As the Conservative Party prepares to gather for its annual conference, I offer these items, in no particular order, which should be being discussed, if they want to have a chance of re-election and an outright majority after 2015.
Note that there is nothing to stop them actually starting to implement these, now. Yes, I know that they have coalition partners but perhaps even the Lib Dems would baulk at publicly opposing some of these?
EU Referendum
The Conservative Party needs to come out now and state that it will offer the people of Britain a straight In or Out referendum after the next General Election. That is, within a stated time after that election and this to be not more than 12 months.
EU Reform
Preceding the EU Referendum, and starting immediately, initiate a process of root and branch review and reform of all EU institutions and laws and directives - all! Hopefully this will be done with the cooperation of EU partners but if not, it should still be done. This needs to be undertaken and completed before 2015, so that, going into the General Election and the subsequent EU Referendum, voters will clearly know for what it is they are voting.
The review should take a profoundly British and Conservative view of EU law and see how this serves our British and Conservative interests and as a minimum must ask these questions concerning all EU legislation.
Public Expenditure Cuts
These need to be implemented, accelerated, call it what you will but real cuts need to be made. Real? That is cuts that reduce the overall level of spending, year on year for all departments, except Defence. And yes, that does include the bloated and inefficient NHS. The Health budget and that of Welfare take a very large slice of the expenditure pie, so these could naturally produce the largest contribution to cuts.
Regional Pay
No need for discussions. Instruct ministers and their departments that forward from the next pay round, all salary settlements will be on a regional basis and reflect local pay and conditions and not negotiated and set at a National level.
Tax and Business Regulation Reform
I posted recently on tax cuts ( http://bit.ly/PdhgtG ) but additionally the Conservatives need to be pushing a pro-business agenda. Britain needs to have the lowest Corporate Tax rate in the OECD. Employer NI contributions need to incentivise companies to hire not penalise them if they do. Same applies to employment legislation.
We do not need talk of a bonfire of red tape, we need that actual bonfire (Guy Fawkes night is just around the corner, only saying!). A simple rule should be applied - what is the economic impact of any law or directive or legislation or whatever. It's a bit like how you run a business - can we afford to do this or that?
The Regions and Devolved Assemblies
The interminable delays sought by the Scottish Nationalists must be thwarted. If they do not come to the table with a date and the single Yes or No question, then Westminster should by-pass them and go to the Scottish people, directly. Oh, and no concessions on more powers being devolved - None!
However, and I know this will upset the Unionists, the price should be made clear before any independence vote is taken. If independence is chosen, Scotland may align itself with Sterling but will have no say in the formulation of economic policy. A fair distribution of National Debt will be undertaken - fair equals something like that which reflects Scotland's percentage contribution to the UK economy (I know that proportionally, Scotland is probably getting a good deal from such a share out but let's be clear, let's do it and move on).
For the Regions and the devolved assemblies, whatever the outcome of the Scottish independence vote, a commitment that the Conservatives will scrap the Barnett formula and replace it with a new process for the distribution of government spending.
BBC
This organization needs to become a commercial organization and not one that is funded by a TV tax. Then they can drop the facade of impartiality and show their 'leftist' colours more openly.
Pilgrims
This only needs David Cameron to tell Francis Maude to stop dithering and end this iniquitous process, immediately. No discussions just get it ended. If any local council or other organization refuses to end their Trade Union implants then immediately reduce their funding by 5 times the cost of the 'pilgrim'. Hey, that could be a great way to cut Public Expenditure!
Nuclear Energy
See also the following point. Initiate and then drive through a programme of dramatically increasing the percentage of Britain's energy needs that is derived from Nuclear power. Start building nuclear power plants. So start by enacting legislation suspending Planning laws for same. Since we will need so many, these can be spread around the country so ultimately they are close enough to be in all of our backyards - that should silence the NIMBYs
Green Energy
Shouldn't really need to say this but, if we must have wind farms spoiling the landscape or other fanciful schemes, then let them be self-funding. End the 'Green taxes'. Give people back the choice. Do you want 'green energy' if yes, then it will cost you more.
Policing Reform
How can it make any sense to have so many different police authorities throughout the country? So many different purchasing organizations, HR groups, Finance groups etc.. End this grossly inefficient farce and merge these organizations into a national force, answerable to the Home Secretary
Quangos
Set a date by which time all will be automatically abolished. First though make sure that all initiate processes that ensure that any redundancy payments paid out, match government levels and cannot exceed the Income Tax, tax free deductible levels. Then, these organizations can put the case for being re-constituted, laying out a business case for what they do and why they are needed and, why they are needed in a particular format (maybe some might chose to merge or otherwise amalgamate).
Fundamentally though, all must be directly answerable to a minister.
So what else?
Well, the above is a busy programme, so parliamentary recesses will need to be much shorter - say something like the 4-5 weeks vacation that most people get? Then given the absence of pandering to special interest groups (who will NEVER vote Conservative anyway) the legislative agenda might be achievable!
