Please find below the audio recording of my lecture delivered at All Souls College, Oxford.
It starts at 00:13.
12 Comments
Comments are closed.
Please find below the audio recording of my lecture delivered at All Souls College, Oxford.
It starts at 00:13.
Comments are closed.
March 8, 2024
Excellent
March 10, 2024
The green revolution will probably go the way of many would be revolutions. Now people are wakening up to the cost and the actual miniscule difference net zero makes, all political classes pushing this snake oil nonesense will be deposed.
March 10, 2024
An interesting article in the New Statesman about Conservative MP John Hayes who believes voters want āfull fat Conservativism ā He is part of the āCommon Senseā group one of the so-called five families (not Gambino, Colombo, Genovese etc)
I had never heard of him. The article highlights differences between various Conservatives on the right of the party. He is not ā free-market free-for-allā Conservative – which he considers liberal. I also believe a measure of protectionism is both sensible and pragmatic.
https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-interview/2024/03/john-hayes-interview-conservative-voters-full-fat-conservatism
The article is not particularly hostile, despite being in the New Statesman. There is some mockery of his old-fashioned nature similar to that Rees Mogg receives, but it is a good read rather than a hatchet job.
March 12, 2024
Big problem in Tory Party is a certain amount are only capitalists when it suits them. So, we need WORKERS to fuel our economy (this is essential to capitalism). But at same time, a lot of Tories don’t want high immigration. Fine. But you can’t just say: 1) Yes to capitalism 2) But restraining capitalists from hiring workers. It’s just not proper Conservatism.
So the only way to square the circle here is to say: 1) Yes to capitalism and more workers 2) But we have to persuade our native population to get to work and work harder. But politics or economic policy can NOT square that circle. The only way that circle can be squared is by the Conservative Party working closer with the churches, people in the arts, media and education to install healthy Tory values into our country’s mindset.
So the real war Conservatives have to fight is NOT in Parliament (although important). The real war is in the world out there (about 90% to 95% of the war) – in the universities, art colleges, media centres, and so on, and getting the support of the churches too here as well. To promote values such as: 1) Hard Work (or Work Ethic) 2) Personal Responsibility (instead of relying on state) 3) Family over State 4) Patriotism and so on.
I keep banging on about this but that’s because so few Tories are. It’s as if they think a magic wand of economic policy or politics in general will solve all these problems. Won’t. Even if you had the greatest politicians in history.
But Tory politicians do have to take a LEAD in leading a revival of Conservative culture ideas etc as Tories in Parliament were born with the gift to lead.
March 12, 2024
Lastly, I keep challenging priests and others in The Catholic Church over their WOKISH ideas about things (Church of England far, far worse). Like the way some talk about power as if it is something wrong or suspect (HERESY – people back in the Middle Ages were burned on stakes for views like this. I condemn what the Inquisitors did but not their beliefs to oppose heresy).
So, look at Joseph of Egypt. He was the second most powerful man in the world after the Pharaoh.
Look at Cyrus the Great, the first Persian Emperor and favoured by God, the Jews and so many famous pagan leaders such as Cyrus the Great.
Joseph and Cyrus were also fabulously wealthy.
And connected to power (and money): s-x. Just look at the Bible’s Song of Songs: the Jews (and holy ones) LOVED s-x (in the right context). It’s holy and good (and fun and exciting).
The problem isn’t power, money or s-x but how we approach them. To be humble as opposed to arrogant (and humble is not about being a doormat or weedy or not recognising one’s talents – but about not being vain about them etc. About not wanting to shine a light on oneself but on others etc).
So WOKE (linked so socialism) is affecting The Churches too. Even The Catholic Church. But WOKE far worse in the Church of England – and secular society overall.
March 8, 2024
All sensible stuff JR. People and art Grad & often innumerate politicians hugely underestimate the difficulty of increasing the grid capacity massively to cope with heat pumps and EV batteries. Heat pumps also need nearly all their electricity over just a few weeks of winter. This means you might easily need a grid more than 10 times the capacity but this is largely wasted for most of the year. The generating capacity with gas, coal or wood (a mad policy) back up might need to be 20+ times the capacity again largely wasted capacity for most of the year.
Note also that wind farms, the needed grid improvements, heatpumps, the gas back up and EV cars are all build using masses of cheap fossil fuels too. So the CO2 saving is largely bogus. It is at best just exported.
March 8, 2024
To win the next election we need a party that at the very least least puts net zero on a five year pause, gets fracking, drilling and mining, put immigration on a five year pause with very few exceptions, cuts taxes to 25% of GDP and stops the vast and endless government waste.
Alas if Sunak & Huntās Con Socialist promised this who would believe them. You need new leadership to avoid a total wipe out. But no one want Labour policies which are Con-socialist one but even worse.
March 10, 2024
Thank you John for your thoughts, and very clear outlines and explanations, I wonder how many other sitting Mp’s would be able to present, or even understand, the detailed reasons, arguments and suggestions you have put forward.
Thank you also, for I guess, your own recording of your presentation.
March 11, 2024
Thank you for reposting. Your nuclear questioner provoked an interesting and cogent exploration of your views. Whilst you are correct that the present setup is not going to give us much more nuclear power any time soon that is because nuclear policy has been dominated by green government to be anti nuclear, imposing cost and delay. We need your digital revolution type motivations in the energy sector to inject common sense. In the longer run nuclear becomes essential to stretching out our fossil resources, so we need to rediscover how the French managed it 40-50 years ago. New technology should make it even cheaper in real terms.
It is of course also part of the answer to your climate doomster. He seems to fail to recognise that only a small part of the world is sufficiently fearful of his Lear like terrors of the earth to consider what he wants and then only under oppressive duress enforced by government misuse of technology such as smart meters. The consequence is that he would have us self immolate, leaving us unable to afford any adaptations that might prove necessary if some of his dire predictions materialise while becoming subservientto China, as you pointed out.
March 11, 2024
Nuclear like wind is not too good at ramping up and down though far better than wind . If we switch to nuclear driving heat pumps and EVs then we will need a lot of rather under used nuclear plants with vast capital costs.
March 11, 2024
Nuclear is very good a providing a fairly constant level of power – baseload. Scheduling of shutdowns for refuelling and maintenance in summer allows some seasonality of output too. Whilst I agree that nuclear is much less well suited to demand following, at least with most present technology, the French managed to get up to 70% of their supply being nuclear with a bit of help from exports and a bit of nuclear intraday flex. They are fortunate to have a useful chunk of hydro capacity as their first choice for fast ramping, demand following output, supplemented by some gas. For the UK, more gas would be necessary as we have limited hydro, though pumped storage helps at the margin, as it has ever since Ffestiniog and Dinorwig were built to help complement Wylfa. Nuclear frees gas for use as the flexible heating fuel. Wind has helped to drive coal and nuclear off the grid, in the process doing nothing to reduce gas use, as the baseload it has shut gets replaced by a gas/wind mixture, not just wind.
March 11, 2024
Shame we couldnāt see how many people were there. Iām thinking 4. Probably fewer by the end. Am i right?