I believe the areas below are crucial in UKIP developing the policies required for a serious political party. I acknowledge they are not costed or scrutinised, but are of the type that the party should consider for debate, to ensure its long term political future.
In my view UKIP cannot survive as a single issue protest group, the free Tommy Robinson focus, while worthy of merit, should not be seen as what we are about. In my view the biggest curse of modern politics is short termism, which is now obsessed with breaking news or tomorrow’s headline, it may take time but I believe there is a huge percentage of the population outside London and the main stream media coverage crying out for well thought out, cost effective policies to deal with these issues in the longer term.
There are radical thinkers/MPs out there that probably are close to believing the Tory party in particular are a lost cause. With Labour now pursuing a Marxist route there is a huge opportunity to set out radical and sensible policies; this might not exist forever, therefore time is of the essence, because the day of the 2 party system may soon break, with both main parties fracturing in different ways. Attracting the radical thinkers and funding, UKIP can adapt policies which none of the current political parties have the guts to adapt, and I believe play the long game when perhaps in the not too distant future its policies become main stream.
NHS
UKIP should have a debate which I believe the majority of the electorate are ready for. It must be prepared to face down the BMA (the most reactionary and left wing union since the NUM), Unite, BBC and MSM in general. It should be focused on getting patient care to a world class level, along with cancer survival rates etc, not preserving an outdated model. Some suggestions:
- Returns nursing to a caring profession abolish the graduate training programme and train on the job. Nurses should be carers not academics.
- Bring in an outside agency to run HR, currently it is a dept that punishes whistle blowers and rewards time serving time wasters, allowing them to hide behind allegations of bullying when called to account.
- Bring in an outside agency (supermarket buyers) to purchase all non medical goods initially. If successful move into other areas.
- Allow Pharmacies to employ doctors to compete with NHS run practices, which now treat patients as a nuisance interruption to their sedentary lives. (GPs are not overworked, my wife worked for some for many years). We are told we are short of doctors; let the private sector employ some, on a fee paying basis if necessary, with access to NHS services or Private Hospitals.
- Full tax relief should be allowed on Medical Insurance.
- Move towards a state insurance scheme for medical, late life care and pensions, with a start date for new entrants fixed for the future. Those who contribute should be allowed to spend the fund where they wish.
- Medical schools to offer entrance exams so that those with a passion for medicine who do not quite meet exam grades have an opportunity to enter the profession.
Law and Order
PCC Commissioners and PCSO to be abolished. Chief Constables to be elected for a fixed term, open to all ranks and military police officers. Their remit should be similar to the Sheriffs in the USA, they would be responsible for all law and order in the constabulary boundary and be allowed to establish law enforcement policy from top to bottom. It would be based on a costed out programme for the term. Fixed costs like building new prisons would come from central funds otherwise they would have full jurisdiction on policing and punishments. This would be paid for out of local taxation, with the electorate made aware of potential costs for the fixed term. If budgets were exceeded by say 5% then re-election would be required. I would also favour a referendum on the return of capital punishment for heinous crimes to individual or state.
Energy
The climate change act to be abolished, and all our energy requirements should be based on only 3 criteria a) sustainable b) cost effective c) available 24 hours a day.
All subsidies for wind turbines and solar panels phased out. Hinckley B scrapped. Greenpeace/FofE faced down on Fracking and move towards serious feasibility for our future requirements. Small scale nuclear reactors as used in submarines etc should be looked at for use as required. UKIP should show more concern for those impoverished by high energy costs. How hypocritical it is of Labour politicians in particular not to bring this to the public attention, they have the temerity to fix generators prices while charging VAT on fuel bills and have created an energy policy which sees up to 30% of cost go on green or feed in tariff charges.
Part II of this article will be published in the next few days on UKIP Daily.
Reform of the electoral commission could be an idea
Could someone enlighten me in asking is there any rulings on dual memberships of parties
as personally I do not agree at all with this continuing, if there is no ruling then maybe it is time one was considered.
It seems strange that UKIP.won’t allow a 20 year lapsed member of the BNP to join (BNP=no wars, financial disasters or attacks against British culture and heritage) but allow current Tories members to join.
One rule for all please.
A relaxation of the proscribed list would immediately attract adverse media attention and for what?
The BNP was hardly big and even if we were to gain a hundred new members , they would not be worth the trouble. I also fundamentally believe that the vast majority of BNP members are dodgy.
There are also -almost certainly- ex BNP members in UKIP anyway ( and in the Tories) . There is no certain way to check.
