The current government out VAT on school fees. It is a bad idea which I disagree with. It is also a rare example of the government using a Brexit freedom to something it believes in. That’s how democracy should work, with Opposition parties needing to win an election to reverse a bad policy.
The current government also needed the exemption from EU rules on state aids to go rapidly to the support of the steel industry. Being dragged into the lengthy negotiations when speed was essential could have been a disaster.
The Uk can get an early and better trade deal with the US than the EU if only Ministers would be bolder and more positive.
Our tinely exit from the Eu means we are not jointly liable for the massive Euro 800 bn of new debt the EU is borrowing. That would have been rash and unaffordable given our large national debt already incurred.
April 17, 2025
Good morning.
Alas we are still joined at the hip via environmental and non-competitive agreements. We also have the fact that, part of the UK has not left the EU.
BREXIT was a job half done, at best !
April 17, 2025
Never any counter argument about removing VAT from domestic fuel bills. Because Northern Ireland is still in the EU Brussels permission would be required
The TCA specifically states that we will not become competitors to the EU and 2TK wants closer alignment.
Government will not pursue an FTA with the USA because it would benefit Britain to the detriment of the EU and we can’t have that can we.
April 17, 2025
@Mark B
The Establishment probably gave us Brexit rather than straightforward “Leave” as it hoped that Brexit would fail. Such a failure would then give it an excuse to align more closely with the EU in future.
Fortunately Brexit has not been the failure it had hoped for and I look forward to the day when the Leave vote is honoured.
April 17, 2025
They don’t care about failure, only about getting their own way. Communism was a failure, it still throttled the Russian people for 70 years.
April 17, 2025
You got a straightforward “Leave”. We left five years ago. If Brexit has failed, that tells you something about Brexit. Kindly stop blaming this mysterious “Establishment” – Brexit was delivered by Brexiters Boris Johnson, David Davis, David Frost etc
Reply Not so. Davis and Johnson resigned in protest at the very anti Brexit agreement Mrs Mays officials agreed against their wishes.
April 17, 2025
Yes, and that “very anti Brexit agreement Mrs Mays officials agreed” was rejected by our Parliament, and is not the deal that was done to secure Brexit. It was the deal negotiated by Frost and Johnson that was put to the British people at the 2019 election, and duly approved as the Brexit deal. We left on terms negotiated by Brexiters, and agreed by Brexiters (including yourself) in Parliament in January 2020. Please, no rewriting of history
Reply I did not vote for the final deal, opposing its fish, NI and financial settlement. I wanted exit relying on WTO for future trade
April 17, 2025
Reply – Reply.
Like many of us out here John.
The Remainder camp forget that some of our own Mp’s visited Europe to try and frustrate any agreement put forward, I well remember the Ben Bill which handcuffed us to not leave the EU on WTO terms, an act of self harm if ever there was one !
Some people have short memories.
April 17, 2025
Nice to know a member of Number 10’s, Nudge Unit takes an interest in this site 😉
April 17, 2025
Correct, we still need to leave ALL its institutions and get NI back ……than leave the ECHRs and the UN
April 17, 2025
@glen cullen +1
April 17, 2025
VAT on private school fees takes a rigged market and rigs it even more for a larger state. Making users of private schools pay four times over where users of state schools pay nothing. The claim by Labour that no VAT on school fees is any sort of tax break is obviously a blatant lie. But even the socialist, Greta disciple and Net Zero loon Gove (now Lord Gove) was a fan.
What was need was the exact reverse with tax breaks for people so that more paid for private schooling. Same with the NHS where IPT insurance tax at 12% replaces VAT. Fair competition between private and state please not rigged markets that kill private provision and constantly enlarge the inefficient parasitic state sector.
April 17, 2025
I wonder now that education or at least private education is no longer exempt from V.A.T. whether Labour in the interests of consistency are going to put V.A.T on University student fees or is that going to remain a massive tax ‘loophole’?
April 17, 2025
Indeed perhaps on books too. Most private tutors escape VAT too as usually below the VAT turnover threshold. So best to find a decent state schools and top up with a bit of private tuition or parental help. Then perhaps stop working so hard to pay the fees. Government then loses the income tax, NI, VAT on the school fees then has to pay for more places at state school. Plus education standards drop further and incentive to work hard drop too.
