“The Voice referendum result has been described as Australia’s Brexit moment, with the referendum backed by the metropolitan elite and major institutions being thoroughly rejected by the people”
I happened to be in Sydney Australia for October’s ‘Indigenous Voice referendum’. Whilst my focus was mainly on glorious views of Sydney Harbour and sampling a few schooners worth of the local brew, I did notice the election campaign going on around me.
The Voice referendum result has been described as Australia’s Brexit moment, with the referendum backed by the metropolitan elite and major institutions being thoroughly rejected by the people. I’m not best placed to write about the issues at play and the referendum result, but rather what I observed in Australia during the campaign and just after the results were in. For more on Australian politics, I would recommend following Helen Dale, and you can read her here on ‘Why Australia’s Voice vote failed’.
Maybe this is the way of the modern world, but whilst in Sydney I probably saw more about the Voice referendum on my phone from international social media and political web sites, than on the streets, in conversation or watching the local TV news. Ordinary Australians just didn’t seem that bothered by the vote. Now this may be because in past 120 years Australia has already had 45 referendums (for constitutional changes) and 4 plebiscites (for non-constitutional issues). Also, with compulsory voting there is no need for the ‘Get out the vote’ (GOTV) campaigns we see here.
“The Yes campaigners outnumbered No’s considerably, but there were good natured interactions between both, some of whom were chatting, and both occupied the same area to hand out leaflets”
This is not to say the referendum wasn’t spoken about or campaigned on. Getting off the ferry at Manly Wharf I saw a dozen or so campaigners from both sides handing out leaflets to those on their way to the famous beach. The Yes campaigners outnumbered No’s considerably, but there were good natured interactions between both, some of whom were chatting, and both occupied the same area to hand out leaflets. Having done many a street stall and leafleting session in the UK I can say generally opposing parties or sides would be civil and occasionally friendly. Civility is however generally maintained by having a respectful distance between both (or multiple) groups, and where occasionally needed, calming down more excitable participants.
“The suburban Sydneysiders of all ages I spoke with were voting No in the referendum, which seemed a statistical anomaly until the results came in”
This contrasted with the media representation of a nation divided. Much like in our EU Referendum many in the media had decided only a Yes vote was acceptable and somehow even contemplating a No vote was beyond the pale (an example here from our ever even-handed and impartial BBC). Whilst famously plain spoken, it was noticeable that older Australians with little to lose were much more vocally critical of referendum proposals than those in middle age, and with teenage children. As one explained “ahh they keep correcting what I say, they get brainwashed with this stuff at school”. The suburban Sydneysiders of all ages I spoke with were voting No in the referendum, which seemed a statistical anomaly until the results came in.
“for most of the week leading up to the referendum the main political activity I saw in the area was for the ‘Don’t Block The Rocks!’ campaign against proposed harbourside development”
The whole referendum didn’t feel like a big a deal on the ground as it did in the media. Staying in The Rocks, an area sandwiched between Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Central Business District, with great views, and average ‘unit’ prices of over AU$2million (~£1million), I was in what should be the passionate centre of Yes voters. Indeed, in a site unusual for us in the UK, on voting day the local polling station was engulfed in Yes campaign posters. However, for most of the week leading up to the referendum the main political activity I saw in the area was for the ‘Don’t Block The Rocks!’ campaign against proposed harbourside development. Even at a 21st Birthday party on the day of polling none of the young guests appeared to be talking about the vote.
“The next day Australians just seemed to get on with their lives as much unaffected by the result as I found them to be unbothered by the vote in the first place”
Ultimately Australians are just not as woke as their elites would like them to be. Even in The Rocks, the heart of young metropolitan culture two of the major pubs are called ‘The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel’ and ‘The Hero of Waterloo Hotel’, both of which are covered with suitable patriotic décor. The results came in and 60% rejected the referendum proposals. The maps in The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney) below show how the Yes vote won in all the city central areas you might expect, with limited support beyond. The next day Australians just seemed to get on with their lives as much unaffected by the result as I found them to be unbothered by the vote in the first place.
For the second year I attended the Battle of Ideas Festival from the Academy of Ideas. Held in Church House near Westminster Abbey the event hosts almost 100 panels, interviews, and discussions on a range of topics on Free Speech, The Economy, Technology and Science, Education, Housing, Arts, and other political and moral issues. Up to 10 panels are held at any one time and you often need to arrive early to get into the one you want. With so much going on there is always a discussion with free space, that you will be happy to see.
The director of the Academy of Ideas is Baroness Claire Fox, the commentator and former Brexit Party MEP. Other key figures in the Academy include former podcast guest Alastair Donald, and Spiked columnist Ella Whelan. The great guests on the panels are too numerous to mention but some personal highlights included seeing local man and GB News regular James Woudhuysen, former Podcast guests Harry Wilkinson and Dominic Frisby, commentator Helen Dale in the audience and former Croydon teacher and resident Francis Foster of Triggernometry.
The event isn’t just the panels, around the events were stalls from the SDP, Reform UK, the Free Speech Union, Don’t Divide Us, #Together, and especially pleasing to see our new associates Politics in Pubs who received a well-deserved shout out from the main stage by Claire Fox when encouraging people to create their own forums for free speech.
Pro-noun elite and California values
The panels were at times light on opposing views as so many commentators from what was once the liberal left refused to engage. But this did lead to lots of sound comments like references to the Pro-noun elite and those having California values. That didn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of disagreement, as I saw in a fascinating debate on housing. How and where do we get housing built, and some of the practical problems of the Town and Country Planning act were heatedly discussed.
Some highlights for me were a panel of comedians reminding us to laugh at the things we think are a threat, and attending the live recording of Spiked’s Last Orders anti nanny state podcast with Christopher Snowdon of the Institute of Economic Affairs.
