The Daily Telegraph had a good article on 11 things the government has done which impede growth. They included the National Insurance tax on jobs, the farm and small business tax, the Non Doms tax and the tax on selling too many petrol cars. There is the Minimum wage, public sector pay and the employee rights law. There is the net zero policy, educational reform, Council tax and migration.
Unfortunately I need to add some more to this useful list. There is the reduction of pensioner spending power from the fuel grant changes. There is the planned introduction of the carbon border adjustment mechanism.This effective tariff will make essential imports dearer so it is a tax on UK consumers. There is VAT on schools which is closing some private schools with loss of jobs. There is the planned give away of the Chagos pushing up public spending and taxes to pay for it. There is government endorsement of huge Bank of England losses from needlessly selling bonds, losses that have to be paid by taxpayers. The selling helps keep longer term interest rates higher.
There are the additional regulatory costs and taxes hitting landlords, leading to a reduction of rented accommodation. There is the ban on new oil and gas wells. There is support for anti car and van traffic management and road reduction schemes which mean service providers book fewer appointments., allowing for the traffic congestion.
January 29, 2025
A dogma led, totalitarian communist inspired government in gestation. The very antithisis of what the UK requires. The deeper they dig the faster the electorate will leave them.
They are considering tampering with the May local elections, to avoid humiliation. How long before they try something similar with the next general election, if they last that long.
January 29, 2025
Agreed. The Government’s actions are driven by ideology not a desire for growth.
Sir J & the Telegraph missed another key factor: Immigration is supressing GDP per capita, reducing the drive for improved productivity and increasing state spending (on education, infrastructure, healthcare). The ONS report out yesterday predicts no change of policy.
January 29, 2025
Some Council Taxes going up 25% and the abysmal state of the roads. Here in Tenerife it puts the UK to shame
Spanish Taxes are about the same as the UK but you get an awful lot more for your money
It would appear that after the humiliation of Davos Thieves is beginning to realise what a mess she has created
I think it’s more stupidity than actual wanton destruction but the end result is the same.
January 29, 2025
She seems think that spending taxpayers money creates growth. Baffling.
January 29, 2025
This Labour government is beyond redemption. The only question is how much damage will they inflict on society and the UK economy before they are ejected from office. There is a real risk it will be irredeemable.
January 29, 2025
Quite possibly, we know from Starmer’s attempt (and partial success) to prevent a real Brexit that the man is certainly not a democrat. He thinks the voters are all far right even for merely thinking we have two Tier Kier justice when nearly everyone can see that we do have. It is even written into the law in many cases with higher sentences for hate crime.
The government propose an anti-Misogyny law but not an anti-Misandry one. so Is this not two tier Mr Kier? And how will “Misogyny” be defined if it is true will it be a defence? If I say on average women are less physically strong, less tall, less likely to study physics, maths, engineering to higher levels, less likely to be top chess or bridge players, more likely to be teachers than to work on construction sites or oil rigs or in refuse collection… am I being misogynistic or merely stating facts?
Similarly if I say men are far more likely to murder, commit violent crimes or commit suicide am I committing misandry or just stating facts.
January 29, 2025
Yes, your last para is the big worry. We know Starmer prefers authoritarian management to democracy; he said so in Davos last year, and his actions over the recent riots. Will Labour now try to reduce our democratic freedoms to impose their ideology? This May could show a test attempt to reduce his accountability.
The leaked government report on sex crimes should be a very big stick for Badenoch to wield today, will she?
January 29, 2025
@agricola – where would the electorate go? The main groupings in numerical terms are just different shades of the Uniparty, with the same ideological drive, NetZero and re-join the EU Project and so on. All want spend other people money but not want to mange the spend. All want more and more jobs-for-the-boys – keeping buddies close that cant find real work elsewhere.
