johnredwood – Page 73 – John Redwood's Diary

California Crossroads

April 19, 2024 12 Comments

I called in today as a local resident to refuel at the garage . The works I am told are now running behind schedule. The local businesses are suffering very badly. Turnover is massively down with many customers unable to get there or to park easily. We local users did not want the junction changed and certainly did not want roads closed for weeks on end. We want the local businesses to flourish and to be accessible. One business I was told had its electricity cut off without warning. Residential roads are clogged with cars trying to get round the closures.

Why didn’t the Council listen to local opinion and the Opposition Councillors who warned them not to proceed? Why did they proceed with no plans to help the local businesses? Why is there no compensation for lost business? Why are the works over running? Why did the Council tell us it would make things better and that it was on schedule? Why do some Councillors who voted for it now want to blame anyone but themselves?

The IMF were wrong. It’s wasteful spending that needs to go

April 19, 2024 110 Comments

The IMF like the left wing parties says there must be no unfunded tax cuts. Like them it does not complain about unaffordable wasteful spending. Indeed it argues spending needs to go up. Why?

There is so much to be done by getting a proper grip on spending. There is no need to let the Bank of England lose another £40 bn this week on top of the £49 bn they have already billed taxpayers. It is a needless disgrace.

There is the identified £20 bn of lost public sector productivity the Treasury put in their last plans. Why is it taking so long to get it back? Why do they need to spend to save when the task is to get back to 2019 efficiency levels?

There is the announced sale of Nat West. Why are we waiting? Why are the proceeds spread over three years in the forecasts? That’s another £8 bn. The OBR puts £3.2 bn of the proceeds into 2025-26

The large losses and cash absorption by the railways needs controlling better, with a proper plan to increase fare revenues.£33 bn of subsidy and investment spending is too high.

Introducing a ban on external recruitment to the civil service and public sector admin would help. Getting rid of bad quangos like UK Government Investments and selling off the British Investment Bank would be a good idea. Making a big reduction in legal migration would cut demand for more social housing and public service capacity .

A football regulator?

April 18, 2024 68 Comments

It is fashionable amongst the political parties and some football fans to demand a Statutory “independent” football regulator. Some fans support such a change as they are critical of some club owners or managements and think a Regulator might be able to sort things out for them .

I fear the prospect of an all wise Regulator who would just happen to bring about change in each club that fans would like is a good dream, but difficult for any appointed Regulator to achieve.A Regulator faces very difficult pressures when Team A claims rival Team B has broken rules and then Team B responds with a counter claim. The more rules there are, the more disputes. Where two or more teams are in dispute any verdict will upset a lot of fans.

Football is a popular sport. It is entertainment. It attracts a large number of rich individuals and some companies that like the game and want to spend their money on trying to build a winning team. Some do make more money out of it by succeeding in getting their team promoted and so generating more revenues. Some make money out of associated property development and retail opportunities using the club assets and brand. Many just spend their money on the costly hunt to transfer talent and then pay mega salaries to retain good people which can end in financial losses.

The FA is the regulator. They believe there needs to be rules over how much money a club can spend and borrow and rules over how clubs attract and retain talent. There obviously have to be game rules all accept, and rules over how you win or lose in league and cup competitions. It is difficult to see how an independent regulator could usefully change FA rules over most of these matters. The FA itself is discovering that its efforts to regulate club finances using penalties that include reducing a teams points in the league can upset fans and make rivalries more bitter. What is best settled on the pitch ends up being settled by lawyers.

If we do set up an independent Regulator under Statute law there will then be a wish to drag Ministers into decisions. When too many fans become critical of the Regulator the cry will go up for Ministerial interference or for some change of the law.

There is a good case for an element of fan ownership or for clubs to be established as trusts owned by fans. This would need to be arrived at with agreement or from buy out of the existing owners. All the time the football model is based on bidding ever higher sums for a small pool of well known players and managers clubs will turn instead to billionaires to help fund their expensive habits.Fans will not have sufficient collective money to pay the sky high prices of the famous. They then have to live with that relationship.The rich shareholder is well advised to keep on the right side of the fans. The fans offer the team support, pay high prices for tickets and buy the merchandise. I do not think politicians should tell football clubs and the FA how to finance themselves. There must be no question of taxpayers bailing out clubs.

My Interview with GB News on the Bank of England

April 17, 2024 44 Comments

Please find below my interview with GB News on the Bank of England’s losses:

The gradual introduction of a ban on buying tobacco products

April 16, 2024 12 Comments

The results of my consultation showed little interest in the topic, with just 12 against and 6 in favour. It has not been a subject coming up in doorstep conversations when I have been out and about in recent weeks, nor has it figured much in the email box.

Tonight we have a vote on the second reading of the Bill. It is likely to pass with a large majority as Labour and a majority of Conservative MPs are in favour. I have concerns about how the ban on tobacco purchases will be enforced as it will be difficult for retailers to distinguish people by an annually changing age restriction. Smoking will not become an offence, so a younger person can ask an older person to buy for them. I look forward to clarification and amendment over impact and enforcement.

