Could Brexit have been a success?

The simple answer is yes. Provided we had stayed in the single market and had a customs union with the European Union it would have. The so-called Norway plus option. Norway is in the single market but they do not have a customs union with the EU. The EU’s customs union is for members only, but we can negotiate our own customs union with the EU.

This would make us rule takers but not rule makers as Farage once put it. But that is unavoidable, every country bordering the EU comes under their sphere of influence, even one as big as Russia.

The leave voters would, of course, cry foul at such an option, we need however to remember that many people who should have been entitled to vote were excluded. If that had not been the case we can be sure that the vote would have been a 50/50 split for leaving or staying.

If we had stayed in the single market I for one would have accepted the result and not become a political campaigner. We were told that leaving the single market was not going to be on the cards by more than one of the leave campaigners. Things went wrong because of Theresa May's “red lines” which were then taken to their logical conclusion by our present Government.

Ending freedom of movement was one of the main aims of many leave voters. With only half the electorate voting for leave, they should have accepted a compromise. We all know what happened, the extremists kept putting pressure on the Government until they became the Government and since then chaos has ensued. They are so desperate to have total independence from the EU that many babies have been thrown out with the bathwater. Trade deals, cooperation in science, human rights, you name it we have or are in the process of losing it. The possibility of our being a successful nation outside of the EU has been trashed. All for the sake of an unrealistic unworkable xenophobic political doctrine.

The country is now experiencing an unprecedented decline that will have long term consequences for generations to come. And we have nowhere reached rock bottom yet. After only nine months of Brexit, everything is falling apart. They can not even implement the full customs checks at the UK/EU border because we will run out of food if they do and shortages are beginning to become a problem even without them. Because of this EU imports have gone up while our exports to the EU where the full customs requirements are being made have gone down.

This hardly helps our balance of payments, we are becoming a bankrupted isolationist country full of miserable destitute people living below the poverty line. When we could have had independence without losing everything the EU had to offer.

Can our decline be reversed?

If we rejoin the single market and negotiate a customs union it can. We will probably not make up the lost ground for a long time to come but our decline can be stopped by doing this. For the longer term, I would identify the problem as being that we do not have a constitution. Our system relies on our elected leaders having some integrity. That was always taken for granted by past generations but it has now been taken advantage of by unscrupulous power-grabbing charlatans.

Where this will all end is unknown and unknowable. For sure things will continue to go downhill for the time being. In the end, however, the people will rise up either on the streets or at the ballot box, or both. Things will change but we are still in for a bumpy ride for the foreseeable future.

Philip Notley

progressiveeuropeanparty@gmail.com

Labour and Tony Blair

If we are going to have the slightest hope of returning the country once again into a viable democracy then the Labour Party has to win the next general election. 

I am no fan of Labour, however, with a two-party system, they are our only hope. Their present leader, Keir Stamer, has as much charisma as a damp flannel and stands no chance of winning against Johnson. The light may still be visible at the end of the tunnel if Labour accepts its predicament and goes for a new leader. 

Anyone — and I mean anyone — is better than the conservatives

It always looked unlikely to happen and not worth giving any credence to the rumours that have sprung up over the years, but this time it is actually happening. Tony Blair is coming back into politics and he wants to be the Labour leader again.

No matter what any of us may feel about him, he certainly has history. And no matter how difficult it may be for him to achieve it. If Blair does become Labour leader again we must vote for him. And quite possibly temporarily abandon our own political affiliations and campaign for him as well. 

It is the only hope we have of escaping the new dark age that is slowly enveloping our lives our country and our futures.

Happy Europe Day

 

Transport in the future

  Progressive European Party

I spend most of my political time on Twitter @Prog_Party, unfortunately I get into a lot of rows and it is mostly with other rejoiners. One recent set too was in response to a comment I made on a Tweet from Andrew Adonis @Andrew_Adonis. Andrew said that the high-speed train needed to go to Scotland soon. I said it would be out of date before it was up and running. That set them off, I of course don’t know what I am talking about and it would take so many people in just a few hours how could it get out of date. 

 

What is not being taken into consideration with regards to travel time is that passengers do not live at railway stations. Passenger's all have different points of departure and different destinations to get to. They could be coming from Wales or Cornwall and travelling to Dumfries or Inverness. The time saved by a high speed train from London to Edinburgh is only a small part of the journey time if you have far to travel. What works better is transport that can take a passenger from door to door. 

That transport is of course the car. With the coming of electric engines, this form of transport will no longer be a major contributor to air pollution. The most significant change for public transport will come from self-driving cars, the autonomous vehicles of science fiction have become a reality. Some semi automated cars that can change lanes and park themselves are already on the market and completely driverless cars are on our streets in the development stage.

 

As soon as this evolution in transport moves to its next level of development, which is the fully autonomous taxi, public transport can be totally transformed. Robotaxis are already operating in China and with 6G, which is expected to be rolled out in 2030, the transport revolution can be completed.

