Serious
Unlocking the UK
Background.
The UK needs to have a strategy for relaxing quarantine restrictions that has elements of
- Graduated / Phased unlock -some services are less/more essential than others so we need a graduated
- Balancing simplicity with detail
- Allowing flexible/dynamic lockdown/unlock as needed
Concept
There are many types of business/organizations ( and I am sure i have missed some ) I would allocate each sector a “grade” like
- A – essential for individual life
- B – good for community health
- C – nice to have
- D – luxuries that can wait
I would also define phases of lock down.
- Red = Closed
- Orange = Partial opening ( with social distancing )
- Green = Open with social distancing
People would look up which letter “their” sector is in and each week the government says which phase the different letters are in.
At the moment the ‘A’ would be green but everything else would be red. Overtime as the unlock progressed more and more sectors would go green.
I believe that sectors can be broadly split into “Services” and “Physical Goods” and that within those groups there are different types (rows) and stages ( columns )
Services
| Collages, Research & Training | Strategy & Management | Service Delivery | |
| Health / Care Services | A | A | A |
| Emergency Services( inc Police ) | A | A | A |
| Utilities | B | A | A |
| Coroner / Undertakers | B | A | A |
| Repair / Maintenance | B | B | B |
| Transport | C | B | A |
| Governments / Courts / Prisons | C | B | A |
| Finance / Insurance | D | C | A |
| News / Public infomation | D | C | A |
| Hair Dresser / Pedicures | D | C | B |
| Remote Entertainment | D | C | B |
| Construction and property sales/moves | D | C | B |
| Leisure / Sports | D | C | C |
Physical Goods
| Manufacturing/ Generation | Logistics (Storage and Distribution) | Sales / Retail | Support /Processing (Online) | WasteDisposal | |
| Food | A | A | A | A | A |
| Pharmaceutical | A | A | B | B | A |
| Clothing ( inc PPE ) | A | A | B | B | B |
| Garden items | B | B | B | B | A |
| Education and Crafts | B | B | B | B | B |
| Business items | B | B | B | B | B |
| Household items | D | C | C | C | A |
Laws and Taxation
We need to encourage businesses and society to adopt a new normal, and we need to recoup the money that has been thrown at covid. We need to balance physical health, mental health and the economy I’d make changes to taxation as follows
- I’d have a tax on “offices” designed to have companies support remote / working from home. I’d want to encourage flexible working where people could work from home or from a local hot-desk hub.
- I’d have income tax bands based on the ABCD categories listed in the tables above
- I’d say every year somebody works in the Health/Care or emergency services that the government writes off a proportion of their ( student or credit ) debt . The goal being to encourage people to work in key services for at least a few years
- I’d abolish national insurance and roll that into income tax. I’d increase VAT but ensure it did not apply to food/clothes/utilities. That way you would be taxed on “non essentials” that you purchased
National Grids – Targeting nationalization to battle climate change
Yesterday the UK Labour party suggested bringing several companies / industries into national ownership. Thinking about this i think maybe theirs is a step to far but maybe some things “should” be government owned and managed. The next 10-30 years we have to transform the economy to be more green.
I suggest the UK government should nationalize the “grid/networks” for “essentials”, but leave the delivery of services in the private market. ie set up 2 national network which would be wholly and solely owned by the government
- The “Energy and Water grid” grid ( Gas, Electric, Water )
- The “Transport grid” national grid – roads / rail / ports
This would allow…
- the government to focus on the physical infrastructure and green strategy at the national level
- re-sellers / franchise holders to deliver services to end consumers.
- private companies to supply services to the government ( ie power stations / reservoirs )
It would require a transfer of assets at market value cost so private companies did not loose out. I’d argue that would be worth it. One could alternatively do this by stricter regulations on the private companies but that would be a halfway house I believe.
Police body cameras are long overdue.
I believe that police officers on patrol should wear body cameras because we need everything out in the open. We need to see the good and the bad to show that we have balance and honesty. In moments of stress people can miss remember, so we need an independent witness. In the same way that DNA evidence has becomes invaluable in trials, so also should video evidence of things seen and heard. Of things done and said. If kids can film every moment of their lives on cameras and post it on social media then i see no reason that police offices cannot do the same for when they are out on patrol.
I believe that …
- Jury’s or judges should be able to view and release any footage because we should not hide the truth.