Parliament is full of anything and everything but not ‘managers’ – ideology over substance. Hence the economy is not managed, not managed to compete on the World stage
January 29, 2025
The licencing and and over regulation of landlords too and the over 100% of profits taxation of them, both in un-indexed CGT taxes and the fact that interests (cost of running the business) cannot be deducted for tax (note this was introduced by Osborne and the Con-Socialists). Osborne lies when he introduced this theft tax. How can a business pay tax on profits it has not even made for very long?
January 29, 2025
Kier Starmer “Growth is the number on priority of this government” sure Kier why then is every policy you push clearly tax, borrow, piss down the train, over regulate anti-growth lunacy then?
Did you not say “not a penny more on council tax” was/is anything you promised or promise true Mr Two Tier?
January 29, 2025
So Starmer invokes Thatcher in his quest for growth.
Let us look at some of the differences between Thatcher and Now..
Insurance tax did not exist now 12% or 20%
Top stamp duty rate was 1% just put up further by Reeves so now an absurd 17%
Income tax and NI relief for private medical cover and no IPT tax at 12% so about half the cost is now tax.
No VAT on school frees.
No landlord licencing red tape
No double taxation of landlord interest even some tax breaks for investing in properties to let so more available
Miras mortgage income tax relief for some of the time.
No VAT on home energy.
No car market rigging, no road blocking, no energy market rigging.
Top income tax rate lowered to 40% now 45% and NI is far higher.
IHT threshold far higher in real terms and no IHT on farms or trading businesses
Indexation of CGT against inflation.
Far less red tape and employment regulations
All thresholds CGT, IHT, Income tax, NI… lifted each year for inflation…
Is it any wonder we have little growth Starmer (and much of this was introduced by the Con Socialists!)
January 29, 2025
And the Thatcher ERA was far from perfect she failed to sort out the NHS, closes loads of good grammar schools, appointed an idiot as Chancellor and let him take over and even fell for climate alarmism!
January 29, 2025
@Lifelogic – we are quick to dump all today’s ills on this Marxist shower. It is easy to forget Sunak & Hunt maliciously ramped up costs to industry therefore to all, they stole from the economy (raised tax) seeming just to impose malicious punishment on the nation & it’s people. Then to make out they were good guys they eased things in the run up to the GE. They still created the highest tax take and borrowing for at least 75 years. Thier replacement team, are still those that owned the collective responsibility for all the damage – the continuity team. 14 years of corrup thinking still in place. I don’t however believe they left an unknown debts for the next lot – the highest tax and borrowing was well known.
So when another shade of the Uniparty grabbed power with just 20% of the eligible electorate, they have just followed what Sunak & Hunt and the continuity team, but with more zeal and ideology were on track to do. So as much as we hate them it’s more of the same, they just as with the others refuse to manage, refuse to manage and control expenditure.
January 29, 2025
Reeves admits budget has costs! Yes but alas no benefits though Rachael. So she is using a run way at Heathrow as a political distraction! So what will New Zero fans Kemi, Boris, Coutinho, Ed Miliband have to say on this?
January 29, 2025
@Lifelogic – Heathrow? How many Ā£billions will be dumped on the taxpayer to please this privatised foreign owned company
January 29, 2025
Why do you think you have some divine right to borrow money, use it to buy a house and rent it out at a profit while deducting the interest on the loan from the rent income? Why wouldnāt everyone do that? If anyone is going to do that, it should be the state.
January 29, 2025
Well that is what nearly all businesses do. Interest on borrowing is a cost of business same ias if you are letting cars, or buying machines to manifacture. You are taxed on your profits. If you rent is Ā£10k and you interest Ā£11k you have made a loss! Where is the tax going to come from. In effect you slowly kill the businesses.
January 29, 2025
And Ms Reeves and Labour are shooting the economy in the foot with her abolition of Non Dom status, which Thatcher and even Blair and Brown sensible retained. Abolition of this is a brilliant way to deter UK investment, encourage the wealthy to leave and reduce tax take!
