Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Josquius]

I guess using a VPN will soon become a necessity of using the internet from within the UK.
Even today you occasionally run into sites that can't be arsed with GDPR so just block EU visitors. If its something else for a smaller and more insignificant market...

[garbon]

UK continues to destroy its own economy: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/britain-replace-gdpr-data-privacy-regime-with-own-system-2022-10-03/

Because businesses will still need to use GDPR if they operate in the EU.

While I think Truss's crony might try to get up to new hijinks, it was already in the cards (and an already existing bill) that UK was going to replace GDPR with its own legislation with data adequacy maintained.

I'd say news item isn't that UK will replace GDPR, as they were always going to scrub out EU legislation from the UK, but Liz's mate has made a pronouncement that they'll pursue a have your cake and eat it policy where they can diverge more and still get the EU to deem it acceptable.

[Tamas]

I'd say news item isn't that UK will replace GDPR, as they were always going to scrub out EU legislation from the UK, but Liz's mate has made a pronouncement that they'll pursue a have your cake and eat it policy where they can diverge more and still get the EU to deem it acceptable.

are we still at this stage?

[The Brain]

I'd say news item isn't that UK will replace GDPR, as they were always going to scrub out EU legislation from the UK, but Liz's mate has made a pronouncement that they'll pursue a have your cake and eat it policy where they can diverge more and still get the EU to deem it acceptable.

are we still at this stage?

Strangely, Brexit didn't make the UK less dysfunctional.

[The Larch]

Take note for the possible new measures by Truss & co. 

Revealed: rightwing 'slash and burn' ideas that could be blueprint for Truss
Exclusive: Free Market Forum suggests scrapping free childcare hours and abolishing corporation tax

A free-market thinktank with close links to Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng has drawn up a blueprint of "slash and burn" ideas that could form the basis of the government's supply-side reform programme to be set out in coming weeks.

The document from the Free Market Forum (FMF), an offshoot of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), suggests scrapping free childcare hours, releasing green belt land for housing, abolishing corporation tax and dropping teacher training qualifications for graduates.

Other ideas include remote learning so parents can pick the best teachers, amending the Equalities Act so white working-class boys are better protected, and restoring the link between tax and household income so a married woman's income could be seen as part of her husband's.

Truss plans to unveil a package of supply-side reforms, primarily involving deregulation, as part of the chancellor's medium-term fiscal plan later this month, but the government has remained tight-lipped on details.

Kwarteng is expected to announce changes in eight areas including planning, business regulation, childcare, immigration, agricultural productivity and financial services.

The prime minister's allies hope her proposals, a key element of her drive for growth, will help get her on the front foot after a bruising two weeks since the mini-budget unleashed market turbulence, followed by a Tory party conference that was dominated by a U-turn over the top 45p tax rate after a rebellion by MPs.

The foreword of the Free Market Forum paper, published in September last year, said it aims to "incubate and promote ideas" among Tory MPs on future policy direction.

The document is billed as "a collection of policies for a better brighter Britain by the end of this decade", which it says will "kickstart the conversation about where we go next, and place the FMF at the forefront of those discussions".

However, a Labour source said: "It is deeply worrying that the prime minister and the chancellor – neither of whom have any mandate from the British people for their plans – are supporters of this shadowy group. Having already crashed the economy, Liz Truss must now distance herself from these slash and burn ideas and the people behind them."

In one chapter, the IEA's Annabel Denham proposes scrapping free childcare provision, arguing that the 15 hours a week provided costs the state around £6bn a year "but there isn't much to show for it".

She suggests that adult-to-child ratios are "unnecessary and damaging" and early years assessments should be dropped.

Another proposal, from the Cabinet Office minister Brendan Clarke-Smith, suggests restoring the link between tax and household income.

"Under the previous system ... a married woman's income had been seen as part of her husband's," he writes. "Of course attitudes towards women's careers have changed ... however the debate over the merits of individual taxation have raged on."

The Tory MP Richard Fuller, currently economic secretary to the Treasury, suggests moving education online so parents can pick teachers for their children. "The ability to learn remotely provide opportunities ... give schools the ability to identify the best teachers and offer access to time-slots."

Meanwhile, Sam Collins, FMF outreach director, proposes revisiting "uniform" minimum wage rises as they are "set centrally for the entire country" but have led to "significant and harmful unintended consequences".

Prof Len Shackleton, an IEA research fellow, wants the government to allow graduates to teach in state schools without teacher training qualifications, as part of a lifting of requirements for entering skilled professions such as law and social work.

Dr Kristian Niemietz, the IEA's head of political economy, urges ministers to release green belt land for more housebuilding, a move likely to be unpopular with Tory MPs. He suggests green belt land within an 800-metre radius of a commuter station, which is not otherwise protected, should be released, with extra infrastructure paid for by taxing the uplift in land value.

Other less controversial proposals include tackling NHS staff shortages, encouraging cooperatives and extending the super-deduction on businesses, which allows companies to cut their tax bill by up to 25p for every £1 they invest, to help promote growth.

The IEA has inspired Truss's policy prospectus and FMF alumni pack the ranks of government, including the prime minister's chief economic adviser Matthew Sinclair. It is not claiming to represent the PM's views.

