Remain supporters get very angry when I write careful moderate independent analysis of EU policy and progress. They write in to say no one is interested and that now we have left I should stay out of EU matters. Meanwhile site visits and comments offered usually go up. This reflects the stark absence of informed comment, factual explanation or debate about the politics of the EU and its member states on the U.K. media. We are given ring side seats for Trump/Biden but kept out of Laschet versus Baerbock or Macron / Le Pen.I Will continue to read about the important decisions being made by our near neighbours and may strengthen my coverage given the need.
The main aim of Remain journalists and campaigners seems to be to try to block any of the many Brexit benefits including FTAs with the rest of the world to try to vindicate a pessimistic view of our leaving the EU. They ally this to trying to suppress any of the bad news about the EU which makes up the normal diet of media presented news on other countries in the U.K. media. They much prefer bad news about the U.K.
Leave supporters are keen on comment about the evolution of our free trade policies and the obstacles posed by the Northern Ireland protocol. There is a strong view the U.K. government must assert the primacy of the Good Friday Agreement and the defence of the U.K. internal market in the Protocol. There is enthusiasm to get on with Free Trade Agreements with the rest of the world.
There is a tendency by contributors to see conspiracies where often there is merely incompetence, herd thinking or institutional inertia. I decline to publish the most elaborate conspiracy theories. I recommend people who hold them to concentrate on campaigning against the policies and actions they dislike, as it is still possible to change policies which they think are rigged invisibly behind the democratic facade. If they have evidence of wrong doing by powerful people they need to go to the authorities with evidence. This site is not equipped or financed to take on vendettas against named individuals.
There is considerable interest in green issues, where I am striving to set out a popular and practical agenda whilst highlighting the costs and dangers of some of the top down government knows best proposals.
There is usually least interest in the bits of economic analysis I offer. This is a pity as I have more ability to deliver original ideas, analysis and good forecasts in this area. Once again the EU divide gets in the way as Remain people resent my correct past opposition to the European Exchange Rate Mechanism and to U.K. membership of the Euro. It leads them to contradict whatever I say about current economic policy and theory. I would urge them to move on and engage on the merits of the contemporary arguments and data.
I would be interested in readers views on the balance of topics and viewpoints.
May 30, 2021
I am very interested to read your views on EU matters especially their conduct (or wanton lack of it ) ;the progress of the EU and Eurozone economies and the viability (or otherwise ) of the Euro
Equally , I am very interested to read of matters relating to our economy :
* Growth
* Balance of Trade with EU and RotW
* New industrial investment – Heck, rare metals processing ,battery production,Tesla etc
* Energy production – investment in nuclear
May 30, 2021
āI would be interested in readers views on the balance of topics and viewpoints.ā
Repetition and boring readers are dangers for all sites.
A fresh take on events is welcome. Otherwise it may become just a one-sided, campaigning pamphlet.
Endless talk about Brexit, green issues and who studied what (and where) from the usual suspects is tiresome.
May 30, 2021
Usually in defence against Remainers who say Leavers are uneducated or unqualified in anything. Unlike the BBC you aren’t forced to read it, much less pay for it.
May 30, 2021
Peter, If you’re tired of Brexit and green issues here, why do you bother to read the site and comment on it? As for “boring readers”, do you mean you are a bored reader (“tiresome” seems to indicate you are); or do you mean that other readers (ie commenters) are boring, but you’re discerning and fresh? And isn’t that a matter of opinion, rather than something to be decided only by you? For me, please bring on more articles and comments about Brexit, the EU, and green issues.
May 30, 2021
Nick C
+1
May 30, 2021
Me too. And good analysis shows how ridiculous and vacuous remainers are. They lost, and continue to be losers.
May 30, 2021
In general we’re the ones with the good jobs and lifestyles.
What do you mean?
May 30, 2021
Good morning.
Sir John
Post whatever is of interest to you and your readers. This site is eclectic and I, and I am sure many others, would like to remain so.
I happen to like reading the economic stuff. Economics affects all our lives and better understanding from more informed contributors is to be welcomed.
The Green Stuff is indeed popular. But then again it is easy to want to save the planet if we are all committed and not conned into thinking we should do it alone and impoverish ourselves so others (China and India) can steal a march on us.
BREXIT was about independence. That means making decisions that in OUR best interests. The BREXIT that the Tories and delivered is no such thing. And until we can act as we so please within HM’s Realm we are not independent.
End of !
May 30, 2021
# +1
# I do think we would have been better off in the round under WTO rules. We have a bare bones trade agreement which is to the advantage of the EU. There are advantages and disadvantages to both strategies but until the EU is excluded from our daily lives then there is the scope for ever increasing divisions in the UK. It is to be hoped that the current strategy/ trade agreement is part of a short term plan that sees NI unfettered by EU rules and the UK making decisions which are in it’s own interests. Having an agreement with the EU gives them the means to behave in a worse manner very much like encouraging a bad neighbour to act more badly.
# We cannot allow NI to suffer further. A clean break from the Withdrawal Agreement & NI Protocol and FTA before the end of June would do nicely.
# And do not pay any Danegeld monies to the EU under any circumstances
# I do not blame Boris. It is the fault of May and a remainer Govt. However, we now need the current govt to stop playing the cards it has been dealt by them and to act independently by pushing back against the EU leading up to a point where we turn around and say this is really really really not working so we are rescinding the WA, NI protocol and FTA and welcome WTO rules. After all, Treaties don’t last for ever. Press the reset button.
Sir John – why do we continue to lend UK helicopters to France, recall would be a good statement to to humiliate Macron and remind the EU we are still needed in some areas. The EU is like Capt Jack Sparrow
” take all you are given and give nothing back”
Sir John – why has the Govt / Competition Board not already shown its unwillingness to consider the take over of the lithium producing company in the South West ( needed by our car battery producers ) by a Chinese company. Surely a good industrial strategy but also a security requirement
May 30, 2021
# We cannot allow NI to suffer further. A clean break from the Withdrawal Agreement & NI Protocol and FTA before the end of June would do nicely. ā
May 30, 2021
Whose is this comment awaiting moderation? Itās not mineā¦ Sharon
May 30, 2021
LBB,
āI do not blame Boris. It is the fault of May and a remainer Govt.ā
I think that excuse is wearing thin now. I believe Boris is happy for people to think his hands are tied and to let Lord Frost talk tough. I donāt think Boris really wants to change anything around Brexit. He just wants the criticism to die down so he can get on with ingratiating himself with Davos folk.
May 30, 2021
+1
The plan was to deliver BINO in order to keep the Tory Party united. It seems to have worked.
May 30, 2021
“…ingratiating himself with Davos folk.” Indeed that is so and a clear and present danger to life as we know (knew?) it. He should tell those folk to take a hike and remove all subservience to their desires / demands.
May 30, 2021
Mark B, Who actually does “want to save the planet”? Certainly not me. Why? Because firstly the planet doesn’t need saving. And secondly every “green” technology tried or mooted is an abject failure, even on its own terms, and massively expensive.
Just look at your own household fuel bills. Electricity is about 5 times the cost of natural gas (mine is 6x). Yet electricity to the home keeps getting more and more expensive every year, not less, even though renewables accounted for 42% of UK electricity in 2020.
That means, since even ground source heat pumps have a CoP of about 1:4, and with all electric cooking, household fuel bills are bound to soar as a result of the government’s impending gas bans (2025 for new homes; 2035 for all, proposed).
The natural gas ban is a disaster waiting to happen.
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
From a personal stand point I read the entries every day and I learn about things that in the past have never been high on my must know list. I suffer like many from our perceived lack of understanding and awareness of those in power of for what is to many plain common sense. Our leadership is serving us badly I feel and it cascades down to people like my own member of parliament. Just there playing the percentages. With all the massive changes we are experiencing sometimes on a daily basis I can appreciate that frustrations boil over. It is good I feel to have another slant on the USA and French situations. This site is to me a beacon of common sense surrounded by total incompetence promoted at times by the countries leadership and its broadcasting corporation. Just keep up the good work I for one really appreciate it
May 30, 2021
Good Morning.
Wholeheartedly seconded, Turbo.
I am looking forward to the launching of Andrew Neil’s GB News in mid-June. I imagine that, unlike the mainstream media, GB News would have at least mentioned the thousands-strong ‘Unite for Freedom’ march that took place in London yesterday.
The arrival of GB News will hopefully encourage the BBC, Sky, and Channel Four to be less selective in their reportage.
May 30, 2021
From what I am gathering it is tamed opposition.
May 30, 2021
Good Post.
What about an occasional critique of the Tory Government? So far, you not said a word about Cummings testimony, BJ and the Covid mismanagement, vanity project public spending, useless Conservative Scottish policy, etc. What we’d like is competent management of the Nation. The Conservative Parliamentary Party seems to be run by an inexperienced, left of center old Etonians with a very narrow world view. For example, sending a brand new aircraft carrier to drive around the South China sea; talk about a big fat target with no reason to be there!
May 30, 2021
Exactly. Very left of centre old Etonians + Carrie. Tax, borrow and waste, ever bigger state, lock down enthusiasts, red tape spewing, HS train line pushing and full of insane fake green crap too.
May 30, 2021
LL
You hit the nail squarely on the head!
Itās the sensible, reasonable approach but will anything change…. NO
+100
May 30, 2021
This is a social democracy, not a Tory government
Mark Littlewood today in the S. Telegraph. He is being generous!
May 30, 2021
Peter Hitchens describes himself as a social democrat.
Why does that mean that he is not a Conservative?
May 30, 2021
Turboterrier , I endorse your comments
May 30, 2021
Red tape is killing my farm says Jeremy Clarkson in the Sunday Times front page today.
Not just your farm Jeremy but almost every business, the UKās ability to compete, while pushing up inflation for all and the costs of doing almost anything. Also it makes the state sector even more inefficient at delivering any value – not that they are even trying to do so in general.
May 30, 2021
But you voted for that absolutely with your brexit.
Our farmers and fishers have pretty well lost their huge export market right on their doorstep.
May 30, 2021
Peter,
The Cummings testomony, as with the reposts, were opinion not evidence. We all know tbat government can be incompetent. Let it die off, latest episode in the soap opera.
Mr , now married , BJ and his handling of Covid. Like warefare it is never on day two the way you planned for. Churchill had two years of bad news before Alamein. He had had many years of thinking about it. I cannot imagine it being more than a bolt from the blue when it confronted Boris. He came good with the vaccination programme at the end which negates the Dieppes on the way.
The other things you mention have legs.
In defence of Eton, to which I did not attend, I will say this. Eons ago in my twenties I was involved in instructing on courses encouraging self awareness through activities that would put the health and safety mob into appoplexies of disbelief. Our pupils were across the social spectrum, Eton to Borstal. In both cases these two sources were fit, full of initiative and came out of the other end of our courses with great credit. Lesser so were police cadets and mining apprentices. I do not know why the latter. Personally I would like the whole education system in the UK to aspire to the standards of Eton and the establishment that educated me. That would take serious money and conviction, but how can a nation ignore it’s talent even when it resides in Borstal.
May 30, 2021
Agricola
The vaccination programme?
Itās an untested experimental gene therapy
Lisa Shaw … a previously healthy 44 year old woman … dead from blood clots in her brain shortly after receiving the āvaccineā and countless others, but thanks to Katie Hopkins we can now put a name to a victim
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
+ several million ++++++
Cui bono?
May 30, 2021
How many have not died because the majority have been vaccinated against Covib.
I regret any unnecessary deaths, but accept that nothing is 100% perfect. To attribute evil intentions to those who created any medically acceptable vaccine is despicable.
May 30, 2021
countless others seems to be 338 incidents, 58 deaths.
58 deaths in 60m vaccinations given? Do the arithmetic.
