Reform UK the successor to The Brexit Party is standing candidates in May’s local elections. We spoke with Joseph Fox who is standing for them in the South Park and Woodhatch Ward of Reigate & Banstead Council.
Joseph thank-you for your time.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your party?
I am a 73 year old grandfather. I have lived and worked in the borough for most of my life. I became involved with EU-secessionist politics in 1995, and joined UKIP in 1999. I stood for UKIP in 25 elections from 2001 to 2019 – I came second in the 2015 General Election. But UKIP took a wrong turn after the referendum. The Brexit Party proved immediately popular, and with Brexit (nominally) done, Reform UK seemed to me to be the way forward. I like it for its pragmatism and lack of ideological baggage.
“Nothing is more than four floors high, and there is plenty of greenery. But like everywhere else around here, it is under threat of high-density development”
You’re standing in the South Park and Woodhatch Ward, can you introduce the ward to us and what you can bring to the area?
South Park and Woodhatch ward is about two thirds ex-council housing and one third moderately prosperous private housing. Nothing is more than four floors high, and there is plenty of greenery. But like everywhere else around here, it is under threat of high-density development.
“last year, they spent £35,000 on fitting lockable lids on some recycling bins, thus forcing us to post our rubbish through small holes or slots. And I thought they were meant to encourage recycling!”
More widely what would you like to see change at Reigate & Banstead Council and across the borough?
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council is as capable of wasting public money as anyone else. For example, last year, they spent £35,000 on fitting lockable lids on some recycling bins, thus forcing us to post our rubbish through small holes or slots. And I thought they were meant to encourage recycling! Experience shows that the presence of minor parties on local councils does them a lot of good.
How can people find out more or get in touch if they want to get involved?
Mike Swadling was interviewed recently by Lorena Serantes Prieto, about the Croydon Constitutionalists, Brexit and the state of the Conservative Party.
Lorena’s blog covers a range of interviews with people engaged in politics in the UK, she can also be found on Twitter at @LoreSerantes.
“Broadly we are in favour of Brexit, Low Taxes, Free Speech, Free Markets, and Rational science not climate alarmism. We try to find national organisations or groups we can partner with on a local level to campaign for these things.”
“I don’t believe it’s possible to negotiate a reasonable deal with a party that doesn’t believe you are an equal. I believe the EU regards the UK as somewhat of a renegade province and it these circumstances it is not possible to negotiate as equals.”
“What is the purpose of a Conservative Government if we have high tax, high spend, high cost of living and low home ownership? The Conservatives risk losing their core support”
Inflation Is Here, But There’s Also A Shortage Game In Town
By Josh L. Ascough
In almost all mainstream economics textbooks, when the subject of inflation is reached, the standard definition is that inflation is a general increase in the price level. This definition has sparked numerous conflations of the cause and effects of oil and gas prices and inflation during the financial aftermath of Covid restrictions, policies and the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia; Investopedia recently attempted to provide a clear answer to the correlation of inflation and the resulting high oil prices caused by the shortage by stating “Higher oil prices contribute to inflation directly […] by increasing the cost of inputs.”
“this definition of inflation is facetious at best and leads to bad policies at worst. The general increase in the price level definition, defines inflation by its symptom; or effect, rather than defining it by the cause”
But the fact of the matter is this definition of inflation is facetious at best and leads to bad policies at worst. The general increase in the price level definition, defines inflation by its symptom; or effect, rather than defining it by the cause. Nicolas Cachanosky, an Assistant Economics Professor at Metropolitan State University, sums this confusion up stating that:
“if there is more than one reason why the price level may change, then defining inflation by describing a movement of a variable that can have multiple reasons invites confusion. This confusion can eventually lead to errors in monetary policy. More accurate would be to define inflation by its cause rather than its effect.” (Cachanosky, 2020, p. 33 emphasis in original).
A general increase in the price level can occur outside of the means of inflation. If an economic resource; which is demanded in multiple lines of production and multiple production periods faces a shortage, this will create a general increase in the price level. The same effect will be seen if demand for this multi-specific good arises. Excess demand, supply shortages and inflation may hold similar effects but they do not hold the same cause.
“inflation must be defined by its cause rather than its effect. Inflation is the occurrence of an excess increase in the money supply over the demand for money”
In order to better combat the confusion, inflation must be defined by its cause rather than its effect. Inflation is the occurrence of an excess increase in the money supply over the demand for money:
MS > MD
It is not simply an increase in the supply of money full stop; money must have an excess (surplus) over the quantity demanded in order to classify it as inflationary; just as a monetary deflation cannot be classified as a general fall in price: a monetary deflation requires that:
MD > MS.
