Yesterday I voted against the  governmentâs Bill to introduce a Care Levy.
Words are the currency of politics. If you debase them you devalue your coinage.
I gave my word in the 2019 election to my voters that I would not support a rise in Income Tax, National Insurance or VAT.
The Care Tax begins life as an increase in National Insurance.
I will post my speeches during the stages of the Bill which raised a range of issues about economic policy, NHS management and social care reform.
September 15, 2021
Many on here will applaud your stance on this issue.
Johnson has set a precedent. He will use the same tactic (tax rises to fund the bottomless pit that is the NHS and social care) to justify future tax and NIC rises and then demonise, slander and label anyone as uncaring and heartless should they oppose it. His Marxist advisers has done him proud.
Of course this raise is not hypothecated but will go straight into the general pot to finance all forms of politicised public spending. No doubt a % of it will be used to finance the massive pay packets and pensions of public sector trade union leaders, courses in teaching white employees how evil and vile they are and the financing of huge layers of parasitic management who deliver nothing but more waste and destroy wealth
I hold this PM and his party in total contempt. They have become an even bigger threat to our future freedoms and prosperity than Marxist Labour. At least we can SEE Labour is evil
September 15, 2021
Dom
I fear you may be right. However, how much of what we see is the result of being led by the global puppeteers? They are clever and know how to manipulate, and there are a large number of remainers who are still upset at leaving the EU, who would gladly assist in the downfall of the United Kingdom.
There are quite a number of weak MPs who just follow the party line, leaving decent MPs such as Mr Redwood, in a minority.
September 15, 2021
+1 I second that remark about useless MPâs, I unfortunately have one of those!
Her only use is the local lottery we run in the Pub guessing the number of photos of her in the local rag each week.
September 15, 2021
Words being currency, Johnson is bankrupt with U-turns and blatant lies. He cares not it is in his DNA!
September 15, 2021
Well said. The most polite comment that can be offered is that Johnson is economical with the truth. The reality is that he is a squander bug when it comes to other people’s money. He is either indifferent to, or ignorant of, the financial consequences of his actions. The sooner he is replaced by someone who actually understands these matters the better it will be for everyone – not least those Conservative MPs hoping to get re-elected at the next election.
September 15, 2021
The tax increases (from the already hugely over taxed position) will actually reduce the tax take by harming the recovery and throttling almost to death the golden goose that pays the taxes. Sunak and Boris clearly do not understand even basic economics.
September 15, 2021
Well done John. A politician that can be trusted is rare today.
September 15, 2021
Very rare indeed. They just say what they think will get them elected then (almost the day after the election) they drop all this and do the complete opposite. Responding like sheep to the party line (however daft this line it is). Furthermore they had no need for these tax rises they could just cancel HS2, the Net Zero lunacy, the 75% of worthless degree student “loans” and get rid of the 50% of the state sector that does little of value or even things of negative value. The tax increases will not even raise more tax as they will reduce the size of the productive economy. It is about the worst possible time to increases taxes, we have the highest taxes for 70+ years and many companies have taken on large state loans to survive at all.
Honest words that can be trusted should be the currency of politics – we have CT increases from 19% to 25% the slashing of entrepreneur’s CGT relief by 90%, the freezing of personal allowances, no CGT indexation for inflation, further attacks private pension pots they still persist with IR35, landlords (and thus tenants) taxed on profits they have not even made.
We need MP who do the right thing for the country, jobs and the economy not as with this one the complete opposite.
September 15, 2021
Perhaps some item JR on energy. We have a huge jump in gas prices (due partly to our idiotic energy policies). Can we get fracking (and even buying in more stores of coal) or have the government idiotically blown up all our coal power stations already?
We would not want all the NHS hospitals, businesses and the country to be blacked out due to idiots wanting the UK to become the “Saudi Arabia of Wind” would we? Not good for productivity or electric cars! It seems the greens dopes in Germany want wind farms but object to them being connected to the grid with cabling (for environmental reasons) another great plan from the net zero CO2 nutters.
September 15, 2021
Lifelogic :
Agreed.
The only logic to proceeding with HS2 and Net Zero is to waste money and cripple our industry and lifestyle and thus our democracy.
I am worried that our PM to save face at COP26 – because the China and India will not commit themselves to this lunacy – will commit us to subsidising Net Zero in all the developing countries of the World.
September 15, 2021
+1
September 15, 2021
Fed up Southerner,
Agreed. Well done.
