Yesterday as predicted here came news of a further collapse of our car output in January. UK vehicle manufacture for the home market was down 30%. The government wants to stop all manufacture of petrol and diesel vehicles so they must be thrilled that one of their policies is working.
They keep lecturing us to buy battery cars. Most of us do not want to, and many cannot afford to anyway.
They have agreed the closure of the remaining blast furnaces and the UK’s exit from new steel making.
They have banned us producing from any new oil and gas field in the UK forcing us to import more.
They have imposed sky high energy prices to drive out remaining high energy using industries like ceramics, paper, glass, aluminium.
Their policies led to the closure of the critical large oil refinery at Grangemouth.
They put out spin of new jobs in green industries. These are outweighed by the industrial collapse. Most of the new jobs rely on imports, especially from China where most of the solar panels, wind turbines and battery cars are made. It looks as if they want to get more battery cars in the Uk by encouraging China to dump cheap battery cars here rather than struggle with 100% US tariff and the EU 40% tariff. The electric cars and heating systems rely on electricity generated by burning gas in a power station.
February 28, 2025
We keep being told about how this, that and the other will create more jobs.
I don’t see how when we don’t actually make anything and are losing the capacity to do so by the day.
Importing everything will only create certain jobs around port and logistics, surely?
All the while we are not making things, our skills base shrinks as it has been allowed, (actually I think designed a better description) to do over the past few decades.
I suppose we’ll see a rekindling of the Blair education years, where all our children are led to believe they can all be pop stars/football stars and can be famous for debasing themselves on some trash TV programme.
You don’t need engineering skills or any other skills for that.
A nation surviving on the arts and entertainment industry, importing everything and being left as a sitting duck in any future conflict.
February 28, 2025
Oh ‘The Creative Industry’ has to be subsidised.
February 28, 2025
The wonders of fiat money-you can keep on printing it -as debt-until you can’t.
The UK Establishment has this strange belief that it can organize the world to its advantage using the fantasy concept of soft power-the most preposterous component of which is the belief that an invitation to meet representatives of a faded toytown monarchy in the decaying remnant of a clapped out empire will unlock everything they desire.
February 28, 2025
You forgot to mention BMW pulling the investment out of Cowley in favour of building Minis in China and Stellantis going ahead with the closure of the Luton van plant
Britain is doomed, Toyota has said they will cease production if this stupidity continues followed no doubt by Nissan.
February 28, 2025
Friend in the motor industry says the Nissan showroom in Newcastle is ‘full of Chinese cars’. He showed us a picture of one that looked like a DeLorian.
February 28, 2025
Ian
Yes we know of one 60 year old local who has had their redundancy notice from Stellantis
Going on an organised tour around the Mini factory at Cowley next week, will be interesting to ask questions.
As an old time served engineer, some of it spent in the motor industry, it breaks my heart to see what is happening in this country with the almost complete demise of manufacturing.
February 28, 2025
@Ian wragg – to turn what you said on its head. It is the UK’s Parliament the 650 MPs that are literally forcing these companies to leave the UK? They have forced energy prices up-to 4 times what these companies will pay elsewhere, they have forced laws on them that don’t exist in any competing Country. These Companies will still produce, we will be forced to buy them from sources that are infinitely more polluting than the UK – if we can that is, as a bankrupt nation and people could we afford them. All that has happened is that 650 Guys chose to wreck the UK, impoverish its People for some perverse version of their own personal, very personal ego and self-esteem. Not a one of them standing up to support the Country or those that empowered and pay them. Do we need this type of Parliament to represent the people?
If all this was a thing, we could have just said we would match the rest of the World and their efforts towards any change of direction. But no ego got in the way, the UK must give up, destroy its self so that the rest of the World can flourish – all too stroke ego…
The World gets a lesson in stupidity and a good laugh…
February 28, 2025
Presumably May and Johnson, strong advocates of net zero policies, are thrilled too.
February 28, 2025
Indeed Cameron through to Kemi are sill all net zero, climate alarmist nutters, just not quest as mad as Zealot Ed.
