The UK has long be feted as a nation of shopkeepers. We have some great retailers with strong brands. Amazon came to the UK to take on one of the most advanced and efficient retail sectors in the world. The sector has luckily avoided nationalisation and the more extreme forms of government intervention. As a result we have avoided rationing of food and clothes. Meanwhile the NHS rations non urgent health care by long waiting lists. Councils and government limit the supply of nationalised roads to keep drivers fuming in congestion,suffering peak hour road works and closures. You do not see Heathrow airport closing the main runway for repairs at the busiest time for landings during the day. We have plenty of choice of shops, with market leaders like Tesco and Next achieving fast growth and high standards. We do not have a bread shortage, though state regulated water monopolies give us a water shortage.
Nonetheless Amazon has gone from a start up US business selling books in 1995 to having 30% of the UK on line shopping market today. 85% of all UK consumers use Amazon for some of their purchases. It is true Tesco dominates in on line groceries, with Sainsbury and Asda also important. Next Directory is a great business success selling clothes and household goods. . Amazon has only been able to make such a dent in the general retail market place by the excellence of its technology, the ease of access and use, and the high quality of delivery and service. Some more traditional UK retailers have struggled to come up with a good enough on line offer to compete.
Amazon has advanced its competitive foothold in the UK by being fast and flexible in understanding customer wishes and responding to customer needs. It has greatly expanded the range of what it sells, to give customers maximum choice at the click of a mouse. It has two mega warehouses and many other distribution points so it has the stock to rush goods to people as soon as they buy them. It expanded its delivery system at record pace when covid lockdowns caused many more people to want to shop on line. When other retailers were having to limit our access to their shops to conform with government health advice, and were rationing access on line for lack of capacity, Amazon seized the opportunity for major expansion.
Great companies listen to all their customers and seek to cater for all of them. I myself as an Amazon user refuse to pay for Amazon Prime. Amazon tried to shock people like me into paying the subscription by increasing the delivery charges. Clearly enough of us objected and withdrew custom, as they soon stopped that and said sorry . Tesco who built my loyalty to buy many of my household basics from them through sensible price promotions and good whole basket discounts went too far, only offering a discount on a much larger shop than I needed. They have decided not to bother to win me back. It is easy to lose customers, difficult to get them to return.
Amazon handle complaints and returns well. They keep your retail history to make re ordering so easy and to remind you what you bought and what it cost. They have built total global sales to over last year’s $775 bn, branching out into crucial new business areas in digital technology. They generate an impressive $500,000 of sales per employee and now employ 1.6 million people worldwide. They daily strive to improve, looking to provide better value and quality with everything they do. They adapt and adopt new technologies to get things to people cheaper and faster. Their on line shop is very accessible, making it easy to choose and to specify where and when you want it delivered. Some other retail sites are much harder work trying to get through all the stages to finally complete a transaction, or even to see the goods and read their design details and specification.
The UK public sector has so much to learn about great on line access and great customer service. State computers threaten you if you cannot make them work, often fail to offer choices you like and are out to serve their owners, not their clients. The public sector does not think about your convenience but theirs. It does not ask what we the customers would like, but what they are willing to provide. They want to stress the rules. Amazon stresses the convenience and the product they can supply.
Amazon knows it can only hold its current success and expand its sales if it continues to improve daily what it supplies, keeps its prices keen, and sustains fast deliveries. There is a good UK retail sector left, ready to take back some of that lost market share. It is competition which drives the innovation, the quality and the better service. The Uk public sector usually insists on monopoly provision, backed up by taxes, rules, and fines to make people conform with what it is prepared to supply.
The nationalised railway concentrates on building a new line that will be more than a decade delayed and billions over budget. It could spend that money on improving punctuality and capacity on main routes which is what travellers want. If Amazon ran trains they would arrive on time and would use the latest technology for signals and safety. The nationalised roads concentrate on making it more difficult for vehicles to get about, pursuing a policy of wanting contraction in the vehicle fleet and in usage of the network. The nationalised Post office fails to capitalise through its network of counters on the demand for in person banking and services as other business automate too much. The Post Office prefers to lose lots of money and claim a grant from taxpayers.
We need more of the Amazon touch in our public services. Put customers first. Always ask what they want. Look to use latest technology in a customer friendly and accessible way. Use staff to deliver the service to people promptly and efficiently. We could save billions and cheer us all up as government turned from being a bad hectoring presence to being our friendly supporter.
August 16, 2026
Amazon Prime is a way of hooking customers to a regular direct debit. I know an old man who only discovered he’d subscribed to Prime when he looked at his bank statement.
As soon as Amazon attains a monopoly in any market it increases prices. It needs to be broken up to preserve a free market.
Reply You do not have to use it. Amazon makes clear when you buy something if it is with Prime or not.
