As government ministers are talking about some spending reductions let me repeat some of my proposals talked about on this blog. A fuller version of this should be the Daily Telegraph today.
1. Stop the small boat people trade which will save the big hotel costs and the need to build more social houses to house them
2. Stop funding Councils to put in aggressive anti vehicle traffic mismanagement measures on our main local roads
3. Stop making grants to farmers to turn farmland into wilderness
4. Tell the railways the government will not pay increasing subsidy levels for those little used train services that are not wanted by the travelling public. railways should concentrate on increasing use of more popular services.
5.Tell the Bank of England it must not for the next year sell bonds at a loss triggering Treasury/taxpayer reimbursement for their realised losses.
6. Refuse more borrowing to Councils wanting to acquire a property portfolio
7. Remove from the overseas aid list all governments with space programmes, nuclear weapon development or ownership, and abusers of human rights
8.Remove tv licence fee cases from the criminal courts to ease pressure on the justice system.
October 3, 2022
Agree fully, Perhaps someone could expand on farmers turning their fields into a wilderness. Are we talking about drought and erosion or something else which could end in a sale to be sold off for housing?
October 3, 2022
Fiddling while Rome burns proposals designed to insulate the Tories but not in anyway designed to save the UK from Left wing psychopaths
We need material and meaningful reductions targeting progressive Labour power bases that have taken control since 1997 of all areas of the public sector and many areas of the wider State ie judiciary, BBC etc
If the Tory party isn’t going to act in a manner necessary to save this nation from the rabid Left then pack up and let the Left in to unleash their thinly concealed agenda. And we can see what happens when they achieve power. Look at the US.
October 3, 2022
Good Morning
9 Privatise Channel 4
10 Privatise BBC
11 Stop HS2
12 Take immediate measures to accelerate fracking in
view of energy security and gas pipelines to Europe
being attacked. Collect taxes on production/ export
of gas, while saving CO2 emissions.
13 Stop government attacks on private rental
landlords/tenants, increasing workplace mobility and
increasing tax receipts
14 Stop funding woke attacks on our society via
charities
15 Abolish EU laws inhibiting UK business eg on UK Art
Auctions Houses, one of many
October 4, 2022
+1
October 3, 2022
16 Scrutinise and minimise legacy payments to EU
October 3, 2022
Require the NHS to charge for treatment for overseas patients, based on eligibility and NI payments. Every other country manages to do this.
October 3, 2022
Reinstate duty free for UK travellers and tax refund for overseas visitors shopping in the UK
October 3, 2022
Freeze the bbc licence fee for five years. The bbc is far too dominant in UK national and local media and will be forced to cut their cloth to suit, maybe even reducing bloated presenters salaries.
October 3, 2022
Re Item 7: also remove Foreign Aid from all governments that are run by military dictators, and those that are rife with the kind of corruption that most European electorates cannot begin to comprehend.
October 3, 2022
Discontinue preferential duty for private jet fuel. They should pay the same as everybody else.
October 4, 2022
I think the distinction is that international airline fuel is untaxed.
October 4, 2022
or more !
October 3, 2022
Thank you, Sir John for putting on the top of your list (quite rightly so) the terrible situation regarding the dingy invaders. It is really an indictment against virtually the whole of Parliament that politicians in both Houses have not made this their number one priority. The knock on impact of allowing them even to enter the country is immense. In truth the country cannot afford it in any shape or form. Something also has to be done about the RNLI crews entering French waters and lifting these people. They are aiding and abetting a criminal act and as such should face prosecution unless they of course return them to French beaches.
October 4, 2022
Patrol our territorial sea limit line – 12 miles offshore – with fast patrol boats. Any invading boats to be advised that they if they continue on course they will become illegal immigrants. Failure to to turn about immediately will result in their being disabled/sunk.
October 3, 2022
Close the House of Lords.
October 4, 2022
+1
October 3, 2022
Some great ideas John but will Truss and co consider them and can your fractured party agree? How about stopping free nhs services to tourists? Cutting back on the numbers of quangos? Stopping all diversity courses and other woke rubbish and most of all scrapping net zero.
October 3, 2022
Those are mostly obvious. Any Govt worth having would have prevented such nuisances from occurring in the first place.
October 3, 2022
Uncosted and I suspect will raise nothing like the 47 billion your tax cuts will allegedly lose you not forgetting the remainder of the current account deficit.
No H2S, no NHS, no public sector pension costs, egregious waste in MOD/public sector purchasing, no efficiency savings through public sector head count and so it goes on.
Looks like āfiddling whilst Rome burnsā
And in the meantime Goveās motor mouthed self importance continues to put his own agenda above the needs of his party. Time for him to be thrown out.
October 3, 2022
Good morning,
Oi ! Redwood, get your own list !
š
Seriously though. Nice of you to post this.
October 3, 2022
Now that is a list I can relate to! To me, they are commonsense measures, that put the people of this Country first, for a change,
I dream that, one day, we will have a Government who will implement them,
October 3, 2022
Those will cover a few weeks of the energy price cap I suppose. How about cancelling HS2 which will save more than those all put together ?
Truss won’t make any significant cuts. She won’t cut NHS funding, or Education, and is committed to increasing defence spending by 50%.
October 3, 2022
What, an uncosted financial proposal? The markets will be panicing…. even if this gives savings
October 3, 2022
Very sensible suggestions Sir John. I could add a few more but what’s the point? I will be pleasantly surprised if just one of those cost saving suggestions is implemented, but I live in hope.
October 3, 2022
Superb.
You seem to be the only person saying this.
The burgeoning bureaucracy needs trimming too. Is anyone brave/foolish enough to take that one on though?
October 3, 2022
All excellent ideas. But what about HS2?! If the govt had just announced the cancellation of this monstrous white elephant project together with the mini-budget it would have 1) more than paid for all the āunfunded tax cutsā and 2) sent a powerful signal to the capital markets and to taxpayers that money will not be squandered on vanity projects. I really hope this comes.
Itās a big test – if they flunk it I think they are doomed.
October 3, 2022
R1, we are unaware of the contracts that have been signed for HS2 and it may well be that cancellation will be as expensive in cash terms as actually finishing it.
October 3, 2022
So, now we know the ambitions of the Right:-
You Will Own Nothing And Be Very Unhappy.
The same as they ever were, in fact.
October 3, 2022
The corollary is that they will own everything and be happier than ever.
October 3, 2022
Who said that?
October 4, 2022
I await the reserved driving lane – buses, ambulances, electric vehicles!
October 4, 2022
Perhaps you missed this part of the speech NLH:
“We will also speed up the delivery of infrastructure and promote house building to create a true home owning, shareholding democracy.”
or this
“When Business Secretary – I saw the creativity, the drive, the entrepreneurial spirit. We have to celebrate our entrepreneurs, our business people, our job creators, people who are taking risksā¦But I also saw where government got in the way of progress. My job now is to free that potential.”
Doesn’t sound like this government wants to own things, in fact he also said:
The Labour Party would have you believe that every penny you earn should go straight into the Governmentās coffers. The Labour Party believe that they know how to spend your money better than you do….Last week we saw a Labour Party with the same old ideas – Renationalisation”
That sounds more like a government that wants to own and run everything.