September 15, 2021
Unfortunately there weren’t nearly enough of your political colleagues who joined you.
They are happy with what the Conservative Party has transformed into – even though the electorate is not.
September 15, 2021
The words of many in the Leave campaigns said that leaving the European Union would give people cheaper food.
Today’s headline:
“Price rises see record jump as food costs soar in August”
So much for those, then.
September 15, 2021
Did anyone vote leave on the basis of what the Leave campaign said?
I certainly didn’t.
September 15, 2021
And yet you knew what you were voting for.
September 15, 2021
And in America too? Care to explain that? And BTW, my monthly groceries bill, like my waist measurement, is largely unchanged across the past year.
September 15, 2021
Food prices have been steadily increasing in South Africa for the last two years – I didn’t realise Brexit extended that far south, globally.
September 15, 2021
The Guardian says today there has been a 1.1% rise in food and soft drink prices in August citing higher global freight costs and shortage of lorry drivers
PS
Europe is experiencing an estimated shortage of 400,000 drivers
Source, Global chain news, article headline is, driver shortage is pan European.
September 15, 2021
People should shop around MiC. Forget Tesco and Sainsbury go to local markets and small butchers, we’ve got a new very large competitive store opened in our town they are going to get very busy. The big supermarkets need to source from new providers too. We should get moving on making more products close to home instead of importing with higher transport costs.
September 15, 2021
typical of you and the those nit-picking moaners. Seize on a headline, ignore mid to longer term policy.
September 15, 2021
You – Leavers generally – also claimed that the excessive rise in house prices would be stopped, since that was entirely due to immigration, and that once the UK had left the European Union that could be reduced drastically.
Reality doesn’t support any of those claims, does it?
September 15, 2021
Who actually said house price rises were entirely due to immigration and would stop?
Are you making things up again MiC?
So “literally” no effect on house prices by arcane planning processes, zero rate interest policy, ever more complex building regulations, shortages of skilled construction workers and stamp duty changes.
Just to list a few reasons.
September 15, 2021
House property prices were propped up with stamp duty holidays Martin, the ONS is reported today to say growth has slowed with the end of the sd holiday and that house prices are falling.
September 16, 2021
Oh, so they never were the result of immigration then, Tracy?
Well I never!
September 16, 2021
7 million extra people since 2000 have had no effect on the demand for housing.
Well I never!
September 17, 2021
I donât have a problem with immigration Martin? I have a problem with free housing benefits, jumping social housing queues, putting people up for free in hotels for months turning into years, providing free healthcare without rebilling their home country, not expecting work from asylum seekers etc. People can come just donât expect hand outs and houses without contributing.
September 15, 2021
To be fair, those weren’t in a party manifesto, but the promises about Income Tax, NI and VAT were.
Then again, so was a promise on 0.7% for foreign aid in 2019.
The Conservative manifesto in 2010 made the statement “We will be positive members of the European Union”.
The reality is that both parties and individual politicians within those parties cherry pick from their manifestos, so even under FPTP people don’t get what they voted for. (An argument oft used in favour of keeping the UK’s dire electoral system).
Reply Yes, I always explain at election time if there are general Manifesto commitments I do not agree with
September 15, 2021
So how much less have prices risen in Europe?
Cost of food in Germany increased 4.50 percent in August of 2021 over the same month in the previous year.
Prices for fresh food in France were up 6.3 percent in August compared to last year, according to figures released on Tuesday.
September 15, 2021
Let them eat cake !
September 15, 2021
And how many of us believed the Green assisted EU would steer the continent to force us paying ÂŁthousands for heat-pumps, electric cars, more expensive food, holidays etc?
September 15, 2021
Inflatoon and I presume food prices have risen worldwide. In the EU it is 3% similar to ours
September 15, 2021
I think just 4 joined him! With a few more abstentions. Most just want to retain their jobs with party support and expense accounts it seems. MPs respond to the party not the voters the day after any election in the UK voting system.
Well done Marcus Fysh MP for pointing out the stupidity of the vaccine policy for children this despite being an English Graduate I think. The stats say it will surely do more harm than good and we do not even know about any long term effects.
Inflation up to 3.2% they say. Surely much higher than that already – my rate rate certainly is!
September 15, 2021
Marcus Fysh wrote a good article about NIC increase as well as did IDS. The gutless mob follow their lying leader blindly.
September 15, 2021
Didnât you say the other day that you have moved abroad?
