An old story

The Humpty Dumpty government in waiting thought a lot of themselves .They were after all all good eggs. In these environmental days they were well to the free range end of the spectrum. Some had made good livings as lawyers or charity executives or trade union officials . It made them very careful to tell others to obey the law and very willing to call out those who did not.

 

The leader of the party particularly liked international law. He could fly away to so many interesting places. He could meet lots of important people who all thought like him. It was so much more agreeable than trying to explain to the ordinary people why net zero mattered or how we needed to invite in so many migrants to meet our international law duties

 

Once upon a time people told a successful public sector lawyer he could become Prime Minister. He was flattered but had his doubts. It would mean he might lose his very good public sector lawyer pension. They said they could fix that for him. He could even go on and get a big PM pension and lifetime allowances as well. They pointed out he could do more international conferences and be free to travel in his own special jet. So he decided to have a go.

 

He got himself elected to Parliament and got into the Shadow Cabinet of a left wing leader who lost the election.So he pitched  to become  Leader, saying he was different and more moderate which is what electors wanted. He also made sure he was left wing enough to win, which he duly did.

Then he had a piece of luck. The government he opposed first locked down the whole country stopping many working to deal with a pandemic. He backed that and wanted longer lockdowns. Unfortunately it was doing lots of economic damage, where the public naturally blamed the government. Then the Bank printed lots of money and gave the country a big inflation which was very unpopular. He blamed the governing politicians and avoided saying how he might have stopped the Bank doing what they called Quantitative easing. He posed as the safe alternative. He got all the way to the election promising little other than a general message he would change things for the better. He won a huge majority.

 

His supporters put the whole Humpty Dumpty government up on a tall wall to see all the admiring electors. They felt a bit nervous up there but realised they did now need to be on display.

The Humpty Dumpty government sat on a Great Wall of indecision. They had been good at complaining about everything in Opposition and blaming anything bad on the government. They now had to ask themselves the difficult question.

What shall we do, now we have so much power?

 

The Home Secretary, the Chancellor, the Health Secretary, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary in the Humpty Dumpty government told the Prime Minister they should keep promising all would be improved.

 

They had been elected by all too few people but enjoyed a huge majority because people so wanted change. Voters were fed up with so many migrants coming to the country so they promised to crush the people smugglers.

Electors were angry at the inflation which had put up prices and made them worse off. So they pledged to transform the U.K. into the fastest growing of all the major economies.

People were cross that when they needed to see a doctor or get medical treatment there were so many delays and so much difficulty in arranging an appointment. They said they would mend the broken health service.

Young people were frustrated that homes were so dear so many could not afford to buy one. They told people they would change planning rules and build lots more houses.

Many were annoyed that when it came to giving out help the government seemed to give priority to giving things away to foreigners. The government wrapped themselves in the Union Jack and said they were proud of the U.K . .

 

The government embarked on its first few months telling the public everything was broken, but failing to say how they were fixing it. Soon they heard some critical voices raised against them.

 

Five months into the government the people were very angry . The number of illegal migrants coming by small boats had gone up. The Chancellor’s unexpected tax rises had slashed growth and led to a loss of jobs and cancelled investments. Pensioners and small businesses  had to pay for all the giveaways to others. The NHS received a lot more money but there were still very long waits. Mortgages to buy a home started going up again whilst no more homes were built. The U.K. kept giving more away to foreigners, giving away the Chagos islands and promising a lot more money to foreign countries to help them with net zero costs.

 

The Prime Minister had been all round the world giving things away to countries that did not like us and trying to be closer friends with Europe and with the UN. As he sat with the Cabinet on the wall and looked down he could see people pointing to them to get off the wall. So he called a Council of his key Cabinet Ministers to think through what to do.

 

Well said the Home Secretary we need to press on with our plans to slash illegal migrant numbers. We can speed up consideration of their cases once they have got here and find most of them deserve to stay. That way we can get them out of special hotels and let them find other accommodation. We can make it easier to come here legally. We can stage a few successes in prosecuting people smugglers but we need to show how this a Europe wide problem with illegal entry to the EU before they come to us.

The Chancellor said she had to put up taxes a lot to pay for all the public sector workers pay awards the party supported. She would carry on blaming the last government for not leaving enough money behind. She was cross that so many businesses were refusing to invest and hire more people when she had told them to do so. The Bank and Treasury had not told her borrowing more would put up mortgage rates.

 

The Health Secretary reported that the NHS was broken. He was asking patients and voters how to fix it. You couldn’t blame him. It would take a long time to mend.