April 17, 2025
@Geoffrey Berg – for balance and integrity Labour must put VAT University fees, it is after-all what is now called private education happening in private Universities that are private companies.
No one expects that to happen – we have a TwoTier Government in a TwoTier Parliament lead by a TwoTier Prime Minster
April 17, 2025
Excellent comments from Lifelogic.
Both the school fees and private medical insurance people pay reduce the burden on the state.
Incentives would be more appropriate than penalties, but Labour penalises those who make sensible efficient choices as if doing something helpful is harmful.
Labour is backward, both in ethos and now in opinion polls.
April 17, 2025
@Bloke – so true
April 17, 2025
Hear, hear.
Shrink the bloated NHS. Scrap IPT and award an employer’s NI tax rebate to companies that provide private healthcare to their employees. Relieve the NHS of the obligation to treat lifestyle diseases and replace it with insurance, crowd funding or people can dip into their own pocket to go privately.
April 17, 2025
Dead right. Australia charges higher tax on those who do not have private health insurance. It’s a BGO.
April 17, 2025
They shouldn’t have introduced VAT on private schools ….they should’ve just removed their ‘charity’ status
April 17, 2025
We were entirely free to put VAT on school fees when we were in the EU. We had an opt out from any debt liability when we were in the EU. And a trade deal with Trump isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, as Canada and Mexico have found out. But keep on loving those Brexit freedoms, even if they are fictional!
Reply All this is nonsense.We were liable jointly for all EU debts and agreed to pay a big bill after we had left! VAT rules were enforced by the ECJ.
April 17, 2025
We weren’t “entirely free” to put VAT on school fees when we were in the EU. It is explicitly banned under EU law. Curious that you think we were. This is typical of the lies that the Remain project is famous for. VAT on school fees may also be illegal under the ECHR of which we are still members – this will be tested in court in due course.
April 17, 2025
“We had an opt out from any debt liability when we were in the EU.”
As I recall Cameron pretended to be surprised when that turned out not to be true. A comment from 2015 here:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2015/07/18/the-uk-should-not-pay-a-penny-more-to-the-eu/
“The EU has a long history not just of broken promises but of outright illegality, and Cameron must have been well aware of that and should not have accepted an agreement which he knew was only a statement of current intent and so had no more legal weight than a party’s election manifesto.
The first bailout of Greece was agreed at an extraordinary meeting of EU finance ministers, including Alistair Darling, on May 9th/10th 2010. Literally within hours there was extensive commentary suggesting that all or some of what had been agreed was illegal under the EU treaties. Even Open Europe, which seems to be close to the Tory party and claims to be influential in forming policy, ran a blog article on May 11th entitled “They said it would never happen”, which unlike some of the contemporary commentaries is still on the internet:
http://openeuropeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/they-said-it-wouldnt-happen.html
Note in particular … “
April 17, 2025
“And a trade deal with Trump isn’t worth the paper it’s written on”
Like the EU treaties, then, except the EU relies more on complexity and its ability to bore people into submission.
April 17, 2025
Canada and Mexico attacked the USA. In those circumstances you can’t expect treaties to remain intact. Mind you the EU attacked the U.K., France still does, every day, sending an army that will rise up at a single word and defeat us.
I’m reaching the point where I don’t mind leaving them a big debt.
April 17, 2025
It needs a change to a government that actually believes in the idea of Brexit to take full advantage of Brexit. That means a wait of at least another four years, if not longer, and another four years of inexorable decline.
April 17, 2025
Well the chance of a sensible government, with any real power, in four years time is alas rather remote. The chance that they would do the sensible things needed like scrap net zero, halve the size of government, cut taxes in half, deregulate and get fair competition between state and private provision is even more remote. Even if reform were the largest party Kemi is pro-net zero, pro ECHR, pro open door immigration… more likely to do a coalition with Labour than Reform.
Even if Reform were to win a full decisive majority what guarantee that some of their rapidly recruited MPs would not default to the fake Tories or the blob/Lords/Civil Servants/Quangos/international bodies…would prevent any real delivery anyway?
