Author: johnredwood

According to Treasury and OBR numbers higher rates of inward migration boost growth and can lower the deficit . It is of course right that if you add in a lot of new low paid migrants GDP goes up. It is also true GDP per head goes down with the encouragement of more low paid employment.

The OBR we read is minded to increase their forecast of the deficit if we have fewer migrants. This is odd. Low paid and no paid migrants need subsidised housing. They need  a range of free and subsidised public services. They add to the need to build new roads, surgeries, schools, hospitals, power generation and sewers. Much of this has a direct public spending cost.

The OBR may need to revise its assumption about productivity growth down for other reasons. Public sector productivity is still well below 2019 levels and the public sector is out recruiting. Private sector productivity has the huge headwind of accelerated energy and industrial closures. Oil, gas, petrochemicals and the manufacture of petrol cars all deliver high labour productivity. All are being run down by bans, high energy prices and regulations. Current OBR forecasts say productivity will recover to 2% a year by the end of this decade, and average 1.25%

The government is rushing to accept a Sanitary and Phyto  Sanitary Agreement with the EU. They hope such an Agreement would allow the UK to sell more meat  and dairy products into the EU with less inspection and documentation of the products. These products are already tariff free under the TCA, whilst the non EU products in these categories face high tariffs.

There are many questions to ask before signing any such EU drafted proposal.

How wide will the reach be of present and future EU laws and regulations? All the time we were in the EU there was substantial regulatory creep into most areas of business and family life.

What is the proposed cost the UK would  have to pay to be regulated?

Will the UK have to stop researching and making new products that do not conform with EU rules? Post brexit we have developed new fertilisers and new ways of farming.

Will the EU  rules undermine any of the new trade deals we have negotiated with other countries? Which TPP, Indian and US products would the EU make us ban or impose cumbersome rules on?

What will the impact be on inflation as we become more dependent on dearer EU imports?

What is the likely increase in our exports to the EU and their exports to us? Given they  export more than 3 times the amount of food and drink to us as we do to them, will these measures further increase our trade deficit in food?

Will we have to go back to mainly  importing EU citrus fruit with high tariffs on citrus from elsewhere?

 

The Conservatives introduced a cap on Universal Credit of 2 children for two reasons. The overall benefits bill was rising too fast. The present government agrees and says it wants to cut it. It did not seem fair that parents going to work to pay for their homes and children should delay having another child or limit their family size because they cannot afford another mouth to feed whilst  people not working would be paid by the state to have another child.

As Kemi Badenoch made clear in her GB News interview yesterday, she thinks it is wrong to improve the benefits offer to migrants when most in the country and the government say we need to get migration down.

What do you think about scrapping the cap? If you support it how would you pay for it? What impact do you think it will have on migration? Do you think our benefits offer to migrants is too little?

Should a distinction be made between those on UC whilst being in low paid work, and those living entirely on benefits?

The US will impose higher tariffs on the rest of the world as the President seeks to onshore more investment, The EU is a protective Customs Union imposing high tariffs to keep out foreign food and other items, imposing large non tariff barriers on overseas goods and services. China makes it difficult for foreigners to invest and sell into their market. These large players will end up with more barriers as they act out their trade war.

In these conditions it is unlikely the UK  can grow faster by promoting more goods exports. It is made impossible if the government perseveres with dear energy and bans on oil, gas, petrol and diesel cars which have been important exports for us.

So what we should do as part of  a Growth  strategy is concentrate on import substitution. There some very easy big wins:

1 Lift the ban on discovering and producing more North Sea oil. Cut our oil imports.

2. Lift the ban on new gas production. Slash LNG imports.

3.Require all new military vehicles and ships to be made in the UK.

4.Rescue oil refining by cutting taxes on oil and home production.

5Reclaim our fish and offer support to expand our fishing fleet

6. End  the progressive ban and high taxes on making and selling petrol and diesel cars

7. Require anyone putting in solar and wind farms with subsidies to meet a minimum  UK  content for buying the equipment

8. Exempt new homes built  with 90% UK materials and components from Stamp duty on sale

9. Require all public bodies and the Motability  charity to only buy UK made vehicles

10. Require the electricity industry to cover an average 100% of UK demand over a year . This is vital to national security as well as lowering the import bill.

 

 

Our membership of the ICJ   is a model of how to belong to an international body if you want to. We joined by unilateral declaration. It made clear the ICJ has no power over us in disputes between the UK and the Commonwealth. At any time we can amend our Declaration unilaterally . In 2017 we strengthened the omission of certain nuclear matters. We could cancel our membership any time.

The government’s idea that we were about to lose a case in this court was odd, as for years there has been no such move. Not only does the ICJ not apply here but how could Mauritius or the Court enforce any such ruling as the Diego Garcia base is a key US military asset?

This deal is another example of the government giving in needlessly in international negotiations and sending a big bill to the taxpayer. Every time the PM negotiates the UK loses.

I did point out well in advance of the surrender the legal position and showed the relevant document on GB News.

In the government battle between Angela and Rachel I am with Rachel in saying No to more damaging tax rises and Yes to the need to curb public spending. I am against both of them for signing up to some very bad ideas for increased spending. It seems as if you need to be a foreign government or an illegal migrant to qualify for increased state spending.

