The Guardian reports this morning that:
Ministers must urgently inject £4bn into English town hall budgets to head off an “out of control” financial crisis that threatens to drag well-run councils into bankruptcy and put local services at risk, a cross-party group of MPs has warned.
The levelling up, housing and communities committee said government must act now to help councils stricken by shrinking resources and the costs of rising demand for adult social care, child protection, homelessness and special educational needs provision.
I have little doubt that the MPs in question are right. But that will not change Tory policy. And since Labour has accepted Tory sending limits, a general election will change nothing either. Very clearly, the leadership of neither party cares about vulnerable people.
Coincidentally, I noticed this data on the NHS budget from the King's Fund, which is an NHS think-tank:
To survive and meet the demand from demographic change as well as fund the increased possibilities that technology provides, the NHS needs real increases in budget of around four per cent a year. It is going to get none in a time of inflation, meaning that real cuts are planned.
These MHS cuts are what are funding Tory tax cuts.
Labour has accepted these tax cuts because they are saying they will live within Tory plans and will not raise taxes.
In other words, there is the clearest evidence, yet again, that a general election will not change anything because the leadership of neither party cares about vulnerable people, as sick people always are.
None of this is necessary, of course. The whole point of writing the Taxing Wealth Report 2024 has been to show that massive sums are available in additional taxes that can be structured to fall almost entirely on the wealthiest, whilst up to £100 billion more can be found for investment by restructuring tax incentivised savings.
We do not need to impose misery on the UK.
We do not need to destroy local democracy.
We do not need to give in to climate change.
There is more than £8,000,000,000,000 of financial wealth in the UK (that's £8 trillion, or £8 million million). To pretend there is no money left is not just absurd; in fact, it is an outright lie.
It is a lie used to support the fact that our leading politicians of both major parties just do not care.
I really do not know for how long the country will put up with this.
Hat tip to Roy Lilley for the link to the NHS data.
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It’s a pity that King’s Fund graph doesn’t go back to 2006/7. What austerity would be the obvious question?
Go to the source links and you will find all the answers you want
Massive austerity, is the answer
Real increases in spending equals ‘massive austerity’?
You’re a joke!
Are you aware of inflation?
And medical inflation?
Or rising population and its impact on spending?
If not, find out about them.
If you are, then you’re being disingenuous, as I am feeling kind.
Either way, you’re a lousy troll.
Don’t forget Mr Landau that it was the same party that was in power then that ended the public sector final salary pension and was keeping to the Tory public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR). It got up to loads of other shenanigans too – like the Iraq war for which there was not a budget.
When I left London – a bubble at the time of 2000 in terms of income and quality of life – to live and work in the rural area I still live in, it was very quickly obvious to me that something bad was happening in the shires. I found a lot of hard up, angry people for whom the minimum wage was a myth and life was hard.
The Tory party in 2010, ensured that this was extended to our cities.
The Labour party to me in the modern age is only ever going to be the ‘Interim Party’ – for the establishment and neauveau riche who grew under Thatcherism, who were allowed to continue and thrive under New Labour (‘very relaxed about’ etc.,) and have become an irresistible political force, simply because we’ve let them keep too much of their money.
All leading to what we have today.
Great isn’t it, how our politicians and the rich conspire against us and democracy?
“I really do not know for how long the country will put up with this.”
They seem to have been swallowing it hook line & sinker for 40+ years. I hope this is not off topic but:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/01/royal-mail-killed-lying-politicians-lousy-managers-ruthless-moneymen
Lack of funding, lack of people that know what they are doing, short-termism, neoliberalism – long list that apply as much to local gov as to other “services” – that are now treated as places for those “whose faces fit” and who are able to burble the usual managment/economic clap trap to provide comfort & cover for politicos.
