Squeal public sector parasites, Squuuuuuuuuuuuuueal

After 10Yrs of spunking billions of £ down the shitter to reward the Labour governments friends in the public sector, we now have the day of reckoning.

In my mind it doesn't go far enough.  The government will take spending back to 2006 levels.  We should be aiming for 1997 levels and reversing the huge increase in non-productive parasitical public sector which sucks the life out of private enterprise.

Now for tax cuts - the only way to increase economic growth in a global economy is to cut personal and corporation tax rates.  The top 1% of taxpayers pay over 20% of the total UK tax take.  These people are mobile.  In my FTSE company, all high paying global roles can be based wherever the individual wishes.  You fancy minimal tax in Singapore - go for it.  Want to live with 15% tax rate in Prague, go for it. 

The government shouldn't bite the hand that feeds it.  Cut tax = economic growth - a dense GCSE student could tell you that.

Talking to Russia: Medvedev, Putin and waking up the Russian bear

Recent moves by Britain and the US to normalise relations with Russia are an interesting developing in the strategy for dealing with Moscow.  The very public execution of Litvinenko in London, the Georgian conflict of 2008, support for Iranian nuclear ambitions and the continuing manoeuvres surrounding NATO's eastward expansion all provide the back-drop to the poor state of diplomatic relations.

It is right and proper that the UK expressed serious anger over the execution of a dissident in the middle of London - that was pretty outrageous.  Similarly the Georgian conflict was little more than old Soviet style Russian power-politics.  These issues, combined with the anti-democracy legislation and return to autocratic ways led to the deep-freeze in relations during '08-'10.

Thankfully, Realpolitik has settled back in place.  Western Europe needs Russia.  We need Russian natural gas & oil.  As the Russians showed in their dispute with the Ukraine, they can simply turn off the tap if they want to play hardball.  For a net energy importer such as the UK relations with Russia are critical - this is made manifestly worse by the retarded focus on renewable energy which doesn't work (wind power anyone) instead of building the unpalatable but necessary new nuclear power infrastructure.  We need to hug the Russian bear close however unpleasant the smell.

Europeans and Americans generally don't get the Russian mentality.  After doing business there over the last couple of years I have been surprised and intrigued by the Russian way of doing things.  They are totally paranoid - about the state, about competitors, and of course about the seemingly expansionist & encircling ambitions of NATO up to their borders.  Quite rightly Russians fear the Putin mafia who confiscate businesses & arrest economic and political opponents at will - democracy & the rule of law are at best a mirage in Moscow. 

All this is tempered by a fantastic and very 'British' sense of humour - there is no business dinner I look forward to as much one with Muscovites holding court with their well aimed sarcasm, wit and stories, all fuelled by industrial quantities of vodka.

We need the natural resources of Russia.  We also need their influence in controlling Iran and other rogue states.  They have no truck with Islamist fundamentalists and are a key ally for supply routes to the Af-Pak conflict.  Russia needs technology and finance from the West.  More than this they need re-assurance that NATO is not encircling them with approaches to the Ukraine & other ex-Soviet states.  The idea that we could attach conditions on democracy & human rights to any diplomatic deals is naive at best.

We must hug the Russians close - a healthy dose of Realpolitik must win out.  Putin may be little more than a return to autocracy but the Russian empire is part of the solution to many of the key global problems we face.

Lord Browne puts students in the brown stuff

Lord Browne of BP safety costs slashing fame (Gulf of Mexico anyone), has published his report into University funding. He recommends the removal of the cap on fees which will lead to the cost of most courses sailing past £5k and up beyond £10k.

I find this issue quite difficult. As a teenager my parents didn't have a dime and therefore I had my tuition fees paid for - my year was the first to experience them in 1998 despite Blair's manifesto pledge to the contrary. Herein lies the problem.

Students from the bottom of the socio-economic pile (like yooful me) will get everything paid for - quite rightly too as a good education is the only way to encourage social mobility. Wealthy families will be annoyed at having to pay more, but will in the end be able to afford the fees & little Hugo and Tamsin will still be able to attend a prestigious and now expensive University.

Those in the middle will be hit hardest. The family which struggles along on a middling income - neither comfortably wealthy nor uncomfortably poor. It is these teenagers who will be put off by the size of the student debt they are going to incur. £30k for a 3 year course plus living costs could easily see a student starting their working life with a £50k debt. Mine was £12k without tuition fees.

Yes the debt will be at a cheap interest rate vs market rate - but these are scary numbers. Many graduates earn considerably more over their lifetime than non-graduates. This means that they already contribute more to the tax take thereby paying back their fees & more.

It is probably correct that students should pay more for their education. But putting £50k of debt round the neck of a 21 year old is not right. How about abolishing the Stalin-esque target of 50% of all students in University - target government funding & focus instead on a smaller cohort being educated to a higher level.

It is unjustifiable to spread the limited funds available across multiple Universities offering courses in the equivalent of under-water basket weaving to students with a D at A-Level.

Lets give this a go again

Lets give this blogging thing a go again. Been 2 years since my last post. Just a few things have happened in that time - Coalition government, first black president of the USA, another England world cup disaster, and Mrs Rover gave birth to little Ms Rover.
Plenty to talk about, unless I can't be arsed again and flounce off.