The Deputy Prime Minister reported she had told the Councils to grant more planning permissions. It wasn’t her fault that the Chancellors budget had put up mortgage rates.

The Foreign Secretary said it was most important the U.K. agreed with foreign country views of international law and paid all our bills. It was right to increase net zero payments and right to pay to lease back an island we had given away.

 

The Prime Minister thought that all made a lot of sense so he decided the problem must be the people. He had had to be very firm at the beginning and told the courts to crack down hard on right wing protesters complaining about too much illegal migration. It was clear too few people understood the perfect way he was handling impossible problems inherited from the past against a very unsettled world background. He would continue to take an international lawyers view of what to do.

 

Meanwhile growth collapsed, inflation started to rise again, the government was way short of its housing and NHS waiting list targets and people were demanding a new early election. The Humpty Dumpty government felt very alone, very exposed and very vulnerable. Would anyone succeed in pulling them down?

 

There are two endings to this story. In the happy one the Humpty Dumpty government remembered the old nursery rhyme, listened to the public and won back support by doing what the public wanted. That was something special, a government that did what people wanted. They were delighted to hear the cheers as the people came to like their government on the wall.

The other ending saw the government double down on what they were doing.

They strengthened their attacks on their critics and told people it would all take a long time to put right. That made sitting on the wall a very uncomfortable experience. What do you think happens? Did the government fall and did its leading characters rush away from the problems to write their memoirs and earn their speaking fees?

This is a democratic forum, so you will decided the ending in the light of what the government does next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

85 Comments

  1. agricola
    December 21, 2024

    Telling it as you do makes this government appear quite benign. A story fit to get past your moderator, in the spirit of Christmas perhaps. Quite the opposite, this collection of largely low grade chancers are well out of their depth, a danger to every citizen and private/public company in the UK. They have only this week signalled their danger to our greatest allie in this largely poorly run world. Face it, no fairy tale will mitigate their incompetence and almost weekly announcements, or milestones to abject failure. The only question is for how long can they be tolerated.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2024

      Indeed evil. Plus they will destroy the economy go back into the EU by stealth. The real question is what on earth can done to evict them before 4.5 years? But it is the Con-Socialists serial political frauds to blame for Starmer – plus the PPE dope Sunak for throwing the towel in six months early – we could be having the election about now. Has Sunak corrected his covid vaccine are safe “lie?” to the House yet?

    2. Ian B
      December 21, 2024

      @agricola – then remember there is no real opposition at the moment. There is a maybe for ‘Reform’ but that would take another GE. We are saddled with 2 factions of the same religion, just that one is more zealous in it approach and after all it is only picking up on the same positions as held by the previous bunch, they are just imposing the same with more vigour.

  2. Lifelogic
    December 21, 2024

    “Then he had a piece of luck. The government he opposed first locked down the whole country stopping many working to deal with a pandemic.”

    This clearly made the pandemic and the economy far worse as was obvious at the time. Locking up people who were at no risk from Covid just delayed their free natural vaccination. Locking up people who were at risk just delayed their infections by a month or so. The net harm unsafe and ineffective vaccination made this even worse. Isabel Hardman’s substack is very good on this recently.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2024

      In short they knew perfectly well quite early just how dangerous the vaccines could be.

    2. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2024

      Sorry Isabel Oakeshott I meant.

      So the BoE tells us the budget is causing price rises and destroying jobs what on earth did anti growth Rachel (I am an economist) Reeves and her treasury “experts” think would happen? Did they read PPE too like Reeves and Peter Mandelson?

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        December 21, 2024

        Oh she should ask Mandleson about money! He had to resign twice because he just did not understand pretty simple stuff like borrowing a deposit and on that basis borrowing the rest meant he had borrowed it all!
        Just the man to deal with Trump and Musk đŸ€­

  3. Ian Wraggg
    December 21, 2024

    We’re just waiting for the big fall. Maybe a push is required to smash this rotten egg.
    We can but hope

  4. David Paterson
    December 21, 2024

    and he is selling the Post Office to a foreigner.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2024

      Royal Mail is it not?

  5. Lifelogic
    December 21, 2024

    PASSENGERS traveling this month are being warned not to take huge suitcases onboard in an airline-style crackdown. Great Western Railway has introduced the new rules ahead of Christmas travel, due to fears of overcrowding on trains.

    Run sufficient trains perhaps?

    But no “Worst rail firms cancel 800 trains per day ahead of Christmas travel nightmare” and the Government want us out of cars on to walking, bikes and public transport! So if you need your luggage, presents, tools…?