October 3, 2022
9 all foreigners have to fund full medical insurance at market rates, which takes into account pre existing medical conditions, before being given a visa to enter the country. And the NHS to actively insist their medical insurance pays up.
10 massive increase in price of work visas
11 charge work visa holders and their employers full national insurance from day one in this country
12 tax allowance to be pro rata the amount of the tax year you are in this country
13 radical reform of family courts to help more families stay together and more children to stay close to their fathers
14 stop discrimination against white hetro working class males by employers like the RAF
15 stop tax breaks for electric cars
16 stop allowing foreign employees tax free expenses for items Brits working far from home within the UK cannot claim
October 5, 2022
Iain,
9. if they had travel medical insurance why would they even have to use up resources in the NHS? They could go to the private system as they do in Spain. The private hospitals have private doctors on hand too. The NHS should then only bid for work if they have spare capacity we are told they are turning down 22,000 appointments per day, that doesn’t sound like spare capacity for people not paying national insurance does it?
11. If they had to have full travel and visa medical insurance why would they have to pay national insurance too, or do they accrue some state pension? Their employer should have to pay it, because it should be on every worker regardless of where they come from because we’re told it is now general taxation not just tax for that employee’s individual state pension and healthcare they can’t have it both ways.
16. What tax-free expenses are they allowed that Brits aren’t?
October 9, 2022
“why would they even have to use up resources in the NHS?” because in this country the NHS has a monopoly, in most of the country, for much healthcare provision, emergency care, diabetic care, etc
“What tax-free expenses are they allowed that Brits arenāt?” many and varied, too many to list
October 3, 2022
Let’s start with the first one. We had a perfectly good system for dealing with this when we were in the EU – co-operation with France under EU law. Now, after your failed “taking back control” con trick, we have no means at all of stopping this trade. Far from taking back control, we have given it away
October 3, 2022
Ditch soft loans for duff degrees in duff subjects and for people with less than BCC at A level. About 75% of them. Let them resit, get a job, learn on the job or go to night school or day release.
Ditch the net zero expensive intermittent energy religion.
Have a huge bonfire of red tape, ditch the war on landlords, the self employed and landlord licensing.
Cull all the part of government that do nothing useful or do net harm ~ 50%
Stop pushing expensive duff tech like heat pumps, EV vehicles, HS2ā¦
Do not go to the absurd Cop27 with or without King Charlie. Fire the deluded dope Alok Sharma.
Simplify taxes. This saves billions in compliance costs.
October 4, 2022
“duff tech” spot on LL! Along with:-
Duff, daft PC, wokeness, biological and mental self conflating guilt trips from other countries alien to the British way of life and basic values. We have nothing to be ashamed of compared to other countries track records such as France and Germany who don’t best themselves up – unlike the BBC our ex-national state broadcaster.
October 4, 2022
Error Don’t beat ourselves up.
October 3, 2022
So a u turn on tax cuts, took about a day, so no growing the income through attracting more people proving the Tories are the party of high taxation, there goes the first of the radical policies to change the country, expect window dressing on cuts so nothing will change.
Truss proved she will be a lame duck already. And in other news she (Steve baker) grovels to the EU apologising for being nasty about them when it is they that have refused to honour the NI protocol.
Itās pathetic. Starmer must be rubbing his hands with glee.
October 3, 2022
Stop wasting money on ineffective and dangerous net harm vaccines – certainly for children and those under 60 at the very least.
October 4, 2022
which ones would they be…..? Sorry I couldn’t resist it
October 3, 2022
After being force to drop the 45p tax cut and only allowed two bob tax cuts my speech would be one resignation to the party.
October 3, 2022
So Kwasi ditches his 5% reduction to 40% in top rate income tax. The top rates should really be less than 35% and taxes overall should be less than 25% of GDP. He and Truss were quite right that 45% was doing far more economic harm than good. So they are now doing more harm to the economy just for political reasons.
Well do all those daft socialist fake “Tory” MPs.
The blame lies with the appalling Osborne/Cameron who should have ditched Brown’s moronic income tax increases on day he took office back in May 2010. He should have kept his Ā£1 million IHT threshold promise too which has still not been delivered.
October 3, 2022
Well done to all those daft socialist fake āToryā MPs. I meant – about 70% seem to be socialist dopes like VAT on school fees Gove. About 97% of Tory MPs (almost all with zero understanding (or qualifications) in science, engineering or energy) seem to worship the net zero religion too! We are governed by ignorant, virtue signalling dopes in the main. Why is the party so infected by so many dire Libdim’s like the appalling Theresa May?
October 4, 2022
‘we are governed’ ? I thought you moved, and your businesses abroad?
October 4, 2022
+1
October 3, 2022
The blame lies with the appalling Osborne/Cameron and also the dire Hammond and Sunak who should all have ditched Brownās moronic income tax increases on the day they took up office years ago. They should also have kept his Ā£1m IHT threshold promise too which has still not been delivered. 40% tax over just Ā£325K is appallingly high. Do any countries have higher inheritance tax rates essentially just government theft. Might as well waste it yourself as let the government do so.
So, Truss has “free market principals” Steve Baker tells us – but not alas (as we see with the misdirected energy subsidies) free market actions. A bit like Cameron’s I am a “low tax Conservative EU Sceptic at heart” but never in his actions.
October 3, 2022
All are very welcome proposals, Sir John, and it would be good to know what estimated cost savings could be made if they were followed.
Perhaps a future diary post could say what responses you got from the people you asked to implement them
October 3, 2022
6. should be “make Council’s property portfolios pay for themselves.” If each sale of a council property had to cover the cost of building two replacement properties (and those properties had to be built within a year of sale) we would increase the housing stock at no cost to the tax payer. We could use the money for renovation of unused buildings.
October 4, 2022
NS Yes I agree. If the government gives the council Ā£2.5m to build houses, a return of the profit from the rentals should go back to the central government too in order to reinvest in other social properties.
October 4, 2022
as a plan this is financial nonsense.
October 4, 2022
how so?
October 3, 2022
9. End Gift Aid (especially to overseas charities).
If my commute has to come out of taxed funds then voluntary and discretionary charitable donations can also come out of taxed income.
October 4, 2022
Most heritage and cultural work relies on volunteers and Gift Aid.
October 4, 2022
then it is not sustainable
October 3, 2022
The small boat men should be processed offshore as I have posted in the past and also by a human rights lawyer on GB News. The economic migrants should never set foot in the uk. What is stopping the government from doing this?
October 4, 2022
Magelec, do you know how many people are trained and working processing migrants in the UK? Is this the same number that the UK had to process many fewer people? Who can we use to do this faster?
October 3, 2022
(7) doesn’t save any money unless the commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid goes.
October 3, 2022
Easy to say – as many on here often do.
Actions are what count.
October 4, 2022
so that was a manifesto!
October 3, 2022
All very good proposals Sir John, but you must know, as we certainly do, that they will do none of them. Most of your fellow Tory MPs aren’t Conservatives, they’re LibCONs and the Government simply doesn’t have the guts to do it.
They’ve not even stuck by the higher level 5p cut in Income Tax they announced only 10 days ago since the likes of Gove said BOO to her.
