A comment on a Nigel Farage YouTube video

 

I have become aware that, when I leave a pertinent comment on a political YouTube video, for example on GB News or TalkTV, it usually disappears very quickly. Often, it is gone the second time I look, even when I order by “newest first.” Happily, this particular comment was still there 15 minutes after I submitted it. But I squirreled it away anyway.

This is the comment I left on Nigel Farage’s video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hZuVXKmbys. I think it summarizes fairly well my view from the radical wing of the Reform UK party.

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Nigel, for me immigration is not the major issue today. (1) Getting rid of “net(t) zero” and other green insanities. (2) Sane and sensible energy policies (fracking!). (3) Cutting taxes. Hugely. (4) Shrinking the state and its “public sector” by at least an order of magnitude, including sacking a lot of civil servants and county and local council CEOs. Those are my top four. Immigration comes a poor fifth.

But that said, you are right that immigration into the UK today is a major problem. But the people in boats are just a side-show. The real problem is not that massive “legal” immigration is “uncontrolled,” but that it has been planned. By whom, and for what purpose? My local council were told a decade or so ago to plan for a 20 per cent population increase inside 20 years. When did we ever vote for this? And why were we never allowed a chance to oppose it?

You are, of course, right about the consequences. Many people falling off the bottom of the housing ladder, and many more having to accept far less space and privacy than they have a right to expect. Decaying infrastructure, worsening quality of life for everyone. Companies having their premises taken for housing, so people then need to travel further to their jobs.

I think a good question to ask is: Who did this to us? And why? For many years, I answered this with: The statists are trying to establish a tax base for the future. So they can kick the welfare state can down the road for a decade or two, and it doesn't fall apart till after they're dead. But recently, I find myself contemplating a more sinister motive: They are seeking to destroy cultural cohesion. As a step, perhaps, towards ending all pretence of sham “democracy.” And then, towards what?

As a Reform party member, I really do think that you and the party need to focus away from minor issues like the boats, and towards the things that really matter. This video is a half decent start, but there is so much more we need to do.

We the people of Surrey have not approved Surrey County Council’s membership of UK100

 

I sent the following message today to "my" Surrey county councillor. It contains a sentence which I could not resist using as the title of this missive.

Dear Ms Rivers,

I have been reminded by the Telegraph [[1]] that Surrey County Council, on which you are my “representative,” has for some time been a member of an organization called UK100. This is an activist organization which, according to its website, “will continue to lead the UK’s response to climate change, acting sooner than the government’s goal by making substantial progress within the next decade to deliver Net Zero.” UK100, as shown by this recent report [[2]], is funded through chains originating from billionaires Christopher Hohn and Michael Bloomberg, both known to be extreme climate activists.

I am very concerned as to how the members of a county council can feel able to be part of, or to devote taxpayers’ resources to, such an extremist organization, without the people of that county having had the chance to oppose or even to comment on such a membership.

The enormous costs and inconveniences of “net zero” policies are becoming more and more apparent. As, for example, in the recently announced job losses at the Port Talbot steelworks. And anti-car policies, such as the ULEZ expansion, are also causing great suffering to those who are caught in the trap of being too poor either to pay the fees or to upgrade their cars.

Moreover, it is slowly starting to penetrate into ordinary people’s minds that the repeated claims that renewable energy is cheap are falsehoods, and even outright lies. That no proper cost versus benefit analysis of “net zero” has been done. And even that the entire concept of “net zero” is flawed, because the claimed “climate crisis,” which “net zero” policies are supposed to alleviate, does not in fact exist. There is simply no objective evidence for any such thing. (As I have shown, in a series of essays which I sent you last April).

I hope that you will agree that for a council at any level to continue to push extremist policies which, as is becoming more and more obvious, are not only unjustified but also very clearly against the interests of the people the council is supposed to serve, is a travesty of any idea of democracy. We the people of Surrey have not approved Surrey County Council’s membership of UK100. I look forward to your confirmation that Surrey County Council will be terminating its membership of UK100 at the very earliest possible opportunity.

I note that you are also on my list of Waverley Borough Councillors, so I would ask you also to confirm that Waverley will be taking no steps towards joining UK100 or any similar organization.

Yours sincerely,

Neil Lock

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[[1]] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/06/councils-undemocratic-pledges-beat-governments-net-zero/

[[2]] https://togetherdeclaration.org/report/

A reply from "my" MP on ULEZ

Last week, I received a reply from Jeremy Hunt MP to an e-mail I sent him on 11^th September 2023 regarding ULEZ expansion. I thought it would be worth re-publishing both his reply and my recent response.

Dear Neil,

Thank you for your email regarding the ULEZ expansion and I apologise for the immense delay in my reply. I would just note that due to transport within London being devolved to the Mayor of London, he is not legally required to consult either central or local government before implementing the scheme. But the government is clear that the Mayor needs to put TFL on a financially sustainable footing and disagrees with the expansion of ULEZ. I do also welcome that the government prevented the mayor from using government money to fund the expansion.