    1. Donna
      December 21, 2024

      I had the dubious pleasure of travelling on a Great Western train a few weeks ago: plenty of people in an overcrowded 3 carriage train heading (presumably) to Bristol Airport because of the size of the cases they had. There was hardly any storage space for suitcases and people were also reluctant to leave them in an area where they couldn’t observe them in case they “went walkabout.” They either need to redesign the carriages; provide CCTV so you can keep an eye on your case in storage or … the cheapest and most obvious solution …. provide longer trains on routes where many people are likely to have a suitcase.

      1. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2024

        Well at certain times of the year people are far more likely to have luggage but to have longer trains for just those few weeks! Rather like keeping endless snow ploughs, gritters and operators ready for the 20 days every 10 years they are needed in most of the UK. Rather expensive to keep this up.

    2. Mickey Taking
      December 21, 2024

      Railway companies can’t get more drivers etc to work overtime shifts on ‘rest days’.
      Why? Well to start it is not in their contracts of employment. They have had inflationary pay increases for many years, successive Governments making a job that ought to be faded out by computer driven trains now the one to aspire to. Drivers are urged by unions to keep the strength of militant action. They to would like days off, and on handsome pay why not? Ooops. be careful what you wish for!

      1. a-tracy
        December 21, 2024

        Mickey, if it is a seven day service why is the Sunday service run on overtime. Why aren’t shift rotas to include Sunday or people hired to work on Weekends? Businesses with competition wouldn’t get away with this because other companies will eventually take their business over and that is what must happen. The Tories chose this West Coast franchise company, they should never have changed from Virgin at least Branson understands service and 7 day per week operations. Can you imagine if all the shops suddenly decided they weren’t open this weekend, or restaurants, the theatres, everything shuts because the staff can afford not to work with their bumper back pay.

      2. K
        December 21, 2024

        GWR has increased Monday to Friday rest day payments to a minimum of 9.5hrs pay (even if only 1 hr is worked) at an enhanced hourly rate. So drivers no longer need to work Sundays at all to boost their pay.

      3. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2024

        Also tax rates so high they will lose about 60% in tax, NI, pension deductions, commuting costs and they prob. have enough money to rub by on already – so perhaps many prefer the time off to 40% of the overtime net?

    3. Peter Gardner
      December 21, 2024

      You need to understand two things: 1) the only thing worse than a state monopoly is a private monopoly and 2) with monopolies anything that doesn’t work is the fault of customers not behaving in accordance with process design assumptions, not the assumptions.

      1. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2024

        +1

  6. Annie Stewart
    December 21, 2024

    Sadly, I fear the latter. Leopards don’t change their spots. As the government becomes increasingly defensive it will create more and more discontent, probably riots, many more people locked up for trivial offences, not just driving at 23 mph in a 20 mph zone but thought crime, unvoiced, in the street. Is totalitarianism the inevitable consequence of democracy?

    The question is how to stop it when the good men are no longer around. The mess is so deeply entrenched that it will take a generation to put right.

  7. Lifelogic
    December 21, 2024

    Nigel Farage ‘hasn’t got a clue’ how to fix the economy, says Rachel Reeves!

    Is she mad? These idiotic lefties and PPE graduates. Farage knows exactly what is needed as does any sensible economist. Lower simpler taxes, far less state sector, a bonfire or red tape, scrap net zero, quality high skilled immigration only, stop rigging markets in energy, education, housing, banking, transport… get rid of two tier policing and justice, criminal deterrents… for a start.

    1. Donna
      December 21, 2024

      I watched Lord Glassman (Labour Peer) on GB News the other day. He said the Government wasn’t in the least bit concerned about Badenoch’s Conservative Party, but was terrified by Reform.

    2. Lynn Atkinson
      December 21, 2024

      Unfortunately Farage hasn’t got a clue. Even Reeves can’t be wrong all the time.

      1. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2024

        Well certainly rather more of a clue than Reeves herself has and more than Sunak, Andrew Bailey or Javid, Hammond, Osborne, Brown, Major…

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          December 21, 2024

          Don’t bet on it.

      2. Jim+Whitehead
        December 21, 2024

        ? and ?

  8. Rod Evans
    December 21, 2024

    The humpty ‘numpties’ sat on the state wall, have no idea how vulnerable they are to the approaching bulldozer driven by a Reforming builder who looked critically at their construct of international design. He along with the will of the people began knocking it down. The numpties still perched on it, were not able to look to their international friends for help because the wrecking ball was also swinging in the headquarters of their international policy HQ across the sea.
    The much championed desire for Net Zero had arrived, but not as the advocates intended. There was zero support for the failed and damaging policies being promoted by the Ed Numpty, there was zero scientific evidence of any crisis in climate, and there is zero evidence of any catastrophic changes in the variability of Earth’s weather systems.
    The destruction of wealth policies that took essential winter fuel money from pensioners and took farms from generationally family owned farms, plus removed manufacturing jobs from all sectors but particularly from heavy industry, was finally stopped.
    The insanity of being Left on the wall shouting, but having no answers came to an end.