- Do not splice or edit footage at trial because knowing what happened before/after an incident gives context. Fast forward or rewind as needed, but maintain the integrity of each recording.
- Keep all footage for at least 6 months
- Keep footage relevant to a case brought to trial for at least 6 months after that trial
- Cameras should timestamp and geolocate footage so that archives can be searched after an event
- Cameras should be visible because we need to be open and honest.
Terrorist is the wrong label for some people.
People are misusing the words terrorist lately, they are miss-using the word as a label for “bad people that cause lots of death”. There are already labels for such cases, labels like murderer, evil, mass killer. The label is sometimes miss-applied to shooters in America and today it was used as a slur on Tony Blair . The word is being used to to whip up emotion for injustices because people are angry.
The word terrorist means “one that uses terror as a weapon”. A person who’s tactic is to cause terror in order to achieve some other goal. A person who’s purpose is to terrorize people into changing. A terrorist thinks less about the people they kill and more about the impact of their act on the observers.
Words are mightier than the sword only if they are wielded with care and choice. We reduce ourselves to cavemen when words are thrown around like blunt stones. We all need to choose our words better because our goal should be to communicate, to share and to educate.
In George Orwell’s book “1984” the government organization “newspeak” strives to reduce the vocabulary of the population. Done because by removing words, by blurring them together, you weaken those that might use them. We need to sharpen our vocabulary because it is our power. We need to use the right words for the right things.
Political leadership
Political leadership is…
- …about public service. It is about working for the people.
- …about reflecting public opinion. It is about working for the people.
- …about delivering what the electorate have asked for. It is about working for the people.
- …about setting good examples.
Political leadership is not…
- …bullying the electorate into following your opinion. That would be arrogant and rude.
- …quiting because you do not agree with the electorate. That would be childish.
- …trying to stab fellow politicians in the back. That would be untrustworthy .
- …sowing fear. That would be cancerous.
Some of this countries leadership seem to have forgotten what they are there to do, or maybe they just do not care.
Citizenship, what I believe it should mean.
I believe citizenship…
- …defines your rights and responsibilities so that it is balanced.
- …must be earned otherwise it has no value.
- …should be forfeit-able because it should never be abused.
- …should define your freedoms not define your beliefs or lifestyle
Visa/Imigration wishlist – If we leave the EU
If we leave the EU or even if we stay I’d want to use visa and contribution rules to control our borders…
- Track exits from our borders as well as arrivals. So we know who is in the country.
- Anyone would be able to visit with a simple visitors visa for up to 90 days a year. They could work during this time if they wanted
- Anyone spending longer than that 90 days a year would need to have a work or compassionate visa.
- All visas would be only granted on the basis that the applicant was a lawful citizen. That they posed no risk to the country. Any visa could be denied or revoked if that assessment changed.
- Work visas would only be granted only if the role has previously offered for 6 months to citizens.
- There would be quotas and point systems for work and compassionate visas. Anyone applying for a work or compassionate visa would need a sponsor/guarantor. The sponsor/guarantor would be held accountable if that person overstayed or broke the law or was unable to support themselves. The sponsor/guarantor would need to be a citizen
- Benefits would only be paid to those who had paid national insurance in this country for 48 months cumulatively not continuously), or who’s parents had.
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Housing Ideas
I suggest
a) Rename Council tax as “Property tax”
b) Tax second homes at ‘2’ times their council tax rate
c) As part of sale a house should always be reassessed for the purpose of council/property tax
Women covering thier faces
While watching bbc question time and the debate about women wearing veils, and hearing the two sides arguing whether it is about choice or forcing women to hide, I wonder how those sides would change if it was a debate about women feeling the need to wear make-up when they go out. Is it really right to consider legislating about one form of face covering but not another? #equality should mean having the right to be different, not the obligation to all be the same. If a woman does or doesn’t want to go out au natural isn’t that her choice? Regardless of whether that is a head covering or makeup?
Don’t ask a question if you don’t want the answer…
Politicians often make grat promises about representing the public when they want to get ellected, but one in power the public opinion can become more of a hindrance.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/nov/15/cameron-e-petition-policy-backfire
Who is the better leader or parent. One that does what’s best for his subjects/children or one that gives them whatever they ask for…
I guess i just wish politicians would be honest both before and after they get elected