August 16, 2026
Amazon Prime is infact good value as it removes delivery charges which can be recouped after 2 or 3 purchases monthly. I needed to replace the number plates on my car and went to Halfords and the fixing kits were out of stock
I looked on Amazon. £1.99 delivered next day.
You also forgot to mention it gives access to Prime TV. Some very good back catalogue movies and dramas there.
Much better value than the £200 per month council tax which gives me very little.
The public sector and the government as a whole have no concept of value for money, their overriding ethos is to feather their own nests.
August 16, 2026
More interested in finding ways to fine you for parking 2 mins longer than allowed, putting a wheel in an empty bus lane, spitting a fly out of you mouth, putting the wrong rubbish in a bin or pouring a bit of left over coffee down a drain. All those wages, benefits and gold plated pensions to pay out.
August 16, 2026
‘ If Amazon ran trains..’
This is reminiscent of those Carlsberg adverts ‘If Carlsberg… they would probably be the best in the world’
I never cared for Carlsberg, even the carefully poured draught I tried in Copenhagen.
Might as well ask Sir Tim Martin to run trains. At least he is based in the UK and his taxable profits are not diverted to Luxembourg.
August 16, 2026
I a private company ran trains in the UK they would close nearly all routes as most make no commercial sense and require large subsidies of more than the ticket prices. This especially when self driving cars and far cheaper driverless taxis are arriving soon.
August 16, 2026
Apart from the Reacher and Clarkson series i rarely find anything to watch on Prime and their sport is sporadic.
If you get multiple deliveries per month it is fantastic value but the video is a distraction and a portal for them to get you to sign up to other platforms.
The masters of the upsell. I need the civil service to get the basics right not upsell me on further encroachment
August 16, 2026
You should try looking harder.
I subscribed to Amazon Prime when BBC got rid of Jeremy Clarkson, and now find plenty of Amazon Prime content to watch and no longer pay the BBC tax.
August 16, 2026
Yes it means one you pay for prime you are probably better to use Amazon for the next delivery rather than looking elsewhere.
I see that I and my family order about 159 items PA. I have never had any problems anything faulty was promptly refunded or replaced thing that went wrong after the return period that should have lasted longer were refunded or replaced. Once you manage to get through to someone they are very fair in their dealings I find.
Other benefits too.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G6LDPN7YJHYKH2J6
I quite like kindle unlimited too and the pressreader app (this I get free from the state library service – so I do get something from the state this and an the occasion pee in a public loo if you can find one still open in the UK). And now I even get my state pension and my. Oyster card linked to my railcard for tube discounts.
Alas we do not get decent defence systems, law and order, social services, border control and the states net zero religion triples out electricity bill and over taxation and red tape wrecks jobs the economy.
August 16, 2026
“It’s not a moment for any rushing to judgement. It’s a moment for reflection, I would say, reflecting on how things came to this.” Says Burnham on the sad death of Jason Arday.
Well that is for people to decide for themselves I blame labour’s evil equality act (and the Tories for not repealing it) the evil discriminatory DEI agenda, two brains Willetts (UK Minister of State for Universities and Science from 2010 to 2014) , the many moronic people in the Cambridge Education department (and alas elsewhere at the university) who pushed this lunacy. This trashing the universities and everyone’s degrees reputation so conclusively.
Rushing to judgement and reversing all the DEI (which is patently evil and blatant discrimination) would surely be a very good thing as soon as possible Burnham?
Let us hope we do not have too many over promoted “diversity” appointments designing bridges, nuclear power plants, aircraft, cars, fire systems, buildings or performing medical operations & treatments, policing systems, legal systems or designing or prescribing drugs.
P
August 16, 2026
Quite.
The real demons in this episode are not the media who did their job but the recruiters who put the ex professor in the role in the first place and were either afraid or unwilling to do due diligence on his appointment.
They then compounded their error by pulling the race card when confronted rather than listening.
The Good Law Project should be hanging its head in shame for their involvement
August 16, 2026
+1
August 16, 2026
When things go right Amazon customer service is fine especially for faulty or unwanted purchases but don’t ever get involved in cross border or complicated disputes with them. They are incredibly unhelpful and only refund £15 postage.
August 16, 2026
I have never had any issues with Amazon on over 1000 purchases that they have not sorted to my satisfaction – even after some 12 months warranties had expired when the item should reasonably have lasted more than 12 months. Note you can also take it up with the credit card company to get redress if over £100 for an item.
August 16, 2026
In under £100 there is also a voluntary recall scheme with payment cards.
August 16, 2026
R to R
I would slightly disagree JR.
They may make it ‘known’, but I would question if it is ‘clear’. It is a bit like the old fashioned ‘small print’ 😉
But yes, we so have a choice and, I do avoid Amazon where I can, even if it costs a little more.
August 16, 2026
Amazon are very sneaky in the way they promote ‘Prime’ It’s easy to unintentionally join it.