It counts 60 Tory MPs among its "parliamentary supporters" including Truss, Kwarteng, the deputy prime minister, Thérèse Coffey, the levelling up secretary, Simon Clarke, and the trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch.

The former chancellor Norman Lamont and ex-minister John Redwood are also backers, while her No 10 deputy chief of staff, Ruth Porter, is on the advisory board.

The thinktank was launched as a successor group to two other bodies: the Free Enterprise Group – an organisation of Tory MPs founded by Truss at her party's conference in 2011; and Freer, a joint initiative of Tory MPs and the IEA, launched in March 2018.

Sam Collins, now the head of FMF, said: "Regulation has been estimated to cost the UK economy £220bn a year. If the prime minister wants to succeed with her economic agenda, there will need to be significant reform to make it easier for businesses to form and grow.

"Many of the 30 policy suggestions made in our paper focus on removing these barriers to growth that make it harder for people to build houses, start businesses, create jobs, or move into new sectors.

"But it is not just growth numbers on a spreadsheet that supply side reform impacts. The cost of living crisis facing British families is caused, in part, by government regulations artificially keeping the price of everyday items such as food, child care and energy artificially high.

"Supply side reforms, well targeted, will not only help the economy grow but also help improve the financial situation of the most vulnerable."

[Zanza]

Scrapping free childcare when your labour market is having the lowest unemployment in decades now counts as a supply side reform? Less childcare means the workforce shrink as people will take care of their children instead of working. Where exactly is that supposed to generate more supply of anything?

[Josquius]

Scrapping free childcare when your labour market is having the lowest unemployment in decades now counts as a supply side reform? Less childcare means the workforce shrink as people will take care of their children instead of working. Where exactly is that supposed to generate more supply of anything?

That requires thinking beyond immediate cause and effect. Verboten for this brand of tory.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I've compared the Johnson government to arrogant 6th formers at a grammar school; this new government is more like class 3C at a particularly badly-run comprehensive school 

[Tamas]

The chancellor is considering extending the government's mortgage guarantee scheme, after UK bank bosses raised concerns over the state of the UK's mortgage market at a high-level meeting at No 11 Downing Street.

The meeting on Thursday – which was attended by chief executives including Alison Rose of NatWest, Charlie Nunn of Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC UK's Ian Stuart, Mike Regnier of Santander and TSB's Robin Bulloch – was scheduled amid mounting fears about the potential fallout from rapidly rising mortgage rates.

Executives, including those from Barclays, Nationwide, Virgin Money and Starling Bank, were asked to weigh in on a number of options to support consumers struggling to secure mortgages after the government's mini-budget sent UK financial markets into meltdown last week.

It is understood the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, is now considering extending the mortgage guarantee scheme beyond its December deadline.

The scheme gives banks and building societies the chance to buy a guarantee from the government on the slice of the mortgage between 80% and 95% of the property's value. It means that if a borrower gets into financial difficulty and their property is repossessed, the government will cover that portion of the lender's losses.

...

UK bank executives are also understood to have raised concerns about the FCA's incoming consumer duty regulations during the meeting on Thursday. While the rules are meant to put consumer interests at the heart of financial services' decision making, bosses claimed it could block banks from offering products that could help customers long term.

Some bosses also raised questions about ringfencing regulation that separates regular savings and current accounts from investment banking operations, while executives from smaller banks discussed lowering the amount of loss-absorbing capital they need to raise and hold against risky assets.

Thursday's meeting followed similar ones with asset managers and investment bankers last week, who were quizzed about their own ideas to stimulate growth and investment from the City and how the government could calm markets.

So free market fandom may not prevent the government from offering benefits to banks. Housing prices must not fall.

Also I am a bit worried about the banks complaining about safety net regulation put on them in this environment. Feels like we are bound to dig ourselves deeper in this hole.

[Valmy]

Scrapping free childcare when your labour market is having the lowest unemployment in decades now counts as a supply side reform? Less childcare means the workforce shrink as people will take care of their children instead of working. Where exactly is that supposed to generate more supply of anything?

I am just baffled. Taking away such an important benefit in a critical time when people are facing inflation and rising energy costs, but now they have to pay for child care? That seems like something that would be political suicide. I don't get that from a politics perspective.

[alfred russel]

Scrapping free childcare when your labour market is having the lowest unemployment in decades now counts as a supply side reform? Less childcare means the workforce shrink as people will take care of their children instead of working. Where exactly is that supposed to generate more supply of anything?

I am just baffled. Taking away such an important benefit in a critical time when people are facing inflation and rising energy costs, but now they have to pay for child care? That seems like something that would be political suicide. I don't get that from a politics perspective.

YOLO

[Syt]

Sounds like a plan to Return The Good Old Days(TM) when the man was the sole breadwinner and the woman stayed at home looking after the kids. And makes the ladies think twice about leaving their partners/cut back on the rate of single moms. At least till the kids go to school. 

[Valmy]

It will be tough to pay off those 50 year mortgages with only one income

[Josquius]

Interesting little article on the covid demographic shifts at work.


BBC News - How seaside town newcomers sapped Tory strength
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62999568


Bodes Well.

[The Larch]

Interesting little article on the covid demographic shifts at work.


BBC News - How seaside town newcomers sapped Tory strength
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62999568


Bodes Well.

The article makes the place sound like some kind of deep Tory heartland, but after checking it turns out it's just right next to Brighton...