September 15, 2021
The new parliament business papers site lets you see which MPs didn’t vote. Ten, including JR, Conservatives voted against the Third Reading of the Levy Bill. Forty-four Conservatives didn’t vote; mostly from the ERG/CRG awkward squad. For Brexiters “taking back control” does not appear to extend to taxation of the 99%. https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Commons/Division/1098?byMember=False#notrecorded
September 15, 2021
Therein lies the cancer that is destroying British politics. Words are cheap and meaningless and will remain so until we get a different type of politicians. They are tared with the mantle of old school and generation, but the few reliable honest ones we have not one of them is a career politician. All have life experiences in their pre electoral careers in the military, commerce, industry and the few have the educational specialist qualifications that were instrumental in their successful careers. Working in areas where your word was your bond and trust and respect was and is everything. Unlike the majority of double speak gutless representatives we are plagued with today.
September 15, 2021
Good morning, and thank you Sir John.
It is such a shame that many more politicians, especially those who position themselves as champions of the ‘working class’ have supported this. This at a time of monumental tax rises and grabs. For example. The UK government should, by any rights, have full use of all VAT and import taxes. ie These taxes no longer go to the EU, they go into the government coffers. If this is indeed the case, then surely the government is getting more income ? This increase in income should offset any additional taxes one might assume or, facilitate, as our kind host as mentioned here, tax cuts on certain products.
Like many here I feel that this is to support current and increased spending and not to resolve the problems of a backlog of NHS cases created by a government panicked into locking down the economy. Many here stated at the time the effects of such a severe measure and the consequences to long term serious illness. A further insult is, that we build, and did not use, specialist hospitals as great cost, for the purpose of hosting people who were infected and suffering the virus. All to alleviate pressure on the NHS and allow non-affected people to continue to receive treatment. Furthermore. We emptied the hospitals of infected elderly patients into care homes to create additional bed space. This was a disaster as it exposed those who were most at risk to the virus with predictable consequences.
It is clear to more and more people that, this government is woefully inept and that no matter how much taxes they seek, no amount will be enough for the Leviathan that is the State.
History and I am sure the voters will remember this when next they cast their vote and remember those who kept their word. Trust is, in my opinion, the most important commodity we own. It is hard one and easily lost.
September 15, 2021
The government does not have full use of import taxes as they’ve pushed back implementation (not for the first time) of checks until July 2022, and is losing tax revenue as a consequence.
September 16, 2021
WHAT !!!!
September 15, 2021
Johnson is the recruitment sergeant for the Reform Party.
They are currently on 10% and rising.
We tories have nowhere else to go. The highest taxes for 70 years and still he comes back for more.
September 15, 2021
Many articles in this last week about the dire state if our power system.
Recommissioned 55 year old coal stations, 1.9% wind input.
Interconnector with Ireland switched off and shortage of gas.
Stop this net zero lunacy immediately.
September 15, 2021
Net zero was a manifesto commitment. If you voted Conservative you literally voted for it. Conservative candidates gave their word.
Does their word only count when it involves handouts to old people?
Reply Net zero by 2050not by 2024
September 15, 2021
John, your sycophants here generally don’t want ANY environmental targets, not by any time.
September 15, 2021
But thanks to your party of government’s indulgence of the privateer sewage companies, they can cheer the UK’s losing most of its Blue Flag status beaches.
What a wonderful benefit of leaving European Union regulation eh?
No doubt the fat cat shareholders of these companies indeed think so.
September 15, 2021
MiC – We’re already meeting targets !
September 15, 2021
Yet they mostly voted for net zero by 2050 anyway. Though none of them appear to have read what they were voting for.
September 15, 2021
Manifesto commitments â are you having a laughâŠthat ship has sailed
September 15, 2021
Reply to reply
+1
And Andy thinks it was alright to have underpaid lorry drivers going to the toilet in bushes, sleeping in their cabs, washing with baby wipes, eating petrol garage pasties and not knowing when they were going home again.
He likes this as much as the modern slavery that the EU brought in its time.
So he’s fine with closing power stations and giving us zero carbon and zero life by 2024… he’ll use it to prove Brexit wrong and his love of slavery right.
He also needs to acknowledge that refugees are fleeing from his beloved France because the British people (including Brexit voters) are tolerant whereas the French are not. He also needs to acknowledge that the green targets that have already been met are through British people including Brexit voters adopting energy efficient appliances and recycling.
Further.