    1. Peter Gardner
      December 21, 2024

      Nobody has any power to remove the government. There is a constitutional convention on 5 year parliamentary terms but it is not enforceable. Parliament could pass a vote of no confidence in His Majesty’s government but with Labour’s massive majority, hell would freeze over before that could happen. Starmer’s gang can stay in office without a general election as long as they want.

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        December 21, 2024

        Not so. Governments fall. They run out of money for instance, and then their own backbenchers see that supporting the failed government will cause them to lose their seats, so to protect their seats they stop supporting the Govt. They don’t need to vote against it in a confidence vote, they just need to be at the dentist ah la Major.

        1. Lifelogic
          December 21, 2024

          Major hung on to the bitter end to the. bury the party for 3+ terms. The moronic fake Tory MPs even preferred John ERM fiasco Major to JR as I recall. This time they hung on to Sunak who buried them again. We are stuck with Labour for 4+ more years.

          1. Lynn Atkinson
            December 21, 2024

            Well Mrs T won Major’s election for him, so she won 4 terms and he was of course, less than useless. Spent too much time in a broom cupboard. What kind of person does that?đŸ˜±

          2. Lifelogic
            December 21, 2024

            Indeed he won the first election as he was Mrs Thatcher’s choice but post the ERM debacle everyone knew he was a deluded dope. Did not even say sorry for the appalling disaster of his ERM fiasco.

      2. MFD
        December 21, 2024

        Every body is talking about Labours massive majority – less than 30% of the population voted as there is no confidence in any politician of the present bunch!
        The massive majority is those going to vote Reform uk.

        1. Ian B
          December 21, 2024

          @MFD, – slight correction it was around 20% of the electorate that found it in themselves in the position to put Labour in power. The 30% figure is of those that could be bothered to vote, as the largest majority by a long way was ‘none of the above’. For the most part the electorate was disenfranchised

          1. Lifelogic
            December 21, 2024

            30% of those who actually voted.

      3. Lifelogic
        December 21, 2024

        We already see Labour trying to delay some May local elections! Plus Blair’s supreme court is clearly very pro Labour.

    2. Mickey Taking
      December 21, 2024

      But the bulldozer ran out of fuel with the green opinions confusing the people’s view of what to do, refill it or electrify?
      So now the people will have to join forces and push it together, unified effort will be required to reach the wall, and then a big shove will be needed, with the hope the ones on the wall will protest and jump before being pushed.

  9. Bloke
    December 21, 2024

    Keir Strarmer lies cracked and empty. Completely useless.
    Not even a hermit crab could trust him for housing or defence.

    1. Lifelogic
      December 21, 2024

      For housing, defence, living standard, jobs & a sound economy you need cheap reliable energy Ed Miliband plans very expensive, intermittent and unreliable energy.

  10. halfway
    December 21, 2024

    Hard to understand the reason for this – we only have the choice of the two ie.Humpty Dumpty and the ‘others’ but if you think we deserve only the ‘others’ then that is a different form of politics however if we’re not careful it can lead on to a Farage/Musk mix 1930’s style – we messed up over the brexit business so why not go the whole hog.

    1. Mitchel
      December 21, 2024

      Stalin,addressing the Comintern Congress,30/7/1935:”In capitalist countries there are several parties-for example,England:Liberals,Conservatives,Labourites,there’s not much difference between them-all stand for the continuation of exploitation-but one party criticizes the other.When the party in power missteps and the masses begin to get disaffected,that party is replaced by another….we do not need such a lightning rod.We have a one party system,but this system has its darker side-there’s no-one to criticize us,even gently-so we criticize ourselves,check,not to be afraid of our shortcomings,difficulties,confront them.Self-criticism,that’s the key to our success.”

      Stalin later said :”I know that after my death a pile of rubbish will be heaped on my grave,but the wind of history will sooner or later sweep it away mercilessly.”

      1. Lynn Atkinson
        December 21, 2024

        Stalin wrong in both counts. The heaps of rubbish that he created can’t be put in a single pile at all. In fact it hurried the whole of Russia for decades.

        1. Lynn Atkinson
          December 21, 2024

          The computer can’t believe I want to say ‘buried’ – but I do. Not hurried.