But the PPE Oxon. graduate Reeves did get four As at A level and in Maths, Further Maths, Politics & Economics so far brighter than most labour MPs and ministers and at a comp.. Why then did she join the Labour Party and aspite to PPE at Oxford? Surely joining the labour party indicates you have not really grasped even the basics of economics. Then again neither had Major, Brown, Blair, Cameron, May, Boris, Sunak, Osborne, Hammond, Javid, Starmerā¦
January 29, 2025
Why? a control freak?
January 29, 2025
The Reeves budget and this government’s policies are surely the most anti-growth ever. When you increase tax rates but get lower tax rake (not yet more to waste) the government has a huge problem. People leave, stop working so hard, barter, go black market, claim more benefit, go sick, work less or not at all,,, an economic doom loop. Well over 50% now pay less in taxes than they get back directly in benefits, health care, housing benefit and school places etc. So how do we fund police, social services, defence, the vast size of largely parasitic government, the insanity of net zero…? People will only put up with so much “modern slavery” and 50% slavery is more than enough Ms Reeves – especially with such appallingly poor public “services” delivered in return.
January 29, 2025
The government needs growth to supply tax money for its pet projects and people, but is effectively opposed to growth, due to its Net Zero fixation.
They are now surprised to be ambushed by their own policies. They had 14 years of opposition to figure out something workable. It’s tragic that such incompetent people hold power, but we are stuck in a hole with them which they are busy digging deeper. Some of them must be smelling disaster, but the idealogues and vested interests hold sway.
The markets look on, and have decided we’re a lending risk. We’re in a rotten situation.
January 29, 2025
@Wanderer – while agreeing to a point, NetZero is a UK Parliament thing they all own it, they could drop it anytime. The rest of the World is not being this destructive to thier countries or people. Then what are they proving? That they can control a People?
For what reason everything to date done by the UK Governent has caused World emissions to rise exponentially.
They alone have caused UK energy prices to be 4 times that of our competing nations.
We empower and pay for ineptitude
January 29, 2025
An immigrant who earns under Ā£36,000 will take away from growth as they will not pay for the services they consume.
January 29, 2025
Itās one big con and the government behaves as if the people, existing businesses and potential investors, both here and abroad, are stupid. Everyone knows that socialist policies are inherently anti growth. Yet we have a silly chancellor using inane phrases like āregulation for growthā. Almost as inane as āattribution scienceā, another perversion of the English language now in use, and only a matter of time before itās used by Messrs Miliband and Rowlatt.
January 29, 2025
Much of this has come, and still comes, from the EU, and I was amused by this note on the EUObserver bulletin:
“Good morning,
Even as most of the content of Ursula von der Leyen’s vaunted Competitiveness Compass was previously leaked, today marks the official release “of the north star of the new commission” that will “drive our work for the next five years,ā von der Leyen told MEPs last week.
One of its pillars is the āSimplification Omnibusā, which aims for “far-reaching simplification” of reporting for private companies, which made me think of American anthropologist David Graeber’s ‘Iron law of Liberalism’, which he coins in his 2015 book The Utopia of Rules.
It states that “any market reform, any government initiative intended to reduce red tape and promote market forces will have the ultimate effect of increasing the total number of regulations, the total amount of paperwork and the total number of bureaucrats the government employs.”
History concurs.”
– Alejandro Tauber, publisher
January 29, 2025
Government – what is it good for?
Sir John, It is worth highlighting that the additions in your list are mostly a continuation of Conservative policy. Even Michael Gove suggested VAT on private schools.
Government and those who seek to govern, (mostly) a plague on our lives
January 29, 2025
It was always obvious that we couldn’t just scrap all the laws that we had got from the EU and the best way to proceed was to gradually weed out those which were causing us the greatest problems at any time. There could be a system for people to complain about this or that rule and the ones at the top of the list would have priority.
January 29, 2025
To add: the increase in CGT and the increased scope of IHT to pensions
January 29, 2025
Politics aside, has this government done anything whatsoever of use since July?
January 29, 2025
An aviation specialist reported on LBC this morning that Heathrow expansion would not assist growth. He claimed it would not add much for business, but be taken by UK holidaymakers going overseas, shifting money there.
