H_Pennypacker

H_Pennypacker

33p

40 comments posted · 1 followers · following 0

3 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - WATCH: Truss, Minette ... · 0 replies · +1 points

There is a general point that if we insist on higher standards for domestic producers and impose higher costs on them through those standards and social security laws , we disadvantage our producers versus overseas importers if we don't apply tariffs to the imports.

If Truss wants to have tariff free trade deals everywhere then we need to lower the standards we apply down to the level of the lowest free trade partner.

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Does Johnson have the ... · 1 reply · +1 points

The problem is that housebuilders are not incentivised to build houses - most of their profits dont come from housebuilding - the vast majority of profits come from land trading. This means housebuilders are more interested in sitting on land and hoping it appreciates in value than they are in building homes.

If housebuilding was like manufacturing or any other industry they would be focussed on building houses as quickly as possible. The whole system needs reform to stop them landbanking - housebuilders should not own land or should not benefit from land value uplift (other than a small margin for investment in infrastructure) this would force them to focus on construction.

The government needs to stop courting housebuilders and start challenging them to build homes by taking away the financial benefits of landbanking though taxation.

I should admit some inside knowledge of the situation, I spent two years working directly for a former CEO of the largest lender to the sector.

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Eddie Hughes: Our valu... · 0 replies · +1 points

In previous years we would have won many more seats if CCHQ was staffed by fewer sycophants with no campaigning experience. If CCHQ is in the regions somewhere the quota of ass lickers will still be high, but there might actually be a few gutter fighters and radicals who understand the electorate and are responsive to what people actually think and believe. Rather than studying the results of focus groups to understand the electorate, getting out on the street and actually talking to the electorate could be useful for CCHQ staffers.

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Matt Kilcoyne: We can ... · 0 replies · +1 points

The point about restricting where shops and restaurants can be located is to point footfall to one location which increases the viability of the shops in the area and better sustains them. It underpins the rent for developers and makes retail/leisure/mixed use developments more likely and financially viable. It is a sensible policy grounded in commercial reality.

Perhaps the Adam Smith Institute should talk to the retail/property trade to understand why this is attractive?

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - The Election Battlegro... · 0 replies · +1 points

I agree, Wolverhampton South West has been trending to Labour since the early 1990s. The Conservative vote has declined all over the constituency, Park and Graisely which used to be reliably Conservative haven't elected a Conservative in over 15 years. Penn and Merry Hill which used to be rock solid are now hard to win. Tettenhall R and W are still Conservative but are going the way of Park (well paid public sector and ethnic minorities). The challenge in the seat is getting sufficient numbers of votes out of Tettenhall to counter balance the votes that need to be weighed for Labour in Graisely and St. Peters. It is a very polarised seat and is gradually moving away from a marginal to Labour. Hopefully Boris will get some extra votes out Merry Hill and we will pick it up.

Wolverhampton North East is the better long term prospect and probably better suits the newer profile of the Conservative party. We can win there in a good year, (unlike South West which is polarised and has much fewer swing voters). Most of North East are wards which swing our way in a good year, in 2008 locals, the election results were better in this constituency than in Wolverhampton South West. The strong leave vote suggests this is a good bet. We should be throwing the kitchen sink at places like this.

I doubt that we would win in Wolverhampton South East. Conceivably the majority could be heavily reduced but I doubt it is worth the effort .

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Dan Pitt: Reflections ... · 0 replies · +1 points

Agreed. Absolutely necessary this election to get past the national issues.

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Adam Holloway: Huawei ... · 0 replies · +1 points

"There is no doubt at all that the US and the UK intrusively monitor networked devices through an enormous range of methods including the compromise of hardware at the engineering level (e.g. Intel, Cisco etc.). "

Quite a well known example of UK kit being given free to African governments 20 years ago in order to spy on them. I am sure we would do the same today.

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - What proportion of Tor... · 0 replies · +1 points

That is just of Daily Express readers so not a representative sample, still staggering and supports the narrative that the Brexit party will win the Euro-elections.

4 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - "We're doomed": The mo... · 0 replies · +1 points

I have found 70-80% of pledges will support us this time. Though could have been far far fewer if we hadn't spoken to them.

5 years ago @ http://www.conservativ... - Andy Street: How we're... · 0 replies · +1 points

Good to see a politician having the courage and sense to make a pre-emptive investment in transport to stimulate and facilitate economic activity rather than make the investment years after its needed. As a country we misprice the benefits of transport investment, connecting Canary Wharf to the Jubilee line didn't pass the Cost Benefit Analysis test it took political will to make it happen. I am pleased Andy Street is being pro-active about this.

When will he build the Western Orbital Route - that must be the most overdue infrastructure project in the country?