He needs to acknowledge that people who have got to Russel Group university from the state system – especially the competitively selective grammar system – and achieved top decile grades should be chosen for careers above those who went to private schools as they have demonstrated more innate abilities.
September 15, 2021
They also gave their word on NI and the Foreign Aid budget.
September 15, 2021
Andy you’ve been told before but it doesn’t sink in does it? All parties support net zero.
September 15, 2021
I like the idea of reserve power stations, with very large piles of coal in their back-yards.
September 15, 2021
They’re being paid ÂŁ4,000/kWh to make up for the loss of the 2GW interconnector owing to today’s fire as we write, SW.
That’s against a baseline cost of ÂŁ40/kWh.
I think that the cause of today’s fire should be investigated very forensically.
September 15, 2021
Sorry, MWh.
September 15, 2021
Not yet another conspiracy theory from you MiC.
September 16, 2021
It is being, quite rightly.
September 15, 2021
Well I hope they blinking well get their a**es into gear pdq!
And then not do a typical right of centre ( if thatâs the right term) as in marching us up to the top of the hill and then disbanding!!
After all, the Tories actually used NF ( he was uber obliging đ€) to win the last ( maybe THE last) election.
September 15, 2021
Ian Wragg,
The current Conservative party now needs to be brought down. Itâs just a convenient political entry point for chancers and careerists.
I donât know where the protests votes will be parked though. I certainly donât hear much about the Reform party.
September 15, 2021
Ian
We have been here before, both with UKIP and then the BXP. One could, if feeling a little generous, thow in the SDP. ie They promise much but more often than not, fail to deliver.
September 15, 2021
Mark B,
âThey promise much but more often than not, fail to deliver.â
All that is required is a party that draws sufficient votes to weaken the Conservatives and deny them power.
Winning seats is unrealistic, but if you remove an easy option for unprincipled opportunists looking out for number one then you are making good use of your vote.
September 15, 2021
Respect.
September 15, 2021
You also gave your word on international aid – but you broke that promise.
Reply I did not. I always argued there was waste in that budget.
September 15, 2021
We haven’t reduced international aid Andy when you add in all of the costs of housing asylum seekers and feeding, clothing and looking after them. The extra millions going to France. There is plenty of money going into different pockets of International Aid we are the second biggest donor to refugee camps on the outskirts of Syria and other areas. The Conservatives just do not tell people the true cost of all of their aid including unbilled NHS medical treatments for none NI paying local citizens.
September 15, 2021
and the word should have been Scrap !!
September 15, 2021
Boris Johnson has made a major error of judgment it is now clear, and this tax increase is backfiring politically. Labour are ahead in the polls for the first time, having been far behind, despite having a useless leader and no discernible policies.
We have 2 years. If we go into the next election with a record of tax increases (against promises explicitly not to do that), wokery and nanny-statism overlayed with expensive and pointless green crap, we must expect to lose, even if there is no good alternative in Labour-SNP. We are also in a situation now where nothing has yet been done to take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit, with the exception of Liz Trussâs successful rolling over of trade deals. That leaves the Conservatives vulnerable to a line from all opposition parties âwe may as well (re-) join the EEA.â
Wake up Conservative MPs, the clock is ticking.
September 15, 2021
Perhaps that is Boris’ plan Richard1. He has got rid of his leave assistants and advisors and soon the Leave cabinet ministers will be sidelined. He kicked the can down the road again yesterday on equalising measures on imports from the EU – why? Because of incompetence in setting up systems, the EU managed to set up quick enough!
September 15, 2021
But how do Labour play that? âYou canât trust thenTories, they say no tax rises then put taxes upâ
âWell, what would Labour do to fund the NHS and social care?â
âErrrr, put taxes upâ
This wonât hurt the Tories at all.
September 15, 2021
Labour might bring back 98% income tax on the likes of Andy. Was that clapping or thunder I just heard?
September 15, 2021
I see these world leaders in varying states of apparent terror lying about policies they know would get them booted out in normal times.
Everything they come out with is complete rubbish âŠgems of cognitive dissonance. Yet on they plough.
Why?
No one believes them any more anyway.
September 15, 2021
Lies are the currency of politics and no government has ever demonstrated that on a more daily basis than this one.
The bright side is that no other government has opened as many eyes to the deceit and exploitation practiced by the ruling class.
September 15, 2021
Spot on Lisa
September 15, 2021
Regrettably you meeting your promise will be lost in the wider picture that your parties future manifestos will be worthless so donât bother.