Your Party was gifted an 80 seat majority by Nigel Farage. In the past 2 years they’ve achieved virtually nothing and thrown it away.
Yesterday at the Reform UK Conference, Richard Tice pledged that their Manifesto at the next General Election would include a commitment to scrap the Green-CONs proposed ban on petrol/diesel cars. So that’s my vote secured.
October 3, 2022
I think BBC putting on two gay dancers on Strictly Come Dancing has lost a lot of support for the licence fee.
I’ll protect the right for gay people to do what they want in private but not have their sexuality flaunted on TV financed by the license fee.
October 3, 2022
Ed M
That’s why the viewing numbers have crashed.
October 4, 2022
turboterrier, I believe it’s because most participants aren’t celebrities or known by anyone outside of the BBC: Kaye Adams, Kym Marsh, Matt Goss, Fleur East, Helen Skelton, Ellie Simmonds, Ellie Taylor, Hamza Yassin, James Bye, Jayde Adams, Molly Rainford, Richie Anderson, Tony Adams, Tyler West and Will Mellor.
How many of them do you know? I only know Fleur East because she’s been on everything since 2019.
October 4, 2022
Do you have anyone in your extended family that is gay, Ed?
October 3, 2022
The government refuses to acknowledge the failure of rail privatisation.
Franchising was a desperate attempt to patch things up. Now the franchises are calling the shots, demanding more subsidy, threatening to walk away.
A joined up service is required, which is best served by re-nationalising franchises as and when they play up.
October 3, 2022
We desperately need to restore traditional family life with Dad, Mum and kids. It affects our country in so many profound ways.
Nor is this a reason to bash gay people. Thejr right to do what they want in private must be protected. But not have two gay dancers on BBC TV (and gay marriage).
October 3, 2022
@ Ed M – yes, I too am all in favour of people of whom I disapprove being allowed to eek out an existence only in the shadows as best they may, thereby to avoid offending any sensibilities and phobias I have developed by actually being visible. Where will you go to hide please?
October 4, 2022
I’m not hiding. I make my arguments wherever I go. And back up with good, hopefully, interesting arguments!
October 3, 2022
On 4.
If I am a resident of an area which will no longer get a rail service, or suffer a greatly reduced timetable, and you are banning my use of my car why should I tolerate any subsidy whatsoever of any rail service I will not make use of, especially the HS2 BBC Bigot line?
On 8.
Remove the mandatory TV licence entirely.
October 3, 2022
Get the police to actually deal with real crimes for a change instead of pissing about with woke lunacy and rainbows.
Give tax breaks for private medicine to lighten the load on the dire NHS with circa 10 million awaiting treatments. Abolish 12% IPT on medical care insurance – why should people choosing private healthcare have to pay four times over for the NHS that they choose not to use? Let’s have real and fair competition. Why too should people who choose to watch GBnews, Talk Radio or Sky have to pay for the BBC propaganda unit? Get fair competition in education, media & broadcasting, transport, housing, healthcare, banking… give people on the waiting lists 50% of the cost of their treatments to go privately to shorten the waiting lists and save the NHS 50% too. Ditch the FCA’s idiotic 39.9% personal overdrafts red tape. Plus much of the other largely misguided bank regulation.
October 3, 2022
Start perhaps by getting the Home Sec. to fire the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police for his idiotic and made public letter to Douglas Murray – see his article in the Spectator. Which rather shows the nature of the problem with our generally useless and misdirected police. We seem to have dire police constables all over the place at least Ms Cresidy Diversity Dick has gone but not alas Sadiq Khan yet.
Who selects them and why?
October 3, 2022
Does the dope really think writing such letters to an excellent journalist for doing his job is the most important thing he has on his in tray?
October 3, 2022
All of these proposals should never have emerged in the first place.
Stopping the channel invasion is smoke and mirrors when the rescue boats are actually operating in French waters
How about prosecuting the skippers of these boats for people trafficking, that would be popular.
What about the Elephant un the room HS2., that would be very popular so ni chance of that being cancelled.
There’s much low hanging fruit but I doubt we’ll see much action.
October 5, 2022
There speaks the truth. +1
October 3, 2022
Scrap HS2!
October 3, 2022
Who knows eh?
Announce tax cuts and simplification one week, U turn the next. Time to give up for you guys I think.
Completely nuts. Totally untrustworthy.
Just give up, please. Resign and start a new party. Anything but you can’t continue like this.
October 3, 2022
I wonder what Vladimir has again done for the pound to go from 1.109 to 1.126 against the US dollar in less than 10 minutes. I am sure the specialists on this blog will be keen on telling us, maybe while eating their breakfast humble pie.
October 3, 2022
I thought you stroppy lefties said we were heading for parity.
October 4, 2022
Peter 2
As a man who has the written English language in his full command. Please define a “stroppy leftie” for us as you are so well informed about everyone ‘ s political affiliation? Thank you
October 4, 2022
Please explain the failed predictions of parity billy.
Looking forward to your response.
October 4, 2022
Peter 2
You finally have a chance to explain yourself and you fall flat on your face again.
I didn’t ask you about the value of pounds nor did I comment on the parity, so totally irrelevant for my question.
October 3, 2022
Is that a fantasy, could-never-happen-unless-sanity-reigned wish list?
Please say it IS possible!
Howās the govt. doing with unwokening the police?
Ohā¦scrap Foreign Aidā¦.ENTIRELY. We have done QUITE ENOUGH!
October 3, 2022
Foreign Aid. Is just silly. Watch how the Chinese do aid. We are on the cusp of a fiat currency crisis in the west.
Trade not aid. Our leaders are mad or bad.
October 3, 2022
9. Eliminate the woke jobs from the public sector.
10. Deliver the benefits system to the charity or insurance sectors.
October 3, 2022
Maybe popular – but how material?
October 3, 2022
Truss and Kwasi target a pathetic 2.5% growth target. With the sensible policies such as I propose – halving the size of the state, cutting taxes, cutting government waste, deregulation and ditching net zero etc. we could have growth of many times this certainly 10%+ very easily.
What a pathetic lack of ambition from these essentially socialist U turning dopes.
October 3, 2022
Oh no!
Was it really a good idea to come up with that 45p tax cut idea and now scrap it?
Is this a clever tactic or more leftward pandering?
Fancy doing that to people!! Giving and taking away!
October 3, 2022
Ca we add to that? Refusal to adhere to āwoke ā nonsense and the defunding of authorities that push the communist theory !
October 3, 2022
Overseas Aid should be scrapped and replaced with a Disaster, Humanitarian Fund.
At present the Foreign Aid budget ia akin to our own benefits system. The more you give the less they do for themselves.
October 3, 2022
There should have been a number 9 on the list.
Stop all the subsidies and constraint payments on all renewable energy power generating systems.
Remove all subsidies on electric vehicles and introduce road fund licence bands for the size and weight of the vehicle.
October 3, 2022
On Panorama they showed disgusting footage of prime forests in Canada being chopped down to be turned into wood pellets for Drax. They told us that burning wood releases far more harmful emissions than burning coal. The British taxpayer has paid Drax Ā£6 billion pounds in renewable subsidies. I cannot convey how angry I feel over this environmental destruction that I as a taxpayer have been forced to fund. It’s seriously sickening.