Perhaps my favorite sessions were on ‘Understanding Modi’s India’ and ‘Schools: The Great Expulsion Debate’. Modi’s India was an interesting and useful session on the world’s largest democracy and most populous country. The panel included Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert of Don’t Divide Us, and spoke about among other things, India’s 1937 elections and ‘Toilets before Temples’. The Expulsion Debate included Lord Tony Sewell of Sanderstead on the panel. The debate covered the high rates of Special Needs (SEN) pupil expulsions and how we combat this, and Dr Sewell spoke about varying expulsion rates across the country and how schools can set up to reduce the need to expel pupils.
An overall fascinating event I would encourage anyone to sign up for information on future Academy of Ideas events, and if they can, to attend next year’s Battle.
Mike Swadling opposed the motion, and below is his speech delivered to the society. As always with this friendly group the debate was good natured, very well proposed and drew out some great views from the audience.
University Education should be free for all UK citizens.
Now I might be able to dramatically shorten tonight’s debate for us all. I’m tempted to say, ‘I agree’, I agree, University Education should be free for all UK citizens.
I agree teachers shouldn’t be paid.
I agree scholarly books should be written by authors for free.
I agree canteen staff must give their time freely and be forced to provide the food for the students at no cost.
And if the university doesn’t have the facilities it needs, we must pressgang builders, plumbers, electricians, and anyone else we need to build them, to work, no excuses, at no cost!
Or is that not what you meant?
If you agree with this motion, you must surely agree that anyone upon becoming a qualified lecturer must be conscripted into the profession as some sort of indentured servant, compelled to work for free.
Or do you not agree with that?
“What we’re really talking about here is having someone else pay for it”
Does anyone of you who worked in education, or frankly anywhere, believe you should have worked for free? Education is important do you think people should be forced to give up their time, effort, or property for nothing in the name of education. Of course, you don’t, of course no one thinks teachers should work for free, and of course no one agrees with this motion. No one thinks Education is free, or even should be free. What we’re really talking about here is having someone else pay for it.
University Education of course used to be free for pupils in this country. Before 1998 students would go to university at no cost, some would even receive a grant. But then of course university used to cater to about 30% of the population, prior to 98, and as little as 15% in 1990. We now have over 50% going to university.
It’s easy to provide a service for free at the point of use if it’s used by so few people. As university education grew in the 90s and 00’s of course the costs grew, and these costs needed to be funded. This left the choice of should they be funded by the user of the service who receives the lion share of the benefit or funded by the wider community. To put it bluntly should the cleaner, dustman or Amazon delivery driver pay for the university education of the children of the well to do families who’s houses they service.
“it is more than the amount almost half of the people in this country earn. Only then do you start to repay your loan”
Now let’s consider for a moment what paying for a university education in this country really means. Students are loaned the funds for their course, which costs £9,250 per annum. Repayments to the Plan 2 student loan kick in only when a graduate earns over £27,295 which incidentally puts them in the top half of 20 something income earners, and 53rd percentile of all earners.
This is not a massively high income, but it is more than the amount almost half of the people in this country earn. Only then do you start to repay your loan. Student loans are also written off after 30 years.
General taxation already massively subsidises university education in this country. Our debt to GDP ratio is 100.5% the highest level for over 60 years, going back to when we were still paying for the second world war. This motion asks that we increase it further still, not to improve services, not to incentivise economic growth, not to benefit those who most need it but instead to the benefit of those who have the brightest future and can most afford to pay their way.
“In 2012 only 13% of Free School Meal pupils went to University, today, after all the increases in fees that number is over 20%”
Now it’s not uncommon that people say student loans have put people off higher education, but let’s look at what’s really happened. In 2012 only 13% of Free School Meal pupils went to University, today, after all the increases in fees that number is over 20%. For those eligible for Free School Meals the rate is up to 29%. There is also a huge diversity of pupils going into higher education with 63.5% of Black pupils progressing, 67.8% of Asian and 83.8% of Chinese pupils.
“Fewer opportunities will exist, and they will go to those middle class families with the sharpest elbows”
If we were to make university free to the student, and affordable to the taxpayer we would once again have to cap the number of students at a low number. Who would lose out? Who would be those not able to make the grade. We know, as the evidence from the past shows, it is the working class and the most disadvantaged who will miss out. Fewer opportunities will exist, and they will go to those middle class families with the sharpest elbows. Free University education may feel good but, will in reality deny opportunities to those who most need it and worse will be a regressive tax added onto the bills of those who don’t even receive the benefits of the service.
Now none of this is to say how we provide, and fund university today is ideal. There is lots that can be improved with our current system. Whilst the increase in the numbers going to university is a good thing. The drive to make almost every career accessible only via a degree denies opportunities to millions and means all too often square peg students are driven into round hole jobs.
Surely the wide range of basic care, cleaning, feeding, bedside manner, stock supplies, customer service, and practical skills needed by nurses are often not best taught at a university. These are practical skills, best taught I and many who have written on the subject believe via on-the-job training. No doubt there are skills nurses need that are rightly taught in a classroom. But these can be taught as nurses develop in their career, should they want to take on these extra duties and roles. Since making nursing a degree entry career we have seen reported drops in bedside manner and ward cleanliness. Of course we have, why would it come as a surprise to anyone that someone who has trained to become a highly qualified nurse is reluctant to undertake menial tasks. It may be entirely appropriate for some to enter nursing via a degree, and that route should be available, but why have we chosen to deny nursing as a career path to people who are not academically gifted? Yes, I want a nurse to know how to make an injection, but I care more about their basic care skills than their A Level or GCSE results.
