Back to the 1970s

I don't have a high opinion of the domestic governing record of the SNP (think ferries and drugs), but their latest election gimmick has all the hallmarks of the daft ideas department.

They are proposing price caps on staple grocery items.   However, if retailers can't make a margin on these items, they may simply stop stocking them.   Getting supplies to remote highlands and islands locations is already a challenge (Lidl are popular on Orkney because they adhere to 'one Scotland price' despite the additional transport costs).

Of course, what they are really hoping for is a confrontation on this issue with Westminster to boost their campaign for a new independence referendum.

Most people have probably forgotten the 'red triangle' scheme devised by Shirley Williams as Labour prices secretary in the 1970s.  This attempted to control key grocery prices.   I have copied extensive records from the National Archives about it, but have never found the time to write it up.

It all bordered on farce with one 'Sir Humphrey' reporting on how the scheme was going down in Blackheath!   (A relatively prosperous London suburb much favoured by bureaucrats).

Why will no party criticise the triple lock?

As a former Labour defence secretary and adviser Lord Robertson has delivered a torpedo to the Labour government.  I have seen it suggested on social media that he is an adviser to two US defence companies, but I have been unable to verify this.

Defence spending was hollowed out under 14 years of Conservative prime ministers.   There were also arguably some poor spending decisions: two aircraft carriers that are sitting ducks without adequate destroyer protection and new destroyers that seem to spend most of their time in port having problems fixed.

Nevertheless the defence budget does seem to be £28 billion short of required spending over the next few years.  The Conservatives would pay for this by cutting welfare or making poor people poorer.

Yet no party will contemplate getting rid of the unsustainable triple lock because they know that older people are far more likely to vote than younger people.   It should be noted that pensions are defined as a benefit under the 1946 National Insurance Act.

Around that time one Labour politician said 'there ain't no fund' (possibly Ernie Bevin).   Pensions have to  be paid out of current taxation, a burden that will increase despite controversial age adjustments.

Yes, state pensions are lower in the UK than in many European countries, but private provision is much higher.  The state pension is an important safety net, but it should be focused on the most needy.

BTW, I think the latest attempt by the media to sack Starmer is not going to succeed.

Starmer's survival chances improve

An intervention by deputy leader Lucy Powell makes it more certain that there will be no leadership challenge to Keir Starmer after what are claimed to be an inevitably catastrophic set of election results for the prime minister in May.

Media commentators have been talking about 'when' Starmer goes, but Labour has little to gain and much to lose from a divisive election contest when there is no clear successor.   For the media, of course, driving a prime minister from office is the ultimate trophy.

Of course, a delay would enhance Andy Burnham's chances of getting elected as a MP and Lucy Powell is aligned with him.

Starmer has seen a little recovery in his ratings through his adroit handling of the conflict in the Middle East and, perhaps more important, has won praise within his own party.

Quite why Starmer is so unpopular is an interesting question.  He is doing a serious job in a serious way, but do voters want a prime minister who is an entertainer or celebrity? Surely Boris Johnson was a warning against having a buffoon in the job?

But then all recent prime ministers have had highly negative ratings.   Voters expect more of government at a time when it is able to deliver less.

I see that the Sunday Times is splashing a poll today that shows cabinet ministers losing their seats either to Reform or the Greens.   

A once good paper has degenerated into a right-wing propaganda sheet, but it should be pointed out that there is no general election tomorrow and that people approach the task of voting in a general election differently from responding to a mid-term poll.

Coping with money laundering allegations

New regulations on money laundering make an already slow conveyancing process in England even more complicated.   When I bought a retirement apartment recently, the compliance officer at my solicitors could not accept that I had built up funds in an ISA over a number of years.

Fortunately the funds platform Hargreaves Lansdown came to my rescue and produced many pages of documents listing transactions over several years, swamping the solicitor with information.

Now I have been helping one granddaughter with her purchase of a property in Wales after she discovered her inner Welsh woman.

First the Welsh solicitors requested that I present myself at their Pembroke office, some 200 miles from where I live, to prove that I am who I say I am.  We have now reached a stage where I have had to provide my last tax assessment by the HMRC.

I do have one weapon in reserve, two native Welsh speaking nephews.   I have found that dealing with officialdom in Wales is often expedited if one writes in Cymraeg.

I have one more granddaughter who is looking at properties, so the challenge is not over.  Fortunately, my great-grandaughter is just coming up to three.

I helped another granddaughter financially a few years ago and did not encounter these problems.   Money laundering is a serious problem, but it seems to me that these regulations are causing difficulties for ordinary people.