The Cambridge and Fisher equations respectfully provide a clear picture of the variables required, both however measure separate aspects of the money equation; the Cambridge equation focusses on the demand for money (MD) and the Fisher equation looks at the money supply (MS). the MS equation; adjusted to measure real output, is calculated as:
MS × Vy = Py × Y
Where Vy and Py are the money velocity and price levels related to all real output transactions. On the other side is the Fisher equation which is calculated as:
MD = k × (PyY)
Where k is capital and PyY is the nominal income held by economic actors. If the price level fluctuates up (down), then MD rises (falls) in addition as a result to maintain a constant monetary balance. In other words the demand for money is the demand to hold money balances which can be liquidated easily at later periods.
If MS = MD then it follows that Vy = . This shows that MV is an inverse of MD. A higher (lower) MD entails a higher (lower) k; therefore a lower (higher) Vy.
To reiterate, the cause of inflation is not MS in period 1 is greater than in period 2, but that ∹ MS > MD = inflation.
The effects of inflation on the price level are equally not as simple. Since excess money supply enters the economy from a specific point, inflation seldom effects all prices at the same rates, nor during the same time setting, as economic actors plans may hold earlier or later time structures of implementation. It is unsound to assume that the percentage increase of all prices would hold the same rate, as the rate of each price increase will vary depending on a variety of factors. We can hypothesise a median or mean rate, but this would not suggest a single rate, as it would be subject to deviations in relative price increases.
“This lack of in-house sourcing, whether one is in favour of the measure as a counter to climate change or not, is a key source of the current high price fluctuation in oil and gas”
While the current effects of inflation are nothing to shrug at, it does not mean all the woes are inflation related. The current fuel crises is a supply shortage caused by the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Many Western governments have taken the position to not import Russian oil while the conflict is ensuing, whilst also not pursuing in-house sourcing in order to mitigate the price fluctuations. This lack of in-house sourcing, whether one is in favour of the measure as a counter to climate change or not, is a key source of the current high price fluctuation in oil and gas.
This is not to say the price level should not be permitted to adjust and must remain constant. Assuming monetary equilibrium to be desirable, changes in productivity which generate fluctuations in prices should not be obstructed by restrictive monetary policy, as this would destabilise monetary equilibrium (Monetary Equilibrium is a state of affairs where the quantity of money supplied is equal to the quantity of money demanded).
In a case where productivity increases (decreases) would generate an increase (decline) in supply, a fall (rise) in prices would be an appropriate movement; attempts to halt such movements would cause distortions in the market process. This is what is referred to as the productivity norm and is formulated as:
MV = P↓ Q↑
Where M is the stock of money, V is the velocity, P is the price level and Q is the quantity of goods and services.
It could be argued that price fluctuations caused by a supply shortage can contribute to the effects of inflation, and that the distinction between cause and effect is a game of semantics, but the distinction is a very real and important one in order to enact a sound monetary policy, and to ensure economic actors are better informed to make microeconomic solutions; as the late Professor Steve Horwitz put it:
“While there are Macroeconomic problems, there are only Microeconomic solutions.”
In short, supply shortages cannot contribute to inflation as, unless policy makers respond to a shortage with a monetary stimulus; further adding to an excess money supply, the shortage itself contributes nothing to MS > MD; it can add salt to the painful effects of the wound, but not contribute to the wound itself.
Croydon adding insult to taxpayer injury with the highest paid executive, and once again leading the list of local boroughs with executives paid over £100K, according to report.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance have issued their 2022 Town Hall Rich List of council employees in the UK in receipt of over £100,000 in total remuneration. The list covers the financial year 2020-21, covering the period since residents have seen services cut following the issuing of a Section 114 notice, when the council declared de facto bankruptcy. It’s not hard to see why the council ended up in this position when despite years of complaining about a lack of funding, and years of maximum council tax increases, Croydon Council had 29 staff earning over £100,000 a year (up from 19 the previous year), and with the former chief executive, Jo Negrini, receiving the highest remuneration of any council employee in the country at £613,895, which included a loss of office payment of £144,356 and a pension strain payment of £292,851.
To put the overall Croydon figures into context, neighbouring Sutton had just 14 staff whose remuneration exceeded £100,000. Merton 12, Tandridge 1, and Reigate & Banstead 1. Whilst our inner London neighbours Lambeth 27 staff and Lewisham 19 (both fewer than Croydon), Barnet a similar sized borough made do with just 8 staff on over £100K. Some of the numbers for Croydon indicate the high turnover of staff, but surely during a period of front-line staff losing their roles, and lost services for the public, something and certainly more should have been done to control executive pay.