Whilst technically you do not need a degree to become a Police Officer, you do either need a degree or to undertake the completion of the ‘Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship’ which is described as a professional degree-level apprenticeship. Or in layman’s terms a degree. In 2020 official figure show police failed to solve a single burglary in half of neighbourhoods, and three quarters of all burglaries remain unsolved.
Of the 30,265 Police Officers in the Met Police in 2021, 22,753 failed to make a single arrest. We used to recruit many of our police from armed forces, we used to value police with local knowledge. Now we have degree educated police more interested in policing Facebook and Twitter than the streets.
“let’s value Police with the skills of a thief-taker more highly than their ability to recite Latin, list the causes of the Franco Prussian war or tell you about their gender studies degree”
In June the National Police Chiefs’ Council confirmed that police will now attend the scene of every home burglary. How was this ever not the case? You must have gone to university to think something so stupid as not attending every burglary was ever acceptable. Yes, have a route into the police for graduates, but let’s also have a route in for people who can handle a rough situation, who know their community, who can deal with people. Let’s once again let’s value Police with the skills of a thief-taker more highly than their ability to recite Latin, list the causes of the Franco Prussian war or tell you about their gender studies degree. We can reduce the number of students, which would allow greater subsidy for university and other forms of education by removing the requirement for degrees for many careers.
There are other ways we can improve universities in this country. The Nobel prize-winning economist, Milton Friedman used to list the Four Different Ways To Spend Money. These were:
You can spend your own money on yourself – in which case you are careful what you spend and what you spend it on.
You can spend your own money on someone else – much like a present. You are careful about how much you spend but maybe don’t worry as much about what you buy.
You can spend somebody else’s money on yourself – like being on expenses. You are careful to get good things for the money. But you’re not very worried about the price.
Finally, you can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else – you neither care about the cost or the value.
Funding a free university education for all is rather like the last of those choices. Someone, somewhere in Whitehall takes someone else’s (the taxpayers’) money and provides a service to someone else (the student). Whilst imperfect the current system does mean via a deferred payment, students will pick the best education for them, and presumably seek the best value for money with the degree they undertake. Indeed, the increasing use of apprenticeships and stabilisation of student numbers suggest many are choosing these as the best value route for themselves.
“No doubt the years at university are a great time for many, and a great life experience. But that is no reason to expect others to pay for it”
Now I do want to briefly address the reason some people believe a University Education should be free and widely available. This is that, some believe, it to be some sort of rite of passage. No doubt the years at university are a great time for many, and a great life experience. But that is no reason to expect others to pay for it. Although I could be persuaded on this. I, myself am away on holiday soon, and I hope it will be a great trip. It has certainly cost the earth. If anyone of you here is committed to the idea that we should all help fund other’s opportunities to learn and grow, I am in no way adverse to taking your money to help fund my trip. Please just deposit funds here at the front, during the interval.
If a University Education were to be free for all UK citizens, what limits would be imposed? Could for instance anyone go to university? Would you need a minimum qualification? Could you study any subject? Would you be able to keep doing new courses? I mean, why ever work if you can just stay at Uni?
If the answer to any of these is no, who chooses? Or are we saying the motion is really “A University Education of my specification, should be free for all UK citizens.”? If you impose a minimum level of qualifications once again you tax, then disadvantage, those who can least afford it and you punish the neuro divergent. Free university education would require the willingness of hardworking taxpayers to fund increasingly obscure courses for 30-year-olds who are reluctant to leave academia. Imposing limits, means you create a university system for the few funded by the many.
“If people want degrees and then follow these career paths, fine, good for them, but let’s not burden everyone with the costs”
We already have a problem of what’s known as elite overproduction, a condition which describes a society which is producing too many potential elite members relative to its ability to absorb them. Research suggests 36 per cent of graduates are overqualified for the jobs they currently hold. 3 per cent of post office clerks had a degree in 1992, compared to 30 per cent now, in a job that really hasn’t changed much in that time. In 1992, 3 percent of bar staff, and 2 per cent of security guards had degrees, now those numbers are 19 and 24 per cent respectively. There is nothing wrong with having a degree and working in any of these careers. But are you really saying society needs to pay for degree quality bar staff, rather than say putting them onto an apprenticeship or giving them other on the job training. If people want degrees and then follow these career paths, fine, good for them, but let’s not burden everyone with the costs.
A paid for education does create opportunities to encourage people into qualifications which we as a nation want or need. We could for instance direct students through subsidies that would, I believe, have widespread support. As a nation we don’t educate enough doctors, let’s do that, let’s make the qualifications high to get onto the course, but reduce the costs to encourage more to join. We don’t have enough engineers, or more generally enough people learning STEM subjects, so let’s subsidise them. These are hard subjects that provide great jobs. We don’t need to make the education free, but we could make it cheaper than more popular subjects that provide less societal benefit.
“the necessary restriction needed to fund a so-called free education imposes a tax on all for the benefit of a small often already privileged minority”
The motion is that a ‘University Education should be free for all UK citizens’. No one here believes this, we know an education is not free. The motion proposes someone else pays for the education. As we have discussed someone else paying for someone else’s’ education can lead to some perverse outcomes. But mostly the necessary restriction needed to fund a so-called free education imposes a tax on all for the benefit of a small often already privileged minority. The reduction will reduce opportunities for those who most need them.
Let’s make education pay, make it good value, and make it available to all who benefit the most, which is why I ask you to oppose this motion.
Summary
I’ve already spoken about how fees for UK Universities, haven’t stopped UK students from all backgrounds studying here. But let’s look at international students. They pay on average £22,000 per annum to attend a UK university. The number of international students rose from 450,000 in 2016 to over 600,000 today. The top 10 list of countries sending students to the UK includes, China, India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Malaysia, France, Italy, and Spain. All of which have a lower GDP per capita than the UK. Don’t tell me student fees put people off studying in UK Universities or make universities only a place for the rich. It may feel like that’s the case, but it simply isn’t born out by the facts.