  11. Paul Freedman
    December 21, 2024

    I think all the King’s horses and all the King’s men will find putting Humpty Dumpty together again an impossible task and they will turn back to their barracks in dismay.
    The issue is Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall because he is abnormally incompetent and got almost everything wrong.
    I believe he is stubborn though and he will lie on the ground in pieces but instead of blaming himself for his misfortune he will blame the wind for blowing him off the wall or the King’s men for not supporting him.

  12. Donna
    December 21, 2024

    It will be the second scenario and they don’t care. They’re doing it deliberately and they know that under our pretendy-democracy, there is nothing that can be done to stop them …. and the Official Opposition don’t want to anyway since they’re signed up to the same objectives.

    It is all part of the plan to deliver UN Agenda 2030.

    1. Christine
      December 21, 2024

      “It is all part of the plan to deliver UN Agenda 2030.”

      Yes, it is Donna.

      People should watch the documentary on Stakeholder Capitalism on yellow.forum

      Stakeholder Capitalism is an investigative documentary series about our undemocratic transition to a global, authoritarian political system called Stakeholder Capitalism.

      This explains everything our politicians are doing to us and has been planned since the end of WW2.

  13. Peter Gardner
    December 21, 2024

    “We can speed up consideration of their cases once they have got here and find most of them [illegal migrants] deserve to stay. ”
    Do I understand correctly that Sir John Redwood has changed his mind? Most of these migrants have no right at all to be in the UK. They have come from a safe country, France, where they have spent many months or years. They no longer have the protection of the UN Convention Article 31 – yes, I am aware of the court case regarding the stop over. They should be returned to France. As they are illegal entrants, under the ECHR Article 5 the UK has every right to refuse them entry, detain them, deport them or return them to France as it sees fit. The UN Convention also requires France to issue them with identity documents and the UK can act on the assumption that this has been done unless France can prove otherwise. In these cases France and the UK and France can act jointly to deport them via France. In fact many of these cases are asylum seekers who have been rejected by France and on whom deportation orders have already been issued.
    The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea empowers UK to take such action immediately on intercepting boats in The Channel up to the limits of the contiguous zone, up to 24 nmiles beyond the baseline of its territorial waters which extend up to 12 nmiles.
    The UK is also empowered to enforce its domestic law out to the limit of its contiguous zone. In unsafe conditions for migrant boats the UK should prosecute the drivers of the boats under the Offences against the Person Act 1861 for endangering human life at sea.
    The only thing missing is political will.

    Reply The story is satire, not my policy recommendation!

    1. Donna
      December 21, 2024

      By granting asylum to those who don’t warrant it the Government is able to move them out of hotel accommodation and make it the responsibility of local authorities to house them. In other words the cost of accommodation is transferred from the Home Office onto Councils and they can also claim to “have reduced the backlog.”

      It’s an accounting trick. You will still be paying, but via your Council Tax which will have an inflation-busting increase next April.

      1. Martyn G
        December 21, 2024

        Donna, in Oxfordshire, 60p of every ÂŁ of my Council Tax is spent on meeting social needs and is the highest spend of the Council above all other budget lines. If every hotel in the County were emptied overnight of their immigrant tenants, their demands for housing, medical care and so on would very likely collapse the system. Maybe that’s why the government is acting so slowly in classifying the boat people?

    2. Lynn Atkinson
      December 21, 2024

      To be honest Sir John, your story is so fantastical that had we not lived through it we would not believe it. You did not even add the best bit which is that the Democracy-protecting PM had now cancelled elections 😳. He is happy to send our troops to die in Ukraine ‘fighting for democracy’, but like Zelensky he has cancelled elections.
      Is that the new ‘rule’ that the international set have secretly adopted? Because we know our Humpty need Rules to Follow. And as long as he does that everything will be fine even if the societal black-hole is to stupid to understand.
      Dear me. This basket of eggs has upset a lot of people. If you upset people don’t you have to go to jail?

  14. a-tracy
    December 21, 2024

    I fear we will have to crack a few eggs before people will agree it is time to change in a significant way.

    The Tories must concentrate on the local elections as Reform will split the vote.

    The Labour Party genuinely believe they can pass all their cost promises onto small growing enterprises. I worry about people in debt up to their necks, that have been reinvesting instead of drawing money out of their businesses trying to grow and create a significant business, especially if they haven’t been through the nought’s.

    1. Wanderer
      December 21, 2024

      A-Tracy, it’s the Conservatives who will split the vote.

