Category: Politics

Competing for Asylum Expulsions and Book Review on American Revolution

The political news is positive for a change. Settlement of the war in Gaza does seem possible, although there is a lot of work yet to be done on that. Meanwhile the Conservative and Reform Parties are competing on who can be toughest in halting excessive immigration. The Tories will definitely withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) if elected to govern which I consider a good thing – for too long judges have presumed to settle English law instead of Parliament deciding. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp gave a good interview for the BBC on this subject yesterday. I always thought he could go far and might make a better leader than other candidates.

A book I have been reading lately is “The Fate of the Day” by Rick Atkinson – all 850 pages of it. It’s a history of the American war of independence and covers the years 1770-1780. It’s too long but is revealing on the wonders of how the Americans managed to win the war when Great Britain had the largest navy in the world and a large land army also. British politicians thought it would be easy to bring the Americans to heel but found otherwise in reality. Political will is what made the difference.

It’s a shame that Americans did not learn from their own history when deciding to go deeper into the war in Vietnam.

One interesting section covers the activities of US Naval Captain John Paul Jones who attacked Whitehaven and stole the local gentry’s silver plate. He died at quite a young age and was buried in Paris. But many years later his body was disinterred for reburial in the USA when a medical examination showed he was suffering from a kidney disease – probably IgA nephropathy which I also suffer from. He remains a hero of the American Revolution despite a chequered career.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

The Impact of Reform and Kent County Council

The Reform Party are certainly having a big impact on both national and local politics. The Labour Party annual conference was dominated by attempts to smear Nigel Farage and those who vote for Reform (like me).

Another example are the events at Kent County Council (KCC) – Bromley where I live used to be part of Kent although technically it’s now part of a London borough and hence part of the Greater London Authority. Many local residents would like to depart from London and the dictatorship of Sadiq Khan.

Recently KCC have voted to rescind a climate change declaration and now have plans to cancel Net Zero targets. With KCC now dominated by Reform Councillors they won the vote by 50 to 21. More details here: https://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/environment/766-environmental-news/62285-county-council-rescinds-climate-change-declaration-and-lays-out-plans-to-cancel-net-zero-targets

Why are people voting for Reform? In essence because they would like to see new ideas and policies implemented while feeling that the Labour and Conservative parties are stuck in the past. They also feel that both Conservative and Labour parties have broken promises to tackle excessive immigration and the latest proposals are still too weak, while leaders of both parties are seen as ineffective.

It’s certainly time for some changes!

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Ukraine – Turning Out as Expected

The resolution of the war in Ukraine is very likely to turn out as I expected in March this year. Ukraine will need to concede some territory to obtain peace and Russia will obtain some of its historical domination over the eastern Ukraine. See my original blog post for more background on the history of Ukraine: https://roliscon.blog/2022/03/08/ukraine-a-more-balanced-view/

There may be face-saving defence guarantees given by the USA, UK and rest of Europe but only the USA has sufficient capability to make them stick. Ukraine never had sufficient military capacity to defeat Russia and the UK and the rest of Europe have wasted bags of money on pointlessly supplying arms to Ukraine.

Donald Trump may be bullying Zelensky to accept a peace deal he does not like but there is no point in continuing the war in the vain hope of victory. Ukraine should not be allowed to join NATO to which Russia would strongly object and would weaken the NATO alliance.

Let us settle the matter and move on with less pretence that even the USA and Europe combined can impose their will on Russia.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Rainbow Pedestrian Crossings – We Don’t Need Them!

 We all know what a zebra crossing is. It’s somewhere clearly marked (in black and white stripes on the road) as somewhere that pedestrians can cross a road in safety and where they have priority over vehicles.

The latest lunatic council to ignore this principle is the London borough of Camden who have painted a crossing in white, blue and pink at the junction of Tavistock Place and Marchmont Street (the transgender flag colours).