“It won’t be the pupils of private schools missing out when there are fewer university places, they will know how to still get into their academy of choice”
If people from all over the world think that paying £66k for 3-year UK degree is the right choice for them, why shouldn’t our students continue to pay £27k rather than move that cost onto others. Taxpayers already fund Higher Education in this country to the tune of £4.5 billion, moving more burden to taxpayers will mean we need to constrain costs and restrict supply. It won’t be the pupils of private schools missing out when there are fewer university places, they will know how to still get into their academy of choice. It will mean, fewer places for pupils from the bog-standard comprehensives, and from the families not used to sending their children off to Uni.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I would ask you to support the best outcomes, rather than the best intentions and oppose this motion.
In 2019 I wrote a plea on this site that Croydon Council focus on just doing it’s job. Croydon Council had just been busy spending our money on the Croydon Park Hotel and Colonnades Retail Park. At the time I asked if the council had fully taken account of the risks should we have a downturn. I also wondered if it more made sense to have the best and brightest at the council, focused on providing services rather than property speculation. Well as we now know Croydon Council fell into de facto bankruptcy.
“looking for offers in excess of £10million, the only snag being they purchased Davis House for £19million in 2008”
Croydon Park Hotel was sold at a loss of £5 million. The Colonnades Retail Park appears to be up for sale, and we await the final bill for this property speculation. In case you think this is a one (or two) off, it appears Croydon Council has a longer history of property speculation. The council is now in the process of selling Davis House and is looking for offers in excess of £10million, the only snag being they purchased Davis House for £19million in 2008. MyLondon reports “At the time, the Conservative administration, described the £19 million purchase as a “good investment”. Cabinet member for finance, Jason Cummings, was not a councillor at the time but said the investment was “reasonable”. He said: “Broadly speaking it is thought to have been a reasonable and justifiable price, I don’t think there was any controversy about it.”
” Councils engaging in property speculation are like the communists who think this time, unlike every other, it will be done properly and it won’t end in mass starvation”
No doubt at the time this was considered a good idea, the Croydon Park Hotel and Colonnades purchases were considered a good idea, the property speculation that led to Woking Council issuing a Section 114 notice with £2billion of debt, was considered a good idea at the time. All, it turns out were very bad ideas. Councils engaging in property speculation are like the communists who think this time, unlike every other, it will be done properly and it won’t end in mass starvation, and piles of dead bodies.
For those following the story at Woking Council this report by SurreyLive echo’s many of the problems that led to Croydon’s own bankruptcy: “A separate internal review was conducted that found long-standing issues dating back to before 2016 including an environment of weak financial controls, sub-optimal record keeping, and a lack of resources to manage complex company structures. There has also been an “absence of external audit opinions on the council’s accounts since 2018/19”.
Focusing on doing their job isn’t just restricted to abstaining from property speculation. We’ve reported previously on the cost to taxpayers of Croydon Pride. This peaked in 2019 at £65,000 and last year (in bankruptcy), Croydon Council has confirmed their sponsorship cost £10,000 of taxpayer funds:
“We can confirm that Croydon Council provided a grant of £10,000 for Croydon Pride in 2022/23. This was part of our initial funding to prepare for the London Borough of Culture 2023: This is Croydon, and was provided from ring-fenced funds and not general council funding.”
“Whilst we should be thankful the cost to taxpayers is now less than 1/6th of what it was a few years ago, it’s still unclear to me why you, or any other taxpayers should have subsidised my weekend entertainment”
Whilst we should be thankful the cost to taxpayers is now less than 1/6th of what it was a few years ago, it’s still unclear to me why you, or any other taxpayers should have subsidised my weekend entertainment at the event.
The most concerning part of this is that Croydon Council believes it is somehow acceptable for a bankrupt council, that is cutting services, and who have had to increase council tax by 15%, to spend funds gathered from all out taxes on subsidising weekend entertainment for a few people (and people who are not struggling judging by the drink prices), just because it comes from a another pot of money. We have no news yet on what Croydon Council being the ‘Headline Sponsor’ of this years Croydon Pride will cost taxpayers, but if it’s anything like the previous ones they are great events, and you might want to get along on Saturday 15th July to get your money’s worth.
As the advert goes ‘If Carlsberg did…’, days out for somewhat dull, middle aged guys, they wouldn’t be going far wrong if they produced the ‘Black Country Living Museum’.
In the centre of Dudley, the open-air museum set across 26 acres has rebuilt old buildings focused on historical industrial life in the area. With rebuilt homes, a mine, workshops demonstrating traditional skills, public buildings and 50 shops, the place is amazing. In most of these you can encounter great information and have fascinating chats with actors playing part guide and part historic character. As if this wasn’t enough, the absolute icing on the cake is two working pubs, where you can sample a cracking pint of beer (or two).
“we were left with the impression the Industrial Revolution was rather a bad thing! Indeed, we were often left feeling that the lives of those in the Black Country at this period had never been worse”
I visited the museum back in April and thoroughly enjoyed it but was left with one nagging doubt of concern. There were great insights from staff about life around the turn of the 20th Century. They were able to answer most questions people had, and clearly enjoyed their job. But for me the doubt wouldn’t go away, at every stop we were left with the impression the Industrial Revolution was rather a bad thing! Indeed, we were often left feeling that the lives of those in the Black Country at this period had never been worse. It’s not just at the museum but more generally we are asked to see industrialisation as a blight on the lives of those who lived through it, when the opposite in many ways is the truth.
The Industrial Revolution is generally considered to have started in around 1760. At that time average life expectancy in what is now the U.K. was about 38, it steadily rose to be over 50 by 1905. This might not seem much of an achievement by today’s standards but given life expectancy had hovered around 35 for 900 years that steady increase is quite something.