  15. Paul Calvert
    December 21, 2024

    The people, driven to despair after two more years of mass immigration, rising energy, food and housing costs, rose up for the first time and take to the streets. The Police, hollowed out by decades of political correctness and group-think, having lost the public trust, are unable to quell the unrest. Humpty, scared for his future, demands the Army step in. However, they remain in their poorly heated and mildew-ridden barracks, fed-up at how illegals were staying in comfortable hotels. In any event, huge cuts had ensured none of them had any bullets.
    Imported religious groups began using the unrest to settle sectarian grievances brought with them from their original homelands. Many large cities were taken over by religious extremists and criminal gangs based along ethnic lines.
    The Government falls and the great Purge begins.
    Of course, it will never happen. Merry Christmas.

    1. Martyn G
      December 21, 2024

      I want my country back – it is being trashed by successive governments and illegal immigration which they fail to check or control.
      There is, in effect, a quiet propaganda war being waged against us by a minority of a specific religious element who hate our way of life and aim to change it to theirs in any way they can.
      The people of Germany also want their country back, as do some other European nations, yet nowhere does there seem to by anyone with the political will to do so.

  16. Charles Breese
    December 21, 2024

    Delightfully written! I think that Humpty Dumpty and team will be pushed off the wall in 2029 – the replacement Government needs this amount of time to develop the solutions required.

  17. Christine
    December 21, 2024

    My preferred ending –

    He falls off the wall, smashes into a thousand pieces and nobody puts him back together again. A Reform victory sweeps the country. Nigel is made PM. He fixes the UK by scrapping Net Zero, reduces taxes, reduces immigration, puts us on the road to growth, finally allows us to leave the EU and ECHR, reverses all the WEF, UN and WHO initiatives, and we the people and future generations live happily ever after.

  18. David Cooper
    December 21, 2024

    Harmer Starmer sat on a wall
    Harmer Starmer had a great fall
    All the King’s horses and all the King’s men
    Smashed the broken pieces of the Hard Labour eggshell into tiny fragments so that no one could ever contemplate putting him and his wretched government together again
    (Sadly the last line does not scan very well, but the horses and men would be doing exactly what was wanted of them)

  19. David Chopping
    December 21, 2024

    Excellent John, thank you for such a large glass of Christmas cheer.
    David Chopping

  20. Ian B
    December 21, 2024

    Another Old Story

    Tories(those that started the rot) say Miliband’s plans will see profits soar in Beijing’s windmill, solar and battery industries
    Labour’s accelerated net zero drive will create more than 170,000 new jobs in China, according to analysis by the Tories.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/20/miliband-net-zero-create-170000-jobs-china-analysis-shows/
    Export jobs increase World Emmissions, thankyou Mrs May and all those that followed her – Labour has just upped the momentum. No one, that is no one with authority thought what they were doing through.

    1. Ian B
      December 21, 2024

      ANDREW NEIL: Ed Miliband’s Net Zero mania isn’t just a threat to energy security. It’s making us so reliant on China, he’s now a threat to national security – who didn’t know that? It comes over as part of the plan, even the Tories have bought into it big time.

      1. IanT
        December 21, 2024

        You can talk Common Sense or Nonsense. Most people can see what Ed Milliband preaches.

      2. Original Richard
        December 21, 2024

        IB:
        Andrew Neil is correct. In addition Net Zero will mean that we no longer have the industrial capacity to make our own armaments/weapons. Electrification without any means to store electricity at grid-scale will make us vulnerable to either extreme natural causes or hostile attack. Our National and local grids will be plum targets for hacking attacks and could even be totally destroyed by a Carrington event. There is no way that our depleted armed services can protect hundreds of thousands of square miles of North Sea wind turbines or thousands of miles of undersea cabling from airborne and underwater drone attacks.

  21. William Tarver
    December 21, 2024

    The plot of a very good novel, sketched out there. I think there is very little chance of the cabinet getting round the table in Downing Street and of someone piping up, “you know what, we’ve got this all wrong!” They are more likely to agree to more of the same, because politicians – and it is their biggest failing – will never admit to an error. As a freelance contractor, I worked for many companies. The best were those where admitting an error was encouraged. When I set up my own company, I followed suit. If you’ve got something wrong, say so, and the earlier the better. There should be no blame or recrimination; let’s just fix it. The alternative is a back-stabbing blame game, and a lot of companies hired contractors to fill the role of fall guy.

    We are collectively getting poorer and it will continue unless things change. There are contrasting examples. The USA and Singapore versus Venezuela and Argentina. Where do we want to be?

  22. Michael Staples
    December 21, 2024

    Are the Conservatives (Tweedledum) and Reform (Tweedledee) going to fight a battle until Labour (the crow) frighten them so much that they cooperate or merge in a common cause?