February 28, 2025
Not to forget Mr. ‘Greenest Government ever !’ David.
February 28, 2025
@Oldtimer92 – they ramped up the level and Parliament supported them and still support the UK’s destruction – not one of them wants to change that. The new lot have added more zeal to the destruction of the UK and its People. The have used the Law to isolate the UK from the World, they have used the Law to bolster personal ego. There we have it the World moves on is free of May’s and Parliament laws. The World prospers the UK declines. Yet World CO2 increases and the UK become impoverished with no money in the bank to react and move forward.
We need a Parliament that works ‘with’, not ‘fights against’ the Country & it’s People. Parliaments, its MP’s, personal need for personal ego and personal self-esteem is corrupting the Country and stopping it survive
February 28, 2025
Well, today the Maidenhead Advertiser has two relevant letters, the first headed “Marking down council for climate ambitions” on the “Climate Action Scorecard” produced by “Climate Emergency UK”, the second helpfully headed “Looking back at 2008 break point on growth” and speculating that the loss of economic growth potential was not a long term consequence of the global financial crisis but of the Climate Change Act:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2025/02/22/the-problem-of-battery-cars/#comment-1500425
I’ve now gone further in looking at our economic growth rates since 1948:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2025/02/26/dear-energy-sinks-the-uk-economy/#comment-1501159
and find these average annual percentage rates of increase of GDP:
1948 – 1984 2.80
1984 – 1992 2.44
1992 – 2000 3.30
2000 – 2008 2.18
2008 – 2016 1.15
2016 – 2024 1.13
So there seems no doubt that the post-war period can be very clearly divided into two phases:
1948 – 2008 Average growth rate of 2.73% a year
2008 – 2024 Average growth rate of 1.14% a year
and politically motivated claims that the EU referendum in 2016 has led to economic disaster are not supported by the evidence, but something that occurred around 2008 has dramatically cut our economic growth potential.
I am not expecting “Lady” May to pay any attention to my letter, she has never paid any attention in the past.
February 28, 2025
For example, this letter published seven years ago almost to the day:
https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/letters-to-the-editor/128146/easy-solution-to-eu-border-conundrum.html
“Easy solution to EU border conundrum”
This has just appeared today:
https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/theresa-says-cannot-behind-unionists-31101408
“Theresa May says she ‘cannot get behind’ why unionists in NI supported Brexit”
“In terms of Northern Ireland, there were three issues in play in my mind; you couldn’t actually deal with all three at the same time, so you had to decide where you wanted the emphasis to be. The three issues were peace and stability for Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom, and the ideological purity of not holding onto any EU regulations.”
The reason she could not deal with all of those three issues at the same time was that she accepted the lie from Cameron and Osborne and others that the UK desperately needed a special trade deal with the EU, and the Irish government threatened to veto any special trade deal unless they got what they wanted.
And then of course there was the Benn Act:
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/the-facts/what-was-the-benn-act/
promoted by the person who is now Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
February 28, 2025
OLDTIMER92
Yes, precisely right.
The Conservative Party have been LibDem at least since “Dave” Cameron became leader and probably before.
The current leader is useless and merely a continuation of the long line which the party has chosen to lead it to total irrelevance.
February 28, 2025
Labour think they see the future. I see a load of idiocy and white elephants.
February 28, 2025
Sir John,
Successive governments have worked to ruin our country but, Labour have taken it to a new level. I honestly believe there may be a case for criminal negligence against some of our net zero implement or as people die because of the price of energy.
It seems to have been decided that we are going to war and that we must expand our military. Last night we were told that we need more tanks, more ships, more planes and more artillery shells etc but, how the hell will we make them and why are we leaving ourselves short of munitions whilst sending loads of it to Ukraine? How can we make tanks and usable hardware without the heavy industries needed and how will we power those industries if we reopened them?
We have been set up to fail in my opinion.