Too much money – inflation Too little- recession

April 16, 2024 76 Comments

Yesterday I criticised 3 big boom/ bust cycles that came from Bank action and establishment thinking. In each case they ignored money and credit.

The 1975 inflation high peak followed a doubling of broad money 1970-4 as a result of a badly supervised switch to competition and credit control policy by the Bank.

The 1992 inflation followed a 36% surge in broad money 1989-92, brought on by the dangerous European Exchange rate mechanism. IMF figures clocked broad money growth peaking at 86% when the Bank and Treasury were creating billions of pounds to try to keep the value of the pound down to the permitted target. They then saw it plunge to a low of minus 28% when the Bank was busily buying in pounds trying to get the value back up to the target after the inflation sank the currency.

The 2008-9 banking boom followed and created a 66% surge in broad money Q1 2009 compared to Q 12005. Over the Labour years 1997 to 2010 money growth trebled.

The more recent inflation followed 30% money growth 2020 to 2023.

I set out the case against the European Exchange Rate Mechanism before we entered. I urged the government to turn down the Bank and Treasury advice. I explained it could lead to excessive money or too little. It led to both. I took the quoted company I led out of the CBI because the CBI refused to accept ERM membership would be damaging.

In the run up to the crash of 2009 I supported the Opposition in Parliament who regularly warned of excessive credit expansion and government overborrowing.

This time round I warned against the continuation of QE during 2021-2 as inflationary. More recently I switched to warning against excessive bond sales as recessionary.

Why do the Bank and Treasury persist with boom/ bust policies?

Update from National Highways on M4 works

April 15, 2024 2 Comments

Please find below the letter update that I have received from National Highways concerning works on the M4.

Dear Rt Hon. Sir John Redwood MP

National Emergency Area Retrofit – work set to begin on M4 between junction 10 and junction 12.

We are delivering a government commitment to add more than 150 more emergency areas to motorways across the country including several sections of the M25 and surrounding motorways.

I am writing to update you on what this means for the M4 in your area. Between junctions 10 (Wokingham) and 12 (Theale) we are adding 12 new emergency areas to the existing 10, providing drivers with more places to stop if they need to in an emergency.

The work is expected to start from Tuesday 7 May 2024 and is due to be completed by March 2025. Whilst we will do our upmost to maintain these dates, these dates may be subject to change.

There are major upgrades already underway at junctions 10 and 28 of the M25, as well as regular roadworks for maintenance and renewals. We know just how busy this section of the motorway network is and are working tirelessly to coordinate all this work closely and keep disruption to an absolute minimum. You can find out more about these projects, including a series of planned weekend closures on the M25 junction 10 project on their webpages:
https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/south-east/m25-junction-10/
https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/south-east/m25-junction-28-improvements/

To carry out the work safely, lane one (the left lane) on the four-lane motorway, will be closed throughout construction. Lanes two, three and four will remain open with a 50mph speed limit in place. Existing emergency areas through roadworks will remain open and a free recovery service will be in place throughout the roadworks.

The traffic management for the working areas will be installed overnight when the traffic flows are quieter. We always do our best to minimise disruption and we apologise in advance for any inconvenience these works may cause to your constituents.

It may take a few weeks before the roadworks appear as preparatory work is completed. We will regularly publish information about the upgrade and the roadworks on our website at www.nationalhighways.co.uk/emergency-areas.

The new emergency area work will mainly be carried out Mondays to Fridays from 7am to 7pm. There will be occasions when we need to close lanes, slip roads or the carriageway between junctions for construction activities and deliveries to the work sites, but this will be overnight and at weekends when traffic flows are at their lowest. Should there be a need to close overnight there will be clearly signed diversion routes in place.

We are in close contact with local authorities through coordinated collaborative meetings to minimise the impact of roadworks as much as possible. A summary of all planned closures on the strategic road network is available at: Road closure report – National Highways.

Emergency areas provide a place to stop in an emergency if drivers cannot exit the motorway or stop at a motorway service area. They are clearly signed at regular intervals along the motorway and have bright orange road surfaces to help identify them. At 100 metres long, they have plenty of space for even the largest lorry plus a recovery vehicle and they are equipped with emergency telephones linking directly to our control rooms to get help on the way quickly.

You can find out more about what to do if your vehicle breaks down on the motorway here: https://nationalhighways.co.uk/road-safety/breakdowns.
This investment in extra emergency areas, along with technology like stopped vehicle detection, more signs, and clear advice about all lane running motorways online and in an updated Highway Code, will help road users feel safe and be safer on our roads.

Through all the work we are doing, we are determined to further improve public confidence in driving on our motorways and to continue to build and operate one of the safest and best performing road networks in the world.

Drivers can visit Driving on the motorways – National Highways for more details on what to do in the event of an emergency, including how to use an emergency area.

We are encouraging drivers to plan their journeys and check before travelling and we would be grateful if you could consider re-sharing our posts and information on your channels and with your audiences to help increase awareness about the work.

For more information you can follow National Highways @highwaysseast and https://www.facebook.com/HighwaysSEast .