Life expectancy is far from the only measure of the quality of life in a country, population growth is also a good indicator to the robustness of a society. England’s population hovered from 5-10 million (the Black Death impacting this) for about 500 years until the mid-1700’s when it starts to take off to reach around 40 million by 1900. This change represents children outliving the challenging first few years after birth and families being able to provide for many more young mouths.
“In 150 years, average annual income had grown by more than it had in all the time since the invention of money.”
How could these poor workers afford those extra mouths? Especially given we are told how hard life was. Well, it turns out people were earning more, much, much, even inflation adjusted more. Average Incomes started rising in the mid-1600s due in large part to the agricultural revolution, by 1760 they breach £2000 per annum in today’s money for the first time ever, by 1910 they were over £5000. In 150 years, average annual income had grown by more than it had in all the time since the invention of money.
Not only were these extra mouths being fed, life was improving for them. Life for children in the industrial revolution shouldn’t be compared to some idealise vision of living off the land, or to pictures from our own childhood, but instead be compared to a life punctuated with regular periods of famine and plague. Children always worked, but the industrial revolution started to see families choose to and laws put an end to that. In 1785 we see the Sunday School Society established, 1788 see the start of laws setting the minimum age boys could be employed as chimney sweeps, 1802 see’s the first of the Factory Acts, which required factory owners to provide some education. In 1834 the Poor Law Amendment Act set out that ‘pauper children’ should receive education daily. Half a century of improvements eventually saw the 1870 Elementary Education Act which introduced compulsory education for children aged 5-13.
The moves to compulsory education but also the additional options the relative wealth of industrialisation brought, meant that whilst “In 1800 around 40 percent of males and 60 percent of females in England and Wales were illiterate. By 1840 this had decreased to 33 percent of men and 50 percent of women, and, by 1870, these rates had dropped further still to 20 percent of men and 25 percent of women. By the turn of the century, illiteracy rates for both sexes had dropped to around 3 percent.” (source: Education, Literacy and the Reading Public. Amy J. Lloyd, University of Cambridge)
“India has grown its industrial output from $5.4 billion in today’s money in 1960 to $443.9 billion in 2021. In the same period life expectancy has gone from 41 to 70”
The industrial revolution significantly improved the lot of people throughout the United Kingdom. But not only has this industrial manna from invention benefited people in the UK, it’s proven to be a repeatable process benefiting those across the globe. India has grown its industrial output from $5.4 billion in today’s money in 1960 to $443.9 billion in 2021. In the same period life expectancy has gone from 41 to 70. Nigeria has seen industrial output in today’s money rise from $33 billion in 1981 to $64 billion in 2021, and life expectancy rise from 45 to 55 over that time. On the same basis Nicaragua has seen industrial output rise from $0.54 billion to $1.96 billion from 1994 to 2021, and life expectancy rise from 66 to 75 in the same period. Lastly Botswana’s industrial output has gone from $0.01 billion in 1965 to $0.98 billion in 2021, whilst seeing life expectancy grew from 51 to 69.
“We should celebrate industrialisation, celebrate the increased standards of living it gave us, and celebrate the increased prosperity it’s brought across the globe”
Many countries have either gone through or moved directly to having largely service based economies, whilst seeing similar benefits in life expectancy. All of this is possible thanks to the Industrial Revolution, indeed almost literally everything you see around you is thanks to the Industrial Revolution. We should celebrate industrialisation, celebrate the increased standards of living it gave us, and celebrate the increased prosperity it’s brought across the globe.
The Black Country Living Museum is a fantastic place, a great place to visit and a great place for a pint. I just wish the excellent staff and society more generally would be more thankful for the glories of the Industrial Revolution. From affordable mass-produced clothes on our back, the heating in our homes, the lighting at night, our transportation, to our abundance of food from across the globe, and much more, the Industrial Revolution is responsible for it all.
“Croydon is the London Borough of Culture for 2023. As part of this they are committed to spending £522,500 in 2022/23, and propose another £452,500 in 2023/24”
In 1986 the TV series ‘Yes Prime Minster’ first aired the episode ‘A Real Partnership’. In it, Sir Humphrey seeks advice from his predecessor Sir Arnold on how to sneak through a Civil Service pay rise. Sir Arnold goes onto explain: ‘he should increase the London and graduate allowances since these don’t count as pay rises. Furthermore, the Outstanding Merit Awards (every civil servant gets it) should be increased and the number of civil servants decreased by creating independent trusts. This way the same pay rise will look to be only 6% a year’.
37 years later and some of the convoluted nature of this suggestion appears to have been taken on by Croydon Council. With a blaze of publicity and photo opportunities, Croydon is the 2023 London Borough of Culture.
The “London Borough of Culture award aims to shine a light on the character and diversity of London’s boroughs and bring culture to everyone”. This sounds fine but with record high taxes at national, regional, and local levels, it’s hard to see how this is necessary public spending.
In February I wrote for the TaxPayers’ Alliance “It’s also hard to see what’s fundamentally changed at the council. There’s still huge amounts of savings that could be made. Croydon is the London Borough of Culture for 2023. As part of this they are committed to spending £522,500 in 2022/23, and propose another £452,500 in 2023/24. Additionally, £1,350,000 will come from the GLA, and £1,900,000 is expected from Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage. Spending public funds on arts that are not viable commercially or via voluntary donations as the council has been doing for years, is no less of a waste of money when it comes from someone else’s funding stream.”