All rather depressing!
April 17, 2025
And what are you going to replace this government with? The wait will be a lot longer than 4 years.
April 17, 2025
Exactly – the soup will have much the same constituents, except it might look a slightly different colour.
Except that is, if it is a Reform soup it will taste a whole lot better.
April 17, 2025
The Remain soup will taste pretty similar to the usual deep-state concoction.
April 17, 2025
If we had LEFT the EU a Government could, and should, scrap VAT entirely for something far simpler.
The fact is, that under Johnson’s deal and Sunak’s Windsor Treachery we have very limited “freedom” from the EU’s rules …. and Two-Tier is about to reduce those still further.
The British people did not get what the majority voted for.
April 17, 2025
Spot On Donna
April 17, 2025
@Donna – right once again
April 17, 2025
Good Morning,
It might be interesting to note that the last time the Labour government had difficulty in borrowing and had to go to the IMF, in 1976, our national debt to GDP was about 50%; we are currently nearly 100%. Interest rates were higher then, mostly over 10% and the debt markets less liquid. Will Rachel find herself troubled by this comparison?
April 17, 2025
Even more serious than debt, our timely exit from the E.U. also means we are not jointly liable for its defence – although watch as Starmer lumbers us with several liability.
April 17, 2025
O/T – the welcome spelling indicator here seems to be set not to the honest and true version but to American English.
April 17, 2025
@formula57 – its your Browser, not the site
April 17, 2025
In a truly historic moment for precious metals markets, yesterday spot gold surpassed the $3,350/oz mark for the first time ever, equivalent to £2,537/oz. This remarkable achievement comes amid a perfect storm of economic factors, with Trump’s import tariffs, worsening geopolitical tensions and the collapse in the value of the $dollar creating unprecedented demand for this classic safe-haven asset.
The full inflationary impact of the import tariffs — which will increase US consumer costs for imported goods — remains unknown, as the Fed’s Jay Powell commented last night. The tariffs have also been applied to intermediate components imported by American companies for incorporation into their final products.
I do not know how much further gold’s price rise will go. But it’s worth noting that this year, about $7 TRILLION of American debt will have to be re-financed – at higher rates of interest. Many commentators have observed that Trump may be forced to re-value America’s own gold holdings of ~8500 tons, in which case the sky is the limit.
Gold is telling us that a dramatic collapse in the value of the $dollar may be closer than we think.
April 17, 2025
@Sakara Gold – couldn’t resit Gordon Brown (Labour) sold 395 tonnes of UK gold at $276 an ounce – because no one needed it any-more. Its the same reason given for selling the UK’s World Leading Nuclear Industry – it wasn’t needed
April 17, 2025
SG
The dollar isn’t collapsing.
Again, do your research before posting.
Over a 3 year period it is within trend
Then check 5 year values.
One month is froth.
April 17, 2025
As countries like India have a growing middle-class they tend to buy more gold. People also like to buy gold as a store of wealth and a bulwark against inflation. It has no reflection on the value of the US Dollar.
April 17, 2025
The latest proposal re the criminal migrants appears to confirm my long-held suspicion that the Establishment has a secret agreement with the EU/France that “we’ll take our fair share.”
France is apparently proposing that we can return the dinghy invaders to France providing we take the same number of “genuine applicants ” in return. That’s (a) an admission that the vast majority of the criminal migrants are not genuine refugees and (b) that the French want to off-load their problem onto us.
If they ARE genuine refugees, then France has a legal obligation to care for them.
If Two-Tier agrees to this blackmail, he is admitting that the Establishment never had any intention of stopping the criminal invasion.
April 17, 2025
@Donna – people escaping from the oppression of the EU who would have thought it
April 17, 2025
Another Brexit benefit for Labour is that Starmer can negotiate directly with Trump on a UK/USA FTA. Inside Customs Union national leaders are entirely excluded from such negotiations as it is a EU competence.
April 17, 2025
So the EU brings the weight of 27 countries to the negotiating table. We have Starmer. And you think that’s a benefit?