Note that there is nothing to stop them actually starting to implement these, now. Yes, I know that they have coalition partners but perhaps even the Lib Dems would baulk at publicly opposing some of these?
EU Referendum
The Conservative Party needs to come out now and state that it will offer the people of Britain a straight In or Out referendum after the next General Election. That is, within a stated time after that election and this to be not more than 12 months.
EU Reform
Preceding the EU Referendum, and starting immediately, initiate a process of root and branch review and reform of all EU institutions and laws and directives - all! Hopefully this will be done with the cooperation of EU partners but if not, it should still be done. This needs to be undertaken and completed before 2015, so that, going into the General Election and the subsequent EU Referendum, voters will clearly know for what it is they are voting.
The review should take a profoundly British and Conservative view of EU law and see how this serves our British and Conservative interests and as a minimum must ask these questions concerning all EU legislation.
- Why does this need to be done by the EU and not by the UK government?
- Does this legislation discriminate against Britain and British interests?
- Does this legislation include any option for a member country to not implement it?
- Does this legislation reflect the paramount status of the UK legislative institutions? That's Westminster, in case you have forgotten.
Public Expenditure Cuts
These need to be implemented, accelerated, call it what you will but real cuts need to be made. Real? That is cuts that reduce the overall level of spending, year on year for all departments, except Defence. And yes, that does include the bloated and inefficient NHS. The Health budget and that of Welfare take a very large slice of the expenditure pie, so these could naturally produce the largest contribution to cuts.
Regional Pay
No need for discussions. Instruct ministers and their departments that forward from the next pay round, all salary settlements will be on a regional basis and reflect local pay and conditions and not negotiated and set at a National level.
Tax and Business Regulation Reform
I posted recently on tax cuts ( http://bit.ly/PdhgtG ) but additionally the Conservatives need to be pushing a pro-business agenda. Britain needs to have the lowest Corporate Tax rate in the OECD. Employer NI contributions need to incentivise companies to hire not penalise them if they do. Same applies to employment legislation.
We do not need talk of a bonfire of red tape, we need that actual bonfire (Guy Fawkes night is just around the corner, only saying!). A simple rule should be applied - what is the economic impact of any law or directive or legislation or whatever. It's a bit like how you run a business - can we afford to do this or that?
The Regions and Devolved Assemblies
The interminable delays sought by the Scottish Nationalists must be thwarted. If they do not come to the table with a date and the single Yes or No question, then Westminster should by-pass them and go to the Scottish people, directly. Oh, and no concessions on more powers being devolved - None!
However, and I know this will upset the Unionists, the price should be made clear before any independence vote is taken. If independence is chosen, Scotland may align itself with Sterling but will have no say in the formulation of economic policy. A fair distribution of National Debt will be undertaken - fair equals something like that which reflects Scotland's percentage contribution to the UK economy (I know that proportionally, Scotland is probably getting a good deal from such a share out but let's be clear, let's do it and move on).
For the Regions and the devolved assemblies, whatever the outcome of the Scottish independence vote, a commitment that the Conservatives will scrap the Barnett formula and replace it with a new process for the distribution of government spending.
BBC
This organization needs to become a commercial organization and not one that is funded by a TV tax. Then they can drop the facade of impartiality and show their 'leftist' colours more openly.
Pilgrims
This only needs David Cameron to tell Francis Maude to stop dithering and end this iniquitous process, immediately. No discussions just get it ended. If any local council or other organization refuses to end their Trade Union implants then immediately reduce their funding by 5 times the cost of the 'pilgrim'. Hey, that could be a great way to cut Public Expenditure!
Nuclear Energy
See also the following point. Initiate and then drive through a programme of dramatically increasing the percentage of Britain's energy needs that is derived from Nuclear power. Start building nuclear power plants. So start by enacting legislation suspending Planning laws for same. Since we will need so many, these can be spread around the country so ultimately they are close enough to be in all of our backyards - that should silence the NIMBYs
Green Energy
Shouldn't really need to say this but, if we must have wind farms spoiling the landscape or other fanciful schemes, then let them be self-funding. End the 'Green taxes'. Give people back the choice. Do you want 'green energy' if yes, then it will cost you more.
Policing Reform
How can it make any sense to have so many different police authorities throughout the country? So many different purchasing organizations, HR groups, Finance groups etc.. End this grossly inefficient farce and merge these organizations into a national force, answerable to the Home Secretary
Quangos
Set a date by which time all will be automatically abolished. First though make sure that all initiate processes that ensure that any redundancy payments paid out, match government levels and cannot exceed the Income Tax, tax free deductible levels. Then, these organizations can put the case for being re-constituted, laying out a business case for what they do and why they are needed and, why they are needed in a particular format (maybe some might chose to merge or otherwise amalgamate).
Fundamentally though, all must be directly answerable to a minister.
So what else?
Well, the above is a busy programme, so parliamentary recesses will need to be much shorter - say something like the 4-5 weeks vacation that most people get? Then given the absence of pandering to special interest groups (who will NEVER vote Conservative anyway) the legislative agenda might be achievable!
No comments:
Post a Comment