Martin Biermann

In Whose Interests are They Working?

So now both Basingstoke and Deane and the Westminster government have working Tory majorities. 

As we approach the first hundred days of these administrations, how are things looking? 

It is the performance of central government which is proving to be the most disappointing, indeed shocking. As I write these thoughts, the RBS giveaway to banking mates in the city has just been dropped upon us. Of course, time may tell that this was a brilliant strategic move, but I can't help feeling that sufficient clear-thinking experts are expressing doubts about the wisdom of this action for it to leave serious discomfort. 

Where, to my mind, there can be little doubt about completely flawed decision-making is on refugees; (something I intend to return to on a later occasion), "Right to Buy" from housing associations, and the Green Agenda.

The right to buy must be about as stupid as it gets and can only be put down to the most crass of popularism. Here we are with a serious deficit in social housing and the government is going to diminish the pool yet further. The replacement argument is a nonsense as no practical methodology has yet been put forward and even in the council house version of this ruse, the promised replacements have still to materialise. As the private rental arena is so in need of repair, the eventual outcome can only be yet more homelessness. 

The so-called green agenda is both deceitful and tragic. "The Greenest Government Ever" is proving to be the biggest lie ever, despite the fact it was a pretty low target to achieve in the first place. Ministers continue to say that we are world leaders in combating climate change and yet nearly every week takes us a step backwards. One of the biggest deceits is the contrivance that renewable energy generation is taking a disproportionate amount of subsidy when that is emphatically more the case with the nuclear power industry. And we still have no idea how we are going to handle the consequences of waste from nuclear power. Wouldn't it be marvellous if the government poured only a 10th of the subsidy given to nuclear power into energy storage (probably battery) technology instead. That would allow the increasingly efficient solar and wind power industries to become even more relevant. It is ironic that this government is drawing back from green initiatives just as China and the USA are finally taking concrete steps forward!