April 17, 2025
Yes. They have Kallis – have you heard her? Makes Starmer look like a genius.
April 17, 2025
Yes because Starmer can personally agree a deal to suit UK, on services for example, and implement it quickly without it taking 10 years to be approved by the 27 nations individually, and Belgian regional parliaments, and protracted horse trading by France to protect the French film industry etc. etc. And he can leverage the fact the US doesn’t have a massive trade deficit in goods with the UK.
April 18, 2025
27 countries, but only 2 “matter.” The interests of the rest are ignored.
April 17, 2025
Best get a move on then. Because two-tier keir is intent on creeping us back into the EU.
April 17, 2025
@Old Albion +1
I think that boat has sailed. Starmer is said to be about to sign off on a EU Agricultural deal to tie the UK to the EU and put the ECJ in charge
April 17, 2025
Freedom of choice is always better. It might take another 4 years to squeeze out the current Labour malady of a government but we’ll still be free to do so.
April 17, 2025
There cannot be a worthwhile trade deal with the US while the government are also in the process of putting through ‘dynamic alignment’ with the EU in important sectors. As we know, one of the rules with which we will have to ‘align’ is banning US agricultural products. It could be the US administration haven’t picked up on this yet as they would find it difficult to understand why any independent government would do something so dumb.
But this was of course entirely predictable – and was predicted eg by me on this site: Labour would surreptitiously seek to reverse Brexit by going for exactly such dynamic alignment. By the time they’ve done it in a few sectors we will be de facto back in the single market. Given little ambition to sign other worthwhile trade deals or eg to take advantage of CPTPP membership, it’s a short step after that to rejoin either or both of the SM and the CU. Disappointing as the last Conservative govt was they would not be doing this. Those who voted in such a way as to enable a Labour govt must accept this is the result.
It would of course be more honest of Labour, and probably a better result, for them to just say yes we want to rejoin the single market as part of the ‘reset’.
April 17, 2025
‘The current government also needed the exemption from EU rules on state aids to go rapidly to the support of the steel industry’
Is that what they did? Now the dust has settled, they appear to have shown that their pursuance of NetZero the main killer of the steel industry is still the goal. They (the Government) haven’t really taken control in ways that will ensure long term stability and survival. The override seems to be get through the local election and UK steel can go to hell for all they care.
France, Belgium, Sweden, Germany along with China and India are all maintaining full time ‘blast furnaces’ to enable them to have real quality steel. It enables them all to keep their Countries secure for the benefit of their People. The UK by Diktat of the UK Government is now allowed a future, not allowed to be self-reliant and certainly isn’t allowed Brexit the EU is even more in control as each day passes.
April 17, 2025
Great idea but that requires a government of innovation that can think for itself — When you get as we have a government that rules by inherited dogma, rehashing unworkable ideas that have failed numerous times, and who need to be driven hard to ‘correct their worst mistakes’ then there is no chance that it will strike out on its own and be original.
While most of us want to move away from EU control, this government has totally different plans for us, and are quite happy to mirror the EU until we can be legally attached to totally dissolve any good effects from BREXIT.
Yes, we should be free to govern ourselves but that will never happen when the party in power doesn’t know nor want to know what freedom to govern actually means.
April 17, 2025
Yet again you state the obvious and make me wonder whether any politicians possess common sense.
Are they all gripped by some communicable mental malaise as soon as they take office?
April 17, 2025
Do you vote in elections JayCee, or maintain a status quo in dissatisfaction?
Opinions may vary, yet many politicians are not worthy of support, as the low turnout at the last election revealed.
SJR’s sterling efforts demonstrate constructive solutions for the benefit of our country. It is odd that Labour seem unaware of, or even averse to so many better things he proposes, including some that are obvious to large numbers of our citizens too; including Labour’s own supporters.
April 17, 2025
+1 Answer: YES – it has a name like ‘Globalisation infancy syndrome’
April 17, 2025
The Government kept quiet about the earlier ban, why no media announcements?.
The UK government has brought in a temporary ban on holidaymakers bringing in cheese and meat products from the EU in a bid to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. Travellers have not been allowed to bring back items such as cured meat and cheese, including in sandwiches, since Saturday due to the growing outbreak on the continent. The restrictions apply regardless of whether the goods are packed or packaged, or bought from duty free.