October 4, 2022
Size and weight & mileage travelled. Use more pay more.
October 3, 2022
All excellent ideas. I would add that the Government could potentially save a lot of money by having a moratorium on Covid vaccines until a thorough investigation has been carried out into their safety and efficacy.
October 3, 2022
Make it a criminal offence to waste public money.
Scrap HS2
Do not bail out pension funds who have been gambling to try to pay their defined benefit liabilities.
Cut the House of Lords down to size
Reduce the truly mind bogging sums spent on the refurbishment of Buck House and the āPalace of Westminsterā
Donāt buy a new āroyal yachtā
Make the pension scheme for MPs a defined contribution scheme – so you understand what life is like for the rest of us.
October 3, 2022
Another U-Turn means you cannot believe a word Truss says!!
Absolute stupidity. Labour, Gordon Brown only introduced as he was leaving as a booby trap!
October 4, 2022
Hope, well then it should act as a reminder of what another Labour government will mean for the go-getters, the people that train for 6 to 10 years to do their jobs and save lives, the people that take on risk and actually create lots of work for other people. Let Labour crow about this, it just is a reminder of their inherent intention to take from the doers and give to the takers and fakers.
October 3, 2022
* Stop all ‘elective’ surgery to non-UK residents on the NHS.
* Insist on full heath insurance before allowing entry to ‘visitors’ to UK. Insurers wouldn’t cover the heavily pregnant or those with serious illness.
* Start charging EV drivers VET (road fund tax). Heavier EVs wear roads out faster than lighter ICE vehicles
* Stop anyone entering UK on a student visa from bringing their relatives with them
On a lighter note….
* Pass the authorision of legal aid (for asylum seekers) to the DVLA for processing. It should free up a great deal of money in cash flow terms.
* Register anyone arriving by small boat across the channel as an EU citizen and then refuse them settled status on the grounds they’ve applied too late.
* Make it a condition of employment at the Home Office that they must offer spare bedrooms in their homes as accomodation for asylum seekers. All Legal Aid Professionals should have the same rule applied. Should speed up processing no end.
October 3, 2022
Scrap HS2, cut quangos, government, Lords etc and their *Spanish* practices – *modernise* their pay and conditions as they insist everyone else must do.
PS
Are we now a country run by pollsters, the press and the BBC ? There was nothing wrong with the tax cut to 40%… so long as it was accompanied with the above. In any case. Magic Money economics was all the rage when it came to furlough, Credit Crunch and energy caps… but not when it comes to something which may challenge The Blob.
Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng must stand fast otherwise what is the point in having a government ? We may just as well appoint a President Mandelson in permanent office.
October 3, 2022
It’s a start but the Government also can save money by not wasting it on vanity projects, and getting better value for any money spent by monitoring and cutting waste.
October 3, 2022
Remove subsidies from energy companies importing cut down trees from Canada – etc.
October 3, 2022
Rose I totally are. What I saw tonight on Panorama was truly upsetting. Can anyone explain what happened to the precious wildlife?
October 4, 2022
It’s a real shame we can’t get better use out of waste to create new energy. Find ways to process away from people’s homes. We’ll have to hope the Chinese do it, because they’re going to creating tonnes more waste.
October 3, 2022
The lowest hanging fruit must be the energy support cost amounting to Ā£150bn or more. Gas is essential to us and additional production on- and off-shore should be put on a war footing. Liz Truss has previously mentioned onshore as soon as Jan 2023. As has been suggested elsewhere put all renewables on Contracts for Differences or if they refuse then hit them with windfall taxes. If they are based abroad and escape a windfall tax then find a way of taxing them at the time of production.
In May this year when my contract finished gas was priced at 2.9p per kWh and is now at a “discounted” price of 10.3p per kWh, more than three times as much.
October 3, 2022
Abolish the absurd Committee for Climate Change that does huge net harm. Chaired by the deluded history graduate lord Debden. With his interesting but doubtless fully declared vested interests.
October 3, 2022
Sir John
In parts I agree with you. But exceptionally high taxes in the UK are a bigger and serious problem.
The Taxpayer is being forced to pay for infective, irresponsible and unaccountable QUANGOās.
The Taxpayer is being forced to pay for the Political views of those that manager the Civil Service, NHS and so on on things they personally love that equate to the WOKE/Cancel Culture – Derisive Diversity, inclusion that in reality excludes and their own Sexual preferences . That is not the way to get value for the taxpayer, who simply wants the best of the best..
The Taxpayer is being forced to pay for overtly political opinion Charities that by their very nature harm their cause and the general idea of charitable giving.
Everyone that includes State/Taxpayer funded/paid employees is clearly permitted their own voice on all these subjects. However, to force the Taxpayer to pay for them with no say, no oversight and clearly doesnāt go to what is being purchased ā is insulting
October 3, 2022
Nero fiddled…y
October 3, 2022
They seem unable to cut taxes, so what makes you think they will have any more success in cutting spending?
October 3, 2022
Popular as in, sensible
October 3, 2022
Gove has now assumed the role of de facto PM. He shafted Boris for his hoped for personal gain and is now doing to Truss.
When can we shaft him?
October 4, 2022
Leave his private life out of it.
October 3, 2022
Today’s announcement of the U turn on the tax break is a disappointment. All the pressure appears to have come from outside of the UK where more competitive tax-breaks are in place. 37% if more income more that 500,000 against the UK 45% of 150,000.
It is also disappointing that the rebellion comes from the un-Conservatives in the Conservative Party, they just shouldnāt be in the party if they think the highest taxes in 70years is real Conservative thinking.
That said I understand the political need for the quick about change, but hope that leads to a fuller regrouping and aggressive attack on the waste of taxpayer money that this Conservative Government has created and we can get back on track.
As it has been said before āits the economy ā stupidā high taxation is the removal of the resource to fund and create an economy. As has been demonstrated time and time again the State itself is unable to achieve value on the money they take from the Taxpayer
October 3, 2022
Aye to all that. Then a forensic look at how well the big budget ministries conduct themselves financially.
October 3, 2022
After this morning’s essential U Turn, I wonder if the Chancellor can possibly survive ?
His performance on Today, where Nick Robinson asked him all the right questions, was woeful and he put the Prime Minister in a truly embarrassing position after her strong defence of the policy on Sunday morning, only to see all that political capital wasted this morning. I know that she has had a substantial role in approving the policy herself, but the first lesson for any Prime Minister is to make sure you stay above the fray and sacrifice others to protect your position. I am not sure whether Liz Truss can regain the credibility she needs without replacing her Chancellor.
October 4, 2022
It has amazed me that he survived at BEIS, where he helped ensure we were going to suffer badly in the current energy crisis.
October 3, 2022
All very sensible proposals which should be implemented immediately.
October 3, 2022
The Government appears to hampered by vested interest.
We have foreign entities that decry the idea the UK should achieve low levels of taxation for fear it would be competition to their cuddly warm World.
We have UK so-called independent bodies BoE, OBR, ONS and so on all consume the UK Taxpayers money but have never ever been correct in their forecasts. They enjoy the luxury of high incomes so are immune from society. In any Company any where outside of the Government made the errors in their forecasting as these outfits do individuals would simply have been fired. The are unelected, yet also unaccountable that doesnāt chime to well with the concept of democracy
October 3, 2022
Each of these points highlights just how disrespectful our government is towards those who are born here, work hard & pay taxes. Itās actually rather shocking how anti the people they are. I think we deserve much better & will be voting for a party that actually does offer us the protection, respect & future we deserve in the next election.