Until they reveal themselves with disastrous timing.
@Kevin,
I Google searched UKIP BNP controversy and nothing you describe appeared. I also do not remember any controversy while I’ve been a member of UKIP.
Was you making that up ?
I did find this;
https://m.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/05/17/nazi-margaret-burke-milton-keynes-_n_1523990.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer_us=YW5kcm9pZC1hcHA6Ly9jb20uZ29vZ2xlLmFuZHJvaWQuZ29vZ2xlcXVpY2tzZWFyY2hib3g&guce_referrer_cs=7gXdj4dE2mlNk2FAgVv4QA
And this;
https://order-order.com/2018/03/30/corbyn-campaigned-ex-nazi-councillors-ward-yesterday/.
It’s perverse to turn away members because of their previous allegiances when the opposition do not.
To add insult to stupidity you can be an ex-IRA/Hanas/Tamil Tigers member and not be banned.
The freedom of speech party are not the freedom of political expression party.
Morning BT,
I do understand the feelings on this issue but by the same token I do believe that this ruling should be left as is, on account it would create to much not needed animosity.
As for dual membership not to my liking at all, it shows all round lack of commitment.
It seems a bit unusual would be my view but not necessarily dangerous. It should certainly preclude a dual-party member standing for internal office or for council or parliamentary office. However, if a member has no ambitions in those directions, then its a matter for them I think.
Also, it could be useful tactically in some circumstances. One of the excellent contributors here ( Moraymint ) is openly UKIP/Tory and honest about why. I can see no problems with that at all.
Morning B,
Lets us not beat about the bush here, to me moreymint comes across as tory party first
at the expense of UKIP if needs be.
Do not please ask me to believe that any current tory member on saying he / she has no ambitions towards positions of power within the party would be believed, that would be, well, unbelievable.
Duel membership would only need 52 % of membership to be a winner, hey presto
ersatz tory party MK2.
Energy:
First and foremost. As it becomes clearer and clearer to more and more people that carbon dioxide is NOT a pollutant and that the Global Warming aka Climate Change hypothesis has been thoroughly debunked because there is no discernible correlation between the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the global temperature, whether viewed in the short-term during the satellite temperature monitoring era or over the long term in palaeontological records we should strongly oppose any and all energy policies based on this hoax.
Simply put, lack of correlation disproves causation.
In the light of this UKIP energy policy needs to be firmly based on the following:
Cost:
New energy generation plant should be competitive and produce energy at the lowest possible cost.
This almost certainly means COAL.
To bring this about all government interference in the form of subsidies should be abolished and regulations other than those that limit genuine pollution, such as fly-ash from flues, should be eliminated.
Reliability of supply:
Short term reliability means that intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar that require alternative plant to stand idle but be ready to pick up the slack or require vast expensive backup batteries when the wind blows too fast or too slow or the sun is blocked by thick clouds or snow on their panels or its nigh-time would probably need to be eliminated unless (and this seems most unlikely) a sound, business plan reveals that they are genuinely cost-effective and competitive.
With regards long term reliability, it should be remembered that coal can be transported by rail (no pipelines required) and stored indefinitely in huge quantities at power stations. So, unless gas-fired generating plant is located at or near a source of supply such as fracking this should also be treated with caution.
Conclusion. As a first step UKIP should immediately put and end to Drax running on wood-chips and get it running on coal again.
In my view the sole purpose of this mad scheme was to artificially increase the cost of power generated at Drax to make the high cost of electricity from Hinkley look lower than it is likely to be. (My guess is up to 5 times more expensive than coal!)
If it’s OK for China (and to a lesser extent Germany) to generate most of their power from coal then its OK for us in the UK too.
You make a good argument Michael.
I cannot but accept your statement that there is no discernable relation between CO2 and temperature as I have heard it before, although I haven
t seen any noticeable admission in that direction by the warmists who seem to have almost a pathological denial complex. Regarding Germany retaining coal, is it surprising that the Common Market grew out of the Iron and Steel community, the object of which I understand was to protect the German and Belgian production after the cessation of WW2. I believe Germany is "getting away with it" because the rest of the EU are too frit to call them out - it is plain Germany calls the shots in the EU and in fact all members apart from Germany are not just subservient to Brussels masters, but the real power and paymaster is Germany who they dare not offend. (Some more equal than others?)s wholesale capture possible or economic?.Fly ash capture is it
Reference Drax I agree with your hypothesis regarding artificially increasing the cost of production to disguise Hinkley, particularly as I remember a comment a few years back by the Chief British Scientist on Radio 4 afternoon programme that to reduce the use of fossil fuels he would hope that the price of oil doubled.