 

When low cost Robotaxis are available countrywide it will no longer be necessary to own a car. Private cars spend most of their life immobile, but still costing their owner money. Why put up with all the expense of private ownership when you can call a cab from an app on your phone that will drop you anywhere you need to go. 

 

The driverless cars of today still have a sterling wheel and all the controls and a driver just in case. Much as the computer controlled trains that run on some Metro systems still have a driver in the cab, just in case. Very soon this will no longer be necessary as the technology progresses at a fast pace and will be proved to be safe and reliable.

 

This will transform our world, not just because we can get in a taxi, give it the address and sit back and relax as it takes us there. The car itself will no longer need controls in the cab or a windscreen allowing interiors to be completely redesigned. A table and chairs, a bed, a drinks cabinet, a tv. Anything you like that fits into the space and makes life more comfortable.

Motorways can be restricted for the use of autonomous vehicles only making the completion of long journeys far faster. Imagine Robotaxis all moving at the same speed all at the same distance apart, always in the right lane and moving at the correct speed for the road conditions. There will be no need for motorway lighting, no reason to slow down because of fog and no speed limits as they will always be moving at the highest safe speed. 

 

A criticism could be that taxies are expensive compared to public transport, not everyone will be able to afford them. This would not prove to be the case with Robotaxis as most of the cost of a taxi fare pays the wages of the driver and the staff who take your booking. These jobs will go, making a Robotaxi far cheaper than a current taxi. Local authorities subsidise bus routes, on many of these bus journeys the bus is less than half full and it runs on some arbitrary time table. Far better to subsidise the Robotaxi service. The OAP bus pass can become a Robotaxi pass, pensioners will clearly benefit from a service that is available day and night and can take them from door to door. 

 

There are other benefits over conventional transport. The huge amount of space that is taken up by shopping centre car parks will become unnecessary. Drop off and pick up points and loading bays will be all that is required. Side streets will no longer be full of parked cars as the total number of cars will be reduced. Buses can be assigned to the history books and the extraordinarily high costs of HS2, Birmingham to Edinburgh £100bn+, can be forgone. 

 

What does Government need to do to implement this transport revolution? Very little is the answer. Private companies are funding the research and development of autonomous vehicles. What Central Government could do is make sure G6 is rolled out on time and stop spending billions of pounds on prestigious high speed rail projects. Projects that can only ever benefit a small number of citizens compared to autonomous vehicles which will benefit everyone. It is far better to put the investment into maintaining and developing our existing road and rail networks and embracing the new technology as soon as it arrives. 

 

Philip Notley 

progressiveeuropeanparty@gmail.com

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The Duke of Edinburgh 1921 - 2021

 Our condolences to Her Majesty The Queen and all the royal family

https://www.royal.uk/

Britain enters eight days of national mourning for Prince Philip. National mourning will last until 8am on the day after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral.

The housing crisis for first time buyers

    Progressive European Party

In response to a tweet by Tom Harwood

Tom Harwood

@tomhfh

The only people around my age I know who have been able to buy a house are those who have not had to pay rent. Stuck forking out a third to half your income on rent? You're stuffed. No other generation had to put up with this.

The Progressive Party has a solution for the housing crisis that would provide more properties for first time buyers and end the council waiting lists without costing taxpayers any money. I will cut and paste our housing policy below.

The problems come about because banks don’t lend money for mortgages from their cash reserves. They generate the money electronically. This creates a lot of free money and therefore artificially inflates house prices. 

Building developers are mostly interested in building three bedroom houses because that is where most of their profits lie. Whereas the trend in society is for more people living on their own. What is needed are more one bedroom and studio flats which would also help first time buyers get on the housing ladder. 

Local authorities have been restricted by the government in how much new housing they can build. And when people are paying rent their landlord most probably has a mortgage on the property themselves so they have to charge rent higher than the costs in order to make a profit. Add all these things together and you have the perfect storm for high rents and house prices. 

The Progressive European Party 

New Housing Initiatives

One of the most pressing issues of our time is the inadequate provision of social housing. It is an area of policy that has been neglected by successive governments for many decades.

The results of this neglect are all too obvious in both urban and rural areas. The demand for housing far outstrips the supply and secure, adequate and affordable housing is now a distant dream for the majority of families and individuals.

The Progressive European Party intends to address this problem from its very roots.