October 4, 2022
+ many Chrissy. What other country would allow LEGAL discrimination against its own people? I speak of so called ‘positive discrimination’ and the legal requirement to hire a minimum % of ethnics without the same protections for the indigenous.
October 3, 2022
The biggest and most popular spending cut would be to cancel Net Zero, a project which is so expensive that the Treasury refused to give the HoC Public Accounts Committee any costing. It is totally reckless to blow up fossil fuel power plants, defund fossil fuel exploration/production and force the country to depend upon Chinese supplied renewables with no replacement system in place for grid stability and long-term electricity storage. So our energy will be insecure, expensive and intermittent and the electrical replacements impractical.
All to save our 1% contribution to global CO2 emissions.
There is no climate crisis/emergency. The planet is at about its lowest in temperature and CO2 levels since the start of the Cambrian explosion 570 million years ago. We have exited from an ice age just 11,000 years ago (one of many in our era). Eight times over the last 800,000 years the CO2 has fallen to 180 ppm, just 30 ppm above the level plants need to survive. Fortunately the CO2 level has risen slightly, although no-where near past levels, so the planet is greener and we can grow more food.
Weather records show there to be no increases in extreme weather events, just better recording of events and hysterical reporting. Deaths from extreme weather events continue to fall each decade.
October 3, 2022
9. Decimate the Civil Service. In the original meaning of “decimate”, i.e. cut the numbers by 10%. And do this every year until the numbers are back to year 2000 levels.
October 3, 2022
The MsM appears to be baying for the removal of the Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
The only reason that can be deduced is that he is challenging the stuck in a rut, increase decline route orthodoxy of defunct establishments.
This challenge has been a long time coming and ignored by so many of his predecessors.
Give them all a kicking we need to move on and be able to stand on a resilient sustainable economic future. The model used now is bankrupt.
October 3, 2022
Why isnāt this chap on the Treasury Team?
He always talks a lot of sense and has a great deal of knowledge.
October 3, 2022
Not an actual direct cut, but one which will result in lower spending. Pay for the illegal channel hoppers from the overseas aid budget and reduce the amount given to their stated countries, and make sure these countries know it. If they won’t state where they are from. don’t give them anything at all (just like the French) as they cannot possibly claim asylum from ‘nowhere’. Put those in jail (build if necessary, surely cheaper than four star hotels and useful for our courts as well who have to let people off with minimal punishments because we cannot lock all the criminals up.
October 4, 2022
Is it something I said? Too sensible to pass moderation?
October 3, 2022
I also think a lot more attention needs to be paid to waste and inefficiency in the public sector.
I have seen for myself how civil servants waste time, money and assets. A family member had mobility issues and the NHS ordered the wrong equipment which must have costs Ā£000ās. It was just left in his home for over a year doing nothing.
I have also witnessed a council employee operating his own import trading business while employed on council property. These are just a couple of examples of many I have witnessed and countless more I have heard of.
Public sector managers also spend far too much time in meetings talking over abstract issues with no action points arising.
We need proper business-like behaviour in the civil service and proper accountability where managers are disciplined and, where necessary, sacked if they do not work within budget and work to the requirements of the job. The discipline needs to start from the top.
By cutting out the dead wood and leaving an efficient core, the saving from the bloated public sector will be tremendous.
October 3, 2022
Agree with all of that – but it’s all far too sensible for any modern government.
I see Gove is credited with orchestrating a U-turn on the 45p rate. This country is in dire trouble when MPs behave this way. They give Truss no chance to show that her policies can work.
CCHQ is the place to start – get better candidates, no more Lib Dems.
October 4, 2022
XY – we’ll get to know what Gove is rewarded with in future years. He has a bad record for disparaging colleagues, he wasn’t loyal or a good reliable associate. I say this and I used to admire him, he got panned for his time in Education but I think he was sound in Education but the teachers hated him, Malthouse is going to be interesting and seems serious about failing schools – good.
October 3, 2022
I’ve just seen this comment elsewhere,
‘There are 650 MPs who have committed or permitted unspeakable crimes against humanity.
Absolutely correct and unforgiveable. Not even one resigned as you say, and apart from the courageous Sir Chris Chope, not one has even ventured to show the slightest interest in unexplained ‘vaccine’ deaths and severe side effects of the thousands of victims.
In effect therefore, a total dereliction of their responsibilities towards their constituents and an implied declaration that they no longer represent them on the greatest issue of our time.
Every single one is, on their own showing, superfluous to requirements and must not be given the levers of power ever again.’
October 3, 2022
All good points but saving relatively small amounts of money. The cost of government must be cut to make real savings which can fund further tax savings, get the UK budget into surplus & start repaying our debt. The Civil Service numbers must be reduced by at least 50%, probably could be cut even more, all Quango budgets cut by 50% from next year, all “woke” employees ( Diversity, Inclusivity & Equality employees) made redundant in the government, NHS & Quangos, or we will DIE! Then scrap stupid bills like the internet safety bill & make the internet companies publishers, not content providers, which brings them under the law of libel which would force them to clean up their act fast.
The simple solution to the media / some so called conservative MPs uproar about removing the 45% tax rate is reduce the 20% rate to 15% from next April, easily afforded if you seriously cut the cost of the government. Only by doing that can you make the economy grow quickly.
October 3, 2022
No 5 : But isn’t the BoE independent? Can it be told what to do?
October 3, 2022
Mostly sensible proposals. Except 7 won’t save anything as the % of GDP will still exist – time for that to go!
October 3, 2022
Maybe Mr Gauke & Mr Heseltine might have some more suggestions as they speak today at the Conservative Conference venue, in a conversation with BBC’s Vicki Young, and presented by the European Movement UK.
( More on Facts4eu )
October 3, 2022
Definitely popular cuts and probably possible. But I’ll throw in a few more, cut funding:
– to universities’ humanities programs
– to all diversity officer posts and programs in the public sector
– to the Covid vaccination program
– to HS2
– to Ukraine
October 3, 2022
Off topic, a letter sent to the Maidenhead Advertiser yesterday morning:
“As members of the so-called “Conservative and Unionist” party hold their annual conference in Birmingham their cynical betrayal of unionists in Northern Ireland continues.
Just a month ago Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney publicly declared that whatever happened Northern Ireland must forever remain part of the EU Single Market for goods.
While the UK government’s published proposals for reform of the Northern Ireland protocol all require that Northern Ireland should no longer be part of the EU Single Market.
Now there is rising optimism that a deal can be negotiated, so clearly one side or the other has indicated its willingness to back down; I think I can guess which side that is.
Fourteen months ago the government said that it stood ready to pass new UK laws to protect the EU Single Market, creating export controls on goods crossing the land border.
As something like half of the goods crossing the border have been produced in Northern Ireland, not brought in from outside, that would have been a more effective solution.
If Liz Truss was sincere in her stated intention of sorting out the protocol problem, with or without the agreement of the EU, then she would have introduced that legislation.”