Shortly afterwards it did double – more so!
Idle talk and malign intentions can contribute to atmospheric pollution just as well as fossil fuel is supposed to do.
Valuable article Michael I would suggest you submit it as an article or letter to UKIP Daily, so everybody gets a read!
There is one policy that no one is talking about and that is the problem with second homes especially in areas where there is tourism,it is one of the reasons that a lot of villages are dying,post offices,pubs,local shops closing as there is not a year round trade. Also it forces the prices up to the point that locals cannot afford to live in the places they were brought up….I would advocate a tax on second homes ( to be collected locally)which would ring fenced to support local business,thus bringing jobs to those areas, The tax would only come in when the second homes was not used for less than 9 months of any year……suggestions or comment please,especially in areas like Cornwall/ Devon/ Dorset/Somerset/Suffolk/Norfolk/Pembrokeshire etc.
I worked in the NHs for thirty odd years.
The problems began when clueless (but well paid) outside managers were parachuted in from outside. They would make sweeping (and expensive) reorganisations and then move on. This happened every three or four years. They all made things worse, demoralised staff and increased administration.
Previously, people worked their way up from the bottom and knew every aspect about what went on. A system that worked.
Recognise and address the damage done deliberately by Common Purpose over the last decades, and make that the basic principle for most of our policies?
Sonya Jaye Porter and Amanda Momtazi have done articles on Common Purpose on UKIP Daily although I cant provide the link due to copy paste problems on my computer.
Late posting Mary and I`m not sure this will get the attention it deserves..
I agree Common Purpose is a dirty filthy underhand conspiracy that is at the bottom of many actions used by all the legacy parties to divert attention and install policies that are certainly not in the interests of those that voted for them
On NHS. train our own doctors , outside the BMA union if needs be. Finance the training-and for nurses.
Finance to be repaid if they leave the country or stop working for NHS- like half the MPs.
All to be funded by cutting useless managers .
On energy. More hydro. It will rain again.Revenue to Wales and the Highlands . Invest in new coal burn methods. Stop importing sawdust from the US .Reopen some coal pits to train some miners and as a strategic reserve .
And frack. All will put money and jobs where most needed
Agree with you on everything
Bloody good idea for the coal mines. The Germans use clean-burn and also incinerate practically ALL their garbage for electricity with near zero emissions
Agree with the coal mines. Certainly less disruption and disfigurement of our countryside than wind farms, endless miles of new pylons and new transmission stations; plus the mining jobs in ‘development areas’.
There is no such thing as clean burn coal.
Or zero emissions incineration.
It’s a fiction put about by people who have certain financial interests.
I was an energy efficiency engineer BTW and closely involved in such technology.
Was that when you were in the NHS for 30 years
///Harold Armitage
I worked in the NHs for thirty odd years.///
You are doing well for a 100 year old.
Why has my comment on coal mining disappeared? Surely not censorship?
It hasn’t disappeared Judith.
This is the second time of posting the exact same message. Why have my posts been deleted? Is this censorship?
No Judith, it’s not censorship. Perhaps it’s something to do with the fact that we moderators have our own lives to lead and can’t spend every single waking moment viewing comments. Sometimes there’s a delay in moderating.
Thank you for the reply and explanation.
The problem with the coal in this country is that has high sulphur content,is difficult to get at and compared to other coal is “wet”, there was a project though that I always thought could be the answer was called ” the hot rocks project ” down in Cornwall…it was basically thermal power,drill two bore holes at angles to meet a couple of miles down into hard rock ( I.e.granite )put water down one bore,it heats up and becomes steam,goes up the other hole to drive a turbine,water condenses,goes back down and so it goes…You are right about importing sawdust to stupid to talk about,another project not thought out….and frack like hell
The problem with coal (and anything else we dig up) is that it’s contaminated with all kinds of poisons, from heavy metals to (radioactive) uranium.
We have been chuffing them out for years from power stations, is it any wonder there are so many previously unheard of diseases?
Children are especially vulnerable.
Sure we can remove some of hem with expensive technology but they still have to be disposed of.
These remarks also apply to fracking, where the water used comes back out contaminated.