Central government does not, at present, allow local government to borrow against the value of their housing stock in order to raise the finance necessary to build new housing. In addition local government is not allowed to use the money it generates from the right to buy scheme to build new housing. If such borrowing and relocation of funds were to be allowed, new social housing could be built at no cost to the taxpayer. If, furthermore, 50% per cent of these new builds were sold on the private market, the revenue from these sales could be put towards the cost of each project. Such a scheme would work perfectly in predominantly urban areas. In such cases the high building costs would be offset by high house prices. Thus the revenues from properties sold would be more than enough to cover the costs of the entire project. In other words, each well-managed project would provide new social housing completely free of cost. In some areas of the country, the whole cost of building might not be fully recoverable from private sales. In such instances, however, it would still be possible to build social housing at approximately half the cost of solely social estates. The savings generated would thus be enormous. The effect of this would be that the chronic housing shortages in the private sector would at last be alleviated. Social housing would at last be available to all who need it.

The total cost of building could not be expected to be reimbursed from the sales in every part of the UK. Nevertheless, each project would still ultimately cost nothing. For any remaining unsold properties would be rented. This rental revenue would easily cover interest payments on any outstanding loans. These housing initiatives will also provide an opportunity to upgrade building regulations to require high standards of safe, fire-proof insulation for all new builds. Catastrophes of the type typified by the Grenfell Tower disaster would be averted and winter heating costs would simultaneously be minimised. New flats, for instance, would have only one outside wall. Thus insulation cost per unit would not be significantly greater. New building regulations would also make solar panels and, where appropriate, mounted wind-turbines mandatory. The electricity generated could either be used directly for heating or, at times of surplus, be sold into the National Grid. Technologies such as storage radiators and efficient insulation would provide efficient and cheap or cost-free heating. Fuel poverty for occupants would become a thing of the past. Providing suitable housing for all would save local authorities millions of pounds. Currently local authorities spend large sums on bed and breakfast accommodation for the homeless. By the same token, at present, when a family becomes homeless, children have to be taken into care. This is inordinately expensive. Central government, moreover, currently spends £25 billion on the UK's housing benefit bill. To sum up, the need for local authorities to build low-cost, inferior housing would be obviated. Because about half of new homes would be sold on the open market they would need to be of a high standard to attract buyers. Finally, therefore, the plight of first time buyers and council waiting lists would, in due course, be ended. Good quality homes would be available for everyone at no cost to the taxpayer.

Our slide into Right wing free market libertarianism

  Progressive European Party

What was so shamefully christened project fear, that was in fact, the very real concerns of people for their own and their countries well being, has turned out to be mostly accurate. It is fair to say that there has not been the fast overnight crash that may have been the outcome with a no-deal. It has been more like a slow death of a thousand cuts. But it is a significant blow to trade between us and the European Union bloc. 

This was probably more intentional than we may have first thought. They clearly knew what the outcome of leaving would be. How many unpublished assessments of the various deal or no deal scenarios have there been. The worrying thing is that they did not care if there was a no-deal or if they just signed any last minute deal that the EU put in front of them. Not minding the chaos that ensures from leaving because they want the UK to turn its back on EU trade. That is why they are making the UK-EU trade harder to do and less profitable. It is a failure of our democracy and also of the democratic structures within the Conservative party, that has allowed people who are clearly only out to line there own pockets, being able to hijack the political system. Using it to push their own private agenda with no regard for the welfare of the citizens who elected them. Let alone those of us who voted in a different way. Businesses that depend on EU trade going to the wall was a sacrifice that they are more than willing to make. That was all a part of their plan, it is not the direction that they want the country to continue to go in. Which means the bigger picture is that they have other plans and they are keeping that little dark secret from us. 

Across the water, things have eventually moved on. The opponents of far-right extremism got themselves motivated and pulled out all the stops to win. It is interesting however to note that Trump received more votes in 2020 then he did in 2016, making it really tight. What did it in the end for Trump were his failings with regards to dealing with the pandemic. Trump lost because of Covid. 

We need to take note of this because regardless of how we may feel about the daily toll of Brexit dividends the quitters are still intrenched in their views. It may well look to us that by losing the battle we have at least won the argument. But that is not so, I see comments every day like, “it is only a bit more paperwork” and “you can work in the EU if you want, you only have to fill in a form”. So I don’t think that Brexit job losses empty supermarket shelves or Priti Patel acting like a little NAZI is going to win it for us. But COVID19 can. Holding Boris Johnson and his Governments feet to the fire over their handling of the pandemic with its seemingly never-ending death tole is how we can win.

I am sorry to come to the inevitable concussion that because of the limiting constraints of our sub-standard political system that we have to endure we will have to vote Labour in the next General Election. It is with a heavy heart that I say this, socialism is only marginally better than conservatism. But at least there are many Labour MP’s that are still pro EU. The main agenda has to be to stop the countries rapid slide into libertarianism. A Labour win is the only way that this can be achieved. 

Our biggest loss is that we are no longer a part of the greatest project in world history. The peaceful transformation of Europe into a Nation state. It is to our shame and detriment that this has happened. We will, in the end, return to the United Europe that we have been so forcibly disconnected from. But we are going to have to do this one election at a time.

Philip Notley

progressiveeuropeanparty@gmail.com