Call me cynical but the timing of the devolution white paper comes in a rush and at a time when Labour expect to get annihilated at the polls in the local elections in May.
Labours answer; just cancel the local elections for one year. This will give the masterminds in the government one more year to turn the polls around in their favour and stop their backbenchers already flaking from a meltdown.
There’s an old saying, “it can’t get any worse” but it will for Labour. On top of the victimisation of millions of pensioners and the class war on the farmers, the stripping back of local accountability and shafting is all on higher taxes, this Labour definition of devolution will allow more building in places and change communities where building is not needed, this will also also ride roughshod over planning allowing onshore wind farms to be built in areas of outstanding natural beauty screwing up the rural communities even more That’s the “change” they kept quiet to you all about.
If they think it will quieten down the back benches, it’s going to emaciate the rank and file activists who are councillors as they will be abolished. It’s a whole new take on this Orwellian governments stance of some are more equal than others.
Ed Milliband is rushing to decarbonise Britain.
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Talking of energy. When I was last in Parliament as a Member, I commissioned a report from the House of Commons Library into the Great British Energy Con to get your bills down. Would it come as a surprise that it stated: ‘A recent report by the Unite union estimates that it would cost between £90 billion and £196 billion to renationalise the energy sector (including supply, transmission and distribution, generation, and North Sea oil and gas). The same report estimates that nationalising just energy suppliers would cost £3.5 billion, which compares to a Trades Union Congress (TUC) estimate of £2.85 billion.’
The only research Labour did into their policy was from their own paymasters that are assisting the economic crash with borrowed billions for inflation busting pay rises without productivity guarantees. Bankrupt Britain here we come and I fully expect this, but I don’t want to return to Parliament and find a no money left note in the draw like last time Labour ruined the economy.
There are also questions emerging into the mainstream media of the motivations of Millibands policies to rush to decarbonise. Read the article by David Rose: The Milliband Files, and all will become clear. Labours nonsense of their energy policy to tax the oil and gas sector and at the same time abolish them has strangely gone quiet. So has the promise to lower your bills. I am very sceptical that their so called commitment to honour new nuclear will happen as their preferred format of AMR does not exist and this government wants a demonstrator made by 2030?! and if it did work, you can only get the fuel from Russia and it has to be type approved taking us up to 2040? That’s a good excuse to industrialise the countryside for years with many more unwanted windmills.
Keir Starmer is worryingly giving in to the EU’s demands.
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All of the nuclear fleet currently running have had their lifespan prolonged by a few years to presumably to allow this to happen, so when are Labour going to start the new nuclear builds with existing technologies? Your guess is as good as mine.
The most disturbing development this last few days is Labours obsession to rejoin the EU by giving back fishing rights and free movement. What’s even more disturbing is Starmer is capitulating to Brussels demands. We voted to leave the EU. We have left. Why open that Pandora’s box? Simple… he thinks the right will split and keep Labour in power to carry on making a hash of the country. What he’s not worked out is there are large numbers of his core vote that did not vote Labour for his ‘change’ over immigration and voted to leave the EU in even larger numbers than those at voted for his brand of ‘change’ and now, will not vote for Labour ever again.
With the left wing governments rapidly collapsing in Europe in short time and the return of Donald Trump, I don’t think it’s long before a schism occurs here in our domestic politics. When Boris said get Brexit done we did. I don’t think it will be long before another Tory leader will hold the government to that promise they delivered for the people and it looks like 2025 may prove to be a pivotal year in British politics in more ways than one.