'We need our industry to benefit from cheap energy' - Your Letters: April 28
PICTURE FROM THE ARCHIVE: Dan Wright of the Albrighton Scout Unit displayed a model of a Solent class lifeboat, the City of Birmingham, outside his house, alongside an inshore lifeboat, both of which were to be displayed at the Albrighton Scout and Guides' summer fair. The photograph dates from June 1977.
HOW TO END THE UK'S DOOM LOOP
Many times, both I and others have written about the doom loop we face in this country and, sad to say, the wider developed world.
In a recent letter, M Cooper told us that the idea of growth in our economy was useless without people having more disposable income.
This is undoubtedly true, but the first step to achieving this is to create more wealth. When nations become concerned with following egalitarian policies, they are not worried about the amount of wealth but rather the distribution of what there is. So, their answer is to tax and regulate businesses and individuals in pursuit of this agenda.
They created a monolithic and overly complex welfare state with a doe-eyed vision that all could be cared for. We now have great swathes of people who have never worked and made no contribution to society, living at the expense of those who do. These people are seen as "vulnerable," and no doubt some are, and nobody can suggest a civilised country ought not to provide for such citizens. But many are fully conscious and capable of working yet choose not to.
Don't get me wrong. This is fine if these folk live off legally acquired means, but if they deliberately take it as a matter of choice, that is immoral and should be prevented. Massive welfare reforms will be required to ensure work is taken up to grow this economy. It will also need a policy that discourages bad life choices while rewarding good ones. An example would be to support marriage in the tax system and discourage single parenting through the removal of benefits and the provision of homes.
People must be allowed to keep more and more of their earnings and a drive to upskill our people with lifelong learning and skill set acquisition. We must stop allowing labour capacity to leech away overseas and begin manufacturing here again. Crucially, we must end the war on the entrepreneur and the torrent of brain drain.