No wonder our youngsters are suffering anxiety and depression. They are told climate change will kill them, they are told to prepare for war and they can’t afford to live anywhere…. If I was a young person today, I’d be depressed too.
February 28, 2025
So starmer’s ‘win’ from his meeting with trump was to get the US nod to his handing over the chagos islands to Mauritius / China with the U.K. taxpayer also sending Mauritius £18bn (it’s clear some of it is to come from the supposedly increased defence budget). What a shameful and unnecessary betrayal and another weakening of western deterrence and defence.
February 28, 2025
Richard1,
The rhetoric from those in power in the UK is that “security is paramount”, this proposed deal certainly sacrifices UK security and safety.
I heard on GB News the other day, I think it was the Business Minister says that this was sanctioned by the previous government – We know that is just not true, Lord Cameron put a stop to it. It was a proposal pushed by civil servants in the Foreign Office
Normally with a leaseback deal, you hand over the property and the lease company then gives you a load of money, then you pay rental on the property.
In the Chagos case it’s all the wrong way around. Why would we pay Mauritius anything other than rent?
February 28, 2025
UK trade growth via USA might be improved following King Charles’ invitation to President Trump’s 2nd state visit to the UK.
One wonders from where the notion emerged.
It might have been from Keir Starmer
– Or the King himself
– Or from a Labour MP or special adviser
– Or a nudge from one of Donald Trump’s aides
Which seems more likely?
February 28, 2025
Who cares!
This is the sort of thing China does to achieve growth.From Asia Times’ David P Goldman this morning:”China’s lock on telecom infrastructure in the Global South has a profound impact”
“A 2024 BIS Working Paper confirms results that I published earlier in the American Affairs journal:digital payments(driven by cheap mobile broadband)shift economic activity to the formal from the informal sector and promote growth.
February 28, 2025
This madness will only continue while we remain hooked into the EU policy on energy and too many other things.
We voted to leave the EU it is well past the time we did so.
When the wealth creation industries have all closed down which they will due to uncompetitive energy prices, the next phase of economic collapse will be inflation as the currency comes under extreme pressure.
That will be followed by shortages of essential services and food.
It is not a recipe for stable society, which may be just how the socialists like it to be.
February 28, 2025
Yes, it’s all going to plan. But it isn’t Labour’s Plan, it’s the WEF’s and the other branches of the Westminster Uni-Party were in full support when it was imposed on us. NONE of them have recanted.
NONE of them have opposed, or are OPPOSING the deliberate destruction of what remains of our industrial/ manufacturing base. NONE of them are carrying out their Constitutional Duty to offer the electorate A CHOICE so that they can democratically endorse or reject the Net Zero Policy.
So we are forced to conclude that, apart from the 5 Reform Party MPs, the other 645 MPs are content to destroy entire industries; they aren’t bothered about hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs disappearing and entire communities being driven into depression; and they are very relaxed that the Net Zero SCAM is destroying the finances of most households in the country ….. so that they can virtue-signal to the world.
February 28, 2025
Of course Labour’s big hope for the future AI also requires lots of cheap electricity so that will pass us by too. I see the green fanatics were thrilled by a CBI report saying green industries are booming and driving growth – on inspection that is only due to substitution, so building more electric cars is no different to building more ICE cars in growth terms and abandoning those net zero targets wouldn’t harm growth at all.
Incidentally, a big Brexit benefit if we avoid Trump’s 25% tariffs on the EU, the EU will be furious and will demand more concessions from Starmer.
February 28, 2025
‘Incidentally, a big Brexit benefit if we avoid Trump’s 25% tariffs on the EU, the EU will be furious and will demand more concessions from Starmer.’
– Trump is a direct threat now to Brexit in particular what happened today in the White House with Zelensky.
Lots of Brexiters were appalled by Trump’s / Vance’s treatment of Zelensky. And many Remainers will use Trump’s position in general towards EU / Europe that we need to rejoin the EU and even joint army.
If we want to remain sovereign then political leaders need to challenge Trump over Ukraine. Helping Ukraine could then lead to the downfall of Putin (instead of Trump giving him time to recover and then come back even hard – and Putin hates UK).