Harold, I have already made some comments on coal in Michael Keal
s earlier posting, before finding your comment, he mentions fly ash, but I guess you have a point.s puny efforts are nugatory in comparison.Yes capture is dear and they do "chuff" out all sorts of dreadful things, but I think that is where we came in, remember the hoo-ha that our production of acid rain was destroying all the forests of our neighbours in Europe and that led on to holes in the ozone layers and that led on to the grand panolply of GLOBAL WARMING that governments and commerce have been exploiting so ruthlessly since.
I once watched a programme on BBC (25/30 years ago) where they pointed out Dirty Volcanos in Iceland had caused population erosion in Sutherland Scotland due to its production of acid rain.
Apparently there are a number of "Dirty" Volcanos around the earth that have been chuffing out their guts for millions of years and I would guess man
Most of the stuff turned out by volcanoes eventually reacts out to something fairly harmless.
Heavy metals on the other hand will always be with us once dug up.
Uranium, mercury , antimony, cadmium, arsenic. All to be found in coal and oil.
The worst places are ex-gasworks where the ground is so polluted, it can probably never be reused.
But places glazing pottery and tiles, also oil refineries are almost as bad.
Don`t go down the mines daddy!
Why deep mining when there is still plenty of open cast still available?
What is ‘HR’ ?
HR is Human Resources, which used to be called ‘personnel’.
Having researched sustainable energy I wish we would stop and think of the bigger picture around wind farms tidal/wave energy.
Britain has an abundant supply of sustainable possibilities and is usually windy everyday During the cold March wind power produced 43% of our “extra” needs – we don’t need lots of energy in summer (if it’s a bad summer it will mean it’s windy…) And by 2040 all cars will be electric so we will need local “feeding” stations. The batteries for overnight wind storage are ready.
The larger horizons also mean sea windfarms would be a “natural” spawning grounds for our fish stocks and prevent international factory ships from mass dredging coastal areas.. Britain has one of the largest tidal ranges …
Along with the home grown resources (built and managed in Britain) would act as security against price hikes, possible foreign production market reductions or even withholding supplies, which was close to happening a few years ago.
We would not be secure if we relied on wind power. A typical wind turbine contains more than 8,000 different components, many of which are made from steel, cast iron, and concrete. One such component are magnets made from neodymium and dysprosium, rare earth minerals mined almost exclusively in China, which controls 95 percent of the world’s supply of rare earth minerals.
We also need to be concentrating on tidal power which is predictable.
The tide times vary round the country. We need to be working on this NOW.
Frack gas will bridge the gap but it is an unknown resource, we don’t know how long it will last.
I agree with everything. So do others. It’s the same problem as UKIP. Organisation.
A most useful and timely article. I would suggest that some of the NHS problems could be solved by returning to a matron run ward system with less outsourcing to cleaning companies etc. The outside contractors must be in there for a profit which we are all having to pay for. Furthermore, some of the salaries quoted for managers are obscene. I suggest that NO ONE who is paid out of any form of public funds should be paid more than the prime minister. Their pension funds must be worth a mint of money, all of which we are paying for. This goes for headmasters, council managers etc., except that I would make an exception for the higher ranks of the armed services.
And forget asking the French to help us build nuclear energy power stations. They will screw us in the process. The UK led the world in nuclear power in the days of Aldermarston some years ago. We need to develop our own nuclear energy capability which we can export to other countries. Rolls Royce is working on on producing just such a capability.
I Liked your reply Jeremy for a number of reasons.
Matron run wards yes! links up with the author
s point that nurses should be trained on the job rather than University, I also remember we had an harangue on this point at a conference - a few back from I think she was a female MEP only one point I will make is the nurses must be trained to a high technical standard - they dispense the drugs that often young doctors prescribe - they are a necessary second check on dosagesObscene pay - I agree with you, especially as these people often have more security of tenure of office than a PM..
Rolls Royce Im pleased you mentioned their nuclear involvement is still on. I heard an interview with I believe the head of RR on Radio 4 a few years ago where he alluded to the coming of a new Industrial Revolution and “interesting things were going to happen”
I filled in UKIP POLICY SURVEY
and under item J I wrote FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
Nuclear, Own Shipping and ship building Industry Full plane aircraft building industry (why stop at the wings and engine – surely we can build the full monty), High Tech Industries in General.
In all conscience we cannot exist much longer on a services only diet and the British technical genius must be refostered. I heard a chap on the morning Radio 4 a couple of months ago speaking from the North East mention a 4th Industrial Revolution.
I hope UKIP will be adopting progressive enterprising policies suitable for the big wide world that we will re-enter after Brexit.