I hope you find this update useful.

Yours sincerely

National emergency area project sponsor

Service to constituents and journalists

April 15, 2024 36 Comments

A journalist has asked questions about my service levels as an MP, so I am sharing the answers in case others are interested.

Service to journalists

I provide a daily commentary on the main issues I am dealing with and matter to my constituents on www.johnredwood.com. I provide a regular update on local Council matters under local issues. These articles can be reproduced, or used as a source of quotes. They cover the most topical matters that are in the news, they offer new news stories not in the national press, and can of course be commented on. I am providing thousands of words a week which I write myself to ensure they are my views. I find it surprising that others, for example, have not taken up the blogs revealing the large losses the Bank of England has already made, the colossal planned losses and how these could be slashed.

Where I raise these matters in Parliament I often also reproduce the Hansard text of my speech or question. You can assume that where I am raising a big issue on the blog I am talking to Ministers about it, as I do regularly. I do not normally report on individual meetings with Ministers as these are usually best left as private meetings.

Service to my constituents as Wokingham’s MP

I am the only MP to provide a daily commentary on my views and actions 364 days a year on my website. I do not just write up the issue but am also taking action to get the view across and to seek improved government response and policy.

With the help of my two office staff we seek to answer every incoming email and query by the next working day. My staff handle most of the emails and cases Monday to Friday. I read them and discuss with them ones that pose new issues or problems. We have daily contact with each other on queries and progress. I answer new queries on Saturdays and Sundays myself where appropriate, reading all incoming.

I do not undertake international travel and attend Parliament when in session, being on call seven days a week all year round. I live in the Borough, and make weekly visits to places in the constituency to keep in touch with local problems and views.

Knowledge of the parts of the Borough I do not currently represent

I did represent the northern villages of Wokingham Borough prior to the creation of the separate Maidenhead constituency, so I know Wargrave, Remenham, Hurst, Twyford, and Charvil well as a former MP. I used to live in Sonning, and used to go shopping in Twyford as well as in Wokingham and Woodley. I attend the rowing at Remenham for the Henley regatta each year. I live in the south of the Borough.

Taking up issues for constituents

The website shows the wide range of matters I do take up. The crucial ones of public services, jobs and taxes which dominate the website arise from emails, conversations and understandings of my constituents concerns. Sometimes I lead the campaigns, as with the campaign for small business to get an increase in the VAT threshold, the campaign to slash the unacceptable losses by the Bank or England to free more money for the NHS and other purposes, and the campaign to reduce taxation for the self employed. Sometimes I support campaigns led by other MPs. I supported James Arbuthnot for many years over the sub postmasters. I have supported the successful MP campaign to get the government to abandon top down targets to build more homes, leaving more to local decision.

Letter from Minister – School building condition improvements

April 15, 2024 0 Comments

Please find below a letter that I have received from the Minister concerning Schools which will benefit from funding improvements to buildings.

Dear John Redwood,

Condition Improvement Fund Outcomes

Further to the letter from my right honourable friend, the Secretary of State for Education, about our funding to improve the condition of school buildings, I am delighted to confirm that there are 2 projects which will be funded in your constituency. The list of successful projects has been published online and includes projects at:

The Forest School
The Coombes Church of England Primary School

The successful schools in your constituency have also been informed today, and officials will now be contacting schools about the terms and conditions of projects and delivery and payment schedules. Further guidance and information can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/condition-improvement-fund.

Data on the amount of funding provided for projects in each region is available at: Condition Improvement Fund: 2024 to 2025 outcome – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). We will also publish project-level funding at a later date, only once a sufficient number of projects from the round are complete, to avoid influencing the local commercial tender processes before that point.

For any schools in your constituency that have not been successful, we will provide feedback to support them with future applications. We will publish guidance for any applicants who may want to appeal their outcome. Schools will be able to find this guidance on our online CIF Portal.

If any schools in your constituency have further enquiries, they can enquire via the Education and Skills Funding Agency customer help portal: https://customerhelpportal.education.gov.uk/

Yours sincerely,

Baroness Barran

Minister For the School System and Student Finance

The threats from Iran

April 15, 2024 141 Comments

President Biden changed US policy towards the Middle East in 2020. He pulled out of Afghanistan too suddenly, losing a crucial air base and undermining his allies. It led directly to the Taliban taking the country over, after 20 years of the west losing lives and spending huge sums to stop them. He then tried to get a negotiated settlement with Iran. President Trump had negotiated successfully with the Gulf states to achieve their peace with Israel and to try to do the same with Saudi. All agreed Iran was a threat.

President Biden has ended up with worse relations with Saudi and the Gulf states, with OPEC pushing up oil prices by witholding production and now with US forces shooting down Iranian drones and missiles. Iran was always constructing a ring of hostile forces to the west with the Houttis in Yemen now firing on civilian cargo ships, with Hezbollah in Lebanon , Iraq and Syria and Hamas in Gaza.

The UK needs to be super vigilant to stop terrorists gaining access, to continue to work closely with allies to ensure good intelligence

Search Site

Author: johnredwood