Many years ago, the UKās leading grocery chain dominated the UKās milk doorstep distribution and sales. They wanted to avoid people cancelling two weeksā milk while abroad on hols. The grocer decided to promote domestic holidays as their best way of increasing their milk sales. People stayed in the UK, drinking their milk at a UK holiday resort, with the grocer almost certainly being the local supplier there too.
Buying British stimulates UK growth.
January 29, 2025
I think there is one other factor to consider and that is we are retiring far too early now. The SPA is currently 66 years old yet average lifetime expectancy is about 80 years old. There has never been such a wide spread between the two.
In fact in 1940ās, 50ās 60ās, 70ās the SPA was just before average lifetime expectancy so basically people worked almost all their lives contributing something. This spread is a deadweight loss to our economy. We are told we need immigrants (another deadweight loss) to pay for this deadweight loss. There is huge economic mismanagement there.
The real solution is the SPA needs to increase to 77 years old. We also need to stop non-essential immigration immediately.
Please be aware excess immigration hinders GDP per capita which in economic parlance is āliving standardsā. It also compresses wages for the low income and young especially (as there is excess supply of unskilled labour). This turns valuable economic prospects into diminished economic prospects (ie the young and low income). We will never fully realise their economic contribution the more their prospects are subdued by excess immigration.
So I believe we need to stop retiring too early (and reduce immigration to what is necessary only) and that will be a tailwind for economic growth.
January 29, 2025
Don’t forget the impending changes to Stamp Duty which will impact the housing market and the well-above-inflation Council Tax increases which they’ve green-lighted which will be hitting households in April.
And then there’s the pending implementation of Gordon Brown’s plan for the dismantling of England; imposing regional government across England and Regional Mayors which no-one has voted for and no-one outside the governing class wants. That will cost a fortune and just mean more jobs for the political guys ‘n’ gals and their legions of bureaucrats. England will be wiped off the map in favour of resurrecting the kingdoms of the 9th century, as a precursor to imposing a federal structure which again, no-one has voted for.
They’ll do anything to avoid cutting the size of the State and the number of Civil Servants/Quangos.
At the root of our economic collapse is the Net Zero scam. This article from The Daily Sceptic spells out the absolute lunacy of the Intermittent Energy policy they’re pursuing: record payments made under the Feed-in-Tariff scheme in the year to end March 2024, and under the Contract for Difference scheme a record Ā£2.4 billion was paid out in subsidies across a range of technologies, but the largest recipient was offshore wind.”
So much for “cheap, free energy.” And that’s before we count the cost of having to pay for a reliable “back-up” system.
https://dailysceptic.org/2025/01/27/record-2-4-billion-in-cfd-subsidies-paid-out-in-2024/
January 29, 2025
I’ll add another – us pensioners who look aghast at the impending IHT on our estate are being advised by our beneficiaries to spend spened spend – but on cruises, imported cars, ticking off the bucket list.
The Chancellor will not see growth …
January 29, 2025
Why don’t you just say it – we have a rubbish government who are out of their depth. Considering they have had 14 years to get ready for power they are certainly doing a bad job of it. The restriction on petrol/diesel cars is ridiculous as electric cars are out of the reach of most ordinary workers and with job cuts on the horizon no one is going to go into big debts if they have any sense. The problem is that these people have never had to budget to pay rent/mortgage, find money to get to work and back, pay for food. As VAT was an EU tax ( I believe) why was it not reduced when we left the EU (did we or did I imagine it?) as it should have been. Just another good tax earner but not brought into line with a new free country to make things easier for the people who live and work here.
January 29, 2025
off topic.
What a load of fuss about the XB-1 aircraft, a jet independently developed by Boom Supersonic, which has broken the sound barrier in testing. The Concorde did that 55 years ago!
January 29, 2025
The Labour party trashing the economy. It’s what they do.
January 29, 2025
Yes, but in the past it didn’t seem like they were doing it deliberately. It does this time. That’s the difference.