But with Putin out of the way, Brexit is much stronger. And then Trump can only last 5 years with a President more favourable to Europe and so UK safer – and UK sovereignty stronger.
(Also Trump’s tariffs also greatly undermining world markets which is bad for our economy and so for Brexit. If Brexit’s going to thrive, need a strong economy.
February 28, 2025
It’s beyond sad to see Luddites in Parliament. Will they ever realise that it’s not all about jobs? What it should be about is “production”, i.e. it’s what we produce that matters. If it was “jobs” people could be paid to dig holes and fill them in again.
February 28, 2025
OT: On Chagos if it goes through, as it is a USA base are they going to pay us rent to keep on using it or do we pay and they get it free? On Ukraine, Trump is putting in a minerals deal to reimburse USA for the money spent so far, has Starmer put in place a similar deal to reimburse UK or was the money we spent just a gift ?
February 28, 2025
Those who provoked the war should pay for it.
February 28, 2025
So what are we missing?
February 28, 2025
Let us not forget that all parties bar one agree with this direction of travel. They may differ by degrees but this idea is the general consensus. The science is apparently settled.
February 28, 2025
The science isn’t settled …. but the scam is.
February 28, 2025
While the government remains opposed to what the UK needs and causing harm, it is unlikely the people will tolerate increasing worsening for duration of another four years.
Conservative Chris Philp sounds sensible in contrast, yet he is merely one of very few.
February 28, 2025
But Mr Milliband says we will all die if the UK alone doesn’t save 0.0004% of Earths atmosphere. And he knows what he’s talking about ………….
February 28, 2025
Yeah, the UK has to lead the world ….but no other country is following ? HeyHo we’ll still get a gold star from the UN
February 28, 2025
Exactly.
They try to hide their destructive actions behind nice words and false ideas – Typical of this was Starmer’s response to Vance’s “infringements on free speech” speech. It seems he believes in free speech to his core, while imposing the very opposite policies.
If a labour MP can be released early from jail for a violent act against a member of the voting public, why is it that political prisoners are denied basic rights while in jail for exposing government deceit?
Honest justice and debate no longer exist in this country, nor in Germany it seems, but our PM insists we are still a free nation and we don’t have a 2 tier system. WHAT does this make him?
So, our government will continue to deceive us about getting production up and booming the economy while viciously taxing us well beyond what is reasonable, emptying our once vital high streets, and dismantling what industry and potential we have left.
February 28, 2025
Sir John
“especially from China where most of the solar panels, wind turbines and battery cars are made.”
The UK has nearly single handedly boosted by another magnitude all World CO2 production by its policy of higher energy prices, destroying jobs and off-shoring industry. The UK is still a consumer of all this production.
Then to rub it in further the consumer pays for it in inflated prices and then
if that wasn’t enough, they are taxed out of existence. Where does all this tax appear to be going, it’s NOT in infrastructure, it’s Not in Services, it’s not in delivery of any thing to the UK , the Country or it’s Citizens. It funds and ever-increasing State, but perversely it is funding Foreign State own Industries, it funds disproportionately the other Marxist Socialist authoritarian State – China. Fellow travelers in bed together?
February 28, 2025
Everything the Starmer government has done, from grabbing family farms to rewilding, solar and wind generation, destroying coal and gas, closing industries, forcing private rentals to sell and corporations to build instead, closing car manufacture that people can afford etc is in line with UN/WEF agendas. He hasn’t hidden it and says he prefers Davos. As VP Vance said, they are the enemy within.
February 28, 2025
A couple of years back Mrs Gold and I turned part of the back garden into a wildlife meadow. Old Jim, our gardener put a lot of effort into the project and with the onset of spring last week we could see the snowdrops he planted appearing.
Also noticeable is that a group of voles have taken a liking to the meadow and we can see them burrowing into the grass and frolicking in front of their burrows. Swarzenegger, our young black cat also enjoys watching the voles from the dining room window. He would desperately like to catch one!
