Over lunch I've just listened to Boris delivering his Manchester speech (25 mts) and if you have the time it's worth a listen. The Leeds - Manchester fast rail link was well signalled and came as little surprise to the audience, but it really wasn't the point of the speech.
This was a speech aimed at Brexit Party voters, at Libertarians such as me, at Labour voters disgusted at their betrayal by the soft southern metropolitan ponces who have taken over their working-class party and at all those with a pride in their county, region, city or towns outside London.
He gave us Localism - greater devolution of powers across the regions (though Cameron said the same at the start and I believed him, too) but not too specific as to what Whitehall and SW1 will let be taken from their grasping talons.
He also gave us Liveability - a word banned from government since Gordon Brown's days. It's a word I'm very familiar with - I delivered one of the old ODPM's Liveability pilots back in the day in London. Under the tagline 'cleaner, safer, greener' we invested in declining local commercial centres with designs for easy maintenance, designs for safety and security, and for enhanced public transport access and use. I've just looked on google street maps at one of the marginal high streets we tackled back then - on the edge, declining and with vacant units when we picked it. Well, readers, I kid you not, they haven't changed our improvements and it's thriving - not a single vacant shop, a blooming pub, a clean and welcoming place through which to walk and shop. They've even left alone London's widest zebra crossing. You see, when I won the battle with the council's transport numpties to install a zebra crossing without barriers rather than the pelican crossing with extensive cattle-pen barriers they fought for, I rubbed it in. Zebra crossings have no width limit. So I instructed the designer to make ours 6m wide, on a raised table. I never thought it would have survived the petty vindictiveness of the local muppets whose transport planning ideas were stuck somewhere back in 1976 and who thought Jan Gehl was a Swedish rock band.
And then he gave us Law and Order. Prisons. Sentencing. Stuff to warm the hearts of blue-blood voters, despite himself being quite socially liberal.
It was all very well crafted and motivational. But you can judge for yourselves.
I'm soon going to have to search for something to be critical about in the Boris administration or the foundational purpose of this blog since 2008 - to hold their feet to the fire, and to do so day after day - will disappear.
21 comments:
I was interested by what he said about promoting a mixed economy, that is capitalism, balanced by public sector, health, education, and infrastructure.
However, what is also needed is the infrastructure of regulation, to inspire global confidence in its products.
Membership of the European Union's single market has done that up until now,, and that will be a challenge to replicate. (We see recent disasters such as Boeing, and what a loss of that confidence on the part of buyers can mean.)
Enquiring minds also want to know what firm proposals there are for budgetary and legislative steps to implement these ideas, and how the money is to be raised to pay for them. So far, little is available.
But he is a good speaker with a likable style.
I note his use of "obiter dicta" again, implying that other Europeans quoting him should not always take him seriously. He doesn't use the phrase in its true sense, but we know what he means. It doesn't actually mean "can be dismissed as bluster", whatever he might intend.
However, what is also needed is the infrastructure of regulation, to inspire global confidence in its products."
Yep, that why Apple leads the world, its actions are tightly controlled by the central committee for telegraph communications.
"However, what is also needed is the infrastructure of regulation, to inspire global confidence in its products."
Yes, British products were unheard of before the EU. We had no standards, at all until the EU showed us what to do. We never did or made anything. Why are we leaving those wonderful EUites who love us and treat us so well?
Back on Boris, just the change in style and attitude when publically speaking is so refreshing. Still needs to do a deal with TBP. We don't forget in a week.
Yes, some, probably most, US regulation is very good. However, certification for airworthiness was, in the name of small government, contracted out to people from the industry itself, largely from Boeing.
The UK has a similar problem re Grenfell, perhaps, in that matters relating to building regs are now often referred to outsourced consultancies, who might not be impartial either I read. Raedwald would probably know the score on that better than most.
The BSE outrage did the country immense harm, and some have only recently lifted the ban on UK beef.
Great speech and his style refreshing but I felt the curtain twitch when asked about the backstop. It’s as I feared, that he will try and push through that horrendous surrender document with only the backstop removed. With all the other rulers in place we are leaving in name only.
Rules
He flatters people, and that is part of his charm.
It's interesting also, how his speeches are negativity-free. There are no attacks on immigrants, on people of minority orientation, or even on his political opponents - unless there's a laugh in it. Indeed, he celebrated London's "wide range of the finest restaurants" and we know what he meant by that.
So many people would have found that an uplifting change from the likes of Farage, who always looks for - and finds - people's grievance buttons to press, and to aggravate whatever negative feelings that they might have.
He will probably attract plenty of their voters just for the sheer relief of it.
PMBJ is off to a jolly good start, needs to keep it up and put everything May did through the shredder. Not forgetting to keep good relations with TBP, and Farrage on speed dial in case an election is forced on him.
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" negativity-free " A good thing to aim for.
