Words are the currency of politics

Yesterday I voted against the  government’s 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.

 

118 Comments

  1. DOM
    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

    1. Sharon
      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.

      1. MFD
        September 15, 2021

        +1 I second that remark about useless MP’s, 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.

        1. Hope
          September 15, 2021

          Words being currency, Johnson is bankrupt with U-turns and blatant lies. He cares not it is in his DNA!

    2. Oldtimer
      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.

      1. Lifelogic
        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.

  2. Fedupsoutherner
    September 15, 2021

    Well done John. A politician that can be trusted is rare today.

    1. Lifelogic
      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.

      1. Lifelogic
        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.

      2. Original Richard
        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.

    2. SM
      September 15, 2021

      +1

    3. Peter
      September 15, 2021

      Fed up Southerner,

      Agreed. Well done.

  3. matthu
    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.

    1. MiC
      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.

      1. Dave Andrews
        September 15, 2021

        Did anyone vote leave on the basis of what the Leave campaign said?
        I certainly didn’t.

        1. Andy
          September 15, 2021

          And yet you knew what you were voting for.

      2. Sea_Warrior
        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.

      3. SM
        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.

      4. Peter2
        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.

      5. a-tracy
        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.

      6. Micky Taking
        September 15, 2021

        typical of you and the those nit-picking moaners. Seize on a headline, ignore mid to longer term policy.

        1. MiC
          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?

          1. Peter2
            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.

          2. a-tracy
            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.

          3. MiC
            September 16, 2021

            Oh, so they never were the result of immigration then, Tracy?

            Well I never!

          4. Peter2
            September 16, 2021

            7 million extra people since 2000 have had no effect on the demand for housing.
            Well I never!

          5. a-tracy
            September 17, 2021

            I don’t 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 don’t expect hand outs and houses without contributing.

      7. Peter Parsons
        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

      8. Mark
        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.

        1. Micky Taking
          September 15, 2021

          Let them eat cake !

      9. Micky Taking
        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?

      10. Fedupsoutherner
        September 15, 2021

        Inflatoon and I presume food prices have risen worldwide. In the EU it is 3% similar to ours

    2. Lifelogic
      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!

      1. Hope
        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.

      2. Mike Wilson
        September 15, 2021

        Didn’t you say the other day that you have moved abroad?

    3. acorn
      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

  4. turboterrier
    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.

  5. Mark B
    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.

    1. Peter Parsons
      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.

      1. Mark B
        September 16, 2021

        WHAT !!!!

  6. Ian Wragg
    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.

    1. Ian Wragg
      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.

      1. Andy
        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

        1. MiC
          September 15, 2021

          John, your sycophants here generally don’t want ANY environmental targets, not by any time.

          1. MiC
            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.

          2. No Longer Anonymous
            September 15, 2021

            MiC – We’re already meeting targets !

          3. Andy
            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.

        2. glen cullen
          September 15, 2021

          Manifesto commitments – are you having a laugh
that ship has sailed

        3. No Longer Anonymous
          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.

        4. Peter Parsons
          September 15, 2021

          They also gave their word on NI and the Foreign Aid budget.

        5. Fedupsoutherner
          September 15, 2021

          Andy you’ve been told before but it doesn’t sink in does it? All parties support net zero.

      2. Sea_Warrior
        September 15, 2021

        I like the idea of reserve power stations, with very large piles of coal in their back-yards.

        1. MiC
          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.

          1. MiC
            September 15, 2021

            Sorry, MWh.

          2. Peter2
            September 15, 2021

            Not yet another conspiracy theory from you MiC.

          3. MiC
            September 16, 2021

            It is being, quite rightly.

    2. Everhopeful
      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 that’s 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 đŸ€”) to win the last ( maybe THE last) election.

    3. Peter
      September 15, 2021

      Ian Wragg,

      The current Conservative party now needs to be brought down. It’s just a convenient political entry point for chancers and careerists.

      I don’t know where the protests votes will be parked though. I certainly don’t hear much about the Reform party.

    4. Mark B
      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.

      1. Peter
        September 15, 2021

        Mark B,
        ‘They promise much but more often than not, fail to deliver.’

        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.

  7. Sea_Warrior
    September 15, 2021

    Respect.

  8. Andy
    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.

    1. a-tracy
      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.