January 29, 2025
The traffic congestion argument is not trivial.
Most people who use road vehicles are witnesses to long journeys and being stuck in traffic jams for lengthy periods. This is much worse than it was some years ago.
Just add up the extra wasted minutes of your life spent in the traffic jams and you can get some idea of how many extra vehicles are required, how much extra fuel is required and how many extra work hours need to be paid for to deal with this unproductive and environmentally damaging nonsense.
The effect on our happiness is just as bad with many hours being spent wasting our lives away.
January 29, 2025
Sir John
It is simple this government as with the last one of 14 years has not managed the UK as you would a business. A Country that has to compete against 192 other Countries for its wealth creation, its existence and future.
With Countries just as with Companies it is dog-eat-dog situation, the ones that survive, prosper and yes dominate are those with the best business brains the best management. Wealth therefore profit has to be created ā it is needed to fund ātomorrowā
Yes Labour/The Starmer crew has been more zealous more overtly ideological, but it is only a small uplift on the previous crowd. Letās not forget May then heightened by Johnson brought the ultra-ideological NetZero that our major competitors are not involved in, as such created the punitive punishment the Nation and its People now has to endure
January 29, 2025
History has shown us that the Worldās oldest Political Party, the Conservative Party, was always good at management (plus their own survival). They managed things for everyone one, they have even been better on the āSocial careā front that the Socialist now Marxist Labour Party, they have been better on the economy and more tax efficient ā they managed expenditure. Expenditure related to āactualā real wealth creation.
This Century brought us the Blair Project, the destruction of structures and frameworks that were proven to work with just management, not ideology. Then Brown destroyed the very fabric of the UK further following his raid on pension funds, seemingly because they were creating a future for the people, selling our gold reserves built up over centuries at knock down prices and kicking the nuclear industry out of the UK to create money to cover his mistakes. Brown created a financial crisis and was desperate to cover it up. We are still paying his debt today as will our children.
So, when it was time for change, we got Cameron. Rather than reverse Labourās destruction he continued it. An ardent Europhile that seemingly hated the UK, he sowed the seeds of the Conservative Party destruction and its relevance by ensuring that with CCHQ only LibDems, Wets, One Nation-ists (and whatever acronym the left chose to use) could find their way into parliament under the Conservative Banner. The project continues today, what was left of the real conservatives left at the last election. So, there are now no business managers able to think and talk sense. They still want Net Zero, they still want to be in the EU and have retained all EU Laws to enable their return.
The people the public majority that are in mind and deed hard-working self-reliant centre ground individuals have been deserted the party of good management as it has left the stage, they have been disenfranchised, yet they are the one pay, paying the price.
There will be no growth in the UK until good management finds its way back
January 29, 2025
Identifying barriers to growth is a consulting project I have successfully completed in manufacturing and in exploitation of space. When the REUL issue was live I was very sympathetic to Kemi Badenoch who wanted to deal with real barriers to growth. But the Tory Party wasn’t interested in barriers to growth. It wanted only a bonfire of EU regulations so it sat on her ideas. The result is that UK still has EU regs in place and still has no idea why growth is so uninspiring.
Sir John’s suggestions are sensible and obvious. I suppose there is no point asking why the Tories utterly failed to implement any if them.
January 29, 2025
I have previously referred to this chart of per capita GDP:
https://globalbritain.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Ewen-Stewart-Chart-1-UK-GDP-per-capita.jpg
which shows that we have never fully recovered from the 2008 global financial crisis.
As there are attempts to estimate the effect of Brexit on GDP by inventing a “counterfactual” in which we did not vote to leave the EU, for example on page 84 in this recent report:
https://media.ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-Brexit-Files-from-referendum-to-reset.pdf
I thought I would do the same kind of thing with a “counterfactual” in which there was no global financial crisis, using ONS data on per capita GDP:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/timeseries/mwb6/ukea
and my preliminary finding is that if the growth trend rate of 2.48% a year between 1995 and 2007 had continued to 2023 then per capita GDP would have been 42% higher, at Ā£44852 rather than Ā£31525.