Wasn’t Amazon criticised heavily at one time by the media and politicians. For paying pitiful wages?
August 16, 2026
They pay what the law (and supply and demand makes them pay). Same the as other businesses do. To pay more would put them at a competitive disadvantage and they would then sell fewer things and have to lay people off.
If the government were to make employing people and firing people less regulated wages would actually go up as companies and good workers would not have to carry the freeloading bad workers.
August 16, 2026
@LL. I’m not sure that unregulated wages would increase income for “good” workers. I rather think it would lead to intense lobbying by compamies for mass immigration in order to drive wages down. This was one of the reasons big business loved the EU in the early days, as the Poles and others (“good” workers) flooded in, suppressing wages for the rest of us (and ultimately for themselves).
August 16, 2026
Good worker would be paid more as employers could then retain only the good workers not the unsuitable ones. making the business far more profitable. The good workers would not longer have to cover the bad ones wages. Same is true for tenancies good tenants have to cover the costs and huge delays of evicting bad tenants.
August 16, 2026
Maybe the man needs to be more aware of his finances rather than blaming Amazon.
August 16, 2026
‘The public sector does not think about your convenience but theirs. It does not ask what we the customers would like, but what they are willing to provide. They want to stress the rules. ‘
Kingston libraries –
‘Due to the current high temperatures, some libraries will be closing early to help keep our visitors and staff safe and comfortable.‘
The hard life of a librarian, struggling into work at 10am. Then a similar environment to steel workers of old at their blast furnaces. It’s wonderful that they are so concerned about the safety and comfort of their visitors. Readers get in the way of toddlers who need to sing ‘the wheels of the bus’ and oldies who need to play bridge. Probably best to get rid of all the books that get in the way and cost money.
They have a boss who lets them get away with this. Same with the Highways department. Escalate it to the Lib Dem council and the Highways Department just fob them off with excuses.
August 16, 2026
The public sector first need to stop punching the public in the face with things they do not want but have to pay for. Things that often do net harms – Covid vaccines, Covid Lockdowns, Net Zero rip off energy, phone alarms to scare people about fires, the BBC propaganda outfit, the many soft “loans” for worthless degrees even for people from overseas mainly not ever repaid… then we need a level playing field between the private sector and the state sector in healthcare, schooling, universities, transport, banking, housing… why should I have to pay 4 times over if I choose to use private schools or a private medical insurance? Why should some people get half price housing and others not?
August 16, 2026
Yes this is one of my favourite sayings to the wife-what if Amazon ran
the NHS,
the BBC,
the local Council
the trains
HMRC
DVLA?
But it would need competition, which would be perfectly possible in all of these.
Public service is pathetically slow in using technology.
August 16, 2026
Amazon and others would win the no-real contest.
August 16, 2026
Fair competition is perfectly possible between State and private provisions healthcare, schools. Universities, transport, housing… but the state systems would all fail without them hugely rigging the market as they do now with taxation and subsidies.
August 16, 2026
Good morning.
Council Tax.
Here is a tax whereby I, as a consumer, would like to pick and choose which services the Council offer me. If I require my bins emptied once a week because I have a large family, then I should be allowed to have this offered as an extra service, at an additional cost to me. Same with schools, adult care and so on. Why should I pay for services I do not consume ?
We should also think about putting Councils’ out to private tender / franchise. A management company could buy contracts of Council employees much like they do in the Private Sector. They can then run the Council for a period of say, 10 years, receiving as payment for services given in the form of Council Tax. I, as a consumer, would be sent a list of services I would like to use and be charged for plus, any addition contributions to assist those less fortunate. You get this all the time at checkouts in supermarkets and restaurants where, they ask you if you wish to donate to some charity and so on.
What I am proposing is, we introduce a ‘feedback loop’ much like we have in the Private Sector where, if you do no provide the services and / or goods people would like for the price they are willing to pay, then you do not make any money.
Simple.
PS Let us hope this missive gets posted today 😉
August 16, 2026
I’d like to opt out of the service that pays care home costs for those who spent all they ever had and put nothing by for their old age.
That would be a big chunk off my council tax.
August 16, 2026
+1
August 16, 2026
True – but socially and historically the intent was to provide for those who fell on hard times, not the irresponsible shirkers out there, growing by thousands every year.
August 16, 2026
Pick and choose Council services was the basis of the academy school system.
Now many councils don’t offer many LEA services because there is no demand or economy of scale That in most cases is not because those services were defective but because chains ran their own or recieved kickbacks from suppliers.
No money has been saved but our taxes have been privatised.
The principle you suggest is correct but needs careful implementation
August 16, 2026
@Mark B. I wonder if this approach is used anywhere across the world. It sound appealing for the taxpayer. I imagine there would be a lot of issues regarding the powers and responsibilities of local v national government. Westminster legislates but often forces local government to provide the “service” and pay most or all of the cost (i.e. charge residents). We might need more decision-making at a local level on what services to offer for your system to work. Westminster might balk at that.