In the case of climate change, I had an exchange over Linkedin with an ex-Proff from Manchester Uni (know him well). He had been talking to the mob in the Committee on Climate change. We (me – Proff) both arrived at the same conclusion – local low voltage networks will not support both heat pumps and elec vehicle charging. Response by CCC to Proff on this important point: no we haven’t analysed that – too difficult. = “lack of people that know what they are doing” (I did the analysis with two students – took 1.5 man years – but apparently it is all too diff for the CCC!!!).
Did you send it to them?
There is an amazing lack of understanding on this
Not everywhere – I have a large site mobilising for construction right now with ASHP and we will be installing a mini power substation on site to help the local network cope.
Good…
I will contact Ian & we will go in mob handed to the CCC (him with ex-proff credibility, me with the proof). I am surprised by very little these days. European Commission claimed to also have looked at this – but the report was trash – mostly econometrics – & no physics/elec eng.
Would love to see more
@ Mike Parr
Do you know what the cost estimate is for upgrading the country’s local network? Also does anyone know whether this upgrade was intended to be part of the £28 billion Labour Party Green Spend which Starmer has now down-graded to an aspiration?
Good question
Mr Schofield, thanks for the question, it is a good one.
However, the problem is not strictly a money one.
All low voltage cables are direct lay. Often on a tapered basis (thick ones near the substation, thinner ones further away)
To replace these cables requires people with shovels. Automation is impossible – the pavement (where such cables are located) is filled to the brim with “interesting” stuff – which a JCB would destory. I am confident that over circa 50 – 60 years large numbers of people (100,000?) with shovels could replace much of the Uk’s urban & suburban LV network. There are 23 million households in the UK. Lets assume 16 million are urban/suburban and of those 10 million are houses (semis, detached & bungalows).
Then of course there is the jointing – service joints. Let’s assume a jointer can do 4 per day. You would need 10,000 to do all the joints – in 80 years. 5 per day, 6 per day jopints? makes not a blind bit of diff – multi-decade job. & that is just the service joints. I would be very very happy for somebody to show that I am wrong.
That’s depressing Mike
So, where do we go next?
@ Mike Parr
Thanks for your information. You present a daunting picture. The only way to speed things up would appear to be partial use of over-head cables a solution the Americans have used for generations. Aesthetically I’m not in favour but it may be a needs-must solution to get away from the use of gas in homes.
Response to Richard.
To decarb heat for the residential sector – all options are sub-optimal.
All elec? does not work for the reasons given. (can’t rebuild the LV network in time).
Combo of elec (Heat pumps) + serious thermal renno + bit of H2/fuel cells – could/should work – not ideal, but could avoid digging up LV network (of course you can still do a bit of that)
Welcome to the world of engineering – there are always constraints, sometimes financial, sometimes physical. One tries to find some sort of solution – not ideal but gives something that gets you most of the way to where you want (ideally) to be.
I hope that I am wrong & would welcome anybody showing that I (& others that I work with) are wrong.
In all humility, I do not think we are.
You worry me
Why don’t the CCC talk about this?
Mike Parr at his best.
I have no special insight or knowledge in this area, but while Climate Change is important, I have always felt it has been presented as an object lesson focused exclusively on political or diplomatic persuasion; when the real issue has always been something more fundamental as a driver of change – the delivery; how do we actually transform the infrastructure and network? What is the plan, what is the detailed execution programme, timescale; and where are the resources in manpower, materials (what materials, how accessible) and funding?
If such a comprehensive understanding and capacity to deliver actually existed, I believe the political persuasion would follow automatically. Why? Because no advanced economy or the resource providers would then want to be left behind, or left out. The speed of transformation is in fact a function of the real state of readiness, and of our actual capacity to deliver it.
At the same time, it seems to me the major centres of expertise, specialist knowledge and operational skills in this sector (oil majors, and other energy providers) are already heavily invested in the redundant technology, networks and infrastructure; and also, the “money” never likes taking risks (one of the great illusions of capitalism is the scale of its appetite for risk) ; two factors that determine the pace of change, left solely to the “market” appetite to lead. Where is the incentive. Ironically, the old technology is still paying out big profits; some of the biggest in the oil majors history – in 2023. Where is the incentive?