How many people get blood clots every day of the week? How many people die of road traffic accidents every day – about 20. How many cyclists die on the roads, pedestrians killed on pavements? How many people fall of ladders becoming disabled and even dying?There are endless sad events like these.
Get things in proportion, please!
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
In my view Dominic Cummings should not have been given a platform to make his grossly irresponsible statements while the pandemic is still running its course, just as his own breaches of the lockdown rules should not have been publicised at the time. Then some people might have thought that if he could break the rules then it would be OK if they copied him, now some will have lost confidence in the government and will cease to accept any official advice. How does it help to shout out that the leading minister for health should have been sacked multiple times when he has not been and probably will not be? Of course there should be a thorough public inquiry but that should take place at the right time, which is not now.
May 30, 2021
Do they usually allow such commentary if it doesnāt suit?
Strikes me that Cummings is helping to promote further illegal infringement on liberty.
May 30, 2021
I think you’ll be proved correct, whilst Hancock has been a mediocre minister, at best, he’s probably safe simply because Cummings is calling for his head. Hancock should never have been in a ministerial position, he has zero health experience and precious little else.
My issue with the Buster Boris government is that it looks from the outside, and now we’ve heard from the inside, that it’s management by sound-bite. The Brexit deals are the most glaring example; Bunter said he had great deals ready to go, a lie, he simply warmed over the terrible May deal and called it his. Now we know what a bad deal looks like. Bunter called the Covid pandemic just another Swine flu, based on what? He nearly died and still didn’t close the borders. Incompetent and lackadaisical. We do need better, and if Eton and Oxford can’t provide then we are indeed in trouble.
May 30, 2021
If Cummings has real evidence of mal-practice by ministers he should have provided it.
An inquiry into the handling of this virus is well over due — What is the point of learning lessons 5 years down the road when people are suffering NOW
May 30, 2021
Denis, I have never been a fan of Dominic Cummings – I read his blog and found him uncomfortably self centred. However I cannot see anything wrong with his road trip from London to Durham, nor his trial run to Barnard Castle. Apart from hypocrisy, of course. Unlike Mr Cummings, I believe the untargeted national lockdowns did no good in protecting us from the covid epidemic, and much harm to non-covid patients, and to the national economy.
May 30, 2021
The Remainerās desire to show a decision taken in 2016 was wrong is very tedious. Whatās the point ? I think it was a mistake to re-elect Blair in 2005 but I donāt keep going on about it.
As you say the absolute obsession of the BBC and some other media outlets with the USA and utter lack of interest in EU countries is very odd. Many Remainers too seem dramatically ill-informed about EU countries, they are very inward looking Little Englander types.
Hereās a good news website on Europe – they have a free story each day.
https://www.eurointelligence.com
May 30, 2021
RG, thanks for the tip.
May 30, 2021
It’s simply to point out that the excuses made for its consequences, but which attempt to blame others instead are generally lies.
May 30, 2021
We are out of the EU.We can now map our own path for the future.So where is the master plan?Who is drawing it up?Who has got the vision?
May 30, 2021
Carrie seems to be in charge. Driven by green lunacy as tax to death Sunak tweeted today. Plus more insane HS2 to Leeds, Manchester and Wigan announced. The usually not too dim Chris Mason on Any Questions went on about some train taking 2 hours to go 40 miles from Bridlington to York. Well yes mate it makes 13 stops, without stops it could do it on 50 mins but it would not be very convenient for all those who use the stops to get on or off. It would also probably be mainly empty nearly all the time as simply not enough people would want to go Bridlington to York by train at the same time.
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
Notionally we are all out of the EU, in practice some of us are only partially out of the EU.
Here is a letter that I sent to a newspaper in Northern Ireland yesterday, it may or may not be published:
“If Theresa May had a “lightbulb moment” more than a year after the EU referendum had taken place, as Sam McBride relates today, then that may have been in the late autumn of 2017 when she realised that the largely fabricated problems of the Irish land border could provide a pretext for her to give the CBI and other business pressure groups what they wanted.
Mrs May is my MP, and I repeatedly pointed out that there was an easy solution to that supposedly intractable “conundrum”; that any problem which existed was actually a problem for the EU, rather than for the UK; but to show goodwill towards the Irish Republic and the EU we could pass and enforce a new law to regulate goods exports across the border.
There must have been a reason why she was not interested in that proposal in February 2018, nor at any subsequent time when it was presented in various different ways, nor eighteen months later when a more highly developed proposal along broadly similar lines was published by the former EU Commission official Sir Jonathan Faull and two professors of law.
It is hard to say who is most to blame for the current debacle over the protocol, whether it is Theresa May with her desire to keep all of us under the economic thumb of the EU, or Boris Johnson who inherited the mess she had created and made it far worse by singling out Northern Ireland to be left behind when the rest of the UK escaped the orbit of EU law.”
Having clicked on “Send” I belatedly realised that there was a factual error in the letter, but never mind.
May 31, 2021
A useful contribution, as every, Denis.
From the moment the EU decided to weaponise the GFA, there was never going to be a satisfactory outcome for the UK and particular NI. That was their clear intention. What they have failed to understand is that, far from preserving the peace, their zealous interpretation of the Protocol is actually putting peace at risk.
It’s very clear that the EU cares nothing about the GFA, their only interest is causing trouble for the British Government and encouraging NI towards reunification with Eire – within the EU.
Why did Boris agree to it ? I’m sure that the SIS has been very active in eavesdropping on conversations in Brussels and between the key member states. I’m reasonably sure that they would have told Boris and our negotiators that what we got was the only thing the 26 would agree to and the alternative would have been no deal, for which there was little political support in Parliament.
May 30, 2021
Bob, God preserve me from “master plans”. What we need is an Adenauer, not a Blair.
May 30, 2021
We don’t learn much from the contributors on the Right here generally, but just get further affirmation of what we already know.
That is, the safety-in-numbers instinct of the human animal is very strong.
The outlandish, preposterous, and groundless assertions repeatedly made by them are apparently only made possible by mutual emboldening.
“I can fly, me , you know”
“I know mate – I’ve seen you”.
May 30, 2021
Mic.
Open you mind a tad and you too may get off the ground.
May 30, 2021
If, in any forum, you hear a minority, often a lone voice, going against the consensus then it is as well to pay attention.
Usually the confidence necessary to venture that position stems from an informed background, sound epistemology and diligent reasoning.
As a result it usually only attracts play-the-man responses such as yours.
May 30, 2021
‘Informed background, sound epistemology and diligent reasoning’
So that’s where all the insults come from. All the ‘I’m better educated than anyone else’, the ‘old people are evil’ etc. Thanks for the heads up. We just thought in or lowly educated way it was just bitterness born of an inability to accept facts.
May 30, 2021
You have a very high opinion of yourself MiC
May 30, 2021
Martin, Well, you certainly exhibit confidence!
May 30, 2021
MiC
I would argue that is retainers who are the “safety in numbers” group.
Remain is obviously the status quo, no change position.
Leave is the pro change, independent position.
May 30, 2021
@MiC; “the safety-in-numbers instinct of the human animal is very strong”
Cough! Hence why you think the UK needs to shack-up with 27 other countries, duh… š
May 30, 2021
It doesn’t – it has left and would not be readmitted any time soon even if the people voted for it anyway.
Not all damage is reparable.
May 30, 2021
@MiC; That is not what the EU said just after the WA was agreed, nor what I suspect it would likely say should any future UK govt be stupid enough to ask to be readmitted. Of course the UK would not be able to simply pick up were we left off, perhaps that is what you meant, the UK would no longer have our opt-outs and would thus be be committed to take the Euro and accept the Schengen Agreement etc.
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
Mic
The safety in numbers instinct of the human animal is what you see looking at Stephe nsons first train or the Wright brothers first aircraft. A small number of entrepreneurs see the business opportunities while the majority prefer the cliff. A few lead, the cautious majority follow.
May 30, 2021
Martin, What you mean is you donāt learn much from the contributors on the Right here. But we knew that already.
May 30, 2021
Martin – do you ever learn?
May 30, 2021
Much truth in the above. All sensible peoplecknow what the economy needs and lower simpler taxes, far less government, a bonfire of red tape, freedom and free competition in areas where the government has virtual monopolies or is unfair competition. This and no net zero expensive energy lunacy..
So from Socialist Sunak we get:- Today I called on G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to take collective action to progress our ambitious climate agenda. I’m looking forward to next week’s in-person @G7 meeting in London as we continue working together to secure a green global recovery.
May 30, 2021
LL, Is that true, the Sunak stuff? I’m open mouth aghast!
Your first paragraph I fully endorse. . . . but that Sunak bit? The Flake from nowhere, how did the media people fall for him, and after his juvenile subsidising of snack, mouth still agape . . . .
May 30, 2021
Tweeted today by Sunak. The man who attacked entrepreneurs with a 90% cut in CGT relief as almost his first act and thought taxing people (then wasting load in collection & admin) then using the balance to buy 50% of other peopleās restaurant bills was a dandy plan! Why do not PPE Oxon. graduates almost never have any grasp of real economics?
May 30, 2021
Lifelogic, It may have been tweeted by Rishi Sunak, but it reads like it was written by a woke junior civil servant who has copied Barnier’s style. Or perhaps I am complimenting Sunak too much?
May 30, 2021
Lifelogic
Mostly high fat fast food at that. Still keeps the NHS in business with fat patients (well not actually a business)
Once again government spending on one thing, whilst trying to promote another with healthy eating adverts.
Left hand, right hand, not a clue.
May 30, 2021
So Boris and Carrie have tied the knot. Let us hope she promised to obey him and not the other way round, but the reverse seem more likely. Her policies all seem to be deluded left wing, climate alarmist lunacy.
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
I agree with the overall intention of Sir Johnās todayās post. The only remark I would add is that anything economy-related happening in the USA is likely to still be (much) more important than a similar decision taken by Germany or France. After all according to the World Bank if in 2019 the GDPs were $3.861tn for Germany, $2.715tn for France, $2.829tn for the UK, they were $13.356tn for the eurozone, $14.279tn for China and $21.433tn for the USA.
And when there are problems in the world economy like in 2007-2008, the decisions of the US Fed to start āswap linesā to other countries then QE to resorb them were essential to maintain the balance of the whole world economic system. I doubt very much that any similar effort individually started by Germany or France would have had the same success.
May 30, 2021
Hmm, but then I’m very interested whether Germany will “maintain the balance” of the Target2 system, Hefner.
May 30, 2021
I myself am acutely conscious that I can be overly vociferous in the manner in which I express my views but this shouldn’t be construed as an attack on the host as I appreciate his efforts in maintaining his blog and providing it as an important platform that allows the disaffected, of which there are many, to express their quite obvious grievances and frustrations.
It is unfortunate that there are issues that an MP of a Parliamentary party cannot broach and that prevents discussion on vitally important issues of a non-economic and non-fiscal nature.
It cannot be denied by all who follow political developments in Europe, the UK and across the pond in the now dystopian wasteland that is the US that freedom and liberty as we know it is slowly and deliberately being strangled using any and all forms of trickery sourced from a political ideology that conceals its anti-libertarian extremism behind a flimsy facade of humanitarian concern.
We know when we are being deceived. We can see it with our own eyes. Sometimes, it is the silence that deafens when a politically inconvenient real world event occurs that undermines and infracts upon the carefully constructed narrative of our now ‘tolerant, diverse and inclusive society’
In the real world outside of London-centric politics the reality we see and hear about are not being taken up by politicians out of fear for their safety, their careers and the reputation of their parties. I understand this entirely, it is politics but it leaves vital issues unresolved and left festering which in time will unquestionably prove ruinous
Thanks for your efforts Sir John Redwood
May 30, 2021
Great post Dom and well written. There is much truth in what you say.