October 3, 2022
I believe it would be worth making more, specialist resources available to HMRC now, so as to combat current evasion and avoidance. Although this would not be a “spending cut”, I believe that the cost would more than pay for itself particularly as the 45% personal tax rate is now to be retained.
Tax evasion and avoidance (particularly avoidance), are generally driven by top rates of taxation. Clever accountants and lawyers are usually busy. A reduction of the top rate of Income Tax from 45% to 40% might have reduced the appetite for avoidance and made it more difficult for these accountants and lawyers to earn their money. Was this part of the Chancellors original thinking when he proposed the % reduction, before he changed his mind ?
October 3, 2022
Cull all subsidies and market rigging for EV cars too.
I see that despite all the fiscal, congestion charge and car tax advantages, free parking/charging, subsidies and endless BBC style pro EVs propaganda and the endless lies that they are “zero emission” and “save CO2” still only 500K of 33 million cars in the UK are electric. 0.15% or one in 6,600 cars!
I think the public and the market are trying to tell the government something – something like get lost with your idiotic net zero con trick and rip off, range limited, short lived, slow to charge EV cars perhaps!
October 3, 2022
500,000 / 33,000,000 = 5 / 330 = 0.015 i.e. 1.5 percent ā¦ only wrong by a factor ten.
October 4, 2022
but surely he got a good A level in Maths, didn’t he?
October 4, 2022
LL’s overall point is still well made despite your teacher style marking heffy.
October 3, 2022
“6. Refuse more borrowing to Councils wanting to acquire a property portfolio”
I do not know the rules for Local Authority borrowing in order to finance property investment. However, my own small Local Authority took on the refurbish of an entertainment venue. The venue was closed in 2015 and was due to be reopened in 2016. The original budget for the work was Ā£10m. The budget is currently Ā£48m and the venue has still not reopened.
October 3, 2022
6. Who is borrowing Councils money to buy property portfolios?
Our council was in the local newspaper recently with a Labour Councillor blowing his horn saying since labour took over the Council we are finally after 20 years going to get the improvements to the shopping centre weād been promised for years with the Tories in charge of the County Council. But when the Tories were in charge it was owned by a private company that originally bought it off the Urban and District Council without proper caveats about upkeep and investment. It has half fallen down. The council has now bought it, it is making a profit Ā£718,000 in a year after operational costs and paying off the loan, so not altogether a bad decision as theyāve made other much worse investment decisions such as Icelandic banks and an expensive shopping centre no-one wanted when they could have done up the old town. So why is it a bad idea to borrow money to invest locally instead of in foreign funds?
The current government have given them nearly Ā£10m and the council have raised Ā£11m he didnāt say where from. Does the government get any of this back or does the Council get to keep all the profit?
We have done a lot of selling off of council brownfield land recently, a school with 32 acres to build 400 homes, 130 affordable that were built on behalf of the council but the council sold off all the council housing 65% of which was in the town. So who is going to be maintaining them, is the Council going to own them the local newspaper never asks the questions.
Then the Housing Trust was given money by the government to insulate the properties they bought for just Ā£7500 each, why? Theyād promised to invest Ā£30m themselves, theyāve not! Arenāt they supposed to spend money not just on their own wage bill and pension Ā£8m here, Ā£9m there per year. The private sector is getting abused left, right and centre to funnel money sideways.
Then the government gave the council Ā£1.25m for another 100 new homes from the levelling up fund who gets to own those homes? Are these just gifted to the Council, the HA? Your government isnāt getting any of the credit for these actions either.
October 3, 2022
So more closures of little used railway lines? No lessons learned from recent history then, where destruction of substantial infrastructure comes to be regretted once the potential of these transport assets is often realised too late. Many former sleepy country branch lines could now be serving large housing developments. Never mind, there’s plenty of space on the roads.
October 3, 2022
Liz Truss
We have now seen the new PM in action.
Cut in 45 PCT rate of tax, without consulting cabinet. Subsequently abolishing it and blaming the chancellor for the blunder.
What a really competent PM.
I seem to recall Sir JR recommended her?
October 3, 2022
Chancellors keep their budgets to themselves. One of them, Dalton, let a journalist get hold of one sentence in 1947 just before the budget was delivered in the House of Commons and had to resign. The strict rules are to prevent insider dealing.
October 4, 2022
Assuming you get a UK vote billy, you will be able to vote as you want within two years.
October 3, 2022
Then there is the great divide between the thinking of elements of national and local government and actions , plus facilities that would benefit the population. Government thinks ban it, fine it and even better turn it into a nice little earner. Management of the car in all cities epitomises this. Impose financial penalties for it’s presence, do not let it stop except at great cost , and employ an army of jobsworths to keep this income stream going. Never consider the provision of in city parking or fringe city parking adjacent tube, rail, or bus services to move the people to center city destinations. Such beneficial services would impinge on the income stream derived from penalising the motorist. You the MPs allow if not encourage such thinking. In part you washed your hands of this responsibility all the time we were in the EU. The intellectual vacumn that this caused is now at an end and the electorate demand action. Indications are that there are few in Westminster capable of the required clear thought. We see it in the internicene backstabbing in your party. You would think that the past twelve years had been a great financial success, and that these backstabbers who have presided over such a fantastic period had their own answers; they hav’nt beyond more of their failed same.
October 3, 2022
Kwarteng and Liz have cost the tax payer Ā£65billion as a result of their unfunded tax policies, the BoE had to bailout pensions funds. To save money we should get rid of these two clowns. Tell me who else would manage to save their jobs after losing such a colossal sum in the private sector, you’re correct, no one. They should have the to decency to stand down, if they don’t we’ll make at the next general election.
October 3, 2022
” Cost the taxpayer” ??
How can it “cost” the taxpayer anything, when they were the ones going to be paying for it?
Wouldn’t “saved” be a much better word?
If the BoE had got a grip on QE last year, raised rates at least broadly in step with the Fed AND the Pensions Regulator had done their job properly, maybe Gilts would have held their price and the Pension funds would not have been allowed to dig themselves a Ā£1.5T LDI black hole.
October 4, 2022
Can you explain Stephen, how did Kwarteng and Liz ‘cost the tax payer Ā£65billion as a result of their unfunded tax policies’. Where has the Ā£65bn come from? Who has received it? Was it a paper exercise to stop the sale of bonds, or was it actually folding money that was lost? Is it possible it will be recovered by the change of BoE
You say the BoE had to bailout pensions funds, but it isn’t all pension funds is it? It is just the public sector final salary types. The rest can what – go hang as usual?
Reply The Bank is wisely spending a lot less on bonds than the possible totals cited
October 4, 2022
Good to hear, so why isnāt your government explaining this calmly to people spreading rumours that the bank has just thrown Ā£65bn down the drain, people like Sue Perkins.
October 4, 2022
Ā£65 billion is the maximum potential cost.
Currently it’s looking like a small percentage of that figure.
October 5, 2022
So why are this government allowing celebrities to go around on twitter with no ‘twitter warnings’ that this isn’t a fact? I have read it many times this week, and the public is buying it. Sue Perkins responded to Kwasi’s tweet, and he didn’t correct her.