August 16, 2026
I live in a private cul-de-sac. The council has no responsibility for the road. No street lighting is present. We are responsible for the sewage/drainage systems. We have to have insurance in case someone comes in and causes accidental damage. We even have to be insured should someone slip over and hurt themselves.
The council does empty our bins………well worth £3500/year 🙁
August 16, 2026
So John, you appear to be suggesting the Country needs a management capable of the simple act, of ‘managing’ What it doesn’t need is political religious ideologues that lack real word experience and ability trying to direct . People pushing their own personal ego and agendas before managing the Country for ‘All’ it people.
Create the framework for earning, a strong economy, having ‘earned’ money behind any wish list before letting personal aspirations getting in the way
August 16, 2026
In your dreams. It’s the political religious ideologues who actively seek election. Sensible people are too busy doing their useful jobs, so come election time it’s Hobson’s choice.
August 16, 2026
@Dave Andrews – that situation comes back to a Parliament fighting against Democracy. The last thing anyone in this UK Parliament wants is a situation that to stand to represent a constituency you first have to be put on the ballot paper by those constituents. Their version is a perversion of ‘Government for the People by the People’, the accepted meaning of Democracy, that is the last thing it is, it has become rule by ‘Gang Bosses’, the bully in the house – the playground. In a nutshell this perversion means it is at best an interpretation of democracy to suit the ego of a few. Your choice is not who will represent and work for you, but which bully is the least offensive
August 16, 2026
A civil service application form is a nightmare to complete.
I might posit that anyone who has time to fill one in shouldn’t be employed for the role advertised.
August 16, 2026
Where Amazon is particularly strong is in delivering what the customer wants quickly (not necessarily at the cheapest price) and keeping its employees under control. The Anszon employees do not get uppity like civil servants.
Civil servants need to work for the client base not for themselves. Deunionising would be a good first step (see ONS attendance on site for a very good example of union power)
August 16, 2026
amazon although largely a utility we all need now, is there due to social engineering by politicians. the tax treatment, use of foreign workers, and other aspects of their business model are dependent on the way the tax, accounting, intellectual property, use of foreign workers, are organised by the state.
more than anything else they have studied the laws and play them to the extreme. it is not a level playing field.
August 16, 2026
The absolute reality in today’s Civil Service and the Public Sector in general is they have lost sight of what their duty and responsibility to the people who pay for them is.
The Public Sector have one and only one priority. That is to look after the Public Sector.
That is the real issue we have to deal with.
August 16, 2026
“there is always a well-known solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.”
Amazon is good at what it does, making money. I doubt Amazon would have the slightest interest in providing lavatories, sweeping streets, dealing with the sick, lame and lazy and drugged up. Unless of course massively massively subsidised. Which is not the idea at all – I hope.
What Councils and Government do is all the crappy jobs no one wants to do because they are troublesome and expensive to do (properly). So they get done hardly at all or badly.
The IEA consists of intelligent capitalists who will willingly lobby the more stupid and more venal politicians to adopt a policy any fool can see leads to costly failure. So go ahead, this notion is strictly for propaganda. Bang the drum and stir up the barmy end of the Right Wing. But Amazon is not so daft as to have anything to do with it.
The FT has a good article on why the Balmol’s Disease effect applies to public services. Free to read for Lords and MPs, us plebs have to use a little ingenuity. Try it.
August 16, 2026
I get money off vouchers through the post from Tesco. I noticed a month or so ago that they were handing out vouchers of money off if I spent over a certain amount – way more than I spend! I notice they’ve subsequently stopped this and gone back to the money of vouchers!
August 16, 2026
Hear, hear.
Surprised you omitted the NHS, which is most definitely a supplier oriented organisation with an overarching philosophy of socialism.
August 16, 2026
‘Meanwhile the NHS rations non urgent health care by long waiting lists.’
I have seen how the NHS rations *urgent* health care – by GPs refusing referral for specialist diagnosis (eg. of cancer) until the patient’s symptoms are acute and life-threatening.
August 16, 2026
82 illegals yesterday
August 16, 2026
Amazon ? That company that pays barely any tax and uses unskilled migrants subsidised to live here by the state ???
A reminder. Amazon does not produce the SAS or brain surgeons. The state does that.
The privatised water companies have failed to build a single reservoir in the thirty years that saw immigration take our population to 16 million more people… including Amazon warehouse workers and drivers.
August 17, 2026
How about the nationalised Royal Mail who are always losing stuff rather than what they are paid for which is actually delivering stuff. Both things sent from here and addressed to here have been lost by Royal Mail. I once complained to the local sorting office and they had the cheek to reply saying that they basically couldn’t care less.