May 30, 2021
@DOM; “It is unfortunate that there are issues that an MP of a Parliamentary party cannot broach and that prevents discussion on vitally important issues of a non-economic and non-fiscal nature.”
The only issues our host can not broach are ones that would lead him personally, him as publisher or commentator into matters were frank, honest, comment were likely to be illegal.
As for your comment re the USA, indeed that WAS the case until 20 Jan 2021, and during the four years before.
Indeed we do “know when we are being deceived. We can see it with our own eyes.”, hence why the more political and social extremes are rejected here in the UK, the majority simply do not want to travel to such dystopian places.
May 30, 2021
Well said. On some issues there appears to be a conspiracy of silence.
May 30, 2021
DOM
+1
May 30, 2021
DOM, please continue to be DOM.
Your contributions do express a deeply felt exasperation that so many of us feel and your analyses and insight are most valuable. So much of what we observe and tolerate as a ‘silent’ segment of the community is because of that impatient frustration with inchoate and confused thoughts that are clearly widespread but receive so little respect or acknowledgement from the polite or mainstream media (BBC).
May 30, 2021
@Jim Whitehead; Just think, if all those who stamp their feet as @DOM does would simply get together and form a political party, find a populist cause, put their case and stand for election. OK, such a party is unlikely to win a Westminster seat immediately, perhaps not even a County Council seat, but local council elections should be within grasp if the effort is put into the right areas, with County seats following, even perhaps one or two protest-vote wins at Westminster by-elections, they might even hang on to such a MP if s/he is popular locally.
Oh hang on, I think I’ve just described UKIP/TBP/Reform…
May 30, 2021
hear hear
May 30, 2021
Dom, Well said. And Facebook’s “banning” and then “unbanning” of discussion about the possibility of covid having escaped from a Chinese lab is a good example of the dystopian wasteland to which you refer.
May 30, 2021
Perhaps TPTB feared the consequences of exploring the scenarios behind that. It immediately opens up questions of intent in doing the research: the possibility it was part of developing a bioweapon, and the question as to whether the release was accidental or whether it was spread purposely throw up interesting questions about response. Strategic thinkers must surely consider these possibilities, every bit as much as they wargame the potential for nuclear weapons to be used and the potential to negotiate treaties like SALT. Perhaps they feared that if the ideas proved true there would be calls for retaliation that could get out of control. Nevertheless, China will have noted the unwillingness of the rest of the world to force the issue or respond aggressively for future reference. How long before they are emboldened to occupy Taiwan, which they sabre rattle about regularly?
I think discussing scenarios for international relations are useful topics to cover, at least so long as we keep to analysis rather than displays of emotion.
May 30, 2021
I suspect on this occasion you are wrong. Many people are interested in your economic analysis and I would encourage you to keep at it . Play to your strengths.
May 30, 2021
I certainly read those contributions. Perhaps I comment less on them, because I often agree with the analysis, so I have much less to add. Those who may disagree in the comments rarely manage to stitch together a critique worth responding to, and seem unlikely to change their minds in debate.
May 30, 2021
For sure it is easier to write about things we think we know about than in my case the significance of national financial detail of which I usually admit to knowing little. I try to confine myself to the premis that a low tax regime turns over money faster and encourages more investment from home and overseas than our current regime, and ultimately produces more income for government.
Stay with your obsevations on the EU. We trade with them, visit them, live within them, and they are a close neighbour. I would like to read continued contributions on just how detached we are now in law, regulation, and finance from them post Brexit. What precisely are we paying them in alimony and for how long for our divorced status. What might we be paying them in other respects and for how long. Always maintain the distinction between the EU and the people and sovereign nations of Europe.
Keep the Green Agenda alive and current, as it above all matters, has the capacity to negate many of the pluses derived from Brexit.
Be less timid about dealing with woke, whatever it is, and PC matters concerning in my view the totally false overlay they impose on everyday life in the UK. The phenomina does not exist in Spain and society is the better for it. The blocking of opinion in schools and universities because the vociferous left does not agree with any free speech but their own. The demo culture that in my opinion needs to be confined geographically so that it does not act as a burden on the rest of the population. Hyde Park which had a tradition with Speakers Corner, rather than the streets.
Lets have an open discussion on racism, which I think gets more publicity than it merits in the UK. I don’t find the Brits in the UK as overtly racial as (others Ed)for instance. Lets discuss.
What does the police force in the UK do these days apart from guarding Westminster and taking the knee. They are remarkable by their absence when the public need them, and have a capacity for unbelievable public relations disasters. The contrast with Spain is stark. Please discuss.
That should give you food for thought without souring your cornflakes this rare but sunny sunday morning. Thank you for maintaining this two way conduit of opinion which must be illuminating in both directions.
May 30, 2021
I think this has been overlooked in moderation for too long.
May 31, 2021
Your edit is a classic example of your timidity around anything to do with race. My edited examples are based on real life experience gained while spending a lot more time than a tourist in both countries. I could have been much more specific but restrained my comment. If you deny fact by ommission you become just another politician. What I did not say was that I really liked being in both countries and that one of them would be my first choice above all other options for a return visit anytime outside the monsoon season.
May 30, 2021
Sir John. I find all your articles interesting and informative. Some of the peoples’ comments are a bit repetitve however.
May 30, 2021
Cynic,
āSome of the peoplesā comments are a bit repetitve however.ā
+1
A cynic you may be – but you are also a diplomat.
May 30, 2021
Peter
+1āø
May 30, 2021
Gosh..you must be pretty forensic and possess an extremely good memory.
Or have you set up a spreadsheet?
Maybe stick to reading the articles?
May 30, 2021
Everhopeful. Sarcasm becomes you.
May 30, 2021
āSarcasm is the lowest form of wit but the highest form of intelligence,ā
Oscar Wilde.
Apparently it helps creative thinking!
Mental sparring.
May 30, 2021
As Oscar Wilde wrote in Lady Windermere’s Fan
āWhat is a cynic?ā
āA man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.ā
May 31, 2021
It happens every day, who needs memory.
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
Itās incredible how parochial the news is from mainstream channels in the U.K. itās also highly tendentious. For example the BBC ran a relentless campaign to try to discredit Boris Johnson over the ridiculous issue of who paid for wallpaper in Downing Street in the weeks before the recent elections. The public rightly took no notice.
There is no commentary at all as far as I can make out of huge issues which also affect us such as the Nordstream 2 pipeline which Germany and the EU very unwisely want to complete, the brewing crisis over the eurozone with its need for massive internal transfers, and most remarkably, the emerging evidence that President Trump might have been right all along about the coronavirus being man made in Wuhan. A theory which was angrily dismissed as nonsense for the whole of last year and on which discussion was suppressed.
So we need other sources for news and intelligent comment, with Sir Johnās blog being an excellent source for the latter. Hopefully GB News when it comes next month will improve things also.
May 30, 2021
Looking at the profiles of the people associated with GB News, I suspect they will end up fighting like cats and dogs, and the whole organisation will collapse.
May 30, 2021
Totally agree Richard
May 30, 2021
@Richard1; The entire (mostly right-wing) MSM was full of “Wallpapergate”, because doing so muffles the alternate – debates on the failings of the govts Brexit, economic and pandemic policies.
Don’t get your hopes up to much with regards GB News, they need to be populist, just as the daily tabloids do, it will be a ratings game, they need the advertising income! They also need to abide by the Ofcom broadcast code, they will not be a UK version of Fox News, never mind a UK BNN…
May 30, 2021
“mostly right wing media” ?
Guardian, Observer, Mirror, BBC news, Channel 4 news, BBC radio 4 news, Financial Times. Morning Star etc?
Seems to me there is a good number of alternatives to the ones you label as right wing Jerry.
Choice is good.
PS
“wallpaper gate” as an attempt to discredit the PM failed as polls and a by election showed no reduction in his, nor the Conservatives large poll leads.
But a novel conspiracy theory from you.
May 30, 2021
@Peter2; Still on your contrary (t)roll I see….
Right wing media in the UK;
Times, Sunday Times, Times Radio, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Sunday Mail, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday, Daily Express, Sunday Express, TalkRadio, Virgin Radio, Sky News [1], whilst most non partisan people of average intellect would suggest the FT is right-wing!
I make that 15 to your 8, so yes, the majority of the MSM in the UK is right wing.
“āwallpaper gateā as an attempt to discredit the PM”
A novel conspiracy theory from you, trouble is the facts do not even start to back it up.
None of the right wing media were trying to discredit the PM with “wallpapergate”, most people did indeed mutter ‘So what’ under their breaths, and that was the whole point, if broadsheets and tabloids are full of wall paper stories, pages 1-to-20, they are not full of stories about 140k dead from or due to Covid etc. “Wallpapergate” was to deflect from the pandemic and other troubles, such as NIP/Brexit.
[1] which is still to the right of centre, even if it has moved towards the centre since its sale to ComCast, owner of NBC in the US
Reply A bizarre view of right wing. several of the papers you cite were strongly pro Remain and therefore helping left of centre parties.
May 30, 2021
It seems if people dare to respond to you Jerry you reply calling them trolls.
Then you often say on here that you like debate.
Very odd logic.
I did a short list of a few examples of media names.
I could do more and relate it to viewing and reading figures.
PS
I agree with Sir John
Your conspiracy theory is bizarre.
But hilarious too.
Keep up the good work Jerry
Your posts are always entertaining.
May 30, 2021
@JR reply; A bizarre reply! Several of your Tory collogues (at the time, even your then leader) were also strongly pro Remain and therefore also helping ‘left of centre parties’ by your logic, whilst many on the hard left (and I do mean hard left, such as the Socialist Labour Party) were very much pro Brexit thus helping the right of centre parties. My comments were about the current, 2021, status of the MSM, as I indicated.
The 2016 Brexit referendum and the aftermath was an abnormal political event, just as the 1975 EEC referendum was, back then who would have thought in mid 1974 that Powell and Benn would be sharing a platform.
May 30, 2021
Jerry, I get most of my news from The Babylon Bee at the moment, and don’t bother with either the soft left (eg Telegraph), or hard left (eg BBC), MSM. Babylon Bee even covered “genderless” Lego bricks before it appeared in the MSM!
May 30, 2021
@NickC; “I get most of my news from The Babylon Bee”
That actually makes sense of some of your more ‘woke’ comments! Meanwhile, back in the land of reality…. š
May 31, 2021
It is simply because said mainstream news channels have their own political agenda and would not wish more pressing topics to distract from it.
My alma mater had the right idea, display all daily newspapers each day in the library for all to read. Then make up your own mind as to an approximation of the truth.
May 30, 2021
JR
I tend to believe we have enough of our own problems to deal with, however too many are caused by Theresa May enshring EU law into UK law – a parting and very spiteful slap in the face to every Briton who voted to leave the EU. And of course Boris Johnson not having inclination to repeal laws of EU origin.
Then there’s the NI protocol.
I always question first why someone does what they do, then second what they do. Consequently I absolutely do not trust Boris Johnson, his government or his party.
I am uncomfortable with the fact that we have PM who has Belgian ancestry, and who is undoubtedly influenced by a practising catholic. Then there’s the NI protocol.
There is no conspiracy theory in the fact that man is not truly one of us. We know more about him than he might realise.
Your party will not be winning another general election, with or without Boris Johnson. The damage is already done.
May 30, 2021
Statistically it is very rare to overturn a majority of 80 seats.
The last 86 polls have given the Conservatives a healthy 10 point lead.
Which would result in a similar majority in an election.
This is also rare at mid term in a government’s life.
In addition the PM is way ahead in polls of his rival Starmer.
May 30, 2021
A majority of 80 which came from a clear minority of the votes (43.6%) and which arose much more from the decline in others votes (Labour) than doing any better than his predecessor (May increased the Conservative vote by over 3,000,000 compared to Cameron, yet is derided as an electoral failure, whereas Johnson added just 300,000 compared to May).