We all remember Nick Cleggs sell out of students and look where he and his party are now. I hope Johnson suffers the same fate.
September 15, 2021
âWe all remember Nick Cleggs sell out of students and look where he and his party are now. I hope Johnson suffers the same fate.â
Clegg is still in a well paid job as a PR man for an IT company. I imagine Johnson would want to emulate Tony Blair and make millions and have his own âfoundationâ.
If you cannot be world king you are at least a figure on the world stage and extremely rich.
However, Johnson is not as good a talker as Blair. He can only do slogans and glad handing. The world will not be as welcoming to his PG Wodehouse, dishevelled, comedy-toff act either.
So he will do better than Clegg, but not nearly as well as Blair.
September 15, 2021
No theatre can afford a production with Boris as the pantomime fool, but he would fit perfectly.
September 15, 2021
Nig ‘don’t bother’ keeping his promise? Really?! I will remember what my Tory MP does come the time he wants my vote.
September 15, 2021
Agreed but itâs too late for mine. He was âour voice in Westminsterâ until he got a job then we became irrelevant.
September 15, 2021
I think that it was the LD’s sell-out of their voters by scuppering their flagship law, the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, and thus enabling this, the worst government in living memory, which did them the most deserved damage.
September 15, 2021
The student loans U turn, another flagship policy, was a big driver of people, especially young people, not voting Lib Dem in subsequent elections
September 16, 2021
As a parent of university students in 2010, I agree with Peter. As far as I know, they have not voted LD in any subsequent election, whether local, EU or national.
September 16, 2021
Exactly the same as the younger members of my family hefner.
They were likely to be Lib Dem voters but felt betrayed and have never voted for them since.
September 16, 2021
I’m in a similar position with mine, but they never would have voted that way in any case.
September 15, 2021
I think Nick was right – getting a ÂŁmillion job with a billionaire techie corporation is the way to go. Any chance Johnson will follow suit? The sooner the better.
September 15, 2021
The trouble we all get judged by the company we keep.
This is a welcome and clear statement of your lack of respect for the party leader in particular. You cannot change the party and with so few of you willing to vote against him and his actions and plans why are you still so loyal? I would like to think this is a beginning of a plan to remove ‘Boris’.
September 15, 2021
John Redwood is right about this ( did I write that ?)
Brexit was a terrible idea, but with the right post Brexit Policies the economic harm might be chiefly short term ( say 10 years ). A re-tooled , low tax open UK using its nippiness well( as it did with vaccine acquisition ) could, I thought, outgrow its current miserable cultural timidity .
Perhaps all those silly old women who voted for it because they don`t like foreigners might have inadvertently armed the vibrant productive young side of the country with the constitutional means to make a new prosperous Britain….perhaps perhaps ….
I never believed it .The UK never was that country , it does not wish to be that country and thus far my worst fears are arriving on cue . High tax , debt addicted , dishonest inefficient Government , floundering Ministers promoted for their subservience an utter ignorance of what and who pays for everything…worse worse worse worse.
PS
At least with have lovely Emma Radacanu to cheer us up ….(not sure my children are keen ..they are already getting “Do you think Emma Radacanu …couldn`t be bothered …mmmm? …Get you work DONE ! “
September 15, 2021
It is said that this levy will provide a useful âtapâ for future tax hikes on rental income, pensions and capital gains.
Tax specialist Blick Rothenbergâs chief executive Nimesh Shah
âThis new tax is here to stay and ripe for increase and remit. No government will eliminate this tax and it will be a valuable tool to turn on the tax tap when further tax revenue is needed in the future.â
There is no doubt that the âpandemicâ ( donât forget words as currency!) has been used to render us all grindingly poor and cold and hungry.
We have to level down⊠donât you see? With the poorer parts of the world. And this business of âvaccineâ( word currency again!) distribution has some weird part to play.
Thatâs fairness and equality that is.
And even the tools ( coal, gas, small businesses) that we would use to recover from this wanton destruction are being denied us.
We are being reset to The Stone Age!
By stealth and lies.
September 15, 2021
@Bryan Harris +1
September 15, 2021
@everhopeful +1
September 15, 2021
I appreciate your stand.
But there are far more reasons why this bill should have been voted down than simply because yet another promise was broken.
I don’t appreciate what the PM and his cabinet are doing on any aspect of life in the UK.
The overwhelming use of psychology associated with getting the public used to ideas that will be eventually enforced on us, shows how much disdain they have for us.
