Gumpyygreybeard

HAYEK’S HORRORS

The biggest problem facing the Tories today is their ridiculous subservience to the simplistic theories embodied in the ‘small government, free markets and low taxes’ mantra so often spouted by those on the extreme right. These ideas have made the two candidates for the office of prime minister desperate to avoid the supposed crime ofContinue reading “HAYEK’S HORRORS”

The Housing Crisis

Michael Gove’s complaint that building developers are acting as a cartel once again highlights the parlous state of Britain’s housing market. For reasons that will emerge it has problems far too deep to be resolved merely by an intensive building programme – even one of Rooseveltian grandeur. As a lifelong conservative Conservative – and atContinue reading “The Housing Crisis”

Latin Lunacy

The recent proposal to boost the teaching of Latin in state schools must be one of the most bizarre follies ever to plague the British education system. What on earth is the point of learning a dead language which has a complex grammatical structure wholly unlike that of English? The stock schoolmaster’s answer is thatContinue reading “Latin Lunacy”

FATUOUS FASHIONS

In my previous blog, Big Government or Small? I exposed the vacuously simplistic nature of the thinking behind the slogan ‘free markets, small government and low taxes’. I showed how the free market theories of Friedrich Hayek were distorted by his followers with disastrous results, including the banking crisis, the cladding catastrophe, gormless globalisation idioticContinue reading “FATUOUS FASHIONS”

Big Government or small?

On both sides of the political spectrum there’s a widespread belief that the Covid 19 crisis should fundamentally change the way we’re governed. But in the Conservative Party the debate about the way ahead has become polarized between two profoundly opposing views. Those on the right have a fear of ‘big’ government which is matchedContinue reading “Big Government or small?”

EU IDIOCIES

THE EU’S TRUE COLOURS It has long been clear that the European Union is so far from being a force for good that it is more likely to precipitate a third world war than to prevent one. Why this should be is a matter which will no doubt puzzle historians for decades, maybe centuries, toContinue reading “EU IDIOCIES”

Tyranny terrors

Of all the bizarre ideas thrown up by the Covid 19 crisis, none astonishes me more than the idea that the restrictions on movement and meeting which have been imposed by the government represent the first steps towards a descent to a totalitarian tyranny. Even though we’ve all moved a stage towards freedom by sendingContinue reading “Tyranny terrors”

Not bullying, just confrontation

Because Boris Johnson doesn’t seem inclined to explain his own policies, almost all of the media have interpreted the Priti Patel affair wrongly. It was nothing to do with bullying and everything to do with confronting the arrogant and complacent civil service mandarins responsible for colossal blunders in emergency response and equipment procurement during theContinue reading “Not bullying, just confrontation”

The architectural madness behind the cladding catastrophe

There’s nothing new about major architectural or engineering disasters brought about by a combination of poor design and shoddy workmanship. There’s plenty of both behind today’s cladding catastrophe. But in this case the cause goes far beyond mere ineptitude to a collective madness that gripped a whole profession for decades: the idea that in Britain’sContinue reading “The architectural madness behind the cladding catastrophe”

Housing For All

The suggestion (denied) that Robert Jenrick, a planning minister, improperly approved a £1bn property development scheme sponsored by Richard Desmond, once again highlights the parlous state of Britain’s housing market. For reasons that will emerge it has problems far too deep to be resolved merely by an intensive building programme – even one of RooseveltianContinue reading “Housing For All”