All of this shows that the output of the UK electoral system does not correlate with level of voter support for any particular party and is therefore unrepresentative of the electorate. (Compare UKIP vs SNP in 2015 as an example of this.)
May 30, 2021
Facts are facts Peter.
I realise you don’t vote Labour nor Conservative but many millions of us do.
If voters wanted a second Green MP or more Lib Dem MPs then they would vote for them.
They are free to do so.
Perhaps they don’t agree with you.
Just a thought.
May 30, 2021
Peter P, The first past the post system is unfair to smaller parties like UKIP, that is true. But you didn’t like the majority vote for Leave where every single vote counted at the national level. Could it be you just don’t like the outcomes, rather than the methods?
May 30, 2021
Precisely Nick.
May 30, 2021
Peter
Virtually every grown up in the UK has the right to register to vote, and to use that vote.
If people cannot be bothered to use this right for whatever reason, then really they should not complain about the government they get.
Our system whilst perhaps considered crude by many, is very, very, very simple.
The winner is the Mp with the most votes in their local area.
The Party with Most Mp’s forms the National Government.
May 30, 2021
Steve,
āBelgian ancestryā you say. And a āpractising Catholicā.
My little grey cells put me in mind of the great Hercule Poirot.
Hercules is very dapper though and much better at quickly solving problems.
May 30, 2021
Peter
” āBelgian ancestryā you say ”
He is, his name’s DePfeffel.
” And a āpractising Catholicā. ”
The lady is. It is no secret and is well documented in the public domain.
” Hercules is very dapper though and much better at quickly solving problems. ”
…….except, Peter, he didn’t actually exist.
May 30, 2021
I would like to see an article on whether the government’s approach to apprenticeships is the right one.
May 30, 2021
Sea Warrior
Except these day’s the little darlings will be trained under French metric measurement requiring no brain power, and they won’t get to experience cutting and burning themselves as we did, what with all the H & S.
Meanwhile, jobs get given to countries where there is no H & S.
May 30, 2021
When I first saw todayās title I thought we Commenters may be receiving an overdue stinging rebuke since on those occasions when you ask questions of us (like recently about quango abolition and about social care reform and funding) the typical responses are well short of answers and the quality is often unenviable.
Topics I particularly welcome include:
– Food and Energy policies (which includes exposing the flaws in the Green agenda).
– Economic policy, including activities of H.M. Treasury and the Bank of England and the actions of the significant foreign actors (including the antics of the Evil Empire).
– Industrial and trade policies.
– Workings of Government. (As an example, a few years ago you wrote about the jobs of ministers, explaining the main responsibilities of each level and how they together managed departments. It is hard to find similar insightful information about such topics).
The BBC and the SNPās Scotland are topical and important but absent some (likely) new outrages the extensive coverage they have enjoyed should not I hope crowd out other issues.
As noted hitherto, this Diary is a marvellous resource providing information and quality insight that are often enough not replicated elsewhere. I remain grateful to you for all your efforts.
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
@formula57; +1
Can I add, within any Food (agriculture) debate our host tackles both food and animal welfare standards, DEFRA appear to be using both as proxy’s for maintaining EU style protectionism.
May 30, 2021
A good summary which I completely agree with
May 30, 2021
Personally leaving the EU has been detrimental to me so my views are bias towards the EU
I would prefer a future Gov to put the UK into the EEA permanently with no get out.
I donāt like restrictions on free movement.
I am wary of so called world trade because shipping goods around the world is not environmentally friendly so prefer regional trade only.
I like to fly to the EU via Ryan air and spend 6 months there in the winter away from the cold and wet
I have no time for National flag waving.
I favour a UK federal system
Proportional representation
Lower voting age to 16
I donāt like the traditional way of doing politics and itās probably way I like the EU style of Politics, itās totally unique, there is nothing like it any where else in the world. Despite all the criticism the system actually works.
I donāt think the split is between remain and leave itās more between young and old.
Need to look forward 10 years not backwards 30 years. Itās a bit like saying oh I remember when the Romans invaded
30 years ago is more than a life time to many and to me there is a need to bury the past and forget it.
There is also criticism of asylum yet Britain created the system and I embrace it.
To me Brexit is the death of the UK and the sooner the better.
May 30, 2021
Indeed. We all come with our own inherent perspectives, biases and beliefs, including John Redwood whose views on all matters European have been well known for a long time. Therefore, to claim that all analysis is “careful, moderate and independent” is certainly debatable.
I would accept “careful” because politicians are definitely careful in selecting only those items of information which they can use to support the conclusion they wish to present (and conveniently ignoring the rest), but not the other two.
May 30, 2021
Peter P, I suspect you mean “EU” not “European”. There are 44 European countries but only 27 of them are in the EU empire. It is one of the conceits of the EU (and of Remain) that the terms EU and Europe are interchangeable. That, by the way, is another reason you lost.
June 1, 2021
NickC
there is no empire and your predictions about loss is all getting a bit tiring and boring. thank you
May 30, 2021
@DB
So many things to disagree with there – I don’t deny your right to be different, but it’s not the views of people who want a country that has the potential to survive much better than others.
There is little to be said about the EU political system other than to say that the big issues are decided behind closed doors.
May 30, 2021
David Brown, Isn’t your waving of the EU flag identical in principle to “National flag waving”, just on a slightly larger scale?
May 31, 2021
David Brown. Has it not occurred to you that long before the EU existed, freedom of movement and spending 6 months abroad was available to English/British people.
It is not Brexit that has removed that freedom from you.
Has it not also crossed your mind that international trade has been going on for many centuries for the simple reason that different geographical and climatic regions can produce different things.
What an unrealistic world picture you have painted. Huxley’s Brave New World is an even more depressing prophecy than Orwell’s 1984.
May 30, 2021
Clarification it was France who first created the right of asylum.
I believe Britain championed this after WW2 through the UN
May 31, 2021
Why do assylum seekers opt to travel the length of France not asking for it, to risk their lives in the Channel to get to the UK before asking for it. Is it language, financial, hospitality or climate on which they make their choices. An in depth survey would make interesting reading and would tell us which taps to turn off if we so chose. I feel that anyone with that level of determination has great potential as a positive asset.
May 31, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
You’re right to point out the incompetence. Without an effective trial and the incompetents answering for their behaviour, it’s understandable that people will begin to assert conspiracy. The answer to conspiracy theorists is openness and accountability. You could be pointing out and arguing for more of each.
e.g. we still don’t know the true reason why people were sent from hospitals to care homes without testing when tests were on the shelves in hospitals. All sorts of stories can be concocted but only one is the truth, and it’s still hidden. It’s no good saying an enquiry will reveal all in 12-18-24 months time-the guilty party(ies) will have ensured that by then they are secure on a beach somewhere enjoying a happy retirement, or at least out of office with “lessons learned”. It’s just not good enough.
May 30, 2021
Sir Joe, I think we do know why people were sent from hospitals to care homes so quickly. It was because NHS management set about clearing hospital beds for an expected massive influx of covid patients. It was panic.
May 30, 2021
ā…it is still possible to change policies which they think are rigged invisibly behind the democratic facade.ā
A realist or a cynic would disagree.
āIf they have evidence of wrong doing by powerful people they need to go to the authorities with evidence.ā
Whistleblowers are treated appallingly in this country āpour encourager les autresā. Careers and lives are ruined. There are countless examples in the Health service, defence industries etc. I wonāt mention cases but it is very easy to find examples.
May 30, 2021
Peter, There’s plenty of people on the right who are treated appallingly just because they have the “wrong” views. Careers and lives are ruined. There are countless examples . . . .
May 31, 2021
Agreed Peter. Realists know it is NOT possible to change the rigged policies. At present the ‘democracy’ is a facade.
May 30, 2021
Many value your brave and important contributions to moving the national debates onward and upward in a positive way Sir John.
Whilst few politicians understand and learn you are courageous enough to allow yourself to be scrutinised daily. However as you know the feedback is priceless as the smarter folks know.
I read what you say daily but let others show themselves and display gems of wisdom and other lesser contributions, some like to be ping pong players in earnest but without a table or platform to progress.
Many thanks for today’s item as it saves hours of reading and listening to the dumbed down MSM.
May 30, 2021
Do continue with your EU analysis pieces, you are so right that we are denied real news of our neighbours, but this is indicative of a dishonest press that has its own agenda with all areas of life.
Having had so many problems while we were in the EU, the way the EU is unfolding simply exonerates our criticisms of the EU, the way their elite behaved and still behave.
As a leave supporter, I’m keen to learn about the actions being done to allow us to take advantage of BREXIT, which is generally good news.
The very green green agenda – while I appreciate your attempts to introduce common sense and to highlight irrationality, for example in the cost of net-zero, it does come across that you are convinced by the MMCC argument. This is yet another area of life that is being censored badly, and we need to remember that ‘THE SCIENCE IS NEVER SETTLED – THERE IS ALWAYS SOMETHING ELSE TO KNOW’. We need to see all views on this subject, not just the ones we are told are the approved views.
It sometimes seems like you, Sir, as an MP, are too close to what is going on at the centre of power – seen from a little distance away things often look very different. This can affect the views we hold.
I get the impression that MP’s are inundated with briefing papers that gives only one message, whatever the subject, which is what the government has decided on.
It does seem also that some MP’s support their party first, present that view determined by their party, before taking into account, often rejecting, what constituents want. You appear to be not of this ilk – Your comments are usually voter orientated.
I do enjoy your economic analysis, and copies of your speeches. Please continue with your wide range of topics – It makes a good start to the day to read them, for with so much censorship these days elsewhere, your comments are most welcome.
May 30, 2021
I have read nothing written by JR which indicates he personally believes in anthropogenic global warming. What has changed is JR’s realisation that all Western governments have bought into this and therefore how to ameliorate a bad situation. (President Trump did indicate his scepticism but his opinions were given no credence by those that control the public discourse. There was a time when JR celebrated the existence of the net and its capacity to facilitate public discourse outside editorial control only to find that those who controlled the original MSM had taken control and appointed themselves as sole arbiters of the truth on the net as well. ) His approach, therefore, is to invite politicians to consider the logistical implications of their desire to assuage the zealots of the AGW theory before they do incredible damage.
May 31, 2021
Well said forthurst. I’m sure you are right there.
May 30, 2021
The balance is good. And on the economics I come here to get the best analysis!
May 30, 2021
It’s a brilliant site John and don’t change anything. I find the finance matters a bit hard to grasp and don’t partake very much in the discussions but I like anything to do with the EU as reporting elsewhere is not happening much. We hear nothing about the political tensions or issues that affect us from the main media outlets. People are not aware of how much we are paying the EU for immigration controls or anything else. I am sure many think we have left when in fact the EU seem to still have much control in certain areas. Progress on worldwide trade etc is vague and we don’t know much about what other countries are doing to tackle so called climate change. From what little I have been able to read it would seem muuch of Europe is looking seriously at Hydrogen power but its not reported. Information coming from the BBC is limited and if things are mentioned it is sometimes so brief it’s easy to miss it. I feel much is being hidden from us and your site is a mine of information. If a post doesn’t interest people then do what I do and don’t bother to partake but it is no excuse to be rude or critisise what you are writing about on your own site. I am pleased to hear you will still be writing about a variety of issues.
May 30, 2021
F U S
Well said .
May 30, 2021
Well, I donāt like to harp on ( I do!) but really I am only interested in the ukās present predicament.
That is the elephant!
I want to know what you politicians think you are doing to us ( ok ME, if no one else is bothered!).
Personally, I donāt take kindly to restrictions never before seen and to my Parliament being all but disbanded. Or to having my world turned upside down.
I want to know why we have a PM who lies to us all the time. 3 weeks to āflatten the curveā, pah!
