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It is not wrong to use public money to invest in major infrastructure and construction projects to provide real work for people that will keep the economy moving forward during a Slump, however, there are some basic rules that should be applied.

The projects should have major economic benefits moving forward into the future. Rather than treating this as a “failure” it is an “opportunity” to do things that in other times just would not happen or be affordable. If you want to build a hydro electric dam, railways and so forth, now would be the time to do it but it cannot be done on the spur of the moment, you needed to have planned for this long before; you need to have a sense of “A Vision or at least a Road Map…”

The Problem

Many years ago as a 3D designer, I worked for a company that manufactured shop displays and point of sale equipment. The problem was that the flow of work was not constant; it was ‘seasonal’ and constantly fluctuating so therefore a difficult business model to deal with.

There was the possibility of using the same production facilities to even out the troughs and peaks through manufacturing a range of domestic products. However, it was almost impossible to get the management to commit the investment of resources, to investigate the market potential during the ‘busy times’ to develop this product range, it was only when it all went quiet again they started to think about it. This is the same problem that the UK Economy faces today due to political stupidity.

Two Examples

Take for example just two major civil engineering projects that would have a major impact on the future competitiveness of the UK whilst developing much needed resources which will have a broader knock on effect.

Building the Severn Estuary Barrage and probably via the Minehead to South Wales route. The installation would generate apparently over 5% of the total UK electricity requirement through tidal flow hydro-electricity. The broader add on value through other ‘downstream’ civil engineering projects and the job/skills that flow from that, quite amazing.

The second would be a new London Airport sited in the Thames Estuary which apart from solving the ‘Heathrow Problem’ should logically lead to massive railway building not just to connect it with London but also to the North of these islands and the Continent, plus the development of the Thames Estuary for both living and working.

But none of this can happen yet because the plans are just not advanced enough, no one is ‘running with the ball’ despite the ‘concept of an airport in the Thames Estuary’ not being that new, Maplin Sands was considered decades ago for just this purpose. The point is that, this kind of ‘Blue Skies’ future thinking should be a function of our Parliament and if authorized by Parliament, the Government should both fund and publish the ‘investigations’ even if they are in the end funded by private enterprises.

Short Term Thinking

Fund Managers in the City have often been accused of thinking too ‘short term’ in their investments and to be honest, that is very true and to be fair, their excuse has to do with showing a high annual rate of return for their investment and pension fund clients. Many would also point out that it is not their job to develop any particular business; they couldn’t run it anyway…

Unfortunately this same type of short term thinking permeates the whole of politics and public life and the best evidence of this lies in the “Target Culture” created under Tony Blair and New Labour merely to show that ‘they’ (New Labour), were “getting it right” in spending our money. This is a major problem because most often, the key issues on which decisions and commitments have to be made today, won’t reach fruition for decades – well beyond the 5 year sight line of any politician, we need a new ‘mind set’ from all British politicians.

As an Example, a Pension Pen Sketch

With 5.5 – 6 million public sector jobs and largely unfunded Final Salary schemes which are also indexed linked in retirement, future generations of taxpayers have been given a ticking time bomb which is so severe that if not ‘addressed now’ might lead to future generations as yet unborn, to seriously consider ‘selective’ then later on, ‘compulsory’ euthanasia.

 This is not a ‘theoretical issue’ confined to speculation; it really does need to be tackled on a cross party and non-partisan basis RIGHT NOW. The solution will take a minimum of 20 years to bring into full operation with 30 to 40 for full maturity and the reasons for this are ‘transitional arrangements’.

If you have someone today of 55 who will retire in say 10 years time, it would be very unfair to change the basis of their pension at this stage. However, for someone below the age of 30 with 35 years to go before retirement, it wouldn’t really matter too much.

A Dog is NOT just for Christmas:

And I’m not talking about Jacqui Smith, Harriet Harmon, Margaret Beckett, Hazel Blears and the Great Westminster HRT Shortage; I am talking about basic principles for any Parliament, “Freedom and Democracy plus, Government of the People, By the People and For the People” are the fundamental principles which override all Party Political Dogma and Cant. Under all circumstances it is not, “My Party First and Last” it must be “Our Country, our British culture, our British diversity and our British Freedoms first, last and Foremost Always !”

The Basic Plan is for the benefit of Great Britain not the Labour, Conservative or LibDem Parties. All three of these parties have discarded ‘Nation’ for ‘Party’ and in doing so, betrayed our democratic principles and more, shame upon them all, time for a rewind, time for a new start and perhaps some much needed reform of our Constitution.