Whilst I mostly agree there is clearly more but what I have never seen published is our core values (beliefs if you like) that policy is derived from. Both those and general policy need to be clear, published and compatible. Only then may the particular manifesto for an upcoming election be developed and published.
Core Values >> General Policies >> Manifestos.
How can it be any other way? Thankfully at least reliance on the last published election manifesto seems to have been binned or has it?
UKIP guiding princilples are those of libertarianism. We should to aim to minimise the size of the government and establishment, to reduce the taxation and bureaucratic burdens placed upon individuals and SMEs. To encourage individuals to take responsibility for themselves and their actions. The government to do what only governments can do, etc.
That being said, we are first and foremost a pragmatic and down to earth party, we recognise that we are in the situation pertaining today in our country, and that we have to start from here, and that we have to take others of different persuasions with us.
Short termism – not entirely true as evidenced by relentless:
Mccan; Stephen Lawrence; Windrush; Grenville Towers; Remainer Movement
NHS – someone needs to promote the stats on nurse ‘wastage’. Contrary to media propaganda, these are not all Florence Nightingales. The numbers that start in this job against those who last the three and four year course, is huge. That does not take into account the number who leave the nursing industry to have babies and never return.
It is not just a matter of handing out pills which takes me to the topic of doctors. No better not.
Beyond that, have you, like me (more than once) been seen by a hospital specialist on a Friday (Golfing) Afternoon?
Law and Order – just think hate crimes. To a red head – ginger knob as they were once called, is now/not a hate crime. And today, to call a spade a Spade, my God (or Allah).
Energy
Propping up inefficient industry is madness whether it be car building, steel manufacture or coal mining. And plundering the money out of my pocket makes it worse.
If it is any good, like self driving cars, it will pay for itself.
Nursing is a rotten job and hard work.
Previously nurses learned on the job.
Those that didn’t like it dropped out in a few weeks.
However if you’ve spent three years in university it’s pretty hard to drop out.
So they hang on in there, hating it.
Not ideal if you’re a patient.
Energy.
We have to build nuclear power stations and follow the French model. In fact doing a trade deal with the French regarding this would be a good idea. Let’s get them to help design and build them with us in short order. It will be good for both economies post- Brexit.
Fracking must take place. In the USA it dramatically reduced gas prices. No old ladies freeze to death in America.
The boost to British industry would be collossal.
The cost of energy needs to be controlled by legislation . The aim must be to ensure that no one suffers because they cannot afford to pay the bills. This probably means nationalisation.
The green energy policy must be that we seek to modernise and reduce pollution, not to stop it in its tracks.
Which means nuclear.
Fracking also has another benefit,it undercuts the oil price that the main backers of terrorism need to sustain their economies….both Iran and Saudi need the oil price to be about $80 a barrel to keep their outgoing so stable,under that and they are in trouble….is if you attack the money supply you can also attack the terrorists
Join the discussion..
Sorry to disagree with fracking after seeing the following:
https://fracfocus.org/chemical-use/what-chemicals-are-used
More fossil fuel air pollution to add to ever rising temperatures let alone below ground pollution for ever and a day.
Accidents can and do happen. What happens then – company goes belly up and walks away leaving others to sort out and how?
What is the life of a fracking well and how will it affect house prices?
Don’t forget the underground water systems. Remember Thailand typical of elsewhere.
We are already gobbling up the resources of the planet at an increasing rate which can’t go on for ever.
So the short sighted gung-ho Americans are profiting – for now. Remember the USA DDT disaster?
Think long term and I mean centuries for your great great great grandchildren before life becomes difficult with wars over energy and water etc. with oil and water already causing difficulties between countries.
Drivel.
The French sold nuclear electricity cheap for years.
Now their reactors are at the end of their lives, they have no money for decommissioning.
Nobody knows what to do with nuclear waste so they just store it away.
Bury it?
Turns out to be impractical. There has been some spectacular failures.
We just can’t build things to last 100,000 years or more.
Eton Musk may have solved the decommissioning problem.
He’s researching the effect of nuclear explosions fired at Mars (the planet not Slough HQ) to create atmosphere.
Law and Order
PCC’s should be abolished
PSCO’s should be encouraged, and employed by the thousand. PSCO’s are the eyes and ears of the regular police, and often more approachable.
I like the idea of local ‘Sheriffs’ . Having lived in the USA and after getting to know the system it works very well, especially in smaller communities.