Everything I ever believed, achieved, loved, respected and believed in has been burned to a wisp of smoke on the altar of what?
May 30, 2021
What I find really valuable about your Diary is your ability to deal with often very complex questions with lucidity and simplicity. This is particularely true with the economic posts, so please keep them coming!
There are very few places where one can get sensible comments on the advantages of Britain being able to go it alone.
You have posts from plenty of opponents of Brexit, and some pro-greenery; I notice the former are given to ridicule or dismissiveness rather than logic in their posts.
There always was a tension between the conspiracy and cock-up theorists, with the latter generally in the ascendant, so much more exciting!
Finally, I never cease to be amazed at the time you manage to devote to us: very many thanks.
May 30, 2021
If one is to always believe the cock-up explanation for events then one has to believe that governments are always honest but sometimes make mistakes whereas I would contend that governments can also be dishonest with the electorate if they believe the later would not approve of what the former have decided to do. Usually when there is a cock-up, there is a fumbling with the official explanation because it was unexpected. An example of what was clearly a conspiracy was 9/11, when an explanation for an entirely unexpected event was available in its immediate aftermath which not only aligned with the neocon desire to invade the Middle East but also defied the laws of Physics.
Then of course there is the fact that governments do not necessarily have effective control over their own departments including the intelligence services such that these can have their own policies and act on them entirely outside of any effective oversight.
May 30, 2021
Sir John,
Contributions to any given article should not always be taken as a proxy for engagement. It is inevitably easier for your readers to comment on a subject, such as the EU or green issues, when, for good or bad, these subjects can be approached as much from a point of principle as detail. Economic analysis often requires an equal grasp of the facts to debate /comment effectively. I would not claim to have your training or experience in this subject matter, so much less likely to comment.
Variety is indeed the spice of life and it is the broad sweep of the topics you cover which means I look forward to reading what you have chosen to cover each day. Posts relating to your local constituency hold no interest for me but do remind me you hold the interests of your voters dear, which is itself admirable.
May 30, 2021
My comments have chiefly concerned your “economic ” analysis soi disant and know the “evolution of your views “,on austerity well enough to remember when you were a firm supporter of George Osborne`s Polices .( notwithstanding some retcon sophistry on your part worthy of twister on class A drugs ).
On trade deals the UK has exceeded my expectations in being able the roll over the existing EU trade deals but there is nothing whatsoever to suggest the numbers are other than a the disaster almost all informed people predicted. An FTA with Australia is of symbolic importance only and we are yet to see if the sort of sacrifices Free Trade requires will be made.
I am rarely if ever angry but with my usual GSOH I note that your continued sniping at our European friends is somewhat at odds to the previous claim that your supported the EU as we would benefit from its existence post Brexit without paying costs financial or political (* Stan Laurel look to camera * )
Tra la
reply Your continued twisting of everything I write to make up disagreements is tedious
May 30, 2021
@JR reply; It’s called politics I believe, served the Tories well, especially between 1975 and 1979, and then again 1997-2010.
May 30, 2021
Newmania
Trade deals are better than not having any, but nations trade very successfully with the EU and elsewhere without any such deals
Seems to be your new obsession.
May 30, 2021
Newmania, Have you noticed how Remains like yourself, and Martin, Andy, etc. can hardly bear to pass up the chance of self-congratulation? You (apparently) have a good sense of humour; Martin is well informed(!); etc – all in your own opinions of course. Do you honestly think that makes us believe your guesses about the future have any more validity? So why do you do it?
May 31, 2021
That was not an entirely serious remark , Nick , calm down dear
May 30, 2021
Sir John, I read your blog every day and appreciate the wide variety of topics.
I rarely comment on issues where I have little or no expertise or experience (such as the NI Agreement or in-depth economic matters), or where someone else has made a point for me, but I learn something from both your posts and (most) of the replies.
Does anyone know of any other MP – regardless of Party – who makes such a dedicated effort to inform the electorate?
May 30, 2021
I doubt if there are many ( any?) as intelligent or energetically conscientious as JR.
(And I imagine that this blog is of some value to him).
What ill-starred confluence prevented him from being PM for at least 50 years I can not imagine.
Whatever it was…it was thoroughly evil.
May 30, 2021
Re Marr this morning interviewing an EU spokesperson on the NI protocol which prevents guide dogs without rabies injections from entering NI from the UK. Marr pointed out that we have not had a case of rabies in the UK since 1926.
The spokes person suggested we enter into a vetinary agreement such as the EU has with Switzerland. Marr failed to point out that an agreement is valid for pets crossing into the EU but is an affront to our sovereignty to even suggest it is necessary for any movement within the UK. We decided to leave the EU, it is an insult to our pets that it be thought that they have any desire to rush across the border into Southern Ireland.
That it is the same for a packet of cornflakes is obvious to all but the intrusive EU. Cornflakes for the EU document, those that travel to destinations within the UK are of no concern to anyone other than the UK. It is time that Boris and Frost put an end to such nonsense.
May 30, 2021
@agricola. NI is no longer in the UK but part of the EU. According to another of their spokespeople if only the NI Citizen would get that into their heads and bought exclusively from the EU al the problems would go away.
In part my comment is meant to be irony, but also on incompetence of what used to be a UK, now just a London Government
May 30, 2021
nota
Cannot understand why some NI politicians were not included within the direct discussion/negotiations held, It may have saved a huge amount of time, most of which I guess has been wasted given it has taken 4 years to get to this farcical situation.
May 30, 2021
Alan Jutson
” Cannot understand why some NI politicians were not included within the direct discussion/negotiations held ”
Easy….All those spur of the moment jettings – off by Theresa May to go and see little Mr Varadkar, and also later by Boris Johnson were for one purpose….to facilitate the sell out of NI.
Some NI politicians would have had the pair of them sussed out, hence their exclusion to prevent opposition to the treason.
Anyone with half a brain could see what RoI sympathiser May was up to.
May 31, 2021
Steve
I have to agree it was a stitch up, but did they really think it would last, and they would get away with it given NI history.
May 30, 2021
I too find too many loose ends in our exit from the EU. They cast doubts on the integrity of those who negotiated the severance and I suspect we have yet to see the minefield in its entirety that the EU left behind. Its purpose I can understand, if we can do this to the UK, god help any of the rest of you who find the EU unpalatable. They would seem to wish to destroy the City of London for instance. Let them seek financial backing elsewhere in the World. I see them as a high risk client carrying too much debt already.
We need the guts to say no, back off or we revert to WTO rules. I will observe the next month in our relationship with a critical eye. Ultimately the future of democracy and the conservative party are at stake. At the moment there is a large voud on the game board that is ripe for filling.
May 30, 2021
But, on the plus side, it really is very funny just what a mess your Brexit is.
May 30, 2021
Where are your predictions then andy?
Huge queues at Calais….err no
Recession….err no
Collapse in the value of the pound….err no
Empty supermarket shelves….err no
Huge increases in unemployment…err no
May 30, 2021
Don’t forget problems with lack of supplies for medications. I seem to remember Andy was most concerned for diabetics like Mrs May. How considerate of him.
May 30, 2021
– ability to make decisions to order and implement millions and millions of vaccinations. Unlike the talking shop EU – while the millions died.
May 30, 2021
Wake up Andy, it is your Brexit too.
May 30, 2021
@Andy; Wrong, not the Brexit the UK wanted, the NIP the EU wanted…
The NIP will come back to bite the EU hard, should economic issues caused by the NIP result in social unrest (as has been predicted by non partisan NI commentators), the very thing the NIP was meant to prevent… At that point the US will start to see the EU, and the current govt of ROI, for what they are, bullies and quislings respectively – the EU’s fan is going to get very messy indeed.
Do not assume the ROI is safely ensnared within your beloved EU, assuming the EU is actually bothered about such an ‘enclave’ to the west, the people of the ROI have far more blood-ties to both GB&NI, the USA & Australia than they do to the modern European mainland.
May 30, 2021
Wibble.
May 31, 2021
@Andy; Indeed your opinions generally are, as they are based on a dream, not hard facts.
I was quite surprised when I checked the figures from the Australian census with regards how citizens describe their nominated ancestry – apparently 11% self describe as Irish, the second highest apart “Australian”.
May 30, 2021
What’s even more funny, Andy, is that Leave is nowhere near the mess you predicted it would be. In fact your Remain predictions for Leave have been as false as Remain’s guesses about the immediate aftermath of our winning Leave vote. In fact, given your record of fake futures I’m surprised you dare show your face. But it’s hilarious when you do.
May 31, 2021
@NickC; Stones, glasshouses and all that…
Actually the Leave side is in quite a mess, given all the assertions made by those wanting a hard, even non-Article 50, Brexit; that that Mr Farage would be striding up Downing Street, a job in Cabinet at the very least, given that it took two attempts for Tory Brexiteers to get a -sort of- Brexiteer into No.10 as PM and only then because so many plebs had voted for Mr Corbyn, had Mrs May kept her nerve and not called the 2017 general election, not then been forced to quit two years later due to the political stalemate, what sort of Brexit would we have had, assuming if we had one at all…
June 3, 2021
Nick C
Totally unnecessary and sill remarks
May 30, 2021
Andy
It’s a mess because of treason, not because we voted to leave.
May 31, 2021
@steve; Brexit became a mess because of a democratic general election in 2017 that took place after the referendum of 2016. If general elections can not change a previous referendum decisions then the 2016 referendum (pledged for in the manifestos of 2010 and 2015) was its self “treason” as the 1975 result still stands! Nothing is set in stone.
May 30, 2021
Credit to Andrew Marr for actually challenging the EU spokesman. How did he get permission to do this from the BBC, where he’s supposed to acquiesce on anything the EU masters say?
May 30, 2021
Maybe he was establishing his credentials.
May 30, 2021
Perhaps he wants a job with Andrew Neil on GB News.
May 30, 2021
Yes the EU is correct it’s the same rule for all ‘ the EU side does not care about third countries or about UK in 1926
You have an affront with sovereignty that’s if we were to go with a veterinary agreement like the EU has with Switzerland – so then what do you think about the Swiss and their feelings about sovereignty? The solution to the difficulties of the Protocol is there if only we want to apply ourselves – but we can’t because like the new leader of NI DUP Poots – the flat earther – we are stuck in a hole and the more we dig the deeper it gets. Sigh…
May 30, 2021
+1 The commissioner stated that NI ‘benefit’ from being in both the UK and single market. How does NI ‘benefit’ when the UK internal market is completely overridden by single market rules?
May 31, 2021
When I lived in Northern Ireland it was before the pet passport scheme negotiated by Lady Fretwell when Sir John Fretwell was Ambassador to Paris (and applied to most countries with no regular rabies cases, not just the EU). However, I recall there was an all island approach to rabies control and for foot and mouth etc., with prominent signs at the airport and seaports. Obviously it was based on the Common Travel Area. At the time there was still six months quarantine for dogs coming from abroad into the UK, including from the Continent. I cannot be certain that there was no quarantine: there would not have been a rabies jab requirement as the UK did not recognise those until Lady Fretwell sorted out DEFRA. But perhaps it offers a route to a system that worked in the past.
It was extremely petty of the EU to undermine the pet passport which had mostly worked extremely well, saddling it with extra costs and rules that will deter many holidaymakers who used to take their dogs with them. It also creates difficulties for responsible breeders or owners who look to diversify and strengthen their lines rather than being caught with narrow gene pools that dominate in some breeds in the UK. The new rules mean that a puppy is almost a year old before it can travel, which makes a new home much more disruptive. Of course no scheme can prevent the puppy smugglers, who now have a much greater incentive to operate as there is much more cost to avoid. There will be fewer foreign competitors at Crufts.
