Two Lists

A tongue in cheek approach perhaps, but in a sense a continuation of the previous optimism post. There is an obvious retort to that one – how do we get there? Economically the UK is a first world country, so there are a number of national assets which should help us achieve our optimistic journey to 2034.

• First world roads
• First world education
• First world healthcare
• First world public transport
• First world culture
• First world energy policies

Unfortunately one or two of these assets are not as they should be. These are –

• First world roads
• First world education
• First world healthcare
• First world public transport
• First world culture
• First world energy policies

It seems almost ludicrously obvious that the political games we play won’t do. The House of Commons and the party system of political oversight don’t provide political oversight. Loons, charlatans and fools churning out laws we don’t need - this isn’t the way. 

And we know it.

We need much more direct, knowledgeable and experienced political oversight of the major government ministries where we vote for specific pragmatic oversight of their activities. Their internal policies need to be transparent and subject to that same oversight. 

Currently this doesn’t happen, our creaking, outdated, foolish party system doesn’t deliver it. We need reform but not necessarily Reform.

Stupor

Tom Ough & Calum Drysdale have a welcome dose of optimism in CAPX.


Embrace Anglofuturism: we can jolt Britain out of its stupor

It’s September 2034. You are gently awoken by the light streaming in through your sash windows, which were recently made legal again. Leaving your Georgian mansion block, you pluck an apple off a heaving bough, and you make a breakfast of it. Today you will be jetting off from the super-spaceport in Avalon, which is the name of the Wales-sized artificial island in the North Sea. To get there, you step aboard a gleaming HS24 train that whisks you past soaring urban skylines. Nobody is playing TikTok videos in the quiet carriage.

You spend an enjoyable day overseeing AI-enhanced chemical engineering in the microgravity of HMSS Beagle, Britain’s rotating, drum-shaped space station. Then it’s back home for lab-grown toad-in-the-hole, which you share with your children, whom you can afford, and your parents, who are long-lived and able-bodied. Another glorious day of Anglofuturism.

In reality, of course, the Britain of 2034 will house you in an ugly little flat, miles from anywhere, if you’re lucky. It will not enable you to work in biotech, because the industry isn’t allowed to build lab space. You won’t have kids, because you can’t afford them, and your parents will be decrepit, because the NHS is unfit for purpose. Everything in supermarkets will be behind locked cupboard doors, and train carriages will be overrun by anti-social oafs. In short, the Britain of 2034 is not likely to be much different from the Britain of 2024.

The whole piece is well worth reading as a reminder that although we recently voted Stupor, 2034 doesn't have to be a version of 2024. 

And it's a fine evening.

It's that brick wall again

Car makers build green vehicles 'no one wants' to meet eco targets, says dealership chain boss

Car makers are being forced to build vehicles drivers 'don't want' to meet green targets, one of the country's biggest dealership chains has warned.

Under rules brought in by the previous Tory administration, 22 per cent of new cars sold next year must be zero emission. This threshold is set to rise to 80 per cent in 2030.

Robert Forrester, chief executive of Vertu Motors, said this meant car makers were producing vehicles that many drivers do not want.


It is remarkable how slowly the obvious can take to becomes obvious. Mr Forrester will have known about the problem for ages, but apparently the brick wall has to be really close to rouse our political elites, possibly not even then.

At this rate we'll hit it the wall and this does seem to be the current intention. Stupidly destructive, but so far there are no strong reasons to think otherwise.

Touts

Lisa Nandy hits out at ‘incredibly depressing’ Oasis ticket sale and orders probe into surge pricing

Lisa Nandy has called the inflated selling of Oasis tickets “incredibly depressing” and revealed that surge pricing will be included in a government review of the ticket resale market.

Before Oasis fans were hit with ticket prices more than doubling from £148 to £355 on Ticketmaster, the government had pledged to “bring in protections to stop people being ripped off by touts”.


As far as I can tell, Ms Nandy excludes the government from touting accusations, yet she could speak to Ed Miliband about the wider, but related issue of electricity prices. 

The BBC TV licence is another related issue. She could have some strong words with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport about that. Someone called Lisa Nandy apparently.

These issues are incredibly depressing.

Fudge Incoming

One-word Ofsted judgments for schools to be scrapped immediately by Government

Previously, Ofsted awarded one of four headline grades to schools it inspects: outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson

“Single-word headline judgments are dangerous and reductive. They are unpopular with parents and teachers, and their simplistic impact has made the daily job of improving school standards harder for everyone except the bureaucrats.

Dangerous and reductive eh? That's a good summary of politics, so a C for Ms Phillipson. Although she remembered the phrase, she has applied it to the wrong activity.

Presumably she doesn't expect to see much improvement over the next few years, so getting the fudge in early could be an astute move. Or is that a dangerous and reductive conclusion? Probably not.  

Let's hope it stays that way

Tory leadership: We won't win back trust 'by pointing out how terrible Labour are', says Badenoch

Kemi Badenoch will lash out at Labour in a speech to launch her leadership bid - but she will say her party ultimately needs to "focus on renewal" rather than criticising the government to win the next election...

"If the Conservatives want to become worthy of the British people's trust again, we can't just sit around pointing out how terrible Labour are... fun as it is," Ms Badenoch will say.

It's fun now - let's hope it stays that way.

Another plagiarism scandal

Another academic plagiarism scandal which also raises a question about the level of plagiarism within what we might call woke academia. The point made here is that there is little to say in such fields anyway, so plagiarism is inevitable. 

A sarcastic take on it, but not entirely. What are woke academics supposed to do apart from quoting each other?