“Is the new boss, same as the old boss? Well, it does appear that much like Sir Arnold’s suggestion the same old spending is being recycled under the new Borough of Culture guise”
We are now starting to see where this largess is being spent. In the period May 2022 to March 2023 (inclusive) a whopping £769,570.00 has been spent by Croydon Council under the ‘Borough of Culture’ cost centre from payments over £500. This has been spilt between just 16 organisations, many of whom regularly showed up when Croydon’s then Labour Council was spending the borough to de facto bankruptcy. Is the new boss, same as the old boss? Well, it does appear that much like Sir Arnold’s suggestion the same old spending is being recycled under the new Borough of Culture guise. Turf Projects have in the past year received £145,000.00 of Borough of Culture spending and received £78,745.38 in ‘Community Ward Budgets’ and ‘Culture Growth Fund’ between 2017 and 2021. BH Live Ltd have received £75,000.00 for the Borough of Culture and received £39,095.25 for Community Ward and Culture Growth in 2017-21. Similar breakdowns are true for Dance Umbrella, £45,000.00 and £70,269.24, and the London Mozart Players, £65,000.00 and £28,240.00.
A full breakdown of the identified Borough of Culture spending so far is below:
Turf Projects_
£145,000.00
Stanley Arts
£127,000.00
BH Live Ltd
£75,000.00
London Mozart Players
£65,000.00
Fashion Meets Music Collective C.I.C.
£50,000.00
Dance Umbrella
£45,000.00
The Brit School
£45,000.00
Savvy Theatre
£43,000.00
Redacted
£36,500.00
Apsara Arts
£32,475.00
Croydon Town Centre Bid
£30,000.00
Boundless Theatre
£30,000.00
CR34 t/a Mr Fox
£28,000.00
Designblock Studio Ltd
£9,895.00
London Road Business Ltd
£5,000.00
E-People.Com Ltd
£2,700.00
“We understand given past financial mismanagement why the council felt the need to increase Council Tax by 15% this year, but how can this be justified when another £975,000 of unnecessary spending is being recycled, much of it to the same old organisations”
These organisations no doubt provide the services requested from them and in doing so exhibit good value for money. The question is ‘do we really need them?’ We understand given past financial mismanagement why the council felt the need to increase Council Tax by 15% this year, but how can this be justified when another £975,000 of unnecessary spending is being recycled, much of it to the same old organisations.
Spending £1,350,000 of GLA money, and £1,900,000 from Arts Council England and National Lottery Heritage, isn’t any better. These are funded by the same tax increases we all have to pay, and in the case of the GLA will likely soon be just another justification for the funds ULEZ expansion will raise.
Becoming the London Borough of Culture was signed up for by the last Labour administration, but surely the Section 114 notices and de facto bankruptcy was a great opportunity to ditch this luxury. Croydon Council has reduced spending greatly to stabilise the boroughs finances. Yet can we say things have really changed, when taxes are up 15%, we have front line service cuts, but are still spending a million pounds on fashionable arts.
‘Films like Bugsy Malone used to help make better people and a better society. Will this lost art return?’
The BBC used to generally live up to its mission to ‘inform, educate and entertain’. Alas no more, BBC Remain as it was often referred to during the battle to achieve Brexit, has a view and you either agree with them or you’re considered beyond the pale.
It’s not just the BBC, I happened upon Jurassic World Dominion, the latest in the Jurassic Park movie franchise, whilst on a flight recently. The movie was fine, but not very good and far from great. Partly this represents the tiredness of the franchise but partly it’s held back by the recent Hollywood need to have one dimensional bad guys (who are always involved in the corporate world), and the constant signposting of the hero’s characteristics. It’s good to have heroes that differ from the norm, just also make them interesting multi flavoured characters. Make them heroes, because of what they do, not who they are. The real crime of the movie in my opinion is the final scene, explaining how all life (across species and across time) will and must get along. Anyone who has had a pet cat and seen how they can play with and devourer their catch before you can stop them. Knows that it’s simply not the case that all life gets along.
“I watched it to see Velociraptors hunt down their prey. Above all else I watched it for some escapism, to fill a dull flight. I certainly didn’t watch it to be lectured too.”
I watched this movie to see people fighting a Tyrannosaurus rex, I watched it to see Velociraptors hunt down their prey. Above all else I watched it for some escapism, to fill a dull flight. I certainly didn’t watch it to be lectured too. Those in media used to know how to do this. They used to be able to provide an entertaining program whilst still fulfilling any moral obligation they felt. Exhibit A for this would be the 70s classic, Bugsy Malone.
Here is a movie that managed to tell a story, provide multi-dimensional characters (Fat Sam being both a gangster and a good man, and Bugsy himself) and tell a love story with nothing even remotely inappropriate happening. It gave us classic singalong songs, entertaining adults and children alike, and in the finale told us ‘We could be the best at being’ good guys’. All of this acted by children.
“The Omen, Logans Run, Rocky, All The Presidents Men, and The Eagle Has Landed (all released the same year as Bugsy, 1976), are great movies, that managed to entertain and tell great strong stories”
Now perhaps this is an unfair comparison. Bugsy, was an exceptionally good film. But, The Omen, Logans Run, Rocky, All The Presidents Men, and The Eagle Has Landed (all released the same year as Bugsy, 1976), are great movies, that managed to entertain and tell great strong stories. That same year Quincy, George and Mildred, The Muppet Show, Happy Days. The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Mash, Columbo, Open All Hours, and I, Claudius were on the TV. Bugsy was not an isolated case.
“Top Gun: Maverick cleaned up at the box office by providing a simple narrative of good guys v bad guys, we didn’t all need, as it turns out, an extra lecture.”
In 2022 we saw, Lightyear, Moonfall, and Amsterdam fail. At the same time Top Gun: Maverick cleaned up at the box office by providing a simple narrative of good guys v bad guys, we didn’t all need, as it turns out, an extra lecture. Tallulah was not nearly as one dimensional as her line “Listen honey, if I didn’t look this good, you wouldn’t give me the time of day” suggests. She just wasn’t a movie character whose lines ignored reality and gave in to the Woke mindset to the point of losing all meaning.