Why is China both dependent on coal, yet a leader in some aspects of the change to renewables? As I understand it, because coal is one of the few major natural energy resources China possesses domestically.
Interesting article about nuclear power here compared to renewables. Is China considered a leader in renewables because people say nuclear is renewable?
https://theecologist.org/2024/jan/23/nuclear-hype-meltdown
Jenw, in answer re China’s renewables programme, and in haste and off-the-cuff; China has sufficient resource to tackle at scle on more than one front. Hence: “In 2020, China committed to have 1,200 GW of renewables capacity by 2030, but is on track to meet that goal five years early. China could have as much as 1,000 GW of solar power alone by the end of 2026, analysts say, out of 11,000 GW needed globally to meet Paris Agreement targets by 2030.” (Reuters, November, 2023).
I will make this the last response on this topic & it is with respect to Mr Schofields comment:
“The only way to speed things up would appear to be partial use of over-head cables a solution the Americans have used for generations.”
The US suburban overhead high voltage nertwork is gradually being placed underground. This is because of its very poor performance in terms of faults etc. The network is set up such that a pole-mounted transformer (connected to an HV O/H cable) feeds a couple of houses @ 110v. Most of the faults occur on the HV network & the US has quite sophisticated kit to deal with them. But still people die. If you come into contact with something @ 11kV your flesh will melt – due to the high current. There was a chap I worked with who had a hook as a right hand – I’m certain everybody can work out the rest.
It is p[ossible tp push HV further into thje network – but – where to put the substation? They are small (subs) but it still means somebody’s garage (or garden) = good luck with that. Welcome to “mess land” where as I have noted – every solution is suboptimal – just that some are more suboptimal than others. Or perhaps they are all sub-opt in equal measure and we have to pick & mix depending on circs?
Thanks, John.
I have looked at renewables with my grandson, him being half-Danish, and we often look to see how the tables have changed. We have always been struck by the fact that China never gets the kudos for being one of the top countries in renewables in the western press, but is always criticised for the amount of coal it uses.
So true. Only the wealthy can be healthy it seems. John Pilger’s excellent film The Dirty War On The NHS documented its decline; as he put it “turbo-charged” since 2010.
Thank you, JS.
Dirty war? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Just wait for that young man in a hurry, Wes Streeting, and his mentors Blair and Mandelson. Plus JP Morgan’s lead on healthcare privatisation, Sajid Javid.
There’s an interesting story about Javo, going back thirty years, and his role in the tequila crisis. Lots from our former employer, Deutsche Bank, too.
I want to use the £8 trillion figure in a written question to Sheffield City Council. Where does that figure come from?
Also the UK is reconed to be the 6th most wealthy on the planet. Again, where does that figure come from? I will be using that figure this weekend when running a foodbank street collection on my local community high street?
At some point soon i will want to promote your Taxing Wealth 2024, Report.’. Do you plan to produce a flyer for the report that can be printed to promote it?
Thank you.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/totalwealthingreatbritain/april2018tomarch2020
Pensions plus private financial assets
Thank you.
Bernard
Regarding all the money taken out of the economy through ‘austerity’ (aka class warfare), where has it gone? Taxes haven’t exactly come down for the ‘little people’. My supposition is that it’s gone to the wealthy and to corporates. Funny/peculiar how neoliberalism is more about vacuuming up than trickling down. Tragic that we don’t have a political party with the least commitment to righting gross wrongs.
The money has increased wealth
See https://taxingwealth.uk/2023/09/06/wealth-is-undertaxed-by-170-billion-a-year-in-the-uk/
Carole, we could have had that party if Corbyn had still been in charge of it. Unfortunately his ideas frightened the rich and powerful in his own party.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ua02ge9qho&pp=ygUHd2Vvd25pdA%3D%3D
This is weownit about the council sell-off of land, and libraries, etc.
Tonight at 5pm there is another youtube from them with John Lister about the NHS.