May 30, 2021
Please continue discussing transport issues. The country is changing for personal road transport, the wonderful freedom of driving our own cars is about to be curtailed. I moved out of the London suburbs a while ago, driving to the local supermarket became more and more troublesome with the amount of local traffic. Yesterday I needed to drive to North London and as the M25 was very slow, I drove through the outskirts of London…terrible, how the local drivers put up with the time wasting slow moving traffic is a mystery to me. And come October when it will cost Ā£12 to drive off the North/South Circular into town, it will get much worse. Really another orbital motorway outside the M25 is needed. Mayor Khan has a difficult job but whoever it is, private vehicle access to town centres will need to be reduced, somehow. Going electric is one way, but only for the well-off.
May 30, 2021
Yes Transport is a major problem and so glad we live out in the country but we also now suffer from often waiting in a line of traffic behind some untrained cyclist without a helmet or bright clothing unaware of the dangerous situation or road. Even worse are those who ride side by side unaware but more uncaring for heavy 40 tonne lorries behind on narrow 60mph roads expecting a clearance of another 1.5 metres on bends. This should be made illegal and dashcam used to warn them or more….
May 30, 2021
The easiest way is to ban the vast majority of cars from central London. They do not need to be there.
London was a city for people long before it was a city for cars. Letās return it to its original purpose.
May 30, 2021
How are you going to deliver supplies to businesses?
May 30, 2021
And what about White Van Man who services all those people.
May 30, 2021
Its original purpose was trading. That brought people because like now movement of goods was a pain in the arse. So how do the millions of residents get their shopping, go to work, kids to school, people to doctors(I forget they don’t of course) , kids to sports at weekends.?
Currently 20mph which cars obey due to cameras everywhere but cyclists don’t – no number plates you see. This is spreading outwards and will soon mean your Tesla was a crazy waste of money -you won’t be able to drive it in your local Bucks town. Ah well – it has a great battery for when you want to sit in it and listen to the Marxist radio channels to get away from your teenagers indoors.
May 30, 2021
@Peter2; @agricola; @Fred.H; Oh dear, Andy did say “cars” and even qualified that by saying “most”…
Also Fred how do you think most Londoners managed before the advent of the affordable private motor car in the 1950s, most took the bus or tube, or walked/cycled… Are EVs not exempt from the more recent anti car regulations, actually more anti CO2 & NO2 than car, so a Tesla might not have been such a crazy waste of money!
May 30, 2021
Well jerry he did say ‘most’ cars. Are the exceptions going to be Teslas? So the millions of Londoners needing to do shopping, going to work, etc etc will have to use buses- where are the electric ones -lets go back to horse-drawn buses and trams.
How are we going to move the consumer articles currently carried by vans, lorries, large petrol/diesel vehicles? As an ex-West Londoner you don’t have to lecture me about transport there – many generations of ancestors were Londoners.
May 30, 2021
So just no cars Jerry and andy?
But presumably still allowing in vans, lorries, artics,scooters, mopeds, motorbikes,taxis, disabled people’s vehicles, ubers, mini cabs, buses, coaches, oh and cars if they are delivering goods.
Great idea guys.
Stand for election on that issue.
See how you get on.
May 31, 2021
Hansom cabs were horse drawn. And travelled faster than today’s London taxis and buses. River traffic was also considerable.
May 31, 2021
@Fred.H; EV buses are in development., so are low emission IC buses, and of course we could always dust off the blue prints for trolley buses. Again you forget Andy was talking about cars, not van, not lorries.
@Peter2; “Great idea guys. Stand for election on that issue. See how you get on.”
I believe a candidate for London Mayor did just that, just three weeks ago, he got re elected, duh! š³
May 31, 2021
Nonsense again Jerry
The London Mayor is not banning cars from Central London
Get your facts right before you blast off on another of your little posts.
May 31, 2021
reply to Mark.
have you never seen old photos of London – a teeming horror of horse-drawn vehicles in massive queues – a hundred years ago road-rage. It was faster to walk – even in Dickens’ time 1840/50/60s he walked everywhere building inspiration for the plight of Londoners in his books.
May 31, 2021
@Peter2; “Get your facts right before you blast off on another of your little posts.”
Oh dear, off on your contrary (t)roll again…
Take your own advice, try actually reading the thread! I never said the London Mayor was banning cars, although he is banning/making some types of car unwelcome by way of charges in addition to fuel and VED, it was Andy who suggested the outright ban, and it was you along with Fred and agricola who replied unthinking to his assertions as if a fact, asking (in effect) how life could carry on…
May 31, 2021
Get your facts right Jerry before you make a complete fool of yourself.
The Mayor of London wasn’t elected with a manifesto banning all cars or most cars or any cars from central London.
There is only one contrary (t)roll on here and it isn’t me.
May 30, 2021
That’s only because you’re nostalgic for the C19th days of the British Empire, Andy.
May 30, 2021
Peter Aldersley,
Yes, transport is a big issue.
Traffic jams yesterday, so I switched to trains on the return journey(no bus replacement though it was a Bank Holiday weekend).
I used to be able to park by the river for free and walk along the banks into Kingston. Now free parking is only available on the outer fringes of the borough. So people drive to shopping malls instead, or avoid the parking fees and go into the West End for world class retailers.
I donāt think I would like to be totally dependent on a car nowadays, but I have no answer for those who live in places with poor public transport.
May 31, 2021
A different approach would be to make it more possible for traffic to flow, rather than seeking to obstruct it in every way imaginable. That has the advantage that it is much less polluting too. Some of that involves encouraging drivers to avoid peak times and to make use of satnav traffic systems that calculate the best way through in the light of the traffic and roadworks etc., and some entails promoting things like adaptive cruise control that helps prevent jams from forming due to reaction braking chains, and in turn reducing accidents that cause more jams. Modern tech could double traffic throughputs.
May 30, 2021
You maintain a very high quality of posts. Varied, informed and insightful.
Well done! And thank you
I would be interested to hear your view on culture issues. For example:
– what are children learning at school. Not just knowledge. What skills in terms of critical thinking? What character traits such as self-confidence, self-esteem, independence? What values – dependency or self-reliance? What attitudes to others?
– free speech and no platforming in person and online
– rise of āwokenessā denigrating all British achievements and history. What about toppling statues?
Culture trumps strategy. The right is still ignoring the Marxists march through the institutions. They have made massive progress. Is it unstoppable?
May 30, 2021
Firstly John very many thanks for setting up and continuing with your daily comments on the subjects of your choice, and for allowing comments to be made. If only we had more Mp’s who would engage with the public in a similar manner, Government as a whole may improve and move forward a little bit.
Certainly over the years and as a constituent, I think I have a very much clearer idea on most of your thoughts and ideals, which makes voting so much easier.
With regards to topics, its your site so write what you want, your explanations and thoughts are always clear and logical, even if on occasion I may not agree fully with them.
From a personal point of view I have learned a huge amount about how the government systems work (or do not), it’s also interesting and also educational to see some of the comments by your other readers, which may also confirm, agree, or challenge one’s own thoughts.
Given the way the larger media outlets always seem to have their own agenda within which to work, it is nice to hear the views from my own elected representative supported by many welcome facts, which you often include.
John rest assured we are not all moaners out here, although it must seem like it at times, most of us are simply immensely frustrated by what appears to be the slowness and inaction by Government, to resolve the many pressing and important issues of the time, which seem face us on a growing basis.
So Keep Calm and Carry On !
May 30, 2021
@Alan Jutson +1, if only the local council was in tune with their MP – they would be building instead of destroying
May 30, 2021
A small plea to keep the economic analysis coming, despite the lower level of interest overall. I read most days and very much enjoy your perspectives on this. Itās a particularly hard area to find empirical and original analysis elsewhere, that questions the orthodoxy.
May 30, 2021
Those committed to the remain side of the referendum now claim to be bored and wish us to dismiss the subject from normal discourse, while they continue to chip away behind the scenes to hold on to a large part of the EU status quo that went before.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that we haven’t left, as promised, and still have to sort the Northern Ireland issues and fisheries and, in addition, combat protectionists who wish to manacle free trade agreements with other nations.
May 30, 2021
You have not āleft as promisedā because the promises were false. Brexit was never going to be what they told you it would be.
It is sad that you are all just figuring this out now.
May 30, 2021
You should send Mrs May a bunch of flowers.
May 30, 2021
It is sad you knew all along -if only we had listened. Lots of us imagined the EU would think their new 3rd country neighbour would be worth maintaining decent relations with – but prefer step by step to make enemies of – so be it.
I won’t lose sleep over it – but you Andy obviously have restless nights constantly.
May 30, 2021
Fred H
” but you Andy obviously have restless nights constantly.”
……and probably nothing to do with Brexit.
May 30, 2021
Andy, There is nothing false about being an independent state outside the EU empire. Most countries in the world are like that. There is no reason why the UK shouldn’t be too.
May 30, 2021
Like most others, I think the mix of subjects is perfectly acceptable and in fact, I wonder at how you come up with so many and have informed opinions about them. If there are any that don’t set me alight, I don’t bother with them and certainly don’t want to clog up the blog just for the sake of typing something. I also thank you for the time and effort you put into this enterprise.
May 30, 2021
Sir John,
Your commentary today is spot on.
I am especially interested in the opportunities of more open and free trade with the rest of the world.
One subject we rarely seem to hear about in this country, is the effect of EU policies on EU member states.
May 30, 2021
Sir
I don’t know how you find the time … to read everything … what people write.
Thank you
It’s your blog …. the subjects are your choice …. as is the choice whether to publish a reply …. or not.
From my own point of view, and at the risk of over simplification, I would expect everything Parliament does is to either raise money from us or to spend our money. Often we are told “why” but my perception is that, too many times, we are not given at least an opinion as to “how much”.
OT … I believe that the Scots should have a referendum. In 2014 they thought they were voting for UK + EU. Brexit moved the goal posts. However, what if the referendum is a binary choice … either Holyrood OR Westminster, not both. England would then “lose” either Scotland or Sturgeon. Either way, England saves money.
OT2 … Too much of our tax money is diverted away from our valued public services into the hands of too many charities. This is particularly important post covid. Our money should be spent in a more targeted way. Is the Charity Commission under-resourced ?
OT3 … Mr Sunak has done well with the covid support. However, I do not believe that announcing a (potential ?) corporation tax increase is wise. The tax/NIC system is probably overdue a review. I suspect that Business Rates and VAT, particularly for “high street” retail, may already be under consideration.
May 30, 2021
I welcome the wide range of topics you raise in your Diary and would welcome more on the economy of the UK, the EU, the USA and elsewhere (especially elsewhere) because of the impact these have on us all. The Green Agenda pursued by many governments needs constant scrutiny. Its consequences are profound on many levels not least the unacknowledged destruction of jobs/livelihoods it entails. Some of it, such as the reduction or reuse of waste makes sense. But other aspects, such as the obsession with reducing man made CO2 do not make sense; furthermore it is based on questionable data that does not get the scrutiny it deserves either from the scientific community or the political class. It now enjoys that most dangerous status of all – that of group think shared and actively promoted by both national governments and international bodies to the point of repression of alternative views. My view is that its pursuit, coupled with rising social security obligations beyond the capacity of many states to afford, will cause significant reductions in living standards in the years ahead. The social and political implications have yet to emerge. These are more likely to be ugly than benign.
May 30, 2021
One topic I’d like to read more about is England’s democratic and sovereign identity – not in relation to the Union or Scotland but as a nation in its own right. Why no.true parliament? Why no dedicated national leaders, economic and cultural promotion? The present lack is unjustifiable and unsustainable.
May 30, 2021
+1
May 30, 2021
” Why no dedicated national leaders ”
Scotland is allowed them, so is Wales……..but us ? nah that would be extremist if we did it.
May 30, 2021
Good morning Sir John
Thank you for facilitating this Blog, as you suggest the medias has primarily been hijacked with a leftist hierarchy. As such their views are at the extreme of being anti UK, British and the English. Your Blog permits views from all sides therefore becomes a neutral picture of on going views.