When we reviewed the TaxPayers’ Alliance Town Hall Rich List for 2021, we asked how when private sector organisations often benchmark salaries against other similar organisations the council clearly did not. Within the council, schools are required to benchmark themselves on a range of financial measures against other similar schools. When the council requires emergency government funding, and undertakes a fire sale of assets like the Croydon Park Hotel sold at a £5 million loss, how is it possible for the council to be so blind to the pay of its own executives?
With a crumbling town centre, Purley Swimming Pool closed, libraries’ opening days reduced, rent increases, Council Tax increases, damning audit reports, and some council tenants living in squalor, how can it be acceptable that at £613,895 Croydon Council’s former chief executive Jo Negrini, received the highest remuneration of any council employee in the country?
With local elections in May, we ask Croydon residents to ask those seeking re-election, how they can justify their council tax payments being spent this way, and how with this track record of oversight they can justify being returned to office?
Croydon Council Pay over £100,000, 2020-21:
Name
Job title
Salary
Loss of office
Pension strain payments
Sub total
Pension
Total
Jo Negrini
Chief executive
£151,474
£144,356
£292,851
£588,681
£25,214
£613,895
Undisclosed
£207,500
£207,500
£207,500
Lisa Taylor
Finance, investment and risk and interim s151 officer
£162,134
£162,134
£39,968
£202,102
Shifa Mustafa
Executive director, place
£156,060
£156,060
£40,888
£196,948
Jacquline Harris-Baker
Executive director of resources and monitoring officer
£156,060
£156,060
£40,888
£196,948
Undisclosed
£192,500
£192,500
£192,500
Guy van Dichele
Executive director (interim) of health, wellbeing & adults
£150,411
£150,411
£36,505
£186,916
Hazel Simmonds
Executive director of gateway, strategy & engagement
For most people in the UK if they are aware of Ben Shapiro, it’s due to his 2019 interview with Andrew Neil. Whilst not one of Shapiro’s finer days, it was an early indication of the extent to which Neil whilst the best on the BBC, is very much an establishment figure who won’t leave the left’s Overton window.
There are endless Ben Shapiro destroys videos, and The Ben Shapiro Show is considered the 5th biggest podcast in the World with 2.6 million daily listeners. The show is published by The Daily Wire an organisation Ben created with Jeremy Boreing and which is fast becoming one of the most interesting news and entertainment organisations in the US. Originally focused on news with a conservative slant, it has attracted new broadcasters including Candace Owens last year.
Having filled the space left by so main mainstream media broadcasters who ignore those with conservative (in the American sense), libertarian, or classical liberal views more recently they have started to expand into wider entertainment to fight back against the woke. Actress Gina Carano joined after she was cancelled by Disney, and they acquired all of PragerU’s content. But it doesn’t end there, with Disney taking a political stance against Florida’s Parental Rights In Education Bill, The Daily Wire is expanding (with a $100 million investment over 3 years) into children’s entertainment.
“Watching the entertainment channel TBS, you are suddenly subjected to adverts for other shows telling you how conservatives are subverting free speech (and I thought it was Trump who was banned from Facebook and Twitter)”
Is there a market for all this? Well, my personal travels around Florida suggest there is. Watching the entertainment channel TBS, you are suddenly subjected to adverts for other shows telling you how conservatives are subverting free speech (and I thought it was Trump who was banned from Facebook and Twitter). As already mentioned, Disney with a significant base in Florida have decided to weigh in against the state’s popular governor. The Oscars, Wil Smith and Chris Rock aside, was a wokeathon which comparative to 10 years ago nobody watches, and Harry’s Razors possibly the most masculine of products pulled their adverts from the Daily Wire following one complaint on Twitter.
“Joe Biden ‘I did that’ stickers pointing at the price you are paying on petrol pumps, are I’m told ubiquitous”
Florida does lean Republican, but I mostly spent my time in major cities and you were never far from a pro-Trump t-shirt, flag or hat. Joe Biden ‘I did that’ stickers pointing at the price you are paying on petrol pumps, are I’m told ubiquitous, and Chick-fil-A’s, the famously Christian chicken restaurants have long queues of cars at them. My personal favourite, the ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ slogan is something I managed to see most days on holiday. It’s a slogan that does more than almost any other to highlight the two political Americas. For those that don’t know the story a sports reporter hearing the crowd chant ‘F*** Joe Biden’ decided to tell the audience she heard ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ a reference to one of the participants. As anyone who watches televised football in the UK knows, sports commentators are best to ignore many of the crowds’ chants, or if they must mention them, simply apologise to anyone offended by the unkind comments.