Worth watching.
John Lister was brilliant.
One of his main points was about there being no point in training lots more doctors or nurses as Streeting says if they all leave within a year because of the way they are treated.
For those who have not read it, another advert for Ian Dunt’s How Westminster Works and Why It Doesn’t – it’s a great read. Amongst other things, he brings out the chronic lack of serious expertise amongst our governing classes (eg on Health and Energy) which contributes to the appalling decision making and management. Both politicians and many of the civil servants in the major departments. That and the perennial short term political games being played, interested only in a few headlines. With far too much being outsourced or sub-contracted to consultants and outsourcers, and little or no expertise in place to manage them. (That I have seen first hand)
The irony is that the best expertise lies in the Lords who do most of the hard work in challenging and re-writing legislation. Just need to get rid of about 75% of them.
Kay Burley: “Just to clarify, Labour’s happy to cap child benefit but not bankers bonuses”.
Labour shadow minister Jonathan Reynolds beautifully reduced to contradictory gibberish when Kay Burley nails Labour’s neoliberalism to the mast, with one simple question: “Just to clarify, Labour’s happy to cap child benefit but not bankers bonuses”.
The answer, with Reynold’s hesitant guff stripped out? Yes, it is happy to cap child benefit but not bankers bonuses. It really is; because it is going to do it.
Here is the only principle that matters in life: If you wish to understand anyone’s values; observe what they do, not what they say.
Everything else is trivia; at best a seduction.
And even in their own abject reasoning – ‘we need growth’, the benefit pound would create more ‘growth’ than the bonus pound.
Totally true
The conservatives and Labour are implying that bankers bonuses bring growth. The last time bankers bonuses allegedly brought growth, that was in the years up to 2008; the Financial Crash. That ended well. This will not end well either; for anybody.
Oh, …… except the bankers…….
Precisely
“Just to clarify, Labour’s happy to cap child benefit but not bankers bonuses”.
Or, more accurately:
Labour understands that they have to manage public spending, but have no reason to restrict what private businesses pay to their staff (and on which high marginal rates of tax are paid). We don’t have these restrictions in any other businesses of the private sector, the cap is poorly defined and doesn’t align performance with outcome.
It was a bad rule, designed to appeal to those who would be unaffected, to suggest that ‘something had been done’.
It still appears to appeal to those who support the ‘politics of envy’.
I guess
Should I guess you are a banker Bryan?
Or just a troll?
Bryan
I’m not envious of people who have more money than me. There might be good reasons as to why that is so.
What I and many others object to is how they might get that money. Some examples from er….real life?
By raiding perfectly good companies via the stock market and a then asset stripping and shedding the payroll and pensions of them and taking a good dose of the profits for themselves.
Taking huge risks with financial instruments, awarding themselves bonuses even if they bring down the market and destroy their own organisations?
Being bailed out by the same Governments they criticise ans still keeping all their money and their assets.
You see Brian old boy – it’s not actually the money old bean.
It’s how one gets that money which is today’s problem.
Does that help?
Ah……..good.
Bryan, my concern is not envy, but a financial crash. Will you oblige by underwriting the removal of the bonus cap; just to cover the risk (try the insurance market – that is where the bankers tried to go last time it began to unravel)?
I think that bankers pay should be capped, not just their bonuses. Does that make me envious? No, just someone who believes in equality and fairness.
Do we have capping in any other private business? No, but we should.
Re LV mains, in Shrewsbury, where I live, there is a big ongoing programme across the town of street works, using spades and mechanical excavators – to renew not electricity but gas mains.
We also have a river polluted by an inadequate and obsolete drainage system and interminably slow or stalled roll outs of fibre broadband and G5.
Further details of why LiNO – the TCP – is cosying up to the City and big business, backtracking on green investments, talking austerity can’t afford it entrepreneurship, blablabla:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/labour-city-banks-finance-2m-donations-bankers-bonuses-u-turn-rachel-reeves/