May 30, 2021
I think Remain supporters can never understand that leave supporters only wanted to leave the European Parliament and not the countries of Europe . We are interested in what goes on in Europe and some have close ties with Friends and Family living in Europe. It was only a political separation not a separation of friendship, support when needed, and co-operation.
They need to be reminded that the British went to the assistance of their neighbours in two world wars and we are not inward looking “little Englanders” It did not take us being in a Europewide Political system to do this. Just being very good neighbours
May 30, 2021
John, yes, I am amazed at the way the UK is treated when you look at how we helped many countries in Europe when they were under threat of anhilation from Hitler and his plans for world domination. Thank God for Churchill.
May 30, 2021
John McDonald
” We are interested in what goes on in Europe ”
Speak for yourself Sir, personally I don’t give a toss what happens to the EU, not as long as the ungrateful French are in it.
If France was to be kicked out of the EU it’d probably work well.
May 31, 2021
Well no Germany and no France, no Ireland – could be a great trading bloc.
May 30, 2021
Free trade by all means when we do not sacrifice our national interest in achieving it. We have a dire, a dangerous trade deficit which has been allowed to increase in recent decades through neglect of our trading ability and our manufacuring capability. Favour has been given to foreign interests and we need policies covering the whole economy to reverse this and make things again in bulk develop brands and retain ownership. We must not continue to prostitute the country for foreign money. And let’s not forget foreign ownership of our assets gives foreign powers leverage over our freedom to act. We are seriously dependent on others where we shouldn’t be.
May 30, 2021
Over the many years that I have contributed to Sir John’s blog, I have been fortunate in that roughly 90% of my contributions have escaped moderation and been posted. I do occasionally attempt to post off-topic material which I hope broadens the range of subjects, but I have noticed that there are topics which he is reluctant to post – any personal material which could be construed as libellous, criticism of the police, doubts about the origins of the Chinese plague virus being some of the most recent.
However, “conspiracy theories” are a broad brush and one years’ conspiracy may be the next years’ true bill. For example, next month the US Pentagon will be publishing a major report on UFOs, (these days they are referred to as “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena – UAPs) following the release of a number of curious warplane gun-camera videos, acknowleged by the US Navy and the military as being genuine. Apparently, accompanying detailed military reports have been written by the pilots involved and submitted to the relevant authorities.
In fact, a cursory search on Google suggests that UFO phenomena have been taxing those responsible for securing the airspace over the USA for many decades.
The late Duke of Edinburgh is on record as having had a UFO experience. Do I see little green men? I do not. However, clearly something is going on in our skies involving technology that we cannot – yet – emulate. I would welcome the report from the Pentagon and I will read it with interest.
May 30, 2021
Facinating and exciting. I wonder how we would react if something or someone actually existed and landed on earth. Our ET moment.
May 30, 2021
One useful perspective is the extent to which ardent lifelong conservatives will call for the return of a Conservative government despite being fundamentally opposed to a keynote element of party policy, and will seek out discussion of that policy via threads such as those initiated by Sir John. One such element was membership of the EU. Following the resignation of TM, and Boris’ succession and subsequent GE victory, that keynote element has been replaced – drastically so – with the party’s policy on Net Zero, to which I always append “aka the Great Leap Backward”. It is all the more rewarding to find discussion of this topic here, especially when our gracious host leaves us all to work out sensible conclusions without spoon feeding them to us.
May 30, 2021
Off topic, I can’t see Boris Johnson’s Catholic marriage going down well with many unionists in Northern Ireland and wonder if he is sending them another message that they are no longer wanted in the UK.
May 30, 2021
I think the message is ‘Boris is well and truly under Carrie’s thumb’.
May 31, 2021
š
May 31, 2021
A candidate for an English Eva PerĆ³n without the designer shoes?
May 30, 2021
I would just like to say thank you Sir John for your excellent articles.
Whatever the topic, I find them interesting and informative.
May 30, 2021
I will keep this fairly brief because my two most recent contributions have been long because they are subjects of particular interest to me. Thank you for reading and publishing them.
The eclectic mix of subjects is very welcome and as one or two others have suggested, a lack of responses should not necessarily indicate lack of interest. Particularly on economic matters.
We are very fortunate that you have chosen to establish such an informative and interesting forum and to welcome contribution from the majority of us who do not have the good fortune to have you represent us directly as our MP. Like many others, I regard you as our “virtual” MP and I do recall one or two of your speeches in Parliament where what you have said might have come directly from contributions to this blog.
Please change nothing !
May 30, 2021
JR, It may be that you get fewer comments for your economic analysis posts because fewer commenters feel qualified to discuss them? I am amazed that you continue to have the perseverance, the time, and the grace to post and moderate your Diary every day. Your range of topics, and your treatment of them, is excellent. Well done, and thank you.
May 30, 2021
Hear hear.
May 30, 2021
Regarding the die-hard leavers, I have always ask them to explain why they would prefer to be ruled by an unelected and unaccountable cabal of foreigners, the EU Commission, based in a foreign country, rather than be governed by representatives elected by the British people to run OUR country from Westminster, London, England. No one has even explained their stance.
Furthermore, the EU is really a one-Party State and therefore with no opposition parties, undemocratic.
May 30, 2021
I assume you mean die hard Remains, Derek?
May 31, 2021
Duh on me, Nick. You bet I mean die-hard Remainers.
May 30, 2021
Spending 200 million on a new flag ship is a complete waste of money and time – am sure for that amount we could build a few large container vessels to suit our new trading circumstance that would make better sense.
May 30, 2021
Latin. Or spend the money on more border controls.
May 30, 2021
The bits of economic analysis you offer are not only interesting but also very relevant and informative. I, for one always feel very happy to welcome such knowledge and interest. I look forward each day to your diary.Many thanks
May 30, 2021
I have been reading your blog for a number of years and value your knowledgeable, balanced and valuable views on a number of topics. Unfortunately the subject of the EU and its ongoing failings seems to bring out the people who have not studied the EU in detail, as you have, and seem to accept all the ‘positive’ tripe that the Mainstream Media puts out. We seem to be in an era when showing solidarity with our own country and its people, showing patriotism and seeking the best outcomes for our future prosperity is anathema for these people. They have still not got over the vote of 2016 and behave like spoilt children who did not get their own way. I have learned over the last 5 years that it is pointless trying to have a reasoned discussion with them. Apparently, despite my own knowledge and research, I am not allowed to comment because I am not an ‘expert’, which is laughable really because most of the nay sayers are not experts either, and they comment all the time! All they want to do is shut you up, which isn’t going to happen, and is all part of our current ‘woke’ ‘cancel culture’. The EU is important to the UK in respect of them being our our nearest neighbour and important to our balance of trade. It’s such a shame that the EU doesn’t behave like a good neighbour but more like the ‘neighbour from hell’.
May 30, 2021
An excellent summary, Gary.
May 30, 2021
Sir Jr
Interesting perspective, you do seem to still be very focused on what you think “Remainers ” are focused on such as the exchange rate mechanism or teh EURO which nobody thinks about anymore.
Your views on the so-called Remainers need to change you are still stuck in the old Remain not remain line of thinking which is really not relevant anymore and it theefore makes you generalisese, where generalisations are no longer useful or relevant.
May 30, 2021
You only need to read posts by nearly every remainer on here to realise they have not accepted the result and are battling to undermine the future in any way they can.
May 31, 2021
5th column activists.
June 1, 2021
Peter2
I fundamentally disagree with that conclusion and as a remainer I respect teh decision and life goes on
May 30, 2021
Bill Brown, I think about the ERM, the Euro, Target2, dodgy EU banks, Brexit, and the sheer spite of the EU empire all the time. And your talk about other people’s “perspectives” and “views” without specific examples is itself an example of the generalisations you condemn.
June 1, 2021
NickC
You are as I am entitled to your opinion on the subject of the EU and the use of the workd Empire , which I blieve is fundamentally wrong
May 30, 2021
OFF TOPIC.
It was leaked a while ago, now announced.
A new national flagship is to be commissioned by the government in a bid to boost British trade and industry globally, the prime minister has said. The vessel will be the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was retired in 1997. The government plans to build the ship in the UK, at a reported cost of Ā£200m.
Labour said the government must demonstrate clearly how the ship is expected to boost trade, jobs and growth.
I think we should all like to know what this Ā£200m + massive over-runs will do for exports -is it going to wander round the Med? A government folly.
May 30, 2021
Fred H
“A new national flagship is to be commissioned by the government in a bid to boost British trade and industry globally, the prime minister has said.”
…….But, if you notice, he has’nt said how it will be powered to achieve zero Co2 emmissions.
May 31, 2021
nor what continent the ‘trade mission’ will be aimed at.
On 10 years time it will either be King Charles’ weekend retreat – or the existing PM’s.
May 30, 2021
At this point, with Brexit in the bag and none of the predicted disasters anywhere in sight, the main Remainer strategy is to try to make it seem as if Brexit is still an open issue.
It makes sense to ask how we can persuade the EU to deal honestly with NI and the NIP, but it makes no sense at all to keep banging on about a temporary glitch with fishing – one that lasted all of a month – as if it was bringing the nation to its knees, and as if we had to throw ourselves on the EU’s mercy. The World market for fish is big, very big.
Basically, the two or three Remainers here are very lazy people who just keep repeating the arguments they were taught to make five years ago. It’s really pointless, because no-one at this point is interested in rerunning the referendum. And it is especially pointless to try to paint the EU as humanity’s last best chance when even the conservative Swiss won’t have anything to do with them, and insist on making their own relationship about trade and little else.
May 30, 2021
Jon, Well said.
June 1, 2021
Jon,
Interesting perspective but actaullly not correct, what the Swiss do not want is an opne labour market and free access for EU citizens they still want the trade and they are still negotiating on that basis, so check your facts
May 30, 2021
Your financial acumen is one of the main reasons I read your articles, however my own acumen is seriously lacking.I can therefore not contribute anything worth while. The abbreviations lose me.If I were to use all the medical jargon I write daily most would not be able to understand this either
May 30, 2021
I find your posts on the economy very interesting but donāt know a huge amount about economics so donāt tend to comment. Please keep doing them.
May 30, 2021
I’m glad I’m not the only one Dave.
May 30, 2021
You haven’t mentioned learning anything from contributors, Sir John, about how horrified some of us were at how your government imposed Chinese Communist-style lockdowns, and how worried we are about what that has done to the country, and will continue to do. Some of us, like myself, who would be your natural supporters, no longer believe a word your ministers say about it. I don’t believe their narrative, because I’ve found in the government’s own web pages some of the facts they are trying to hide, and I’m sure that’s true of plenty of your other readers too.
You could have learned from many of the comments over the months how much I and others have been disgusted at what’s happened to this country, under your government’s Covid policy regime. Not only politicians but the media, the upper ranks of the police, the judiciary and much of the medical profession have shown themselves to be utterly corrupt.
Perhaps you are referring to people like me who don’t support lockdowns, when you talk of ‘conspiracy theories’. That’s an establishment dog-whistle intended to discredit anyone not accepting the conventional account. I’m one of many people who can see through it, and who believe in individual freedom and individual responsibility, people who believe a Conservative government should be representing them, not health bureaucrats and their chums.
But this is not a Conservative government. Please try for a moment to imagine how Margaret Thatcher would have spoken to the likes of Whitty, Vallance or Neil Ferguson. I think they would have cringed before her, and crawled back under their stones.
May 31, 2021
the people you mention would not have got any air-time let alone opinion consideration.
May 30, 2021
The reason British governments are so mediocre?
Politics, like the rest of the public sector, are not incentivised to tell the truth, operational delivery, think through hard problems, being good at getting things done is not respected.
