The Reformation of the State
Very big spending cuts are clearly on their way in public affairs. I sat in front of Vincent Cable on a train to Bath the other day--I didn't bother him, he was enjoying his quiet--and got a glimpse of the latest media darling, whom I respect, being greeted at the train station. He reminded me of none so much as William Gladstone, thinking away then loping with a head shake and a smile that betokened some desire to cut something rationally.
He was on the radio this morning, targeting public sector pensions. At least he was being honest about what he wanted to do. What strikes me, however is that there is at once too much statism and too much of the state shirking responsibility by creating 'arms length' autonomy in enterprises that are clearly funded by it but commercially autonomous.
So, for instance, we have legions of fake charities funded by taxpayers advancing the cause of social regulation that the state then responds to; many nominally private companies that live off vast subsidies and taxpayer monies; and grotesque waste disguised as business or community grants that allow ministers to pretend they are open to free commerce.
This all leads to a mindset founded on twin principles of interference and busybodying control. We are facing a future in which at least half our incomes, if we work, is spent on people who even tell you how to sort the rubbish you pay them to take away. They won't spend on the courts, and they won't give troops proper and reliable equipment, but they pretend to be sad when they die or are maimed, before they abandon them. They will spend on friendly lawyers and European projects that don't work. And, even when they buy banks, they ruin them, whilst stuffing the mouths of failed bankers with gold.
Part of this is social. The English-speaking west has in large part over the past few decades to a concept of socialised value based on credit, fashion and laziness at exactly the same time as we have adopted laws and outlooks that tend to destroy society. That isn't, however, what I wanted to say in this post.
This is a culture which loves its targets. There is merit in probably unattainable targets, since they lead us in the right direction. I once lost a hundred pounds in weight, which I had put on through indulgence, anger and intellectual isolation. There are any number of reasons for the loss I could proffer; the gym memberships I love, the Atkins diet, a bike I used to have, the love of a few good women, but really, what sticks out in my mind is the determination just to wish myself thin. I'm not, and never will be, but the comic-platonic delusion was well worth the effort. I watch what I eat and drink now, more or less (with periodic adjustments) and get to the gym three or four times a week. I walk everywhere.
Here in the lalaland that is my blog, I think that the government should do the same. Let's set some targets and stick them on the state fridge.
1) Abolish the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. None of those things need a government department to uphold them, and when Andy Burnham, the Minister, can have his own little Ceaucescu moment at a football memorial service, you know the game is nearly up.
2) Abolish the Department of Business and replace it with a simple Board of Trade. Use the money not distributed in business grants to lower corporation tax, and simplify the tax system for business. Abolish the minimum wage, and set a threshold for taxes to start, of £12,000 per year. Create a ring-fenced National Insurance fund which people can 'top up' and which the government cannot use.
3) Abolish the Department of Health and replace it with a Board of elected commissioners.
4) Cut the size of the House of Commons in half.
5) Lock local government monies to local house prices and force them to fund any executive or advisor role created in the past ten years from their own resources.
6) Withdraw Private Finance Initiative schemes and subsidies from utilities, and place any which go bankrupt into cooperative or elected commission control.
7) Introduce open primaries for public positions and create an 'alernative vote' or run-off system for fixed-term, end-of-year elections
8) Privatise the pensions of all elected officials
9) Hold a referendum on Scottish Independence and gradually move Northern Ireland towards independence, with a provision for the ultimate removal of Northern Ireland Members of Parliament.
10) Introduce vouchers for secondary education, and allow for University mergers or a new, geographically distributed National University of England to buy bankrupt colleges after abandoning a 50% target for university enrollment. Allow the Russell Group Universities to build up endowments, then privatise themselves away from state control.
Go on, I dare you.
Very big spending cuts are clearly on their way in public affairs. I sat in front of Vincent Cable on a train to Bath the other day--I didn't bother him, he was enjoying his quiet--and got a glimpse of the latest media darling, whom I respect, being greeted at the train station. He reminded me of none so much as William Gladstone, thinking away then loping with a head shake and a smile that betokened some desire to cut something rationally.
He was on the radio this morning, targeting public sector pensions. At least he was being honest about what he wanted to do. What strikes me, however is that there is at once too much statism and too much of the state shirking responsibility by creating 'arms length' autonomy in enterprises that are clearly funded by it but commercially autonomous.
So, for instance, we have legions of fake charities funded by taxpayers advancing the cause of social regulation that the state then responds to; many nominally private companies that live off vast subsidies and taxpayer monies; and grotesque waste disguised as business or community grants that allow ministers to pretend they are open to free commerce.
This all leads to a mindset founded on twin principles of interference and busybodying control. We are facing a future in which at least half our incomes, if we work, is spent on people who even tell you how to sort the rubbish you pay them to take away. They won't spend on the courts, and they won't give troops proper and reliable equipment, but they pretend to be sad when they die or are maimed, before they abandon them. They will spend on friendly lawyers and European projects that don't work. And, even when they buy banks, they ruin them, whilst stuffing the mouths of failed bankers with gold.
Part of this is social. The English-speaking west has in large part over the past few decades to a concept of socialised value based on credit, fashion and laziness at exactly the same time as we have adopted laws and outlooks that tend to destroy society. That isn't, however, what I wanted to say in this post.
This is a culture which loves its targets. There is merit in probably unattainable targets, since they lead us in the right direction. I once lost a hundred pounds in weight, which I had put on through indulgence, anger and intellectual isolation. There are any number of reasons for the loss I could proffer; the gym memberships I love, the Atkins diet, a bike I used to have, the love of a few good women, but really, what sticks out in my mind is the determination just to wish myself thin. I'm not, and never will be, but the comic-platonic delusion was well worth the effort. I watch what I eat and drink now, more or less (with periodic adjustments) and get to the gym three or four times a week. I walk everywhere.
Here in the lalaland that is my blog, I think that the government should do the same. Let's set some targets and stick them on the state fridge.
1) Abolish the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. None of those things need a government department to uphold them, and when Andy Burnham, the Minister, can have his own little Ceaucescu moment at a football memorial service, you know the game is nearly up.
2) Abolish the Department of Business and replace it with a simple Board of Trade. Use the money not distributed in business grants to lower corporation tax, and simplify the tax system for business. Abolish the minimum wage, and set a threshold for taxes to start, of £12,000 per year. Create a ring-fenced National Insurance fund which people can 'top up' and which the government cannot use.
3) Abolish the Department of Health and replace it with a Board of elected commissioners.
4) Cut the size of the House of Commons in half.
5) Lock local government monies to local house prices and force them to fund any executive or advisor role created in the past ten years from their own resources.
6) Withdraw Private Finance Initiative schemes and subsidies from utilities, and place any which go bankrupt into cooperative or elected commission control.
7) Introduce open primaries for public positions and create an 'alernative vote' or run-off system for fixed-term, end-of-year elections
8) Privatise the pensions of all elected officials
9) Hold a referendum on Scottish Independence and gradually move Northern Ireland towards independence, with a provision for the ultimate removal of Northern Ireland Members of Parliament.
10) Introduce vouchers for secondary education, and allow for University mergers or a new, geographically distributed National University of England to buy bankrupt colleges after abandoning a 50% target for university enrollment. Allow the Russell Group Universities to build up endowments, then privatise themselves away from state control.
Go on, I dare you.
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