Which puts in the shade any putative Brexit damage of a few percent of GDP, including the OBR’s 4% loss over 15 years, and suggests the government should not waste its energy on a “Brexit reset”.
Reply The 4% figure is a nonsense forecast parading as a fact. Trade has gone up, not down.
January 29, 2025
Yes, there are lots of ways HMG is making life more difficult.
One of these the ever rising cost of just surviving, never mind ‘living’.
Council tax is due to become a lot more expensive this year, even though councils continue with their vanity projects, fail to provide adequate roads and road surfaces, and yet do not offer anything extra!
Water companies have also been given the green light to increase their charges, (profits to them), substantially. I’m told my bill will rise by more than Ā£200 this coming year. That is neither sustainable or justified. But typical of the governments desire to make us pay and pay while they destroy our future.
Water companies are typical of the over-privileged quangos and government sponsored industries that make up their own rules and profit margins. They tell us to expect water shortages ā another excuse for government and those running the water industry to slope their shoulders and take no responsibility.
There is no shortage of water in this country ā just look around! What we have is a failure to manage water effectively, and that buck stops with the useless rogue governments we have had and still have, who are vehemently screwing up everything they touch.
January 29, 2025
Agree but it does not seem to matter to the Government.
January 29, 2025
Donāt worry folks, this government is going for growth, expanding Heathrow ā¦probably funded by investment from China, probably built using immigrant labour and used by the rich who can afford the net-zero levy
January 29, 2025
We shouldn’t forget the main reason for rising costs and very expensive living – If net-zero targets are to be met, all of society needs to change.
If they imagine the public are on their side just wait until they impose 15 minute cities on a widescale.
So no more construction industry.
There will be no peace from oppressive government actions while netzero is allowed to run wild.
January 29, 2025
Hi sir John
Other than what you stated
we got nothing to worry about š
January 29, 2025
The biggest barrier to growth is Net Zero. In fact the main policy objective of Net Zero is de-growth through de-industrialisation and the curbing of demand through the rationing of energy, food and transport.
There are tens if not hundreds of thousands of fifth columnists paid by the tax-payer in Parliament, the CCC, DESNZ and the entire Civil Service, NESO, Ofgem, Mission Control, numerous NGO.s quangos and regulators etc etc., all beavering away to make our energy more expensive and unreliable and to make our lives more expensive and difficult by forcing through expensive, impractical and even dangerous electrical or hydrogen replacements such as evs, heat pumps and hydrogen boilers.
These activists are not only deliberately wasting large sums of our money on impractical projects like hydrogen and carbon capture but are actively putting spanners into our industry and economy to reduce our energy and national security. The reason they have no issue with Chinaās CO2 emissions is because China is already an authoritarian Communist state.
January 29, 2025
IR35 forcing freelancers to pay business expenses out of taxed income, handing over many of their roles to the big outsourcers who can pay business expenses out of taxed income, introduces far less flexibility into the economy, lack of ability to respond to immediate needs, and destroys wealth creating power
so many unintended consequences of stuff like this that the ruling bubble just dont understand
January 29, 2025
Unfortunately the effects of most of these things mentioned here today have not yet kicked in and so have little significance on where we are now. Where we are now has all to do with how we were yesterday and the decisions we made or did not make yesterday. Rachel Reeves is correct in her speech – we have to start acting in the national interest if we are to grow. “Ask not what your country can do for you” etc.
January 29, 2025
I totally fail to understand Labour, they say they are in favour of growth yet every single policy of theirs is anti-growth.
January 29, 2025
It smacks of 1984 – ‘Ministry of Growth’.
January 29, 2025
One good thing is that growth is actually measurable so we will be able to see how well, or otherwise, they are doing. One risk is they’ll just allow more uncontrolled immigration to boost overall GDP (just like the Conservatives did) – commentators should always report GDP per head which is the better measure.