It follows an earlier ban of similar products from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria after rising cases of the cattle disease in those countries.
The restrictions apply to people arriving in Great Britain, not Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, or the Isle of Man.
April 17, 2025
”not Northern Ireland” …..thats interesting
April 17, 2025
Recollect that when we had an outbreak in the UK in 2001 we had to wade through some sort of disinfectant whenever we arrived in Europe. We should do the same here – particularly if M. Micron visits.
April 17, 2025
Nothing is going to change we are going round and round in circles all talk and no action, and certainly there is nothing to be gained by chasing Trumps America because it will always be America first – then see how he treated those countries that he already had trade treaties with Canada and Mexico – we really don’t want to fall for any of that old guff. I still cringe when I think of Starmer pulling out that letter from the King ‘ the humiliation of it all.
April 17, 2025
Sir John,
I admire your optimism re freedoms to act following our exit from the EU. Unfortunately the person we have notionally in charge at the moment our very own Two tier Keir has a very different agenda. He wants to ensure the rules of the EU are not only followed by the UK but that the UK also joins in many of the EU championed projects and policies.
The collectivisation of defence being one of those policies along with harmonisation of defence procurement.
We need to enact a proper exit from the EU not one in name only. I have no doubt Starmer will side with the EU if it means a choice between a trade deal with the USA and not having said trade deal. That is how malicious Starmer and his cabinet of wreckers are.
Don’t mention Net Zero.
April 17, 2025
Dear Mr. Redwood,
Govern ourselves? I think you over-estimate the quality of our recent crop of MP’s. There is nothing they like better than having power without responsibility. Thus they:
Reset the ‘relationship’ with the EU so that we are a rule-taker once again.
Allow civil servants to determine the direction of the country.
Create a few more dozen quangos and outsource decision-making.
Appoint a few more SpAds to tell them what to think.
Fire off a few letters to constituents having first cut and pasted someone else’s reply onto House of Commons notepaper and pretend they have solved the constituent’s grievance.
Even the Courts have to tell our MP’s what a man and a woman is.
April 17, 2025
We can sack them. That’s governing ourselves. I see even Liz Truss says this whole political class must be replaced.
April 17, 2025
see – she’s not all bad!
April 17, 2025
Oh she is pretty good, just made one fatal mistake. That’s all it takes. If she had cut wasteful spending she would still be PM.
April 17, 2025
It is unfortunate that independence has meant governments making many bad decisions. I know it isn’t possible but I would dearly like to be able to choose individuals rather than parties to send to Parliament. Many Brexiteers wanted to drain the swamp of Westminster and Whitehall. It didn’t happen so EU style and orthodoxies remain prevalent. If only I could have Sir John Redwood and no more than two dozen or so other good people rather than having to fill 650 seats and a bloated cabinet.
Presumably somebody has worked out we need 650 to keep constituencies at some average size.
But I find the Parliamentary Review in 2023 established an electoral quota of 73,393, which seems to be the voting age population divided by 650. Accordingly, every recommended constituency (except the five ‘protected’ constituencies) must have an electorate as at 2 March 2020 that is no smaller than 69,724 and no larger than 77,062. So 650 is the starting point. Why 650? We need less government and better government. Perhaps Sir John could comment on what would be the optimum size of constituency to limit the constituency work load on MPswhile leaving a reasonable amount of time for parliamentary business. We should start there and then work out how many constituencies are needed.
Reply An MP could look after 100,000 so we could reduce numbers by around a quarter or 160+
April 17, 2025
Join you party and choose the individual you want to stand as your candidate. That’s how we did it until the party machines were allowed to trash that critical democratic right.
In elections we ALWAYS vote for our representative – a person – and NOT parties. That’s why I have voted on occasion for different parties, because the best candidate is not always from the same party.
April 17, 2025
reply to reply …an MP ‘looks after’ could easily be 200,000 what is the difference?