  23. John
    December 21, 2024

    Humpty Dumpty is starting his great fall

  24. BW
    December 21, 2024

    They all end up in the House of Lords where they can take the mick on ÂŁ340 a day tax free whilst sitting on the nicer wall of the subsidised bar.

  25. Lynn Atkinson
    December 21, 2024

    Omelette anyone?

  26. Original Richard
    December 21, 2024

    “Hello comrades. This is Head Egg speaking from the Davos Wall which, although not as high and comfortable as my usual 35,000 ft, does mean that I am not mixing with the useful idiots in the House and I can see clearly from here that much progress is being made.

    Without a peep they have accepted our 2035 NDC to reduce our emissions by 81% by 2035. We said it would not include shipping and air travel but this will of course change nearer the time to achieve the unelected CCC’s targets. There will need to be rationing of our consumption in order to achieve our goal to unilaterally save the planet. BTW, our comrades in the Other Place are ensuring that Net Zero legislation is written into every new piece of legislation whatever its original intended purpose

    Ed Dumpty has ensured the rationing of electricity by convincing the useful idiots that although we say the weather will become unreliable, unpredictable, chaotically intermittent and extreme we will transition our power generation to a system which is entirely weather dependent.

    Re-wilding, the rationing of fertiliser, the growth of solar farms and the new IHT rules on small farmers will bring about food rationing. We will ensure the NHS is saved through rationing by asking everyone to stay at home again and that both heating and private transport, will be rationed through electrification and smart meters. I need here to thank comrade Boris for his tremendous work on evs.

    Continued massive immigration will ensure that increasingly severe rationing will be needed to meet our planet saving target.

    Now, you may ask why are we doing this? Well, the World needs a futile gesture as seen in the 1960s comedy “The Futile Gesture” (available on YouTube for those not old enough to remember). As we are the country which announced at the UN to be “the first to send the great puffs of acrid smoke to the heavens on a scale to derange the natural order” (thanks Boris again!) and hence responsible for the existential threat to our planet from the Industrial Revolution it is only fitting that it should fall to the UK. Anyway the International courts demand it and of course as an international lawyer I believe we should always comply whatever.

    Finally you’ll be pleased to note that at least for our legal system, my speciality, we’re on the way to copy China’s “one country two systems” concept.”

  27. Know-Dice
    December 21, 2024

    Great story Sir John, unfortunately all absolutely true.

    I thought you might have gone for the “12 days of Christmas”, but with this Labour government it would have ended up as the “365+ days of misery”.

  28. Keith from Leeds
    December 21, 2024

    I agree with your article, but I would like to add a perfect example of the Government’s incompetence. Despite CO2 being no problem and Global Warming not happening, Ed ( don’t confuse me with the facts! ) Millibrand is determined to cover the UK with solar farms, windmills and pylons. Although this is the wrong policy, let’s assume it is right for now. Why does Ed not demand UK firms manufacture solar panels, Windmills and pylons and refuse to proceed until they can? That would help the UK manufacturing sector, give us the opportunity to export these products and earn money for the UK.
    Instead, Ed, the destroyer, wants to buy them all from China, which uses coal-powered energy, belching out the CO2 he is supposed to oppose to make them!

  29. Derek
    December 21, 2024

    I know what the outcome MUST be but whether he can be thrown out of office, given the support of his huge majority, is another thing. Socialist MPs are not noted for putting Country before person.

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      December 21, 2024

      Which person? They certainly put their own person first and that’s all we need.

  30. Brian Veillard
    December 21, 2024

    All the Kings horses and all the Kings men couldn’t put Humpty together again.
    Q.E.D.

  31. Ukret123
    December 21, 2024

    Pride comes before a fall and the sheer scale of arrogance, ignorance, incompetence, financial incontinence and lack of emotional intelligence displayed to the world will be impossible for them to succeed.
    None of them would cut the mustard in the commercial world.

  32. Bryan Harris
    December 21, 2024

    I can’t see any good coming out of this government. They are devoted to their agenda.

    It will make no difference to this regime how many people die because of a lack of energy and the cold. They will see it as a bonus to reduce the population. HMG will continue with oppressive laws against anyone that blurts out the truth of what is going on.
    Illegal immigration will continue unabated, meaning that white Brit’s will soon become a minority. That means more and more aspects of the koran will feature in everyday life. Christianity will be targeted because muslims have no acceptance of other religions.

    With the government agenda against hetrosexual whites and foreigners taking power, we will be squeezed between a rock and a hard place. Wokism will flourish as long as the koran permits.