Let’s hope we start to see movies and programs that once again value entertainment, even with a little education, over lecturing and hectoring. I’ve written before how The Daily Wire is trying to provide some of this, however we need more. The simple message to Hollywood was encapsulated by the Bugsy Malone gangs words “You could have been anything that you wanted to be”, do better “And it’s not too late to change, I’d be delighted {if you were to} to give it some thought”.
With the Croydon Council having recently declared bankruptcy for the third time and planning a 15 per cent hike in council tax. The TaxPayers’ Alliance have published a deep-dive by Mike Swadling of this parish looking at how the people of Croydon found themselves in this mess, and what might happen next.
“The consequences of years of failure to control borrowing and spending by the previous administration are now being borne by the local taxpayers”
“Were it not so impactful on those who can least afford it, you could almost admire the thoroughness with which the council undertook its hatchet job on the borough’s finances”
“the council was failing to deliver on basic services. The Children’s Services department was rated inadequate. £1.1 million was spent developing Surrey Street Market but resulted in fewer traders”
“To compound all of this, London Mayor Sadiq Khan is proposing to bring most of outer London into the ULEZ zone. This will charge motorists with older, higher emission vehicles £12.50 a day for driving them”
“Spending public funds on arts that are not viable commercially or via voluntary donations as the council has been doing for years, is no less of a waste of money when it comes from someone else’s funding stream”
“Before I left I was told to be careful and asked if it was safe. As any resident of Croydon or London generally would know, safety can be a relative thing.”
I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that there’s something to be said for living under an existential threat. I don’t want anyone to be threatened or come to harm, but the reason for being, and the drive a common enemy gives, really does seem to improve a society. Much is made of the blitz spirit, but I’m not sure the benefit was worth the nightly visits from the Luftwaffe. But as I’ve written about before Britain used to know how to react to evil in a way we no longer do.
I recently visited Israel, staying in Jerusalem. Before I left I was told to be careful and asked if it was safe. As any resident of Croydon or London generally would know, safety can be a relative thing. What I found was a city that despite recent events, felt very safe, and a society where people could wander around engrossed in their lightly held mobile phones. Something most Londoners know better than to do.
“As a history buff it’s great to be in a land when you can be snobbish about not taking much of an interesting in anything not BC”
As a history buff it’s great to be in a land when you can be snobbish about not taking much of an interesting in anything not BC, and certainly not anything less than a thousand years old. Israel uses the BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) notations for years. Whilst I find these generally dreadful (what for heaven’s sake denotes the Common Era) I can just about forgive a Jewish state for not wanting to recognise “anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi” (AD). Beyond the history though this was a country that, to put not too fine a point on it, cut the crap.
Western Wall and The Dome of the Rock.
The old city of Jerusalem demonstrates a knack for avoiding the superfluous when visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall (often known as the Wailing Wall). Both require men and women to pass via different entrances, both have different dress codes for men and women, and the Western Wall had different sections for men and women to ‘wail’ at. There is no choice of pronouns. If the armed IDF (Israel Defense Forces) guards and Police don’t persuade you of the seriousness of the rules the religious guardians will. Israel is consistently ranked highly as a LGBTQ country and markets itself as “The ultimate LGBTQ travel destination” but when it comes down to it some things weren’t up for debate in the City of David.
“turn one corner and see ‘free Palestine’ T-shirts everywhere, turn another and be surrounded by Menorahs, walk on a bit and follow the path Christ took to his crucifixion”
The old city of Jerusalem is a fascinating place where you can turn one corner and see ‘free Palestine’ T-shirts everywhere, turn another and be surrounded by Menorahs, walk on a bit and follow the path Christ took to his crucifixion. One of the best sites to visit in the old city is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. A site from the 4th century which covers the sites Christ was crucified and buried at. The church is shared by the Catholic Church, Armenian, Greek, Ethiopian, Syriac, and Coptic Orthodox churches. Although the primary custodians are the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches, the keys are held by a Muslim family as the various Christian denominations couldn’t agree who between them should be able to open the church. The current holder popped by as we toured and said hello to our guide, a friendly elderly man he checked on the work going on inside the building and wandered off, seemingly passing blessings to all he encountered.
The keyholder for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
“On approaching them you see what looks like any school trip, teenagers in a uniform, laughing and joking. It’s not until you notice that every so often one of them is carrying a machine gun”
I joked on one tour with some fellow Londoners that we probably often walked past teenagers carrying guns back at home, here of course, they were IDF soldiers. Whilst on national service, soldiers are taken around major historical sites. On approaching them you see what looks like any school trip, teenagers in a uniform, laughing and joking. It’s not until you notice that every so often one of them is carrying a machine gun, and many have side arms. This isn’t a normal school outing. But that’s not all you notice, whilst all Jewish, almost 2000 years of the diaspora since the failed revolt against Rome, and the 2,500 years since the deportation to Babylon and migration to Ethiopia (although this date is contested), has meant Israelis at least look a very mixed ethnic bunch. Aside from ethnicity the IDF volunteers will come from a variety of cultures, and whilst all speaking Hebrew (and most English) will likely have differing third languages. All this leaves aside the many Arabs that volunteer for service. But the thing you notice is the shared sense of purpose, you notice these teenagers enjoying each other’s company, whilst still acting responsibly. You notice they are as one, pulled together in adversity, and through service. Later out in a bar I happened to chat to a couple of staff about how they found national service. One barmaid who had finished her 2-year stint a few years earlier (men serve for 32 months, women for 24 months), said she felt national service was like kindergarten, “a very hard system I wanted to break free from”. But she showed no animosity, no anger, no hysterics, you all too often see from westerners of the same age. It was matter of fact; it was regardless of her relative youth, mature.