Raising taxes at this time when we are all struggling is morally wrong, yet many more are planned – we are just supposed to roll over and pay up, despite the fact that there are certainly other ways to get the country prosperous. The PM is not taking any responsibility for his awful decisions, including Net-Zero. He just doesn’t care what problems he causes, as long as he can impose his will and worship at the ACC altar.
September 15, 2021
@Bryan Harris +1
September 15, 2021
So your word was not in the character of a Cameronian “cast iron guarantee” or anything like that, rather it was actually your word. I honour you for your integrity.
By your single act of withholding your vote you alone show the good and decent in British politics are not wholly forsaken.
September 16, 2021
But John appears to have no problem at all with this country breaking its word as recorded in a binding international treaty.
That’s an interesting one.
Reply It is the EU breaking the Treaty as I have made clear
September 16, 2021
That appears to be a claim, rather than a proven fact.
September 15, 2021
We have a perfect storm coming for a winter of discontent. Higher taxes, inflation, huge energy cost increases, out of control immigration, lack of homes, a dire NHS, draconian laws, and a government wasting taxpayersâ money on a colossal scale.
This will not end well and it didnât even have to be this way. It has all been caused by a government following a global agenda.
The only way to end it is for people to wake up and stop voting for these abusive political parties.
September 15, 2021
Christine :
Agreed
September 15, 2021
You are absolutely right Sir John and the PM has used the age-old trick of naming a cause for a tax hike knowing that it will never go there. He is guilty of moving this so called conservative government right over to the left which is an utter disgrace. It is not surprising that Keir Starmer has very little to say as Boris has taken his place!!
Off topic. Sky news this morning suggesting that Gove should resign for using racist language some 30 plus years ago when he was in his early 20s. Someone has found a report where he referred to a section of the population (in a bad way ed). How bloody stupid can you get and it illustrates how ignorant and dismissive the news casters and editors are of the past?
It was a standard expression used by corporal Jones in Dad’s Army in the late 80s and not surprisingly used by the general public at the time. OK, attitudes have changed but you can’t change the past.
Let’s have real up-to-date news and not this retrospective rubbish from the media
September 15, 2021
Many thanks John, history has shown that once a tax is introduced it is rarely cancelled, but stays with us forever.
September 15, 2021
Sir John
Words are the currency of politics. If you debase them you devalue your coinage.
Agreed.
The baulk of the HoC is debasing its own existence. The PM at the very least with such an about turn on promises just to grab power should have gone to the Country, and asked permission.
As with many here I have come to expect that Boris will go into coalition with Labour just to hang on to power. But weirdly he is making them even with numpties at the helm more electable by the day as it is he that has moved his party to the controlling extreme left without an once of integrity.
September 15, 2021
Your words, honour & integrity are our measure
Youâve done well SirJ, however many of your colleagues need to look in the mirror
Iâm still aghast that your leadership can break a manifesto pledge, sorry not a pledge but a guarantee, so easily
September 15, 2021
Thank you, Sir John. Words matter. Honesty matters.
September 15, 2021
Sir John – to sum things up the Conservative Party has given up on integrity, serving the people and the Country. Those that voted with Boris are the ones that are complicit in destroying democracy and the very reason for an elected chamber.
September 15, 2021
Bad politics seems to be a hallmark of this administration. They pick unnecessary and unimportant fights. They flip flop on policy announcements often within hours.
This policy is a very bad policy. It is unconservative and regressive. The NIC raise will not be hypothecated to paying for care of the elderly. It will simply disappear into the Treasury maw. There will be no improvement in care. The public will say they paid extra tax for it and rightly ask where the money has gone. The effect will be felt at the ballot box.
The true long-term solution to care is to return to the founding principle of the welfare state: a safety net for those in need, not an entitlement for all. Every citizen should expect to look first to their own resources to meet their needs and only when those are exhausted to their fellow taxpayer to support them. This means that the shibboleth of protecting the inheritance of the children of the well heeled at the expense of the modest earnerâs taxes must be ended. If I no longer need my home because I am in long term care, then why, if necessary to meet the costs, should I not sell my home to fund my needs? Why should my lowly paid careers pay extra tax to fund my care so that my children can inherit? An inheritance is a bonus not a right. Whilst I disagree with capital transfer tax being paid, the money has already been taxed, I see no reason why I should not be expected to spend my own money supporting myself during my lifetime.