Jovial Parmesan Makeover
JPM at 14:30 :
“However, what is also needed is the infrastructure of regulation, to inspire global confidence in its products.
Membership of the European Union's single market has done that up until now,, and that will be a challenge to replicate. (We see recent disasters such as Boeing, and what a loss of that confidence on the part of buyers can mean.)”
What about the disaster that was the German diesel emissions testing fraud that was only exposed by US engineers?
people's grievance buttons to press, and to aggravate whatever negative feelings that they might have.
..your point being? If the Government policies are annoying the public then they SHOULD address their negative feelings. Ignoring them, side stepping them or mocking them (with accusation of racism, xenophobia etc) only creates a worse situation that the original problem.
At least Farage WILL talk about the problems the public have (up to a point - his move to TBP has curtailed any talk of alternative societies (harumph) among us).
But Boris? Politicians will say what they want to get the support they need - then they stuff us back into our boxes as per the many, many examples we've seen in the more recent past.
Raed for London Mayor I reckon.....
John Brown. That was not the regulations which were at fault, was it? European Union regs also say that you can't sell horsemeat as beef, but that slaughterhouse in Todmorden did just that. If your national inspectorate is understaffed, then more criminals will get away with it. There can never be 100% compliance in the real world anyway.
It takes time to build a trusted reputation for doing all that can reasonably be done, but not long to lose it.
In the case of the BSE disaster, the UK's rules themselves, as to heat treatment of feeds were defective, however.
Positivity incoming....
https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/26/americans-flock-to-brexit-movement-trade/
JPM 16:55 "In the case of the BSE disaster, the UK's rules themselves, as to heat treatment of feeds were defective, however."
Not true, this is a widely believed misconception, the 'guilty' prion is not destroyed by heat treatment. The problem is specific tissues that are all part of the central nervous system which need removing from carcases when animals are slaughtered. Interestingly, the origin of the UK BSE disaster "will probably never be known with certainty."
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090505195102/http://www.bseinquiry.gov.uk/report/volume1/execsum4.htm
"The UK has a similar problem re Grenfell, perhaps, in that matters relating to building regs are now often referred to outsourced consultancies, who might not be impartial either I read."
Not so much. The EU took over the "competence" for cladding and improving the fire safety levels have been held back to aid the German manufacturers (sound familiar)
The UK had a more rigorous BS that it wanted to introduce but due to competence, only the EU rules apply.
So when the councils issued tenders for cladding, they cited the appropriate EU standard, and assumed that it had taken care of the fire issue; when in reality, it turned previously safe concrete unit designs into firetraps.
Anon.
The cladding fitted to Grenfell Tower was different from the non-flammable type specified and approved. A crime was committed, just as it was by the slaughterhouse in Todmorden who sold horse meat as beef.
The rules - whoever wrote them - were not at fault. Criminals broke them. Arguably those administering the enforcement system could have done better to prevent those crimes, but the blame rests primarily with those criminals.
To my knowledge, there has been no similar problem with buildings and cladding anywhere else in the European Union.
Thank you Span, well researched.
Yes, I now remember. It was the disgusting practice of feeding ruminants, non-carnivores, the remnants of their own species in feeds per se in this country, which was the problem, not their poor heat treatment which was first suspected.
Was interested to read about your 'liveability' project in London. I've not heard of Jan Gehl before but am familiar with Hans Monderman. What are your opinions of him?
Re: JPM
"The cladding fitted to Grenfell Tower was different from the non-flammable type specified and approved."
Are you sure about this? Because the same cladding was fitted to hundreds of tower blocks, and secondly the contractors haven't been arrested.
Anon.
Yes, unless the Guardian is lying:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/06/grenfell-fire-proof-cladding-specified-by-architects-only-used-on-ground-floor
I do not know why there have not been arrests either. It seems self-evident to me that there should be. Many countries have an "involuntary homicide" offence.
There have been no arrests in the HIV blood products contamination outrage either, unlike in some other countries.
Well Radders, on your recommendation I listened to the whole thing; and this is my view:
The first few minutes sounded good. After that it was a litany of how Government would "invest in" - aka spend other peoples' money on - a load of boondongles (electric cars???) that nobody sensible would spend their own money on. So the sensible will be compelled to pay for idiocies.
How very socialist - I ask what would Blair have said different if he had seen "Brerxit" as a bandwagon onto which to jump? Serious question: what's your answer, from the safety of the EU state of Austria?
I listened to 40 mins of a Statist TINO, now leader of Blighty, elected - as in a banana republic - only by those members of the Conservative party who could be arsed to vote, with no popular mandate, a proven liar, bully, incompetent and (most of) the other things said about him, who has now headed the country straight at a *Big Surprise* when it and he discovers what the terms "Third Country" and "WTO Rules" actually mean.
And I fu**ing voted Leave: I knew there were many ways that it could go wrong BUT I never thought that our politicos were that stupid/evil
Have a nice day :-)
gareth
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