“None of this is to say I think it’s a good thing. Driving America into separate camps, watching different news, sports reports, eating at difference restaurants, and increasingly doing this from childhood is unlikely to end well”
Much like the growing success of GB News here, The Daily Wire is tapping into an audience deserted by the mainstream news and entertainment industries. They are not alone, Heroes of Liberty, Little Libertarians, and PragerU, all make inroads into an audience desperate to be served content they consider suitable for them and their family. None of this is to say I think it’s a good thing. Driving America into separate camps, watching different news, sports reports, eating at difference restaurants, and increasingly doing this from childhood is unlikely to end well. But it is incumbent on the rollercoaster and cartoon provider to stay out of debates on state education law, and entertainment programs to at least pretend to entertain rather than lecture, to foster a societal bond. As Michael Jordan said “Republicans buy sneakers, too”.
What about men’s razors you ask? The Daily Wire even expanded into that. Jeremy’s Razors was set-up by Jeremy Boring and The Daily Wire, they already have 45,000 subscribers, more some say that CNN do for their new streaming service. For good or ill, if you don’t like the business the market is increasingly providing you an opportunity to not buy from them.
With local elections fast approaching in London, we interview Laurence Williams the SDP candidate for Sidcup Ward the London Borough of Bexley.
“I would like to see our available housing stock properly utilised across Bexley and an end to the scar of foodbanks”
Tell us a bit about yourself and your party?
I have re-joined the SDP as a result of appearing at the Croydon Constitutionalist hustings in February ’22. The SDP are my political awakening Party from 1981, and I should have remained with them through thick and thin. They are enjoying a good resurgence now thanks to the usual LibLabCon hegemony. This is my 10th local election since 1990!
You’re standing in Sidcup Ward in the London Borough of Bexley, can you introduce the ward to us and what you can bring to the area?
I am standing in the LB of Bexley’s Sidcup Ward and hope to bring a bit of ‘Zazz’ to our local politics by breaking the cosy tory family affair here!
More widely what would you like to see change at Bexley council and across the borough?
I would like to see our available housing stock properly utilised across Bexley and an end to the scar of foodbanks and poverty in general!
How can people find out more or get in touch if they want to get involved?
Mike Swadling of this parish was live on LibertariDan, a political discussion from a libertarian perspective.
The home and abroad topics were, Ukraine, Putin and the western response; and Brexit: has it happened? Article 16, and what’s going on with the NI border?
A humanitarian crisis is unfolding before us following Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. The risk of a major military conflict is remote but real, and the situation on the ground continues to change. We asked our contributors how they think Putin’s aggression will impact politics and policies in the UK and what if any changes are needed?
“The Putin gambit of ‘I will stop destroying if you change the government’ is unlikely to be taken BECAUSE that would be a green light to China vs Taiwan and every other dictator”
Gavin Palmer, independent candidate for Mayor of Croydon.
As is common in conflict a calmer narrative prevails as both sides join in condemning Russia, and with Partygate going quiet as bigger things are afoot. Hopefully, Trump will be condemned by the Republicans and side lined to fringes. I expect military spending will rise on missile anti-tank defences and gas masks might be needed in mass production and delivery as gassing those hiding in cellars is a Putin tactic used before. Putin’s efforts to induce ethnic cleansing of non-Russia supporting citizens fleeing the country will go widespread, so that it’s only the men left to kill. Maybe a select time for Polish Migs to move over and tear up the convoy that’s preferring to have Kyiv empty first. This depends on Russian air defence and mass capital assault/pilots.
The Putin gambit of ‘I will stop destroying if you change the government’ is unlikely to be taken BECAUSE that would be a green light to China vs Taiwan and every other dictator emboldened by the power of internet tracking and messaging to the level of the individual. As to whether Putin is killed or the army, or people revolt, or sue for peace after losing parts of the country is an uncertain probability 50:50.
The changes needed are to ramp up to producing 100,000s maybe millions of gas masks with delivery to the people of Ukraine, gas warning systems, supply line and fuel truck destruction, start the creation of portable electronic decoy making maybe (accepting the risk of losing the technology in war). I’m sure the replacement of anti-tank weapons is in production. We also need as a contingency, a supply of missiles stocked for Taiwan.
There should be a ramp up of Potash mining in Whitby by Anglo American Sirius Minerals, if possible, by whatever means, including 24 hour mining perhaps using the new plasma rock melting technology to offset losses in Ukraine.
Maybe ask wheat cropping areas Norfolk, Chichester to ramp up planting, and using other crop areas to offset wheat disruption and losses in Ukraine in time for the summer.
We need to retake control of uncompetitive gas electricity generators and gas storage facilities, to make greater use of them. We should also boost solar panel installs, wind power, plus promote hybrid heat exchanger/gas boiler solutions. We could maybe make changes on money laundering into Golden London Bricks to free up housing as squatters’ rights powers have diminished.
Personally, I would consider the Belgian refugee solution from WW2 where a Central Service of Refugees was established to provide them with material assistance and to organise. Otherwise, we have a yet further migration strain on the country issue.