The better policy would be to abolish taxes on the estates of the dead, which are avoided by the super rich (why do you think Jeremy Clarkson bought his farm?), and say that the quid pro quo is that you pay for your own old-age care if you can.
September 15, 2021
You are a rare MP. You kept your word.
And have a bigger economy to meet aspirations rather than a heavily taxed workforce.
September 15, 2021
As a keen observer of events in politics for more than five decades, one thing has been constant : Whichever party thinks it is in control of the governance of the country, that is an illusion. It is the unchanging civil service that calls the shots on everything. I frequently think about episodes of Yes Minister/Prime Minister and that is a recurring theme in the series.
Treasury forecasts are a case in point : there was no point in Osborne creating an office of budget responsibility if it was immediately staffed with civil servants !
Your interesting discussion with Nigel Farage was a classic case in point. I’m sure that your assertion that Remainer influences are at the heart of the problem is correct. No business could survive with forecasts as inaccurate as the ones produced by HM Treasury. and this latest tax rise is the result.
We need real change in the way things are run. Perhaps we need to move to something like the US model where the new heads of all civil service departments are appointed by the incoming administration ?
September 15, 2021
So, JR, why is Boris twisting and turning on this vaccine passport issue like a fighter pilot dodging a heat-seeking missile? First they’re going to do it, then it’s definitely off the table, then it may happen in the undefined future, then it will be triggered by an NHS ’emergency’ (which we know the Government can simulate by falsifying the statistics). I know you think that collusion never happens but I suspect he is receiving angry phone calls from other national leaders who have been left swinging in the wind after they all agreed to remove civil liberties together to enable the Great Reset.
September 15, 2021
The Left is a cult that can only survive through total control, which starts with the control of words.
It started with PC which cancelled comedy. We are now at the stage of the cancellation of free speech and the cancellation of livelihoods for those who use the wrong words.
If the Left gain power the inevitable consequence will be the cancellation of people as we saw with Stalin, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot and others including the Austrian who believed he was a socialist.
September 15, 2021
Simple question John – how many more completely useless, no idea who they are or what they have done or can do, What qualifications they have ( or claim they have ), criminal records they have, etc etc are just going to be allowed to land here and be handed – FOR FREE – what WE have to work and pay taxes for – – before someone does something??? – – It is supposed to be OUR country – That is why WE are taxed – but ANYONE can arrive – and get ANYTHING.
September 15, 2021
You are an honourable man. That’s why I respect you and visit this site. Unfortunately it seems there are only 10 of you in the Conservative Party – and these don’t include your leader!
Boris lied about GB-NI trade; he lied about standing up for British fishermen; he lied about being a libertarian; he lied about cutting taxes; he lied about tackling illegal immigration … he has lied about everything, and betrayed us all – including YOU. If I lived in Wokingham I would vote for you, but I do not and I will not vote for Boris again.
September 15, 2021
Boris also promised an end to woke political correctness and yet the latest news is that the English Touring Opera has been forced to sack half its orchestra in order to prioritise âincreased diversity in the orchestra,â following âfirm guidance of the Arts Council.â The Arts Council is, of course, the responsibility of DCMS – ie. the government. The Arts Council of course now deny that they forced the orchestra to sack these musicians, but do NOT deny that they want more “diversity”. So, in their typical cowardly and deceitful way, the government is pushing a far-left, woke policy but tries to distance itself from any controversy that arises from its implementation. Corbyn could not have been any worse!
September 15, 2021
Cabinet Reshuffle this afternoon – hope that SirJ gets The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
Reply Very unlikely, especially after yesterday’s vote
September 15, 2021
I doubt the fool in No10 even noticed Sir John. Now if you and the others had said No! perhaps he would have stirred a little and thought ‘the cheek of it, they think they can make their own minds up? Whatever next’.
September 15, 2021
With the fire overnight at the Sellindge HVDC converter station in Kent the 2GW French interconnector is out of action, possibly for a considerable number of weeks or months if key equipment has been damaged as this is not typically available off the shelf for replacement. A consequence is that at present National Grid are forecasting an 87% probability of having to impose power cuts tomorrow during the evening rush hour. The Irish have banned all exports of electricity on the Moyle and E-W interconnectors as they too face shortages caused by over-reliance on wind. There are many other plant outages in the system, including Drax biomass, Heysham and Hartlepool nuclear power stations, and numerous gas fired stations still in maintenance. The foolishness of destroying our coal capacity before we had adequate dispatchable capacity is coming home to roost. It isn’t even winter yet. Prices have of course gone beserk (day ahead power prices are 10 times what they were a year ago), and will likely result in bankruptcy for several more smaller energy retailers who will not have been able to hedge adequately. The consequence in due course for consumer bills is truly frightening.