People are tweeting: the next time someone tells you the 45p rate cut was only worth Ā£2bn (and this is actually a fact, Osborne raised an extra Ā£8bn and even the lefti fact-checker said it was neutral over three years), tell them it has already cost us Ā£65bn.
Beth Rigby tweeted 20hr ago that it precepitated a Ā£65bn emergency BoE bond buying programme. She has also claimed 1000 mortgage deals have been withdrawn where did she get that figure from it doesn’t say.
Rachel Reeves has also tweeted the BoE had to step in with a Ā£65bn bailout with taxpayers money!
Nazir afzal tweeted Ā£65bn of our money is what the Bank of England spent to restore order – the tories laughed at the turbulence no one else found it funny.
Count Binface with 124k followers said that with his insane tax cut, kamikwase, cost Ā£65bn of public money.
Coinbureau with 737k followers 19 hrs ago, the pretty ill-advised budget…..led to the BoE pumping Ā£65bn into the system.
Joylon Rubinstein 67k followers my first guardian headline! Lol. Imagine losing Ā£65bn and keeping your job.
MPs like Karl Turner repeated this message as have many others. Sarah Olney has said just one day ago, after Ā£65bn from the BoE……he’s finally acted.
My husband says all of this is misleading and false, yet these big twitter accounts are allowed to get away with it, almost on purpose. He said they used much less about Ā£3bn buying assets that they can later sell.
These tweets got out with “Spread the word”. the Tories are rubbish at corrections are your government just going to let them get away with it. It is a cesspool. Can the government sue them all as the Left like to do to put in the pot.
October 3, 2022
Just using the Daily Telegraph as MsM spokeman
They have dug out and are running advice for Government on how it should be run from all the following – Michael Gove, Damian Green, Rachel Reeves(? why), Nadine Dorries, Lord Heseltine, David Gauke. The conclusion in the round is the new team isnāt fit for purpose and needs to go. If they spoke to any one else they are not saying
What do any of those contributing know about Conservatism?
In the meantime an excellent item from our kind host is buried away out of sight in the inner pages
The enemy is within
October 3, 2022
It always has been Ian. Maybe it’s time for the Conservative Party to split and go their seperate ways?
The Green Conservatives – pro Net Zero, EU, mass immigration and socialism
– (maybe we should just call them New Labour and be done with it)
The Blue Conservatives – pro Energy Security, Britain, managed borders and personal responsibility
October 3, 2022
Sir John:
Why aren’t you Prime Minister?
Liz Truss is proving to be a disappointment. You don’t announce a tax cut and then cancel it because the left wing blob opposes it. The idea that the end of the 45% tax rate led to a run on the pound is laughable.
Ms Truss also seems to think that what the public wants is yet more immigration. Tell that to the Red Wall.
The Conservative Party is heading towards a wipeout at the next election. Can anyone doubt it?
October 3, 2022
“2. Stop funding Councils to put in aggressive anti vehicle traffic mismanagement measures on our main local roads”
Our local pedestrian paths are very uneven and hazardous especially at night, and the local council are spending a small fortune on making the roads just as bad with speed bumps.
They should have just let the pedestrians walk in the road and make the cars use the bumpy pavements.
October 3, 2022
What’s the argument that cutting taxes for the super rich will help the economy (I’m not here to bust the super rich – good luck to them – but about how to boost the economy for all – rich, average, poor).
Tax-payers had to bail out the bankers.
We need to focus more I think on the small to medium businesses, above all, entrepreneurs and in the high tech industry to drive the economy forwards and with stability.
And of course sensible tax cuts.
October 4, 2022
Didn’t the majority of the banks pay back all the support they required +, some banks didn’t take UK government support at all after the crash. Brown’s favourite bank is the only one still in special measures, with a government stake and owing the State isn’t it?
This whole sham of a mortgage system that crashed the banks including stupid borrowing by Northern Rock etc. was an idea imported into the UK by Blair and Brown from Clinton’s government in the States to allow people that otherwise couldn’t get mortgages to be allowed to buy properties, people were surprised when they reneged on them and got into a mess. The problem wasn’t just the Banks that got into trouble, the problem was the Labour government that encouraged this situation and the people that didn’t repay.
October 4, 2022
I 100% accept your argument about Labour (and we all agree they’re rubbish).
But that doesn’t get the bankers off the hook and a certain type of capitalist dogma in the Tory party that thinks you have to spoil the super rich in banking.
I’m 100% not against the super rich! (As long as they make their money honestly etc). What I’m against is the super rich who are more gamblers than astute businessmen / entrepreneurs who slowly and carefully and creatively build up high value brands that offer high quality jobs and exports. Type thing.
And rather than being helping the super rich right now we should be helping the small to medium-sized businesses to grow and expand. And especially not helping the super rich which will make little to no positive gain to the economy except annoy lots of people are experiencing the fuel-energy pinch and more.
October 5, 2022
EdM, who are ‘the bankers’ that are on the hook, every banker? Investment bankers in all banks that we in the private sector are all relying on to give us returns on our pension savings and Isa?
October 3, 2022
No non-lottery contributions to charities except payment for services that unavoidably fall to the public purse.
October 3, 2022
Well done Kwasi. I am in Dubai at the moment at a reception where most are telling me that the UK has lost the plot Then on TV screens around the hall captions are showing Truss government reverses tax policy, hours after it said it wouldn’t. There was some laughing in the hall, somewhat embarrassing.
October 4, 2022
Maybe none of your audience are paying 45% UK tax being that they are resident in Dubai.
October 3, 2022
Again off topic, what a lovely headline here:
https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2022/10/02/british-minister-of-state-for-n-ireland-apologises-to-irish-government-over-brexit-negotiations/
“British minister apologises to Irish Government over Brexit negotiations”
Has he forgotten about Phil Hogan and his “play tough to the end” over the border threat?
November 26 2017:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ireland-border-brexit-latest-theresa-may-customs-union-phil-hogan-northern-a8076271.html
“Mr Hogan, the EUās agriculture commissioner, said Ireland would “play tough to the end” over the border issue, and said it was a āvery simple factā that āif the UK or Northern Ireland remained in the EU customs union, or better still the single market, there would be no border issueā.”
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2017/11/26/the-irish-border-with-northern-ireland/#comment-903216
“On the TV this morning it was stated that the UK government is ādesperateā to move on to trade talks, but this would be vetoed by the Irish government unless the UK government committed to keeping the UK in both the Single Market and the Customs Union.”
“So we should now say that rather than kowtow to the stupid destructive intransigence of the EU we will fall back on WTO trade rules and only seek agreements on the practical or technical aspects of continuing trade.”
Instead Liz Truss is following Theresa May and Boris Johnson by deciding that we will kowtow.
October 3, 2022
Denis – if we could reverse things to the 1970’s when we had a worldwide trading system in place with a huge merchant navy – when we still had remnants of the Empire? but we havn’t – we abandoned the lot including our vast trade with Oz and NZ on favour of Europe? ‘But If we had’? if we had kept things going like before and developed along the lines of say with Commonwealth countries along modern trading pattern lines then we might have had a chance. However we are in the post brexit state now, but we still import 50 per cent of our food, our great manufacturing base has largely been run down in favour of services, banking and IT, we have no real trading agreements in place with anyone else and have not even got out there with WTO Rules style yet- so we are therefore in no position to poke our neighbours in the eye – this business of the Irish border is a side show in the greater scheme of things and we can be sure that Truss has already been ‘advised’ from various quarters, probably around the time of the Queens funeral, of what is expected and so there is nothing you or I can do about it ‘ – so then best to pipe down about the border – am sure they will work things out
October 3, 2022
Difficult to tell which has taken worse leave of his senses, Gove or Baker. Gove probably because he has already given away N Ireland.