January 29, 2025
As per usual, the more a Chancellor protests about promoting growth, the worse for growth are government policies.
Starmer is well on course to be the most recent Labour leader whose premiership is ruined by his Chancellor.
January 29, 2025
Rachel from Accounts thinks that āturnoverā is āgrowthā. This is not surprising as they tax turnover and proudly count GDP. They cannot comprehend that if you are making a loss on every transaction, the fewer you do the better. They have no concept of the difference between capital and spending money (which we consume to stay alive).
Rachel is just like a computer – she cannot challenge her programming. She canāt change. She can only do more of the same. I see she has āreleased Ā£160 billion of private pension fundsā ā¦ what has she released them from? Their owners?
We need to pull the plug. That is the only solution for both Rachel and AI.
The Ukrainian Intelligence Chief, Budanov, has said that unless Ukraine agrees a peace settlement with Russia by the Summer, it will suffer total defeat. Heās catching up with British housewives across the country who have predicted this inevitable surrender for some time.
January 29, 2025
The socialist/liberal (sic) governments since the turn of the century have collectively endured economic decline is maintained and part of successive government policy.
The Liberal government of Cameron, May, Johnson, and Sunak continued the endless taxation and increasing burdens placed on the Private Sector wealth creators.
This latest administration are simply the worst yet but donāt hold your breath. If Starmer is replaced there are plenty of Public Sector worshippers waiting to take over.
The whole sorry mess in Westminster needs Reform.
January 29, 2025
My high street had 4 banks and 2 building societies ā¦over the past 15 years weāve lost 5, and today it was announced that the final bank is closing in May …growth shouldn’t be all about ‘online’ or āAIā, what of community, a happy society, an enjoyable walk/shop down the high-street, now its all asian nail saloons, turkish barbers and mid-east takeaways
January 29, 2025
and coffee shops staffed by PhDs…
January 29, 2025
Takeaways from the Chancellors speech – “Are tax hikes – the Ā£25bn National Insurance hit on businesses unveiled in October – slowing down the economy? Not quite, says the Chancellor, who argued that putting the public finances on a surer footing is a good thing.”
So from that you would have to deduce that removing money from the economy, has zero impact on the economy. Collecting money from the taxpayer to expand the Civil Service has no effect on the economy.
Then Heathrow expansion, a bit vague here, more capacity could be good. But all previous plans had required the taxpayer to dig deep to finance them but with no direct share or reinvestable return in the private company that benefits by a massive magnitude. Heathrow Airport is as I understand it is privatised enterprise, mainly owned by foreign entities paying tax in their own domains, they seemingly receive a never ending stream of taxpayer money – that is not what most of understand to be privatisation.
January 29, 2025
By order of ED
The North Sea Transition Authority has ordered Cuadrilla to destroy the UKās only viable shale gas wells, forcing the company to fill them with concrete and decommission the site by June 2025.
From Guido
āKeeping these wells open doesnāt cost taxpayers a penny, but once they are concreted over then we lose easy access to supplies of shale gas”
We/’I’ will punish you for even thinking of a resilient self-reliant future – Mrs May, Parliament(still continued, it could have been stopped at any time) brought us this punitive punishment while the rest of the World moves forward the UK heads to the Stone Age. Still that same old question if the rest of the World can grow why cant the UK ?
January 29, 2025
Yes, what Red Ed is doing is nothing short of vandalism. It’s the equivalent of a scorched earth policy, intended to deprive “the enemy” of the means to live.
He obviously considers that the British people are “the enemy.”
January 29, 2025
The brain drain where our brightest and best leave the country will have a long-term impact on the country. My son is a scientist working for a government-funded gene therapy company. They learned this week that the government will cease funding this pioneering work and it will be closing in three months, with the loss of several hundred highly skilled jobs. He is now looking for a new job in the USA. Meanwhile, this government continues to import thousands of low-skilled people that have little benefit to us and lower our GDP and spending power. I fear the doom loop our politicians have caused will be irreparable.