Meanwhile gas prices for winter delivery touched over 200p/therm this morning, compared with the 8p/therm that summer gas was selling for in May 2020. Prices are assuming no significant increase in Russian supply over the winter, and strong competing demand from Asian countries (where most of the Russian LNG is currently going via the Arctic route as tanker tracking reveals). US policy is limiting exports, as evidenced by the much lower prices for Henry Hub gas (about $5.50/MMBtu compared with the UK NBP level of around $27/MMBtu).
It’s time government paid attention to the interests of consumers and industry, not green net zero fanatics.
September 15, 2021
I see National Grid are now hoping to restore half the interconnector capacity late on the 25th September. They estimate the other half will be out until March 27th next year. Winter plans will need urgent adjustment. Fossil fuel burn is bound to increase.
September 15, 2021
Just look at gas prices, per meagwatt hour, UK 194 pounds, DUTCH 80 euro’s and GERMANY 108 euro’s, can you explain the big differential in price and why the UK paying double.
September 15, 2021
I think you got a wrong conversion factor somewhere. To go from p/therm to ÂŁ/MWh divide by 2.93. In fact yesterday we saw gas being drawn from UK storage and gas exports to the Continent.
September 15, 2021
gas exports to the continent? I hope we witnessed massed crying, wailing and on bended knees dozens of French begging forgivingness? Only then should we hand out the begging bowl.
September 15, 2021
Perhaps I should add a little more explanation. Gas supply remains very tight, and gas stocks in storage are below where they should be for winter – particularly for Germany. Until Nordstream 2 starts up and delivers additional volumes (which may not occur if the Russians simply reduce other deliveries) Germany is the country with the maximum demand for gas, even though it is running coal and lignite power stations to avoid using too much gas fired power. Germany can’t add to supply through buying in LNG cargoes so it is stuck with what can be delivered by pipeline.
Comparing prices is hard at the moment because they are so volatile. Today, December gas varied between a low of 171.5p/therm and a high of 199.41p/therm, before ending futures trading at 183.99p/therm (or about ÂŁ62.80/MWh or âŹ73.90/MWh), up a net 12.28p/therm on the day. You can really only measure the differences by trades that are specifically exchanges of availability in one market for another. For gas to move, the difference has to be high enough to pay for transport costs, which are of the order of 1âŹ/MWh for capacity (though that may be ontraded at a substantial premium at times) for the interconnectors to the Continent, with additional charges for pumping costs. The fact that gas was moving yesterday tells us the differential was big enough to justify the flow to the Netherlands. Today the pipeline is shut for maintenance, preventing physical price arbitrage. The December pricing probably would imply no flow to the Continent, and might only be marginal for a flow in the other direction – in December. The UK competes for LNG cargoes for discharge at Grain and Milford Haven with Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Dunkirk and Montoir – and this is really where supply is balanced rather than the pipeline flows between the UK and the Continent, although Norwegian choices on where to flow gas are also important.
Electricity prices on the other hand seem to be on a different planet. The shortage of UK capacity in conditions of light wind cannot be balanced by interconnector flows, especially when they are partly out of service or forbidden (as the Irish have done – something that should be a wider warning given the threat that the whole continent is liable to be short of electricity in Dunkelflaute – cold, dark, no wind – conditions as they close down coal and nuclear capacity). The result is that the occasional generators can charge more or less what they like – so we have seen Drax charging ÂŁ4,050/MWh for coal fired power this evening. System balancing costs have been running at up to ÂŁ33m a day this week – equivalent to ÂŁ12bn a year. We may yet reach the point when not enough occasional capacity can be returned from mothballs and we see rationing through power cuts, and risk of wider blackouts because of lack of reserve if something trips out.
September 15, 2021
Sir John, you say words are the currency of politics, yet you seem somewhat more relaxed about some of the words upon which you were elected such as “We will proudly maintain our commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on overseas development”. If that commitment can be casually broken due to unexpected other costs, why can’t others? I have a feeling that when the 2019 manifesto is reviewed in a year or two there will be more pledges broken than honoured.
Reply I did not make that pledge
September 15, 2021
Mark, these prices are spike duing trading, spain spending 1.5 billion to bring electic price back to 2018 price’s to quell unrest.