I do understand your comments on the democracy surrounding ULEZ and the negative impact of the expansion on those who travel into London by car. However, regarding tradespeople, it may be useful to know that self-employed tradespeople driving vehicles that do not comply with ULEZ may be able to recoup the money spent on the ULEZ charge via their tax returns. This is only if the journey that incurred the charge relates to the sole purpose of their trade.

Regarding cameras, I do understand your concerns but I hope it is of at least some comfort that TFL has confirmed that it does not use live facial recognition technology nor intends to deploy it for purposes of enforcing ULEZ. I hope it will also be useful to know that if there were ever any proposed extensions to a system which involved images or information is collected, this will be subject to consultation before the decision is taken. I hope this has been useful and if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Finally, if you do not already receive it, would it be helpful for you to receive my weekly update of events in Westminster and locally? You can sign up here and can unsubscribe at any time. 

Thank you again for writing to me.

Best wishes,

Jeremy

Dear Mr Hunt,

Thank you for your reply to my e-mail of 11^th September. Given that the government disapproved of the ULEZ expansion, I am still uncertain as to why Mark Harper MP chose not to overrule it on the grounds that it went against the government’s priorities, as I understand he had the right to do.

With regard to tradespeople being able to recoup the ULEZ charge, I am well aware of the “wholly, exclusively and necessarily” test, and if it applies here, this is OK so far as it goes. But it does nothing for people whose businesses are impacted because their customers can no longer get cost-effectively to and from them. Nor does it do anything for employees whose place of work is now inside the zone. The case of the West Lodge Park hotel comes to mind as an example of both these.

As to cameras, I would say that in this context the use of facial recognition technology is all but a red herring. Since most drivers drive their own cars, automatic number plate recognition is already enough to trace individuals as they move around. Blanket ANPR without a reasonable suspicion of real wrongdoing, I consider, is in itself a violation of the rights of privacy and freedom of movement.

As to consultations, after previous occasions such as the bringing forward of the deadline for banning new petrol and diesel cars – where all submissions which went against the party line were completely ignored – and the “consultation” on the ULEZ expansion itself, which went ahead despite a large majority being opposed to it, I am afraid that I now find the words “government consultation” to be something of a sick joke. I do not think either your party, or any of the other mainstream parties, have any real understanding of how far you have all lost the trust and the respect of the people you are supposed to be serving.

All this said, I do appreciate the time you have taken to reply to me on this, and I look forward in particular to your upcoming reply to the e-mail I sent you near the end of November regarding cost-benefit analysis for “Net Zero.”

Yours sincerely,

Neil Lock

A tour of last year’s “Bandamonium” Pubs

My brass band, the Liss Band, is planning to go to the “Bandamonium” festival, based in Hatherleigh, Devon, in late July of the year we have just begun. It’s our 50^th anniversary this year. And though I wasn’t quite a “founder member,” I did join the band in its first calendar year, 1974. And I’ve written a book to celebrate the band’s 50^th. More on that (much) later.

The event is described as “the Whit Friday marches, but without the marching.” So, each band is transported by coach around various pubs, at each of which they play a brief programme. After playing, they have a drink and move on to the next. At the end of the day, everyone meets in Hatherleigh, and plays together. We might have as many as 20 bands.

I had a list of the six pubs from last year. I thought it might be a decent use of the New Year break to go and survey them. So, here they are. New Year’s Day was probably the worst day I could possibly have chosen, because not only was it a bank holiday, but a Monday too, on which most rural pubs these days would be closed anyway. So, all were closed except one. And the weather was… inclement would be a kind word.

The King’s Arms, South Zeal

The Green Dragon, Northlew

The New Inn, Sampford Courtenay

The Tally Ho, Hatherleigh

The George, Hatherleigh

The Half Moon, Sheepwash

This is hilly country, and not easy to navigate around. The roads are narrow, complicated and confusing. It took me almost six hours, starting from Exeter, to find all these pubs and then to get back to Exeter. The coach drivers will surely earn their wages on Bandamonium Day!

Accommodation in the area is, to say the least, limited. And as late July is peak season, it won’t be cheap either. Those who don’t want to have to drive on the day will have either to book super early, or stay in the same place as their “designated driver.”

The event will reach its climax in the evening in “The Square” in Hatherleigh. I confess I’m confused as to where it is. I found this place:

which is called the Market, and is neither square nor beautiful. And this one:

which is right next to the George. There is a public space here. But fitting 20 bands, with more than 500 bandsmen, in here would be impossible, at least to this former mathematician. Although this does look to be where last year’s celebrations were held.

To add to the confusion, there is a new “Market Quarter” of housing currently being built, which includes a new Market Square. This was scheduled to be completed last year, but I couldn’t find evidence as to whether or not it has actually happened.

Ah well, I’m sure Tim the organizer – who used to play with us 40 years ago – will inform us all in due course.