current meeting is to explore the “reset” of the relationship between the UK and the EU.
September 26, 2024
20 irregular immigrants arrived in the UK yesterday from the safe country of France ā¦..