Rather they are incentivised to stay heads down, back up the system when it is failing, not rock the boat.
That and the rather narrow sections of society all the political parties select their candidates from, their “group think” worldview on so many issues which is miles apart from the ordinary people (& those that produce success for this country).
No one person in charge, decisions given to committees so that responsibility is defused and unclear. Endless pointless BS meetings, when people with no substance in the subject stroke each others ego.
Far too many people selected as “friends of friends” rather than any ability to do the job.
The government and senior layers of the public sector have all this in great amounts. It is hardly surprising they have mediocre results.
None of the opposition parties are any better.
The Government is the least worst option, thats all, not good by any stretch. The Government is lucky the opposition is so bad.
In this context John, at least you are prepared to say things outside ābacking up the systemāā¦ and that in itself deserves a medal.
May 31, 2021
On the topics you cover, I donāt mind really, its up to you what interests you. I can however remark about the differences between what real world people discuss that could be broadly considered politics, and what the political and journalistic classes discuss of which your stuff is part.
1 Immigration remains a hot topic amongst friends, unconstrained by the political correctness of speaking in public or at work, the overwhelming majority of real people want net zero immigration, they are cheesed off at the whole of the political class and their lies on this matter. Even when I am the only white native Brit in a group of 100% immigrants who have been here a few years, they ALL want immigration stopped. Even when I keep completely quiet amongst new friends, of many different demographics, they universally all start discussing this. This issue has been sailing the British people down the river and is squeezing them in so many ways. The counter arguments to the accepted wisdom (although they wont admit it at election time, and often say the opposite in manifestos) of the political class are not given enough air time. I worry that this balloon will burst at some point and people will say enough is enough, by which point we will all be in serious trouble. This topic remains far higher in peoples minds than journalism and politics seems to realise. Made worse by the Labour party completely failing to represent the mainstream decent views of their white working class heartlands on this matter.
2 How rubbish the NHS is. Sure people are broadly grateful for āhardworking doctors and nursesā but the waits, dirt, rudeness, poor quality services, lack of choice, inconvenience forcing far too much time off work for simple stuff etc of their lived experience with healthcare is screaming out in daily conversation. The people in the waiting rooms at hospitals are not chatting thinking wow isnāt this a great service, they are uniformly slagging it off. This charade cannot go on, no matter how much money is thrown at hyping the NHS, and the delusional attachment to the brand from the left, the reality is the healthcare in far too many instances is sub third world. The NHS let my dad die for want of simple cheap treatment that he would have got routinely in any other developed country. The NHS was happily letting me die until I spotted what they were doing, and fortunately had the funds to escape their plans, for treatment that is cheaper than a rail season ticket. Again, this bubble will burst, they may have to keep the NHS brand name, but the service itself has got to be transformed to the Australian or New Zealand healthcare model, or one of the many other countries that do healthcare far better and more predictably.
3 IR35 and the persecution of the freelance market. I decide whether I am a freelancer, not the government and not the people hiring me. My track record of moving frequently, and often working for multiple people at the same time, should be enough on its own. Freelancers should not be paying for travel and hotels, for work, out of taxed money, when they are often in competition with staff from the consultancies, who with a similar work pattern (just working for a big consultancy instead of themselves) get their expenses tax free. This is an unbalance in the competition. Its basically social manipulation by the politicians to favour the big consultancies. All of the biggest, most complex, riskiest projects in this country are kept working by freelancers holding key roles, the permanent workforce simply cannot offer the flexibility or specialisms needed. Nobody in politics is speaking up for this large demographic of the workforce.
4 Unbalanced tax rules which favour imported workers. People on work visas getting their first 12 months in the country completely free of both employers and employees national insurance is being abused on a mass scale. The big outsourcers pair people up, swap them over every 12 months, one here one abroad and then swap, indefinitely, so that one of them is always here national insurance free and undercutting any local on the jobs market. This and more sophisticated wheezes abusing these rules need fixing. Again I just donāt see politics or journalism discussing this.
5 Nutty anti car measures. I donāt know anyone who supports the nutty anti car measures perpetrated by the public sector. Real people who have to drive for work are sick and tired of it, they can see most of it is scientifically baseless persecution of drivers. Abd.org.uk are broadly correct on this stuff. Surprises me that there is no visible difference between parties on this stuff.
6 The overwhelming anti white working class (especially anti hetro male) actions of the British state. From positive discrimination against them. To offering worst schools. To the ridiculous state of the divorce laws that do their best to completely destroy the male if a marriage breaks up. This is not equality, or meritocratic, or fairness, or anything that is noble and good. Its sheer institutionalised abuse.
7 The woke police we have, who are policing with fear and favour, etc ed
8 The item left out ed
9 Kids that fall out of the school system and just roam the streets, often causing criminal damage and worse. We need far better answers for these kids.
10 Kids in state care. Why are children in state care getting such a raw deal? Why does the British state find it so hard to give them a half decent upbringing? Why is no adult permitted to intervene when they are being abused or raped or whatever?
11 Bright kids. Why do we waste our brightest kids? The default generic averaged out education is simply not good enough for the brightest 5 or 10%. Why are we wasting this talent?
The problem with all of these topics is there is not so much as a cigarette papers gap between all the main parties. So, politics is broken, its not representing the real top concerns of people, and the chances for ordinary people to get any of this fixed at the ballot box are non-existent.
So some more airtime for this kind of stuff would be good John.
Cheers
May 31, 2021
It appears my comments regarding the Covid debacle truths have been ‘moderated’ out, which is extremely dissappointing as it wasn’t rude, insulting or even ‘off topic’, consequently it means that a frequent and vociferous advocat of free speech has just joined the MSM and Big Tech in denying and deleting it because it did not fit the narrative… Very sad Sir John.
Reply Was too long
May 31, 2021
There is usually least interest in the bits of economic analysis I offer.
Is this based on traffic on contributions Sir John? It may be that many of us read, digest and agree with no need to comment in a way that adds to the argument, we are still being informed.
I find the mix of topics to be interesting and I come here often to read your contributions and then to hopefully be further informed by knowledgeable contributors. As with everything one must wade through the detritus to get to the meat.
The few times I have been moderated have been on the subject of immigration, I don’t think I was particularly inflammatory which makes me wonder about the depth of debate on this important subject that you allow.
May 31, 2021
NS: may I suggest you have been moderated when writing about immigration, because there are certain groups or individuals scrutinising every word of every comment that is published on sites such as this, in order to find the one phrase that will allow them – however unjustly – to scream “racist” at our host, thus irreparably harming him as an individual and as an MP, and indeed the Party he represents.
May 31, 2021
@SM – quite possibly but I would rather have the debate on language and approach than avoid it. We need to discuss immigration sensibly and without being shutdown by “they contribute more than they take” which I dispute when considered holistically or “racist!” .
Immigrants (my family included) contribute much to our society, economy and culture but the limits need to be discussed.
June 1, 2021
At least this blog isn’t like Twitter, last night my feed told me under ‘topics to follow’ and ‘twitter groups’ that I follow ‘Bigots and Reactionaries’. The category has thankfully disappeared this morning, but you’d be surprised who was under that category that I follow I was and I’m sure some of the people on the list that followed would be shocked to be considered thus. Strangely I follow a lot of people that I consider Reactionary and Left such as Owen Jones and Polly Toynbee but it didn’t put them in a category of their own.
May 31, 2021
Thank you.
I’d love to see more on Conservatism and 1)High Tech / Digital and 2)The Arts / Design (which both directly and indirectly boosts our economy – look at JK Rowling, consider how Steve Jobs was essentially a designer – and trying to foster genius – like the greats: Mozart, Bach, Shakespeare etc and the profound impact of this on patriotism) 3) How to improve things for married couples and families (and the profound impact of strong family life on country).
May 31, 2021
Issues that I am interested in include : The Northern island situation and the impact of Brexit, pending FTA and their impact e.g. the Australian one , Covid/ lockdown ( although I see that from many other sites) Green issues,- their costs and impact s and the progress and costs of renewables policies, Brexit agreement on impact on UK e.g the Jersey situation, econoimic recovery and Government policies , HS2, levelling up
May 31, 2021
Dear Sir John,
Thank you for your continued blog.
You have asked for well informed and well researched contributions so, while I enjoy reading your economic insights, I do not comment on these issues because it is not my area of expertise.
May 31, 2021
Well you asked for it Sir John!
Your reports and analysis on economic matters are always good and useful. Personally I’d like more not less. As for the brexit divide on that, I’m sure you are right our economic health suffered under the E.U.
Also of course, it is always better to encourage private enterprise rather than state or bureaucratic control.
However, I wonder whether ALL the loss of our productive capacity over the years has been due to E.U. policies, encouraging companies to move abroad. Isn’t some of it actually due to your own Party’s supporters, ‘selling us out’, because all idea of patriotism has somehow died.
I’m only asking the question on that. I don’t know and would like your thoughts on it.
Green Issues. I’m not sure what you include under that. I’d like you to be far more outspoken against the whole ‘Carbon Neutral’ agenda. Man made climate change has been a fiction from the start and demonising raised carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere would be nonsense even if they had risen.
You have commented that harmful particulates are the real enemy and they can be reduced without expecting to run everything on sun and wind generated electricity. Give us more of that please.
To keep the national grid ‘topped up’ from our own resources needs nuclear power and some fossil fuel use in the meantime.
As for conspiracy theories – well I’m afraid I do think your Party has seized on the covid pandemic to take dictatorial control.
I’m not at all convinced that there are democratic means available left to us the people, to take back that control. In spite of petitions, letters to MP’s the cabinet office etc. the threat of domestic vaccination passports is still there.
Mandatory jabs for health and care workers are still being recommended.
The mainstream media has been bought and only Government propaganda can be heard.
The Lock Downs and masks have been gross infringements of personal liberties from the start and there are constantly new ‘reasons’ to continue them.
Sorry but I do not see enough being done to get out of this dictatorship.
May 31, 2021
What is being done to make production, or inclusion of these microscopic ‘beads’ illegal in the UK?
Are the MPs just too lazy to legislate for UK owned essential supplies – water, gas, electricity, health drugs, nuclear energy – even bus, tram and trains should be British made/owned companies.
Governments always bleat on about supporting British industry – previously hamstrung by ‘you=know=who’ now we are NOT -so GET ON WITH IT.
We saw the effectiveness of vaccination production, and the achievements of our scientists – leading to sudden British investment – why not previously?
June 1, 2021
I enjoy your economics posts I don’t always comment on them because I have nothing to add. If you want to know ‘appreciated’ levels perhaps you need a ‘like’ button that tells you what people’s feelings are about your post (as they do on facebook).
Strongly Agree; Agree; Shocked face; Challenge/Disagree.
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June 2, 2021
I note the Irish government and EU want the U.K. to sign up to the EU SPS regulations, saying this is a āpracticalā approach (for them). This would block the U.K. from signing Free Trade Agreements that cover agriculture with many non-EU states like Australia. We have to be able to diverge from EU regulations and consider allowing produce into the U.K. (including Northern Ireland) from high-standard countries like the US and Australia.
The Irish government says it is nationalistic of the U.K. to want to diverge from EU standards while insisting themselves on the sanctity of the single market and their autonomy which is code for euro-nationalism. This U.K. government has to make brexit real by ending rule-taking from Brussels including in Northern Ireland.
https://m.independent.ie/business/brexit/practical-options-in-brexit-should-not-fall-foul-to-ideology-or-nationalism-varadkar-40495141.html
June 2, 2021
I also think it’s a shame if the economic analysis pieces are the least popular. I personally find them interesting, useful and on point.
I hope popularity won’t drive the content – after all, no-one is paying you or assessing your worth (or that of your articles) based on number of clicks or comments as seems to be the case with the rest of the online media.