April 17, 2025
@Richard1 +1
That was the whole point, and is why he has also willing to have the ECJ in charge not the UK Parliament or Courts. The same with the defence pact, the UK pays the French and the EU profit
April 17, 2025
@Reply
If only. The much talked about USA manages to run a country with 435 representatives and 4 time the population.
Cut the numbers of MP’s pay them more so as to encourage experience – Oh and ban Political Parties that exclude the electorate from being the sole chooser of candidates
April 18, 2025
But there are also 5,411 representatives and 1,972 senators at the level of the 50 States (poliengine.com ‘How many politicians are there in the USA?’)
And where have you seen that paying someone more will guarantee ´more experience’?
Final one: is the electorate at large or the party members supposed to be ´the sole choosers of candidates’?
April 18, 2025
Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas Peter. Parliament is a very lucrative gravy train for “professional” politicians.
April 17, 2025
Back in 1975 I eventually opted to stay because at that time there was only one political party in favour of independent education. The other two were pledged to abolish it. At that time our country was very left wing and the EU not so, or not so apparently left wing. I judged staying in would make it harder for the socialists and liberals to shut down everything that wasn’t a “bog standard comprehensive.” For me, independent education was paramount.
April 17, 2025
Oh dear. Never vote to change constitutions on short term issues.
April 19, 2025
I was young and foolish. I got it right the second time around.
April 17, 2025
‘Sir Keir Starmer is to join a European Union net zero scheme as soon as next month in a move that risks driving up energy bills for millions of households.
The Prime Minister is planning to use a summit in May to align the UK and EU emissions trading schemes as part of his “reset” with Brussels.’
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/16/starmers-eu-net-zero-deal-to-drive-up-energy-bills/
A self Governing sovereign democracy whose PM wants those he serves under the yoke of the unelected unaccountable elsewhere
Brexit, what Brexit? 2TK has undone in under a year all notions of the vote to ‘leave’, all the promises of independence voted on in 2016 thrown away it doesn’t suit his ego and need to subjugate a whole nation. Then again he is supported by a corrupt Parliament that has sought not to do their job – preferring to fight the people and enshrine WEF Marxist/Socialism on the Nation.
April 17, 2025
Actually, Sir John, you may have missed out the most important potential benefit of being out of the EU, which is that we are not bound by the European Climate Law:
https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/european-climate-law_en
“The European Climate Law writes into law the goal set out in the European Green Deal for Europe’s economy and society to become climate-neutral by 2050. The law also sets the intermediate target of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.
Climate neutrality by 2050 means achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions for EU countries as a whole, mainly by cutting emissions, investing in green technologies and protecting the natural environment.
The law aims to ensure that all EU policies contribute to this goal and that all sectors of the economy and society play their part.”
But I can only identify this as a POTENTIAL benefit because while our political elite continue to believe that we must play our small part in the net zero crusade we will carry on doing it anyway, at enormous economic cost.
For six decades up to 2008 the UK trend growth rate was 2.7% a year, since 2008 it has been 1.1% a year.
April 17, 2025
I voted Leave, as did a majority. But we have been betrayed by every government since then. If the Conservatives had done the job properly, Labour could not drag us back in, as they are determined to do.
The gap between what ordinary people want and believe, and our elite class of MPs, House of Lords, senior Civil Servants, Quangos and Judges is growing so wide it will explode. Look at Immigration tribunals, where Judges make decisions that directly contradict what people want. How can it take a Supreme Court decision to define the simple fact that only a biological woman is a woman?
No wonder mental illness among younger people is growing when they are told, completely wrongly, that GW/CC/Net Zero will destroy the world. Where are the intelligent, grown-up MPs with common sense who are prepared to challenge this nonsense?
April 17, 2025
The majority of people voting for BREXIT did so in order to stop free movement. They believed naively that such a vote would stop us being overwhelmed by immigrants from everywhere, not just the EU. No party that does not recognise this and is prepared to take effective action will win a majority in the HoC ever again. The English are sick of being swamped by unassimilable aliens who are given protection to indulge in their third world predilections whilst the English are constrained by Hate crime laws that mean that they are more likely to go to prison than gang rapists.
April 17, 2025
O/T 17/04/2025 foreignaffairs.com ‘The Russia that Putin made’, A.Gabuev.
