We think it would be safer if the Bank of England had responsibility for solvency regulation of UK-based banks, as well as having an overall duty to keep the system solvent. Otherwise, there could be dangerous delays if a banking crisis did hit.
All my adult life, I have lived with Labour lies about tax cuts. Their cry is always the same. Tax cuts are impossible in a civilised society. They mean less revenue for the state, which means sacked teachers, unemployed doctors, fewer nurses. I am amazed anyone still takes such arrant twaddle seriously.
The government would also be wise to press on with its further measures to promote growth, as it will want to outperform the low figures in this outlook. This will mean delivering measures to ease money and credit and to stimulate demand.
Our problem as a country is that most of us do not want to join the euro, and we wish to stay aloof from the common frontiers of the free-travel Schengen area. This makes our relationship with the E.U. fraught with tension and trouble.
We have always been a great national party, with views on all the main issues. We recognise that what matters to people most are those things that affect their daily lives: schools, hospitals, transport and law and order and we have plenty to say about them.
The Prime Minister in the UK thinks spending and borrowing more is the right thing to do in the circumstances, and is busily trying to bail out chunks of the private sector which would otherwise have to adjust more quickly to the painful reality that we have been living beyond our means.
There is not necessarily a good reason why a regulator should have to be involved in product design and marketing for rich and sophisticated investors. We recommend that such investors should be able to sign a piece of paper, which allows them to go ahead and buy unregulated products at their own risk.
The three main political parties all agree the UK deficit is high and needs to be brought down. All agree that it is easier to get a deficit down if you have faster growth, cutting unemployment-related costs and raising revenues.
Brexit will be good for the U.K.
No sensible elected politician would look for spending reductions out of sacking teachers and nurses. We all know how important they are and that our electors want to keep those we have and employ more where possible.
The Irish move to a very low corporation tax has generated very significant revenue growth, considerably in excess of Britain's, where a slower economy has been combined with a number of stealth taxes.
A growth strategy requires tax rates that people are prepared to pay and cannot avoid or do not wish to avoid by going offshore or leaving the country.
I am mightily relieved that my holiday does not come after a long queue with the National Holiday Service, complete with bedroom-sharing like the NHS.
British people do not like being bossed around.
If Scotland is to have the power to fix its income tax rate for the whole country, England needs a body that can fix its income tax rate for the whole country.
Leaving the E.U. will enable the U.K. to undertake a major campaign for import substitution.
Most agree, whatever their party political position, that the West can and should open its agricultural markets more fully to the products of the poorer countries of the globe. They are agricultural societies that need our markets more than our charity.
I am always very grateful that I do not have to rely for my meal on a nationalised dinner service working as well as the Post Office on strike day.
My main argument against staying in the E.U. has been the poor economic record of the E.U. as a whole and the eurozone in particular. The performance has got worse the more the E.U. has developed joint policies and central controls.
The UK downgrade will come as little surprise to many. It does not appear to be occurring because the UK is cutting its deficit too far and too fast.
