The Chancellor had another go at presenting a growth strategy yesterday in her second Mais lecture. It was no more successful than her first, which had been all about stability and keeping the deficit down!
There were three major flaws in the argument. Aligning ourselves more closely with the EU will slow our growth further, not increase it. Trying to back winners in new technology whilst taxing and regulating the main US drivers of the AI revolution will not boost growth of that sector, which is one of the main overall drivers of growth generally. Relying on more borrowing to support more public investment will not bring forth growth and will waste capital.
The EU error is the worst. As I have set out recently our growth rate tumbled after we joined the EEC, and fell again as they completed their over regulated single market. The last things the UK economy needs are higher taxes, higher energy prices and more regulations, yet that is what the re set will bring.
The whole re set will cost us big money which will either have to be borrowed or raised in additional taxes. The gift of our fish for the next twelve years condemns us to not growing our fishing and fish processing industries. The bad deal on Erasmus removes the chance of support for UK students to attend non EU universities and the Youth Opportunity scheme puts more pressure on jobs and homes for young people at a time when both are scarce.
The substantial spend on quantum computing comes with no detailed analysis of what the state could spend on in this area that would yield a return. The general enthusiasm for public sector investment ignores the recent cross party disasters of the Post Office computerisation, HS 2 and Councils buying shop properties as investments in time for the big decline in rents and values.
A proper growth strategy would start by lifting the bans on oil, gas and petrol car manufacture. It would remove excessive green and carbon taxes, drive for much lower energy costs and cut taxes on employment and small business. All this could be paid for by substantial cuts in public spending as set out on this blog or by adopting the Conservative party £47bn reduction plan. Cutting business tax would increase the revenues.
March 18, 2026
as trump says the UK needs to drill, drill, drill and deal with the massively out of control immigration situation.
they are the top 2 priorities.
public sector spend to generate IP will only result in that IP leaking to India where they will undercut us.
massive inefficiency in the public sector needs tackling.
yes we need to revitalise our own fishing and manufacturing, with radical regulatory changes to be far more pro British.
March 18, 2026
The common sense economics generally shown here somehow doesn’t find it’s way into the Guardian reading middle-class electorate, why is that? Reeves offer makes sense because she’s appealing to this part of the electorate, who are driven by ideology. The Green, Social Democrat/Labour folk who think cuddly ideals and open doors to criminals will all work out lovely in the end. Starmer just wants to make the rules fo these people and tell them what to do. If they are the majority then we are a dying race. We’re running out of time and resources to fix it.
March 18, 2026
Somebody has to make the obvious riposte so hear goes. There is no growth strategy but there is a no growth strategy.
March 18, 2026
Exactly they do a growth, growth, growth rain dance but every single policy they push is very anti-growth.
The last two Jacob Rees-Mogg videos and the latest Telegraph one are all good on this topic.
For growth ditch net zero, a bonfire of red tape, do not realign with the EU, cut taxes, stop the doom loop anti-growth agenda.
Also anti-growth is a total lack of confidence in the country which you get with people like Two Tier, Reeves, Lammy, Phillipson, Cooper Balls and energy, economy and defence vandal Miliband in charge!
March 18, 2026
On a more serious note, the three flaws you list, Sir John, are all in Economics 101. Surely at least one senior person in the Treasury knows them? The point is that this is not about economics at all. It is ideological: it is anti-market, anti-capitalism, anti-individual choice, anti-individual enterprise, anti-individual responsibility, anti-nation state, anti-patriotism, anti-Christianity in the name of Fabian socialism and Marxism. Starmer has confessed to being a Trotskyite and that he wants UK to be so close to the EU there is no difference. Starmer’s Gang see the EU as a step towards the global sociaism they truly believe in. What they say in public is sheer propaganda. They talk about improving the economy to pacify the public but they really do think all the disadvantages of EU membership that you mention are a price worth paying to move UK along the path to a socialist world order. They don’t want anything else of UK apart from demolition of the barriers to global socialism.
March 18, 2026
Good morning.
AI is the latest fad now that the Green Revolution seems to be running out of energy. /sarc
For AI to work you need massive data centres. These require large amounts of energy and water for cooling. Once again we are throwing good money after bad.