Other councils have similarly decided to undermine road safety by painting some crossings in non-standard colours to promote their favourite political or gender preference. But thankfully a Christian campaign group may be challenging this with a judicial review. See this note on Local Government Lawyer for the legal basis of the challenge: https://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/transport-and-highways/443-transport-and-highways-news/61503-london-borough-facing-judicial-review-threat-over-road-crossing-painted-in-colours-of-transgender-pride-flag .

Let us hope that this challenge is pursued. We have too much time and resources wasted on sexual politics already.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Summer Reading – Trump Style

With Donald Trump having such an influence on international events, I thought I had best get up to speed on his background and experience. So I have been reading the Art of the Deal first published in 2016 at 384 pages. Don’t let the length put you off as it’s quite an easy read.

It’s really the story of his life up until the date of him writing the book and covers how he achieved some success in property development in New York. His father was a businessman in the development of housing but Donald moved more up-market and into larger developments, particularly in Manhattan.

It’s interesting in how he got people to back him when he had little experience and few financial resources. He was clearly always keen to impress people by putting on a glossy front.

How much the book might tell you about his personality is not clear but in his second term as President he does seem to be acting mainly rationally and is attempting to solve some of the world’s problems – albeit with mixed success. It can do no harm to read this book and get some impression of Trump’s management style.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy

The UK Government has published its Industrial Strategy – see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-uks-modern-industrial-strategy-2025 .  It claims the Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to increase business investment and grow the industries of the future in the UK. It says the Strategy will make it quicker and easier for business to invest and will provide the certainty and stability needed for long-term investment decisions, but this is mainly hogwash.

With politics in such chaos at present (it is uncertain who might win the next General Election) betting on stability in government would be rash. But it might be worthwhile to skim the executive summary. The document is short on specifics although it does point to certain things that the government intends to tackle – such as the burden of regulation, the speed of planning, the high cost of industrial electricity and the reduction in regulatory burdens to speed innovation – previous governments have had such objectives but have conspicuously failed to achieve them. Why? Because the political leadership has been weak and the civil service has been adept at resisting change. In addition we are a nation of “nimbys” – full of people who oppose revolution in any form.

Even when some change is supported, implementation tends to be abysmal, as has been highlighted by the recent debacle at HS2. Originally planned to run from London to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester the last two arms have axed but the cost will still be more than £100 billion – a quite fantastic figure.

This is a management problem in essence but the Government thinks that throwing money at the problems will resolve the difficulties – such as a new £500 million “Local Innovation Partnership Fund”. Socialist governments are always adept at spending money but not on how to manage where it is spent.

In summary I have no hope that the latest “Industrial Strategy” will improve the UK economy.

Postscript: This is what the AIC had to say on the Government’s proposals, which I agree with: Richard Stone, Chief Executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “It’s encouraging to see the government recognise VCTs’ important role in the venture ecosystem. VCTs could do even more to support the government’s growth ambitions if they had greater freedom to invest in scale-ups. We’d like the government to increase the investment limits and abolish the age limits for VCT investments. This would allow VCTs to effectively mobilise capital to invest in more British companies with great growth potential.”

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Assisted Dying Won’t Be Easy

The Assisted Dying Bill was passed in the Commons last week, but if you think that will make it easy, think again. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said there is no budget for an assisted dying service. The Bill is not only complex but requires legal and medical advice to make sure you or your carers and doctors don’t make it invalid.

There is probably a business opportunity here that someone might wish to take up. The provision of low cost legal and medical advice to someone who wishes to invoke the new law is a service that is required. A register of doctors who are willing to assist would also be a good idea.

In the meantime, expect a rearguard action by those who oppose the Bill in the House of Lords with numerous impractical amendments put forward which will surely be rejected when the Bill returns to the Commons.

Don’t let us lose this opportunity to provide support to people who want to die.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Assisted Dying Bill Passes Third Reading in Commons

The Assisted Dying Bill passed by a majority of 22 votes in the Commons today. I note my M.P. Clive Efford did not vote – a black mark against him as I have always been a strong supporter of such legislation. The Bill may not be perfect but it is certainly much better than the current legal position.

The Bill will now go to the Lords for further debate and another vote on possible amendments.

