Ten government policies that destroy growth

  1. National Insurance increase, taxing employers too much so destroying jobs
  2. Banning all new exploration for oil and gas
  3. Failing to agree the development of Jackdaw and Rosebank fields
  4. Putting up Business rates on High Street, leading to shop closures and fewer retail jobs
  5. Banning the production of diesel and petrol cars from 2030
  6. Putting up energy prices to the highest in the advanced world, leading to industrial closures
  7. The  Family Farms and Small Business tax has led to business closures
  8. Employment Rights Act has led to fewer jobs
  9. Borrowing too much has pushed up interest rates, hitting investment and housebuilding
  10. VAT on school fees has closed down schools, sacking teachers

47 Comments

  1. Mick
    September 7, 2026

    Number 11
    Putting foreigners before it’s own people the Voter

    1. Ian Wragg
      September 7, 2026

      Exactly Mick. Airwaves are full of governments latest stunt, escorting migrants into various South Coast ports. It would seem an insider is passing information to the demonstrators.
      This could be the final straw.

    2. Peter
      September 7, 2026

      Paying idlers who choose to remain unemployed under bogus excuses.

      Increasing national debt by paying another country to take over the Chagos islands.

      1. Peter
        September 7, 2026

        Portsmouth protesters dismissed as ‘thugs’ by the government.

        Plus ca change…..

      2. Iain Gill
        September 7, 2026

        subsidising social housing in areas with no jobs market within travelling distance. forcing people to live there. consigning them to a lifetime of unemployment, and their kids into sink schools. housing built for the workforces of long since shut mines, shipyards, steelworks which are now jobless areas. in a proper market the rental value of those houses would have collapsed, meaning new employers could move to the area to employ workers needing less money as their rent costs would be far lower. but state benefits and social housing subsidies keep the rent high in areas with no jobs, it is madness. if the individuals had control of their own housing subsidy many would have moved closer to the modern jobs market, and not stayed in jobless areas, indeed the people with a little funds of their own often still do, leaving those left behind an even higher proportion of hopeless cases.

      3. Lifelogic
        September 7, 2026

        Indeed, but they are behaving rationally under the system that pertains why not be feckless and parasite of others. The “small boat” migrants also behaving rationally given the system that has pertained for 16 years or so.

    3. Ian B
      September 7, 2026

      @Mick – if you pay people to leave a safe country for more money, clothing, housing and free mobile phones they will keep coming,

      1. Lifelogic
        September 7, 2026

        Medical care, dentistry, free lawyers…

    4. MBJ
      September 7, 2026

      This has been happening since the mid nineties which affected myself and many others ,where we were forced out of our contracted jobs in order for workers from all over the world to take our places without the same levels of expertise and a dramatic slowing of basic communication .
      If we go forward with AI for all other than medical purposes jobs will be even harder to find with state payments ballooning.

  2. Mark B
    September 7, 2026

    Good morning.

    With respect, JR you forgot one, although you touched on it with (8). And that is: Regulation, regulation, regulation. Like the EU we are burdened with so much red-tape and bureaucracy is by far the biggest destroyer of jobs.

  3. iain gill
    September 7, 2026

    11 allowing the best British intellectual property to leak abroad at ever faster rates, allowing lower cost base countries to undercut us on the premium stuff that we depend upon charging higher prices for as part of a higher cost base economy. via lots of routes including the foreign workers they are so keen to allow to swamp the country.

  4. PeteB
    September 7, 2026

    Net-zero legislation should make the top 10. The cost has lead to UK industry having the most expensive electricity in the world. Surprise surprise, UK industry is getting battered.

  5. Lifelogic
    September 7, 2026

    Vast net liability open door immigration mainly low skilled legal and illegal.

    Rigged and over regulated markets in education, transport, social housing, employment, banking, investments, pensions, road blocking, planning…

    ENGLISH Nature bat tunnels & fish disco lunacy.

    The Net Zero exaggerated hoax.

    The government is introducing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on January 1, 2027, which functions as a carbon tax on carbon-intensive imported goods like nitrogen fertilizer.

    No fracking.

    The racist DEI agenda so that recruitment is not on merit,

    EU realignment proposals like Erasmus.

    A total lack of confidence in Labour, Burnham and Healey so higher interest rates still.

    The endless BBC propaganda…

    I am sure I could get up to 200+ in no time!

    1. Peter
      September 7, 2026

      ” I am sure I could get up to 200+ in no time!”
      Well you are never at a loss for words LL.

  6. Lifelogic
    September 7, 2026

    The tenants rights lunacy, which does not even held tenants as it restricts supply.