October 4, 2022
The Trade agreement was just cover for the blob to keep funding the EU. WTO is what we will get. We should not expect anything or rely on anything from the EU.
October 4, 2022
Perhaps Denis, when they actually get into power they get to learn they’re not running the show.
October 4, 2022
Denis – I believe Hogan has long since left politics – in fact he is gone years ago.
The other thing about the border issue and the DUP is that the DUP is in decline according to recent polls voting numbers are down and they will very likely will be overtaken by the middle ground Alliance Party at the next election – it looks like to me that the NI Unionist people are fed up with the DUP recent antics and now it’s hard to know when the border issue will be resolved – but in any case I think Truss has already made up her mind on this.
October 3, 2022
There is no shame in doing a u-turn (like Kwasi).
The best generals do u-turns all the time. U-turns can be a sign of flexibility which is just as important as stability.
People who are inflexible think that being stubborn is a strength. It’s a weakness. Just as to change one’s mind too often is a sign of being a unreliable flibbertigibbet.
October 3, 2022
Yes fine but is there no way to reduce the cost of government departments by sacking civil servants?
And what about abolishing many of the quangos?
Well, o.k. I see your point. You can only suggest POPULAR spending cuts !!!
What about the Party Conference and the Labour supporting M.S.M. hyping up the idea that Truss and Kwarteng are facing huge rebellions.
Apparently the Conservative government will be out of office by Xmas. According to them
Oh, by the way I apologise for something I said a few days ago.
I remembered afterwards there are areas of sandstone in your neck of the woods so fracking there could be a live issue.
If so it should be done.
October 3, 2022
ā3. Stop making grants to farmers to turn farmland into wilderness.ā
I read that a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts with a modern history degree has been put in charge of a Net Zero review āso that [our} world-leading climate commitment is met in an economically-efficient wayā.
When politicians want their house re-wired do they call in a portrait artist?
October 3, 2022
The Telegraph is reporting Liz Truss seems certain to cave in to the EU and is no longer seeking any change to the Northern Ireland Protocol. No restoration of Stormont can take place without a new negotiating mandate to the EU Commision negotiator but Truss has folded on that. Meanwhile she is signing the U.K. up to the European Political Community.
Her dishonesty during the election for party leadership is going to be severely punished at the ballot box by the electorate at large. Not even Theresa May was this bad.
October 4, 2022
US foreign policy. If this continues post November mid terms . We should seriously ask the Americans to pack up and leave. They cant afford all the bases anyway.
October 4, 2022
She is planning on attending Macron’s new wheeze of a second tier EU ruled by France. We are going to be shoved back in by the back door. She is and was a Remainer after all and I don’t believe in Damascene conversions such as hers is reported to be.
October 3, 2022
Good start.
Wonder what the annual total would be.
October 3, 2022
Have Tesla shares nose-dived after the U-Turn, that nice Chancellor handing out enough to buy one for all the UK taxed millionaires?
October 3, 2022
Well all the points are commonsense and Truss supporters would have expected many of them to be announced within days of her becoming PM. What did we get ? Zilch. In fact Foreign Aid continues unabated, HS2 still wasting Ā£billions, N.Ireland doesn’t appear to be getting dealt with, resignation from UN and OHCHR did not happen. COP…twenty whatever still believed in by fools.
What coal mining has been restarted? What Fracking going ahead? What interconnects being closed down before Putin saves us the trouble?
October 3, 2022
What the Government says: ‘We will curb illegal immigration.’
What we see: the Government helplessly doing nothing effective instead of enacting adequate measures to counter the problem. (The current pretence that the AG is thinking hard about it fools nobody. The problem has been around for years, and we all know what has to be done. Just do it!)
What the Government says: ‘We shall ensure the integral unity of Northern ireland with the rest of the UK’.
What we see is: instead of simply quashing the NI Protocol as the mistakenly and illegally enacted breach of the Act of Union it is (a breach that has been judicially noted as such by the High Court) the Government faintheartedly trickles the gutless NI Protocol Bill through parliament, apparently in the hope that it will take so long to pass that the EU might come to an arrangement (Think again, you idiots!) and that its europhile opponents in its own party will kick the guts out of it.
Those are just two of countless examples.
October 3, 2022
The media have already made their decisions so it would seem from their headlines.
As far as it goes for a lot of people the younger bloods can’t hack it just not up to the task in hand.
We need experienced, qualified, street, world wise, respected and trusted by the market ministers to steady the ship and get us into calmer waters.
Those like ND calling for a GE should be excluded, they want the party to commit suicide which if it went to the country any time soon would happen. We the people have had enough back stabbing this year to last for a decade. When the election is called in 2024 that will be the time for people to take a long hard look at their behaviour and false loyalties and fall on their own sword. If not then Central Office has to organise an almighty clear out.
October 3, 2022
All I can say is- this post is nuts
October 4, 2022
Don’t be so hard on yourself Gary.
October 3, 2022
It is becoming increasingly irritating hearing so called Conservatives saying that cutting the top rate of income tax was “bad timing”. If that is what the advisers have been counselling previous chancellors, no wonder 12 years have gone by since Brown was in charge and nothing much has changed. And anyway, he presided over a 40p top rate for 13 years!
October 3, 2022
1. Withdraw from the UN Refugee Convention 1951
Withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights
Repeal the Human Rights Act 1998
Withdraw from the UN Global Migration Compact
Return the role of deciding our laws without exception to parliament
3. Repeal the Climate Change Act
Abolish Defra
Give our fishermen exclusive access to our EEZ
Ban non despatchable energy systems which all require backup
7 Deny all aid to the regime that slaughtered 14,000 residents of Donbas
Resign from NATO which is the US European occupation force
and the potential progenitor of WWIII (last in the series)
8. Abolish the TV licence
9. Replace the FPTP electoral system which has caused us to be poorer
than our peers with one in which every vote counts
October 3, 2022
Stop funding the Climate Change Committee, quango and others. They are not representative of public opinion, They are totalitarian in nature, issuing only dicktats which serve in practice to impoverish the people.
Science is never ‘settled’ and instead, a full and open debate on Climate Change of which the BBC is terrified should be opened wide and discussed honestly with the public before the UK is completely bankrupted through the implementation of ill advised energy policies.
Following this I am sure that this country saddled with eye-watering debt levels, the Climate Change act would be repealed, together with the rejection of the impossibly expensive Net Zero domestic property insulation, the insane banning of Internal Combustion Engines, and subsidies to the unreliable renewable industries.
October 3, 2022
ian miller
Well said, very good post.
All the boxes ticked.
October 4, 2022
I note Steve Baker has talked about an estimate that halting net zero would immediately save Ā£1,500 per household. That finances the tax cuts and more in one fell swoop. Do it.
October 4, 2022
Well that went well, didn’t it!