February 28, 2025
Who’s going to stop labour …..for more years of net-zero madness, with no opposition in parliament, Kemi is tory lite, supporting net-zero and the ECHRs
February 28, 2025
My tenants have turned their garden into a natural meadow by not doing any work on it for 5 years. It’s going to take 2 weeks to make it usable again now that your fellow greens have left.
February 28, 2025
Ed Miliband, when asked the other day about rising energy prices, had the cheek to blame them on global prices when he’s the one stopping us from producing our own energy. He is completely and utterly unhinged and should be put out of our misery.
February 28, 2025
Hi sir john
Another nail in the coffin for the uk
Those killing the uk have and will be
All awarded knighthood for their failure
The most successful business in the UK
Is importing people and rewarding them for
Doing nothing.
Thank you
February 28, 2025
Sue Grey
February 28, 2025
By 2050, in fact sooner, Mr Ed Miliband et al will be living in the USA.
February 28, 2025
All the drive for ‘Green this, that or the other’ hangs on the belief in Anthropic Climate Change. If you study the works of the advocates and the Journals that publish them, the phrase ‘Confirmation Bias’ comes strongly to mind. Briefly, by this is meant that the proponents select data that supports their argument and ignore anything that does not fit it.
Historically Confirmation Bias has been with us for Millenia – for example the self-appointed “Witch Finder General” in the 1640s who searched out those that disagreed with his views. Similar views have been expressed in the media on the topic of Climate Change in present times.
So we now have the situation where people are afraid to question Climate Change – most MPs included. This is fundamentally why we are in the economic mess that we are now in.
Reply As an MP I refused to back the Climate Change Bill and made many interventions pointing out the dangers and foolishness of much net zero policy.
February 28, 2025
Sir John, I’m pleased to read so from you. Eventually we will have to find alternatives to fossil fuels – perhaps some as-yet-unknown-to-science effect will reliably provide that – but we do not have to change in such a mad rush as the Energy Secretary wants.
March 3, 2025
Reply to reply Surely there should be climate awareness and a bill to suit it though.It shouldn’t be the present one or nothing.
February 28, 2025
Do you actually get up at 5am or are these posted automatically?
February 28, 2025
It seems that most, if not all, of your correspondents agree with you. My question is, how can we focus our anger to impact the government?
This government’s slogan should be, “everything we do is paid for by you!.”
We have had fourteen years of coalition/conservative, and now eight months of Labour, governments which seem to delight in ruining the UK economy in every way they can!
When will we have a government that believes in the UK and its people, makes us self-sufficient in energy and as close to self-sufficient in food production as we can be?
Where do we go from here?
February 28, 2025
Marxists really don’t care how many people they impoverish or kill for their ideology.
They are always right and that is an immutable fact. Facts must not get in the way.
Emigrate.
De-fund all of it.
February 28, 2025
Don’t forget – green projects, like windmills, are not there to serve the economy, produce prosperity or generate electricity. They are there to generate ground rents and subsidies for rich land owners.
February 28, 2025
Yes. Not least the pro WEF King who makes a very pretty penny from British taxpayers from leasing the sea bed for wind farms. No wonder he’s so keen on them.
“King Charles, through the Crown Estate which manages his public property, has seen a significant increase in profits from offshore wind farm leases, reaching a record £1.1 billion ($1.42 billion) in the most recent financial year, largely due to income from leasing seabed plots for wind farms around the UK. “
February 28, 2025
President Trump is now good buddies with Kier Starmer and now going to give UK some kind of trade deal.
And President Trump is also best buddies with Elon Musk who does, to a degree, believe in climate change, support, to a degree, Net Zero, and passionately supports the electric car.
Who would have thought? (A degree in PPE from Oxford counts for diddly squat trying to figure out and deal with President Trump).
March 1, 2025
You really are clueless.
February 28, 2025
Sheer Lunacy.
And the Conservatives are little better
Only a Reform-led government can save our economy now.