  7. IanT
    September 7, 2026

    Uncontrolled legal migration. Seemingly little or no supervision of “skilled” worker visas – or vetting of the companies allowed to apply for them.

  8. Dave Andrews
    September 7, 2026

    11. Making benefits better value than going out to work.

  9. iain gill
    September 7, 2026

    12 anti motorist measures which waste many man hours of workers time, fuel, and disrupt business.

  10. iain gill
    September 7, 2026

    13 poor health care system which keeps workers from working while they wait for treatment, one or two modest workers waiting like this who are on the critical path for a multi billion programme can cost the country a fortune.

  11. iain gill
    September 7, 2026

    14 using the massed resources of the state to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country, to harass any locals who complain or protest, downplay the reality, when all that time and money could have been used for something far more productive.

  12. Narrow Shoulders
    September 7, 2026

    Subsidising the housing market thus keeping the cost of living high and increasing wages.

    Prioritising net zero over cost of gas (see also number 6)

    Employing too many civil servants increasing the cost of government and therefore tax take.

    Importing poverty thus reducing GDP per capita.

  13. Ian B
    September 7, 2026

    My views are as John and many others but for a change here are quotes from a respected Economist

    Arthur Laffer is in town he said in an interview said: “If you tax people who work and you pay people who don’t work, don’t be surprised if you find a lot of people not working.
    He also said Britain’s economy was “in a death spiral” because the country was “taxing itself into death”.
    Then went on, the best form of welfare is a good, high-paying job, he argues, not a cheque from the Government. ”

    A ‘cheque from the Government.’ That is a bit I would split hairs with him on, the cheque is from the productive hardworking Taxpayer, the same ones that are being forced to pay for those criminals invading our shores

    the above is from the Telegraph

  14. Stred
    September 7, 2026

    Renter’s Rights Act makes investing in property improvement and letting not worthwhile.

    Making tax digital is making small self employed enterprise not worthwhile.

    Increasing prperty tax, CGT and IHT without indexing is leading to wealth creators leaving with their services reqirements .
    going with them.

    Environment regulations on new build housing is incresing costs and making houses without gas unattractive.

  15. iain gill
    September 7, 2026

    16 IR35 discouraging people from operating as freelancers, so big programmes have no way of staffing peaks of work, or work in specialist areas which will never justify a permanent worker on the headcount.

  16. Michael Saxton
    September 7, 2026

    11. Stop subsidies for wind and solar farms.
    12. Withdraw subsidies for Drax.
    13. Stop accommodating illegal migrants – reinvest in secure camps prior to deportation.
    14. Stop investing in carbon capture.

  17. Lifelogic
    September 7, 2026

    A good new David Starkey/ PopCon video the first one hundred days.

    My only criticism is Starkey is fond of saying (after Churchill) that “scientists should be on tap but not on top”. But if you choose the right scientists they can do the on top far better than Lawyers and PPE types do too. The problem is that often PPE and Lawyer politicians choose the wrong scientists – the ones that tell them what they want to hear or often bent ones on the make with vested interests as we saw with the truly appalling Covid policies and Net Zero policies. Just as they choose the wrong magic money tree, big government economists.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qlcR_1uwO_o&pp=ugUHEgVlbi1HQg%3D%3D

  18. William Long
    September 7, 2026

    And we can assume, l am sure, that these are just the beginning.

  19. Rod Evans
    September 7, 2026

    You missed ought a couple of biggies John.
    11. Continue to import ever more dependent migrants that must be tax payer funded.
    12. Encourage benefit claimants to remain unfit for work via PIP expenditure.
    I would have added redirection of BoE but you are more familiar with that area of anti growth activity than me so I will leave it there.

  20. Tracey Davis
    September 7, 2026

    Minimum wage too!

    1. Lifelogic
      September 7, 2026

      Indeed a law that make it illegal for some workers to work even if they and the would be employer want them to! Better they stay on the dole the government thinks it seems.

      What a moronic plan!

  21. mickey taking
    September 7, 2026

    The relentless ‘look away’ policies of continuing with immigration, legal and illegal are taking jobs away from our citizens, especially the young.

  22. Bryan Harris
    September 7, 2026

    Ten government policies that destroy growth

    Yet there are so many others.

    The overarching policy that includes all of this list of destructive ones is the driver for so many socialist style policies that are counter-survival. Why are we out to destroy our society by making commerce impossible. The answer of course can be found in the scriptures relating to Net-0.
    This tells us; no more unclean energy; no more boats or planes – certainly holidays abroad will cease; no more factories that produce the means for us to earn a living; no more farming; no more living satisfying lives, enjoyment is cancelled along with living well – subsistence level survival is what is planned for us.