(It does not appear to be behind a paywall).
April 17, 2025
Thanks for that hefner. Thought – provoking argument but sadly I note that Putin is younger than myself.
April 17, 2025
Tying carbon credits scheme to one used by Brussels will push up cost of electricity, say critics
Sir Keir Starmer is to join a European Union net zero scheme as soon as next month in a move that risks driving up energy bills for millions of households.
The Prime Minister is planning to use a summit in May to align the UK and EU emissions trading schemes as part of his “reset” with Brussels.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/
April 17, 2025
@glen cullen – Correct but that doesn’t matter to 2TK he is anti UK and believes in the WEF Socialist mega State that is the EU. Just as he is signing up to carry the EU Debts for the EU defence pact. Just as he is to sign up to alignment with EU Agriculture rules putting the ECJ in charge of UK Courts. There are many more just give aways that all cost the UK and profit the EU.
He will use that to suggest even closer engagement so the UK can have a voice, as he (2TK) and Parliament has proved that means UK voices and concerns will not be heard. The UK will keep paying.
April 17, 2025
All very true but we are seeing now a flurry of articles re a real mix of policy issues, Trading, Fish, Security, EU Net Zero laws alignment, Veterinary, Energy integration, migrant swaps, Youth free movement, a rejoin of Emissions Trading Systems, all making ready for the Starmer Reset soon to be upon us, May 19th, despite the usual ” We will not provide running commentary on talks” – UKG.
” The security agreement would have to go hand in hand with fisheries” – An EU diplomat recently.
” Honey on Toast” – Opinion on Starmer, emanating from an EU individual in the not too distant past, comparing him to what was on the plate from ‘the last lot’
( Good article on the Facts4eu site: Starmer’s secret Security Deal to hand back control to Brussels )
Meanwhile, White House Officials believe a trade deal with Britain can be finalised within 3 weeks. Which takes us, more or less, up to May 19th Reset date when we’ll have a better idea what will be done to us.
Let’s see if the toolmaker’s son uses the essential tool in any negotiation, that of walking away from the table.
April 17, 2025
Sir John,
this is all after rationalisation on a very bad Brexit deal, and there would be significantly more in it for us making a better deal with the EU than an unreliable US
Reply Every EU demand will make things worse, with more migration, higher taxes and slower growth. Their carbon and emissions taxes are a disaster, closing down industry.
April 17, 2025
Dear Sir John, You are right except that the last thing we want is any comprehensive free trade deal with the United States, especially one negotiated by this government (or its predecessor). That would tie up our freedoms nearly as much as an EU deal, particularly if it involved investment or food and agriculture. Just imagine if British Steel had been US-owned and we could do nothing about it.
The best for us would be to agree to accept a general 10 per cent tariff , which would cover America’s legitimate point about VAT. In exchange we should ask them to drop the premium tariffs on our steel, aluminium and luxury car exports, which are insignificant relative to their home market, or if pushed just agree loose premium-free quotas.
April 18, 2025
Legitimate? Please explain.
Vat is charged on the consumer in the EU/UK. Vat registered business can recover import vat and vat charged on purchases. The US supplier may suffer US local sales taxes in the US cost chain prior to export. Perhaps they need consider allowing local US recovery of sales taxes on exports?
April 18, 2025
Sorry anon, it may be as you say, depending on the circumstances of suppliers and customers. I was tacitly accepting the US case that some disadvantage arose from the mismatch between our tax on value added and their sales tax system. Given that we are dealing with people who claim that President Zhelensky, elected on a reconciliation ticket in 2019, had in less than 3 years made himself a dictator and started an aggressive war against Russia, perhaps I was naive.
April 18, 2025
‘ Opposition parties needing to win an election to reverse a bad policy.’
How many bad policies can be pushed through in five years? And when they are, why does any incoming Tory government (with only one exception) never reverse the bad laws? Thirteen years of Blair and Brown, and what did Cameron do after winning? Rushed into a cosy consensus with the LibDems and let the whole panoply of EU, Climate change, benefits-entitlement and Equal Rights legislation simply sit there untouched. And he and May and then Sunak even added to it.