    2. Micky Taking
      September 15, 2021

      and the word should have been Scrap !!

  9. Richard1
    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 Truss’s successful rolling over of trade deals. That leaves the Conservatives vulnerable to a line from all opposition parties ‘we may as well (re-) join the EEA.’

    Wake up Conservative MPs, the clock is ticking.

    1. a-tracy
      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!

    2. Mike Wilson
      September 15, 2021

      But how do Labour play that? ‘You can’t trust thenTories, they say no tax rises then put taxes up’

      ‘Well, what would Labour do to fund the NHS and social care?’

      ‘Errrr, put taxes up’

      This won’t hurt the Tories at all.

      1. Micky Taking
        September 15, 2021

        Labour might bring back 98% income tax on the likes of Andy. Was that clapping or thunder I just heard?

  10. Everhopeful
    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 
gems of cognitive dissonance. Yet on they plough.
    Why?
    No one believes them any more anyway.

  11. Lisa
    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.

    1. glen cullen
      September 15, 2021

      Spot on Lisa

  12. Nig l
    September 15, 2021

    Regrettably you meeting your promise will be lost in the wider picture that your parties future manifestos will be worthless so don’t 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.

    1. Peter
      September 15, 2021

      ‘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.’

      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 ‘foundation’.

      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.

      1. Micky Taking
        September 15, 2021

        No theatre can afford a production with Boris as the pantomime fool, but he would fit perfectly.

    2. a-tracy
      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.

      1. Nig l
        September 15, 2021

        Agreed but it’s too late for mine. He was ‘our voice in Westminster’ until he got a job then we became irrelevant.

    3. MiC
      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.

      1. Peter2
        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

        1. hefner
          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.

          1. Peter2
            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.

          2. MiC
            September 16, 2021

            I’m in a similar position with mine, but they never would have voted that way in any case.

      2. Micky Taking
        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.

  13. The PrangWizard of England
    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’.

  14. Newmania
    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 ! “

  15. Everhopeful
    September 15, 2021

    It is said that this levy will provide a useful “tap” for future tax hikes on rental income, pensions and capital gains.

    Tax specialist Blick Rothenberg’s chief executive Nimesh Shah

    “This 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.”

    There is no doubt that the “pandemic” ( don’t forget words as currency!) has been used to render us all grindingly poor and cold and hungry.
    We have to level down
 don’t you see? With the poorer parts of the world. And this business of “vaccine”( word currency again!) distribution has some weird part to play.
    That’s 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.

    1. Nota#
      September 15, 2021

      @Bryan Harris +1

    2. Nota#
      September 15, 2021

      @everhopeful +1

  16. Bryan Harris
    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.

    1. Nota#
      September 15, 2021

      @Bryan Harris +1

  17. formula57
    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.

    1. MiC
      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

      1. MiC
        September 16, 2021

        That appears to be a claim, rather than a proven fact.

  18. Christine
    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 taxpayers’ money on a colossal scale.

    This will not end well and it didn’t 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.

    1. Original Richard
      September 15, 2021

      Christine :

      Agreed

  19. George Brooks.
    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

  20. alan jutson
    September 15, 2021

    Many thanks John, history has shown that once a tax is introduced it is rarely cancelled, but stays with us forever.

  21. Nota#
    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.

  22. glen cullen
    September 15, 2021

    Your words, honour & integrity are our measure

    You’ve done well SirJ, however many of your colleagues need to look in the mirror

    I’m still aghast that your leadership can break a manifesto pledge, sorry not a pledge but a guarantee, so easily

  23. Walt
    September 15, 2021

    Thank you, Sir John. Words matter. Honesty matters.

  24. Nota#
    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.

  25. J Mitchell
    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 earner’s 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.

  26. Edwardm
    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.

  27. ChrisS
    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 ?

  28. beresford
    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.

  29. Original Richard
    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.

  30. bigneil - newer comp
    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.

  31. X-Tory
    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.

  32. X-Tory
    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 “increased diversity in the orchestra,” following “firm guidance of the Arts Council.” 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!

  33. glen cullen
    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

    1. Micky Taking
      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’.

  34. Mark
    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.

    1. Mark
      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.

  35. paul
    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.

    1. Mark
      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.

      1. Micky Taking
        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.

      2. Mark
        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 €73.90/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 1€/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.

  36. villaking
    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

  37. paul
    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.

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