johnredwood – Page 80 – John Redwood's Diary

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

Wokingham Borough opens Wokingham up to more development

April 14, 2024 4 Comments

I have worked with a group of MPs to secure the promise from Mr Gove of the ending of top down targets for more housing set in Whitehall. This now allows a Council like to Wokingham to have more say over how many new homes will be built in the years ahead in our area. In order to control the numbers the Council needs to produce a new local plan setting out how many, where and why.

The Councillors in charge of Wokingham Borough have wasted time and delayed bringing forward the necessary plan. If a Council does not have an up to date plan developers can apply for permission where they like and then appeal if they are turned down. On appeal the Inspector may well grant permission. Only if there is a clear modern plan covering forward years will the Inspector be guided by local wishes embodied in the plan. Without it the Inspector is more likely to be guided by the need to build more somewhere. The Council does not like the current ageing plan which expires soon, so why the delay? The current plan offers no protection for building after next year.

In opposition the Lib Dems were fiercely against too much development, and promised a No when it comes to Hall Farm as a location. Now in charge of the Council they fail to set out limits to development, and are reported to be considering major housebuilding on Hall Farm. Why? Why do they always let us down and override clear wishes expressed by the pubic in consultations? Why have they not moved promptly to take advantage of the new approach?

Why do no other MPs want to stop the Bank of England mistakes?

April 14, 2024 132 Comments

The political classes seem incapable of understanding why we have so many boom bust inflationary cycles. I want more MPs to be demanding a change of policy by the Bank so we can have a growth policy with lower tax rates and better funded core public services.

It is no accident or external force which gave us an inflation in 1975. It was the Bank conducting a policy called competition and credit control badly leading to fast money growth and a secondary banking crisis. In 1977 it was an overspending over borrowing Labour government which ended with a humiliating trip to the IMF to bail us out.

In 1990-92 it was Bank and Treasury policy to put us into the European Exchange rate mechanism which ballooned the money supply backed by PM Major and gave us more inflation.

In 2007-9 it was Bank and Labour government policy to allow commercial banks to lend much more which led to inflation, egged on by high public spending and borrowing.

In 2023-4 the inflation came from Bank Quantitative easing and a big boost to the money supply.

In each case the Bank over corrected for its errors pushing us into recession.

Why doesn’t the Bank learn from this string of errors and give better advice?

Gradual introduction of a smoking ban

April 13, 2024 31 Comments

The Commons is being offered a free vote on the introduction of a smoking ban. Over many years the ban would gradually extend from young people to older people.

I have received little feedback on this topic. I am interested to hear from constituents who have strong views either way on this proposal. I would like to take into account constituency opinion before voting.

The Bernanke Report

April 13, 2024 78 Comments

Let’s start with some agreement. I agree the Bank needs to improve its forecasting and the communication of its findings.

I do not agree that all Central Banks made worse forecasts over covid and Ukraine. Mr Bernanke seems to ignore China, Japan and Switzerland who kept inflation down despite the swings of oil and food prices. Their forecasts remained nearer the mark.

I do not agree that more highly paid people and more spending will provide the answer. The Bank has a lot of intelligent well qualified people. They need to correct their errors and change their thinking. The models need improving, but they have the people to do that.

It would be a good idea for the Monetary Policy Committee to look at the quantity of money being created and the velocity of circulation, and to provide comment, if only to say they have a good reasons to think creating lots of money will not be inflationary or destroying lots of money will not be recessionary so others can challenge this. Those outside the Bank that did look at the ballooning of the Bank balance sheet and money supply and warned it could prove inflationary got the forecast right even if the Bank is still sure they got the reason wrong. It would be better to have this argument around the MPC table. Why did the MPC who think inflation comes from other sources not manage to predict what happened? The MPC itself needs greater diversity of economic thought. Having someone on it who got the inflation outlook right in recent years would be a good start.

It is also a big disappointment that Mr Bernanke did not consider the impact of the waxing and waning balance sheet of the Bank. Decisions about the bond buying and selling need careful consideration as well as the interest rates. Their strong connection to public finances is also important for their impact on the economy.

The Opposition needs to understand the problems with UK government

April 12, 2024 168 Comments

The UK public sector is letting many people down and upsetting a lot of voters. Opposition parties in Parliament are good at criticising. They blame Ministers, as our system invites them to do. Opposition parties fail to ask why so many of the failures are in so called independent bodies with highly paid public sector chiefs paid many times a Minister. They claim just small extra sums – compared to the huge extra sums this government has tipped in – would make all the difference.

If only. If extra money would bring the NHS waiting lists down or would fix the Post Office and the railway things should be improving well by now. Ministers have tried this. Any Conservative MP will vote for a few extra billions of spending if it could deliver the end of waiting lists, good border control or a new railway line on time and to budget. We have often so voted.

Blame the Minister, but sort out the system

April 11, 2024 147 Comments

It is a crucial part of our Parliamentary democracy that we do ultimately hold government Ministers to blame for the many failings of public services and public bodies. We also expect government to intervene or to change the law when the private sector and or too many individuals miscarry.

I still believe in that system. I fully understand why government gets the blame when inflation goes too high, but note that an independent Bank of England is responsible for inflation and brought high inflation on. There are so many areas now where government is blamed but in practice the decisions and budgets rest with independent bodies, or where national and international law and judges prevent Ministers carrying out what they want to do. There are even cases where Ministers change the law but are still thwarted by activist courts.

I will explore how far this removal of power has gone, how many of the independent bodies are behaving badly or incompetently, and how courts and treaties prevent Ministers implementing the public will. As many blame Ministers, Ministers need to take back powers to solve the problems the current system fails to resolve or make worse. The doctrine of independent bodies is doing plenty of damage, from the Post Office to the railways, from Ofwat to the Bank of England. The EHCR stops us controlling our borders and the WHO which had a bad covid pandemic wants more powers to control the NHS.

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Author: johnredwood