We need to REDUCE the prison population by largely eliminating short term sentencing. Prisons have become mental institutions. The Tories sold off many mental hospitals for private housing estates. There has to be a crash programme of reversing that . ( This of course has to link in with our NHS policy )
We have to develop, after cross-party consultation and with the input of criminologists and physicians a fresh policy regarding drug legislation and licensing. We must not regard this as a moral issue.
Capital punishment is barbaric, and I do not support it. However I would give the most monstrous killers the option of either 25 years breaking rocks outdoors in a Super-Max prison in the Hebrides, or euthanasia.
The NHS issues cannot be solved overnight.
As a start, bursaries need to be reintroduced to encourage and reward nursing trainees. The Tories are charging them £9250 a year to train. That’s why we are short of nurses. We need to pay them to train.
We shouldn’t downgrade the training. However the power of ward sisters should be reintroduced, and in so doing remove swathes of ‘managers’ .
We need to build many more hospitals and invest ( through places like Oxbridge UCL and Imperial ) vast amounts of money (billions) in a pledge to find a cure for Alzheimers and aggressive cancers within 10 years —think of it as a space-race, a gift for humanity and an alternative to Foreign Aid.
That’s an election winner. It will be universally popular.
We should not pick a quarrel with the BMA.
Legislation can be adopted to stop price -gouging regarding purchasing. The Americans for instance have such legislation regarding energy costs.
Full tax relief on medical insurance is a very good idea.
I would scrap prescription fees but have a nominal charge ( £10 ) for a doctors appointment, which would dramatically stop wasted slots. This can be refunded against a scale of the seriousness of the malaise, so discouraging flippant appointments, which should and could be handled by pharmacists.
We must also inform the electorate that taxation for this IS RING – FENCED. NI is currently just another tax.
We must be honest about how none of this is free and indeed begin to develop a national policy towards long term/ end of life care.
Lets start winning elections..
Recently I read of hip operations being delayed to save money whilst the responsible “managers” were being paid 300k +. Good managers don’t cost anywhere near that and I suspect those salaries are more likely to attract incompetent carpetbaggers, hooray henries and the like who are cronies of those in government.
In my experience such a level as those “managers” occupy doesn’t exist in the real world; the professional staff take responibility for the administration but, of course, don’t do it themselves and the actual administrators are paid a realistic salary.
Shame that the NHS is not just for emergency health care only. Why do we need the NHS doing joint replacement, phyisio, and a whole host of non emergency tasks that could be done by state health voucher in specialist private hospitals. No industry would do all these jobs in house they would be franchised out. The NHS is just to big and unwieldly and an outdated concept. After all, no country in the world attempts to emulate the NHS!!
A very good healthcare model to follow would be that of Germany or Belgium. ( I have used both ) Its essentially a hybrid private/public funded service which leaves no one without cover or help.
The service is superb.
Both Germany and Belgium spend considerably more proportionately on the NHS than we do.
Which means we will have to do the same to emulate them.
My one bug bear is business rates. They are an outdated concept being based on the idea that business needs buildings to operate,nowadays you can be travelling around using an iPad to conduct business and have no rates to pay….plus it seems that everyone is complaining that high streets are dying little wonder when the small shopkeeper is penalised and large out of town shopping parks pay less. There is also the ludicrous scheme of putting up those rates year on year. I would suggest an abolition of the business rate and have tax on profit to be used locally but set by central government.
Comments…ideas?
As a small business owner, the relentless hmrc money grasping letters, plus all the **bright ideas we have to cope with, makes me wonder if its worth it. Accountancy bills, insurances, training, first aiders, fire wardens, electric plug testers, computer operator posture consulants, trip hazard awareness, and on and on . . .
**My dentist was saying he had to submit a plan for a tsunami amongst his eu/Government produced 200 page conformance list. Yes, and how many man hours does that waste across the country?
Have your staff been through a course to walk up and down stairs safely or to reverse park, (as if you are going to get out in the rush!), or not to jump off the roof unless you have wings and an approved licence.
Not quite there yet, but not far to go.
Perhaps we need a bonfire of red tape?
I remember listening to a conversation about some folks who had gone to a meeting in Brussels with the EU,the main topic was what they saw in the toilets….instructions in 6 languages on how to use a loo brush.
You are correct a bonfire is needed,a very large one,plus the doing away of complete tiers of bureaucracy ….be it from the number of counsellors on councils ,area authorities,quangos,police chiefs,mayors,departments,up to Ministries….all non productive paper pushing,cash wasting and all paid for by the tax payer
In a way I agree. However it is worth noting that it is onle of very very rare taxes where the owner has some clout. Not much, but some.