I am more concerned about the complexity of the paths now created to get approval for an assisted death than all the objections invoked against the Bill. If I want to leave this world, I will be very unhappy if people get in my way. I have had a terminal kidney disease for over 30 years and I may have some years left but I don’t want to hang around unnecessarily. Death from my kidney disease may not be painful but other people suffer a great deal and unnecessarily.

I first read a good book on the subject called Final Exit by Derek Humphrey in about 1990 and have supported UK legislation on the subject and the organisation that promotes it ever since – see Dignity Campaign: https://www.dignityindying.org.uk/

BBC Report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd78nvn2r1yo

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Interfering in Pension Funds

Whenever a socialist government gets elected, they think they can improve the economy by interfering in the decisions of capitalists. The current thinking seems to be that pension funds will be the next target with defined benefit pension schemes being encouraged to invest in big infrastructure projects covering transport, housing and energy.

This might be extended to target ISAs and SIPPs. ISAs hold as much as £750 billion but a lot of it is in Cash ISAs which don’t contribute much to the economy in terms of financing businesses. In total UK pension schemes, including SIPP pensions, hold a vast amount of assets, totalling over £3 trillion. This is a very attractive target for any Chancellor.

ISAs have been very successful in attracting savers because of their tax-free status and simple administration. SIPPs have also proved attractive in pension savers who want more control over their pension funds. It would be a shame if there was interference in these successful models. But the government apparently thinks that more of the money should be directed to financing UK companies. At present there are few explicit limits on what ISAs and SIPPs can invest in. And it is difficult to see how such limits can be imposed when investment trusts and funds which are listed or registered in the UK can pick from any listed companies worldwide.

The big issue for individual investors is whether the government should be interfering in the investment decisions of savers. The assets held in ISAs and SIPPs should not be diverted at the whim of civil servants or politicians who have proved to be incompetent investors if you look at history – British Leyland is a great example.

If investors wish to invest in the US economy instead of the UK’s – why should they not? This has proved a very successful investment strategy in the last few years mainly because US companies are better managed and operate in bigger markets.

Any wise investor does diversify investments geographically even if by doing so they expose themselves to currency exchange rate variance. Pensions in particular are long-term investments. The world economy might look very different in 30 or 50 years’ time so backing UK businesses may be perverse when Chinese companies might be dominant.

SIPPs are a particular issue because most SIPPs are written in trust. They are not owned by the investor in them but whoever is named as the beneficiaries. Government interference in where the money is invested breaches the fiduciary duties of the manager, whoever that is.

The key question is: “would diverting pension funds into infrastructure projects actually provide a good return?”. That is a very difficult question to answer and the answer might change over time. But if such projects do provide a good return then there are plenty of funds willing to invest in them and take any risks associated with doing so. They do not need the government to start interfering.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.

Assisted Dying Bill Challenged

Despite the Scottish Parliament voting for an assisted dying bill this week, the Telegraph reported maliciously that the UK Bill promoted by Kim Leadbetter was at risk of collapse. The article suggested that some MPs were changing their minds based on anecdotal reports.

The Assisted Dying Bill returns to the Common on this Friday and a large number of amendments have been tabled. This seems to reflect some concerns (mainly imaginary ones in my view) about the protections against being coerced into volunteering for a painless death by those with some mental deficiencies. The large number of amendments might result in the Bill being “talked out” (a “filibuster” in essence by a few extremists opposed to any change).

All of this is hypothetical in my view and it would be most disappointing if this Bill was not progressed. Some MPs do like to sit on the fence when it comes to contentious political issues instead of providing leadership. No new Bill is perfect and there should be room for subsequent changes to tidy up matters after some experience of the practice. In other countries where such Bills are already in place the concerns have turned out to very few.

See the Telegraph article here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/14/assisted-dying-bill-risk-collapse-backers-change-minds/

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://x.com/RogerWLawson  )

You can obtain notifications of new posts in future by following me on Twitter (now “X”) – see https://x.com/RogerWLawson where new blog posts are usually mentioned.