    That’s not the end of destructive policies. HMG may not have announced it but what lies behind even the great foulness of net-0 are policies pushed by the UN, which sees itself as the world government in waiting, to discriminate and indoctrinate against the family unit and many other suppressive measures, called AGENDA 2030.

    We should not forget also the Kalergi program etc ed

  23. Lifelogic
    September 7, 2026

    Maintaining May’s college of policing non crime hate incidents.

    Arresting 60,000 plus people for mainly trivial internet “hate” crimes and other endless attack on free speech.

    The proposed Islamophobia definition

    Denying obviously un safe convictions like Lucy Letby any appeals.

    THE FAIURE to release honest broken down COVID stats or crime stats.

    The failure largely to investigate and thus deter most real crimes.

    THE release of many violent and other criminals many of whom will re offend as sure as night follows day.

  24. Original Richard
    September 7, 2026

    11. 3 decades of socialism with some policies of the Far Left such as Net Zero and the mass legal and illegal immigration of incompatibles. 2, 3, 5 & 6 are Net Zero policies. There is no climate crisis and the Far Left would not have invented it if its “solution”, Net Zero, was not sabotaging the West’s energy and destroying its industry, economy and national security.

  25. Old Albion
    September 7, 2026

    And three more years of it, to come….

  26. Geoffrey Berg
    September 7, 2026

    While I agree with all ten points, probably most especially the point about borrowing too much, very likely the most damaging single thing has been raising Corporation Tax from 19p to 25p in the pound by Rishi Sunak and the last Conservative government. If the government abolished Corporation Tax entirely it would get more growth than it would know what to do with – but I am not sure whether I advocate that because it would lead to labour shortages, more need for immigration and housing. Maybe it should just be done for the most depressed parts of Britain such as much of the North East where there isn’t a shortage of housing.

  27. Delphine Gray-Fisk
    September 7, 2026

    Quite so – but HOW do we convince this government of these facts?

    1. Clough
      September 7, 2026

      No chance of that whatsoever, I’m afraid. The real question is how to replace this government, or rather with what.

  28. Keith from Leeds
    September 7, 2026

    Number 11 – Refusing to cut Government spending.
    Number 12 – Over-taxation of individuals and businesses.
    Number 13 – Too much Immigration, legal and illegal and a refusal to face the problem. Though I would be tempted to put this as No 1.
    Number 14 – Incredible ignorance of basic economic rules and blissfully unaware of the Laffer curve.
    Number 15 – A refusal to face reality and increase defence spending to what is needed, not just a % of income.
    Number 16. – The Chagos giveaway.
    No room for numbers 17 to 250!!!

  29. MWB
    September 7, 2026

    11. Curb public sector pensions.

  30. Iain Gill
    September 7, 2026

    1000 incentivising the import of Chinese made buses and cars and the destruction of the UK bus and car production businesses

  31. Sidney Ingleby
    September 7, 2026

    The chancellor says we are turning the corner.What comics was he reading last night..
    UK is careering down a cul-de-sac without escape lanes an abyss at the end.His only
    way of avoiding catastrophe is to engage reverse gear immediately and step on the gas
    while we still have some.

  32. Iain Gill
    September 7, 2026

    3000 out of control legal immigrants, and allowing work visa holders to work here without having to pay any employers or employees National Insurance

  33. Diane
    September 7, 2026

    8. Job losses / Zero hours jobs and part time positions suit many people and although many may have ended up in a poor position at some point there are many who have not and are able to make it work for themselves & how they conduct their day to day lives. Employers also in trouble with likely extra costs, rules and admin & faced with having to give guaranteed hours, plus everything else, are going to have to reduce staff so jobs lost, lots of uncertainty & redundancies no doubt. Makes little sense if no fine tuning.

  34. miami.mode
    September 7, 2026

    Chancellor Healey says economy is ‘turning a corner’ – problem is that it is a left turn to usual socialist dogma and ideology which always leads to economic disaster.

  35. Iain Gill
    September 7, 2026

    we need a national emergency now

    we need the forces of the state to stop illegal immigration not organise it

    we need to stop Serco making a fortune from facilitating illegal immigration

    we need to stop printing work visas like confetti

    we need to stop allowing people entering the country on student visas claiming asylum on clearly fake pretences

    and so on

    otherwise its civil war, and I dont fancy the ruling classes chances

  36. glen cullen
    September 7, 2026

    625 ……625

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