Why are we paying large sums to Mauritius to give away islands we legally own?

Why are we allowing a big increase in the numbers of illegal migrants coming by small boat?

Why will we pay money to the EU to impose regulations on us?

Why are we considering joining the expensive Erasmus scheme so UK taxpayers can pay for foreign students to come here?

Why are we signing  up to a more powerful and expensive World Health Organisation?

Why might we give money to the EU for their defence?

Why are the government still recruiting civil servants when productivity is so weak?

Why is paying avoidable Bank of England losses such a spending priority?

 

 

 

 

Even the Bank of England and Treasury saw this latest inflation surge coming. They should have as government caused most of it. They put up regulated prices of energy and water. They put up business costs with the tax on jobs. They allowed a large rise in Council tax.

Worse is to come for energy users. The EU is about to expand its emissions trading scheme to cover homes and personal transport as well as power generation and big energy using businesses currently covered. That means UK consumers of gas for central heating and of petrol for their cars will face higher bills when the carbon tax is added. Now the UK wants to merge our scheme with the EU it could well mean extra taxes for UK homeowners and drivers.

On top of this comes the tariff or carbon border tax. This is a levy on imports. The government’s twin passions of stopping us using fossil fuels and putting us under EU control are reinforcing each other.They will  make us poorer, with higher inflation and less growth.

Reform  and the Conservatives oppose these carbon taxes and the high  energy price strategy. It will be damaging for UK business and consumers.

 

The UK is seeking to join the EU emissions trading scheme. The UK set up a similar one on its own when we left the EU. Our scheme was less penal on power generation and industry than the EU one, giving us a lower carbon price. Our carbon price is now going up to get closer to the EU’s, meaning more costs for the industrial and energy businesses that have  to pay  it.

The UK also wishes to impose a carbon based tariff or border tax on imports just like the EU. That is a tax on UK consumers and businesses. Often we have to import  as so much industry has been closed by high energy prices and taxes. The UK and EU may agree not to levy the new tariff on each other. The UK should make clear to the  EU any attempt by them to levy it would be taken by the UK as a violation of our UK/EU tariff free trade Agreement. There is no need to submit to their carbon schemes to see off the threat of a new charge. The carbon border tax or tariff may well be challenged by other countries through the WTO and may be seen as a provocation by the US.

The UK’s insistence on high energy costs and prices is a main cause of the collapse of petrochemicals, steel, ceramics and other energy intensive industry. Far from boosting growth joining the EU  carbon schemes would hit our industry further.

 

There were precious few wins in the hype. None of them are yet delivered.

Use of egates to speed Uk travellers. Nothing changes before EU technology changes, which will not happen this summer. UK would then have to negotiate egate use with every member state individually!

More exports of UK food products. The UK  has conceded taking EU laws but there is no text saying what will be cut out or when. The UK exports so little meat  and dairy potential wins would be small even if they do make genuine reductions in requirements. Meanwhile  farmers would lose other freedoms to innovate and trade elsewhere.

Youth Experience Scheme. No agreement on limit on numbers or duration of visas. No clear statement on how to prevent it  becoming another entry route for migrants.

Access to bid for defence contracts. Nothing agreed about how many or about a possible charge for allowing this.

Common emissions trading and new carbon tax regime. No text. Just a threat of higher energy taxes and more imports, with EU calling the shots.

Freedom of movement

How many people under  30 will come? Is there any limit?

Where will they all find homes? What increases will there be in public service provision for them?

How will the government make sure they return home at the end of their permitted stay?

What if they become unemployed? Will the UK state assist them? Will they be sent home if they commit a crime?

Erasmus and Turing

How much would  rejoining  Erasmus cost per year? How much of the  money and uni places goes to EU students coming to UK?

Will Turing be scrapped to pay for Erasmus? Will that mean no more help for UK students to go to good US or Commonwealth unis?

Fish

Why does the government give any fish away?

Shouldn’t the  UK with rich fishing waters run its own marine and fish conservation policy, cancelling big quotas to EU boats and banning their environment damaging supertrawlers?

Why not help rebuild a bigger UK fleet, encouraging onshore  food processing.

Food rules

The UK and other advanced countries we trade with has high safety and quality standards  for food. The Uk has been lifting standards of animal welfare since Brexit. Why make us follow EU standards which might impede  innovation and better trade with non EU countries?

The EU sells us more than 3 times as much food and drink as we sell them. Extra sales of meat and dairy to the  EU would be small, and might be more than offset by bigger imports from the EU

The UK voted to be an independent country.EU dictating laws  to us takes away our independence.

UK contributing to EU defence

Isnt this best done through NATO which has command structures and procedures to construct coalitions of the willing and capable?

Surely UK companies that are part of multinational consortia as with the Typhoon programme are free to bid to see to EU governments when they buy weapons?

Why wouldn’t  the EU buy from the UK if we have the best product at the best price. It would self harm not to.

Energy and carbon taxes

How much extra will we have to pay in emissions and carbon costs on our energy?

Why out a big extra  carbon border  tax on to make consumers poorer and companies less competitive?

Why make us more rely  on importing energy with more sub sea pipes and wires? Why not go for greater energy security?

Economic impact

How much do the total give aways cost UK taxpayers? How much will this boost imports?

How can this silly surrender boost UK growth given the costs and risks involved?