January 29, 2025
@Christine – rest assured he will be well appreciated and we’ll rewarded in the US. My son was sent there by the company he works for on temporary 6 months stint. 10 years on he is still there, and has found it rewarding paid cash for his home and very chilled, relaxed, and working hours he wouldn’t be allowed to do in the UK – for no other reason he finds it rewarding.
January 29, 2025
People working productively and renting in our Cities are returning to their home nations. We are being left with the claimants requiring free rentals.
Khan and London borough prioritise people who aren’t naturalised Brits with centuries of family links to London to have social housing, the stats on this we were told were taken from the Census in some London Boroughs 76% of social housing (GB News) 59.7% Westminister many unemployed. This happened under the Tory government and is getting worse. To make matters worse, we seem to be giving critical social housing in our big Cities, London, Birmingham, and Manchester, to people not working because new arrivals are immediately homeless, overcrowded and live in bad housing conditions. Is it true that in Central London, rents for a flat are around Ā£2700 per month, social flat is Ā£500 per month on average?
Can we find out who the 336000 households (BBC) on waiting lists for London council housing are? Who is getting the priority band 1 status?
How is this helping GROWTH?
January 29, 2025
Why is anyone unemployed allowed to live in the most expensive part of the country? It’s ludicrous. Deport anyone who isn’t a British citizen and isn’t contributing to the economy. No other country in the world would put up with this situation, why should we?
January 29, 2025
Most were started under the Conservatives.
There’s only one party that will end this madness.
January 29, 2025
In Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves, do we have two of the thickest and most stupid people ever to occupy high office in the UK? Having spent 6 months talking down the UK and its economy, bringing in a disastrous budget, panicking the bond markets and forcing employers to reduce staff, they now think that they can make it happen by talking about growth!
After fourteen years of conservative incompetence and over-taxation, especially the last five, Labour had a real chance to make a difference. But they have blown that chance with their utter stupidity, their complete lack of understanding of basic economics and their socialist dogma! Today’s title sums it up: Government-imposed Barriers to Growth. They are the problem but can’t see it! What a shambles!!!!
January 29, 2025
Many pensioners are suffering due to lack of money to pay fuel bills ,but there are also those bwho have saved,own their own houses,have worked and are still working and can afford to buy without the fear of not having enough money for their future.They keep the economy ticking over.Why penalise them?
January 29, 2025
The old politics of envy. How will the ‘socialists’ ensure a decent old age?
January 29, 2025
You have campaigned tirelessly to get the Bank to stop costing us Ā£Billions by the unecessary selling of bonds.Is there no legal basis for challenging and stopping this practice? If not there should be.
January 29, 2025
Doesn’t the Chancellor have to agree to selling of bonds, in such a manner
January 29, 2025
Business Groups today said “Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:
The chancellor has laid down a clear marker on her intent to push for growth and these proposals can light the blue touchpaper to fire up the UK economy. Expanding our international airport capacity, investing in modern roads and railways, and rebalancing the planning system all send signals that the UK is building for a better future.”
And Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Todayās rallying cry for government to choose growth is exactly what the economy needs. It sends a strong, confident message that from now on growth comes first, and any barriers to that will be erased.”
Both quotes in the Guardian. I’m not a member of either organisation. Which barriers are Reeves removing that British SMEs will get growth from?
I can see the benefit to the CBIs big businesses – more public sector contracts for wild schemes of work, less competition from small enterprises, lower charges from their sub-contractors as they aren’t facing the big employment costs. But the SME’s spokeswoman I hope someone asks her to clarify.
January 29, 2025
Typical socialist,the road to ruin, how fo we stop the madness from here
January 29, 2025
Rachel “from All Accounts” is headlined by the Daily Mail today with “Tear down the barriers to You ( Rachel Reeves) created”.
Sir John’s radar instinctively pointed out this folly immediately it was unfolding especially when Labour took over.
January 29, 2025
Year down the Barriers to Growth you created
Apologies
January 29, 2025
Tear down the barriers to Growth you created
3rd time lucky