    A lack of energy and deindustrialisation, not to mention a scarcity of farms and real food, will mean that there will be riots and we will gradually fall apart as a country.
    The efforts to introduce 15 minute cities will become ever more harsh, until we are treated like serfs, and owned until we die.

    The establishment have already plotted this.

    1. Bryan Harris
      December 21, 2024

      This was all laid out in the novel: DARK DAYS OF THE 22ND CENTURY

  33. Steve
    December 21, 2024

    British people are very badly served with the medieval first past the post system – if Reform calls for real reform it might succeed

  34. hefner
    December 21, 2024

    Looking at the title ‘An old story’ I went back to Sir John’s first (?) blog on 13/12/2006 with the title ‘Leading companies are warning of the UK’s declining competitiveness’.

    It is rather sad that already in those days there were mentions about taxation, corporate tax rate, inadequacies of the rail and road transport system, high energy prices, and regulation.
    Looking at this it would look that in the following 18 years, 13 with a Conservative government, nobody had been able to improve the situation.
    Rather a bad feeling to start Christmas.

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all (anyway).

    1. Lynn Atkinson
      December 21, 2024

      Merry Christmas Hefner.
      I’m just re-reading ‘Ross’ by Norris McWhirter. When he put himself forward as a Conservative Candidate in 1970 he addressed the Selection Committee and terrified the Party Machine, which was pushing to the socialist position they subsequently achieved – as we all know.
      Nothing is ever secure, you have to stand shoulder to shoulder and hold the line every generation for as long as you are able. The Angel stands ready to pounce at the first opportunity.

  35. MBJ
    December 21, 2024

    Perhaps AI will manage better.I certainly get more sense talking to copilot.

  36. Ian B
    December 21, 2024

    ‘Farage ‘hasn’t the faintest idea’ how to manage the economy, says Reeves’
    ‘Chancellor claims Reform leader ‘hasn’t a clue’ how to tackle the cost-of-living crisis as she refuses to apologies for her tax raids’

    .. and we can now all laugh! Sunak & Hunt her seeming mentors showed her that when a Government removes money from the economy, it causes costs to rise for all of Society, inflation grows, causing a cost-of- living crisis. High inflation, high interests’ rates are all as a result of taking money from the economy.

    The economy is not what a Government takes or how it increases what it spends. An economy is what is going around to be spent and invested in society, its businesses, its food production, its shops and its industry. Remove it at you peril.
    Milibrain sending money to China is not the UK economy – that is the Chinese’s economy. In the same way sending Taxpayer money to the Danish and French Governments for our energy has nothing to do with the UK economy. The government announced this week it would ‘give’ the Spanish Government taxpayers money to build Royal Navy ships – that is the UK taxpayer subsiding the Spanish Treasury and Chancellor. It is money removed from the UK economy, not to return leaving the UK short and it is causing what Rachael calls the cost-of-living-crisis.

  37. formula57
    December 21, 2024

    Humpty Dumpty eyed up those alongside him, wondering to himself if any of them could remind him why they had all wanted to sit on the wall at all: it seemed much more difficult than was expected. He sighed. No, they were all equally clueless and anyway he did not want to give himself away.

    He shuffled around a bit but felt himself slipping so stopped. His mind wandered and he recalled previous wall sitters. The ones he could remember had not fared well: reviled for poor performance, to then be either ousted by treacherous colleagues or repudiated by the electorate. He sighed again.

    The best thing, he decided, was to be himself, revel in his lack of ideas, want of courage, weak judgement, myopic vision, but play to the crowd by always talking about things he read in the media using all the fashionable phrases. That way, although he knew he would slip eventually, he could tell everyone that he was really proud of many achievements even if nasty types would say they were hollow at best. While congratulating himself on devising a good plan Humpty shuffled again and began to consider which of his fellow wall sitters were in truth nasty types. He tried to recall again why he was on the wall and frowned.

  38. rose
    December 22, 2024

    My guess is the Humpty Dumpty government will cause a state of emergency, declare it, and then cancel the general election.

  39. Sir Joe Soap
    December 22, 2024

    The story ends with Humpty Dumpty looking over his shoulder to a far larger golden egg on a far larger wall, hoping that it will fall off first. Instead the golden egg is joined by other golden eggs on the other wall, all mocking Humpty Dumpty as he tries to no avail to garner all the King’s men in his cause. But they too like the idea of becoming a golden egg, and also start mocking the hapless Dumpty. Dumpty fumes, becomes hard boiled and remains on the wall until through sheer exhaustion and frustration he jumps to another walk leaving a vacant spot for yet another Numpty.

  40. MBJ
    December 23, 2024

    There isn’t an ending…….the wheel turns..

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