IDF soldier standing guard.
Israel has no written constitution, but like the UK has a Supreme Court who in recent years has grabbed more power, becoming a modern Kritarchy. With no constraining document the court has become in effect a new legislative body, holding power without the democratic accountability. Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is trying to change this, allowing the parliament to overturn the court’s verdicts with a simple majority in the Knesset. I confess to knowing none of this as I visited the museums across the road from the legislature. Seeing a protest gathering I decided to wander up to ask what was going on.
“this was a friendly protest and a protest by patriots. One group made a point of showing they were ex-IDF, another was singing all the way, most all held Israeli flags.”
Having been on a couple of protests I can say the first protester made the common mistake of protestors, of eyeing everyone not 100% on board with their views with suspicion. Whilst polite enough he clearly couldn’t accept that my asking him what the protest was for was born from ignorance not disagreement. As an aside a note to protestors, not everyone is as fascinated by your subject of protest as you are. Maybe you should consider using the protest to grow the number of those aware of the issue, not just making it a test of the depth of faith of those attending. Anyway, eventually I found someone who could explain the protest to me, and in what I was finding to be an increasingly typically Israeli way (the first protestor aside) was able to explain both sides of the issue. Whilst giving her own view she was able to show balance.
Speaking to a few more people it became clear, this was broadly a left-wing protest. A protest by those who believed in (often global) rules by an anointed class, more than they believe in democratic mandates. Whilst my sympathy wasn’t by nature with them (I don’t pretend to know enough, to hold firm views on the issue), this was a friendly protest and a protest by patriots. One group made a point of showing they were ex-IDF, another was singing all the way, most all held Israeli flags. You simply couldn’t imagine a similar level of patriotism from a centre right protest in the UK, and certainly not from a centre left protest in the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand or much of Europe.
The history of Jerusalem made it a fascinating place to visit, as was my short trip to Bethlehem in the State of Palestine. But the people of the city were fascinating in the way they acted, similar to how I remember we did, in a more straightforward time.
St George at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
“Even if you don’t remember the show, you are bound to know many of its catch phrases that have made it into the lexicon.”
Misery loves company they say, so on the 30th December last year I made a point of telling a few people the day was the 40th anniversary of the first broadcast of ‘Allo ‘Allo! This knowledge having made me feel rather old, was only fair, to share. The show broadcast for 10 years, was a comedy set in German occupied France in WW2 and followed René Artois, a café owner and his escapades with the resistance, the Germans, the waitresses, shot down airmen, and his family.
Even if you don’t remember the show, you are bound to know many of its catch phrases that have made it into the lexicon. “Listen very carefully, I will say this only once” is a critical start to any sentence giving instructions, just as “It is I, LeClerc!” is a necessary statement to break cover for any master of disguise. I would advise reader discretion when saying “You stupid woman”, but get it right and it could be a “Good moaning” for you. Beyond the great catchphrases and innuendo, what ‘Allo ‘Allo! really epitomised was being the last great show before the break between the post war world where grim reality had governed people’s lives, and the post-cold war world where feelings reign supreme.
I, like many, grew up in a house with parents who had lived through rationing and where no food went to waist. Most people I knew didn’t have double glazing, few had central heating. We spent much of the winter dashing to the one room with heating, something modern Net Zero policies are reintroducing for many. Most adults knew something about how hard life could be, and even in the free world we lived under the existential threat of nuclear war and the aggression of the Soviet Union. Except for when someone close to them had died, I don’t remember any of the adults in my life thinking they should talk about their feelings; they were simply too busy getting on with life.
Around the same time as the 40th anniversary of ‘Allo ‘Allo!’s debut, stories of how Prince Harry ended up wearing a Nazi uniform were circulating. I don’t have an opinion (or very much care) why Prince Harry or anyone at the party was wearing any particular outfit, but it did make me think how, how we treat evil has changed. In the hullabaloo around Prince Harry’s costume, I couldn’t help but think of my memory of watching ‘Allo ‘Allo! with a mix of family members. Some had been evacuees, one had evacuees stay in their home, another had their young children evacuated from them, and one had literally fought Nazis. All laughed heartily at the comedic Germans on the screen. Of course, many of the actors had also served during the war.
“knew the best defence against the twin evils of National and International Socialism was mockery and ridicule”
We once knew how to deal with those we disliked, through mockery. We weren’t offended by Kenny Everett dressed as Hitler, or Dick Emery as a German Army officer. No one was triggered by Hogan’s Heroes or Monty Python Communist Quiz sketch. No safe space was needed from Comrade Dad (a much-overlooked comedy starring George Cole, set in Londongrad, the capital of the USSR-GB). These comedy shows didn’t need to protect us from images of evil. Instead, the post war world (and before with Chaplin in The Great Dictator) knew the best defence against the twin evils of National and International Socialism was mockery and ridicule.
40 years ago, the BBC could make good comedy. Comedy that knew how we could mock our own sloppiness and arrogance (the British Airmen, and the Police Officer), the Germans officialdom (Colonel Kurt von Strohm, Lieutenant Hubert Gruber, and Herr Flick of the Gestapo), whilst admiring the French (especially the waitresses, Yvette Carte-Blanche and Maria Recamier). We knew that consenting adults might be pulled together in stressful situations (or frankly any situation), and deal with a little smut and inuendo, but alas no more. It would take greater smuggling skills to get such a comedy out of the BBC these days than it took to hide The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies. If you want to be reminded of some of the best bits of the show here’s a good place to start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtQxugFYQqs If you think you’re at risk of being offended, maybe still give it a go, and remember those that fought Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and Fascist Italy, used to laugh at it.