February 28, 2025
Hope we’ve all seen enough today of how not to behave when hosting a foreign leader to make some agreement – the thuggish elements were let loose – I fear the King’s invitation was presented prematurely and don’t know what can happen now – certainly I would not be happy to see people like this being honoured by our country.
February 28, 2025
“I fear the King’s invitation was presented prematurely … ”
Don’t think King Charles issued this invitation. It is realpolitik – the UK wants to be excluded from any US trade tariffs on Europe. If the US institutes tariffs on UK trade with the US, we’ll look back on the days when we got 0.1% growth with longing.
What was cringe-worthy, was Starmer telling Trump how special it was to get an invite more than once. That was embarrassing.
This from the guy that sent his party apparatchiks to the US to interfere in the election of the USA, at the same time sitting next to David Lammy who in the past has had some very unflattering things to say about Trump.
February 28, 2025
Zelensky’s no fool.
Zelensky’s knows well that if Trump abandons Ukraine (and Europe) this will affect the US stock market and the American and world economy. The American stock market and investors will get spooked as they already are a bit already with Trump’s tariffs. Plus Trump is just throwing too many surprises that spooks investors. Etc.
That the reality is that Trump isn’t as powerful as he thinks is going to kick in sooner or later. And if over-eggs this he’s going to get egg on his face when Americans find they have less money in their pockets. Reality will catch up. Politics isn’t business. And politics isn’t easy (as business isn’t).
March 1, 2025
“Zelensky’s no fool”
On the contrary old chap.
Zelensky was chosen because he had no thoughts of his own, and thus could be relied onto ‘just read the script’. Well, that’s worked out well!
March 1, 2025
And reading that script whilst obviously ‘under the influence’ has really worked out well-the sort of blow out I have been expecting for some time!
March 1, 2025
Zelensky chosen by who?!
Zelensky is very clever, got a big pair of cojones and moral (and flawed – like all of us)!
It’s rare to find a leader like Zelensky.
March 1, 2025
Ed M: “Zelensky chosen by who?!”
That is a very good question.
Who has the authority to frog march our MPs into Parliament, not just one party, not just two parties, but all the parties were squeezed into the chamber to hear an ‘erotic’ comedian, and one time soap actor, dribble on and on. But his immediate financial backer in the early years was Ukranian billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi.
It’s such an interesting question, because who has the authority to frog march congressmen and US Senators into Congress to laud Zelensky, and display the Ukranian flag in the citidel of US independence ?
Why was John McCain and Victoria Nuland on the stage during the Midan ‘uprising’ ?
That is an excellent question. Perhaps a partial answer is, whom ever had control of the USAID slush fund, or the funds disbursed by the NED.
As an ancillary question, you could ask, who is funding the people trafficking ( which is illegal, which our government ignores ) across the English Channel ? Those huge dinghies aren’t free, you know, but they never seem to run out of them.
February 28, 2025
Today’s White House talks collapse shows how Trump is actually playing tough with Europe and its failure to respect America’s past support and treats brave Zelenski as just a pawn to be bypassed, sadly.
Europe cannot expect America to defend Europe, especially when it takes its defence not seriously with minimal Defence Budgets.
Without US Patriot missiles Ukraine will be defenceless.
What have Europe for for this threat? Threadbare hardware no match for Russian aggression.
March 1, 2025
Don’t forget Europe’s GDP is on power (a little less) with the USA’s.
March 2, 2025
In killing the car industry this Government has stopped many buying new petrol/diesel cars and hanging onto old models, or buying into the second hand market. I am keeping my old Astra which has served me well for over 20 years and have bought a small Aygo second hand in case the Astra gives up life. This is what many of us are doing watching what will come out of this nonsense. If the Government is defeated in 2029 and we get more sensible people replacing them who will bring back petrol/diesel until we are ready to change over to whatever seems sensible then and I do not think electric cars are sensible from what I have read about batteries catching fire and where they are produced with cheap human labour. We need a lot more research into this area before putting all our eggs into one basket.