If you were the PM what would you do to fix the mess we are in?

[HoppingKangaroo]

Just that really, if you were the prime minister what would you do to help fix the country and the cost of living crisis.

Begin renationalisation of water and rail. Energy I do not think should be renationalised as there is genuine competition in the market but the government should fully fund and run more nuclear power stations as a cash cow to the public purse and restrict foreign investment in British infrastructure.

Bring building regs up to near Passivhaus standards so all new builds are generating renewable power and are super insulated.

Please can the people that suggest we rejoin the EU, if we rejoined tomorrow, tell me in what way will that possibly make any difference to the cost of living crisis we are in now, Energy prices rising etc,

This 👏🏻

If I was a Tory PM I'd tell people not to be so stupid as to vote for me and my ridiculous party.

Who do you think is going to work at and/or run the creative and entertainment studios if you get rid of all university funding for anything but STEM?

I agree that there's some economic naïveté on this thread. But the technocratic obsession also doesn't work if there's a national collapse in retail and services in the next three years due to the majority of disposable income paying towards energy costs. The long-term shift towards the minimum wage of £15 does absolutely nothing for the pinch of this winter. And there have been plenty of occasions where higher taxation (though I'm more in favor of wealth than income) and borrowing have saved the day, not crashed the system. Saying it hasn't is just as naïve.

Legalise and tax cannabis and its derivatives. Whole new stream of income for the government, and reduced pressure on the police and courts.

Well, it's a thought :)

Yes, the country really needs more mental health problems caused by cannabis, including the mental impact of having to smell the vile stench of people smoking it.

Thanks for posting @Lurkerlot

Thirty pages but well worth a read. I feel like I now understand what is happening, why and what is likely to happen.

No one, literally no one needs more media studies graduates, or whatever the equivalent pointless degrees are nowadays. The only professions crying out for skilled workers are STEM related, even the film studios. High taxation is a sticking plaster that peels off within hours leaving a nasty leaking wound. It never solves anything. Just ask Macron.

sst1234
Increase places/funding for teaching and medicine degrees by 25% with the stipulation that candidates need to pay back if they leave before they get a certain pay scale in their professional role or before certain number of years.

I would go a couple of steps further. in that teaching and medicine courses would be free, payback fees etc. if you drop out of uni, but you have to work in a specific area of the country for 5 years you can apply to move if needed (housing included at a discounted rate possibly free) if you leave before a set time scale you also pay it back.

Why should only they bear the brunt? I don't get it, why does everyone want to tax those that have more than them. Is it jealousy? Surely equality is everyone being in it together - not some people having to bear the brunt and pick up the costs of all.

100% agree sorting our childcare system is a necessity - should help boast the economy no end. I think the stats compared to other countries are crazy in terms of what we pay!

I'm not sure that more people would smoke the stuff (I don't, btw) - anyone who wants it can easily get hold of it right now. It's ubiquitous. Legalising and taxing would do more good than harm, I think.

Invest in sustainable and self sufficiency with regards to energy. Tax free solar, heat pumps with low interest loans to fund it and look to grow our nuclear power options. In the mean time I would also look to extend the price cap to cover businesses. It would be great if we could come up with a system where everyone got a normal amount of gas and electric at a reasonable price and anything above was charged at say 3x the cap to discourage excessive usage.

Prioritise spending on health and education by capping benefits at X number of months/years then make work schemes mandatory. I would also make private pension contributions and income protection mandatory as this is one of our biggest expenses as a country. We should provide significant tax reliefs for companies that fund private healthcare and discounted childcare for their workers.

Look at the pay of the public sector and ensure they are inline with equivalent private sector salaries to aid retention. Would also look to cut student loan contribution or total write off for those who go into the public sector.

I do like Liz to an extent other than her desire to fund a lot of her cuts from the public sector as I think this will just make the staffing crisis worse. I would like to see the standards remain with maybe reduced access for those that don't contribute to the system.

I would love to see a easy online system where the general population can vote on significant issues e.g. the lock downs and the options to tackle the energy crisis.

Why would you privatise the energy industry? The public purse doesn't have enough to make the investments necessary to install the GW we need.

Privatising energy is easy to say, gains votes from the masses that don't think it through / understand it.

Someone called into LBC with some amazing recommendations - link below.

For anyone who hasn’t got time to watch:

1. Cut the personal income tax limit down to zero for anyone earning £100k or above for 2 years - would cost them all around £2.5k per year overall but raise £6bn
2. Companies with earnings over £100k would have their taxes raised from 19% to 21% for 1 year, also bringing in £6bn
3. Windfall taxes on energy companies to raise another £6bn and give £2k to all households

Link here

It’s not amazing. It Mickey Mouse economics. People’s frustration with the current situation is understandable but fantasy’s economics won’t improve the situation.

Increase benefits for the poorest families

I was reading this thinking how bonkers it was then I got to the end and it all made sense: the delusional Richard Murphy strikes again!

For those saying windfall taxes on energy companies I think this excerpt from the article @Lurkerlot posted answers that:

"And, as we saw in 2021, energy companies can, and do, fail. The actual producers of oil and gas will not. Maybe the electricity generators might not (but it’s harder to be sure) but those who actually sell us the energy that comes into our houses can fail. And they are going to do so. This is inevitable. You cannot try to sell most of your product to people who cannot pay for it and expect to stay in business. That just cannot happen. In that case it is not just consumers who should be panicking about the forecast price increases: all of the domestic energy companies should be too. They are at extreme risk in the situation that is developing."

It’s basically several pages of words. Nonsensical, filler words with no substance, regurgitated narrative you can find on most social media threads like this one.

Other than reversing Brexit (no brainer) the rest of your post is tinfoil hat material.

Reversing Brexit is impossible. Actually impossible. The UK will never be able to re join on the same terms, including keeping the sterling. It’s fantasy’ land. Best to move on from it and think ahead.

Renationalise the utilities and railways,
Windfall tax on the energy companies, sort out housing by discouraging property as investment. Bring back proper social housing. Tax the rich. Investigate those in government for flagrant waste during covid and giving contracts to their mates, encourage immigration to fill the low paid jobs no one wants. Invest in renewable energy. Invest in our manufacturing base.

Put an end to public private initiatives that mean that the people get poor quality services and the tax payer gets stung whilst private companies cream off the profits. It's criminal.

Probably try and contain what the nhs is supposed to do. It was never designed as a fresbie service for everything. We do need to have some things not nhs funded.

Try and reverse all the damage thatcher did.

@TheSandwoman and @sst1234 I, as someone who has no knowledge of this situation, am genuinely asking you both this question. Is this excerpt from the article you thought was nonsense true?

"Broadly speaking, electricity can be generated from coal, nuclear, hydro, renewable sources and gas in the UK. What electricity we get through the wire into our house does, whatever our energy company tells us, come from a mix of all these sources. And what Ofgem does is set the price so that the most unprofitable of these production methods will always make a profit, come what may.
What Ofgem then requires is that all the other producers of electricity charge the same price as the weakest producer needs to charge to be profitable.
This, though, is absurd. If, for example, all of the producers made electricity for £1 a unit in 2020 but now, the price of gas has increased meaning it now costs £2 to make electricity from gas then, even though the costs of hydro, nuclear, coal and renewables have not changed the price to consumers from all producers will be doubled by Ofgem just so that those producing electricity from gas can still be profitable."