Comments on: Stop the government burning so much money?

By: Freddy

Freddy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:21:36 +0000

Ooooh, now the tories are promising £6,500 for each of the 25,000,000 households in the country to spend on energy efficiency.
Nice to see they are going to be taking care of taxpayers’ money.

By: Eotvos

Eotvos — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:13:02 +0000

John,

(Adverse comments on Mr Osborne-ed)
He never warned the country of the economic catastrophe that Vince Cable and even a lot of lay people foresaw.

Why are you not Shadow Chancellor, why is David Davies not in the Shadow Cabinet? Why are 14 of the Shadow Cabinet, out of 24, Old Etonians?

Nepotism, no meritocrarcy here.

By: DennisA

DennisA — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:56:12 +0000

Absolutely right. Why does it need to be called “greening”? It’s common sense. The trouble it becomes conflated with the supposedly green message that by doing so we will save the planet from an imaginary fever, brought about by our desire to have the comforts of modern life, rather than opting for living in a Yurt.

By: Freddy

Freddy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:38:09 +0000

Huh.

By: Chuck Unsworth

Chuck Unsworth — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:14:24 +0000

Well, all the time they are spending other people’s money we can certainly expect this profligacy to continue.

By: thespecialone

thespecialone — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:05:47 +0000

I am in despair at the Tory Party. The only reason to turn off unused lighting and heating is to save money. We do it at home! What is this nonsense about ‘green investment bank’? Hasnt the Tory Party seen the latest news about the CRU emails? I reckon the Tory Party, along with the rest of Westminster, will completely ignore these revelations because you will all have egg on your collective face. Or will you care?

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:26:17 +0000

It’s not just the investment bank – it’s also the green ethical funds (will they get a tax subsidy so that the poverty of returns is masked to some degree?), and also the policy not to permit ECGD to support “foreign fossil fuel” projects.

So instead, the French, German and American government export banks will support their own industrial champions and secure high value export business that we desperately need as a country – even though we have considerable expertise as a result of the North Sea and our mining heritage. Perhaps the next announcement will be from David Willets closing all university engineering departments because we can make money being smarter at trading green certificates instead.

By: Matthew Reynolds

Matthew Reynolds — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:04:16 +0000

As M&S have had great success with Plan A why not give Sir Stuart Rose a Peerage and a Ministerial post. He could be put in charge of reducing energy usage across Whitehall by applying the same brilliant approach that he has at M&S. In terms of green energy usage,selling more fair -trade & organic stuff,making plenty of corporate donations to worthy causes and reducing carrier bag usage & selling more healthy choice meals the company has prospered under his wise stewardship.

He has made M&S a great ethical retailer and it is time that his skills where at the disposal of the nation.With Plan A he has given Marks & Spencer the kind of green make-over that David Cameron has given the Conservatives.We face grim times ahead and Sir Stuarts common-sense,determination and wisdom could enhance the government.

He saved M&S – that surely merits a Peerage anyway !?!

By: chefdave

chefdave — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:55:21 +0000

If this is an example of George Osbourne’s ‘vision’ then I’m very worried for both the Conservative party and for the British public.

Osbourne should be lambasted by fellow Tories for worrying about turning the lights out when we’re running annual budget deficits of £200bn.

They need bigger better ideas, anyone in their right mind would be instanly looking for alternatives after announcements like this.

By: Chris H

Chris H — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:33:01 +0000

What exactly are their measures? I just looked it up and am confused. We put our clocks back one hour, to GMT, at the end of October, which means it is lighter in the mornings when people go to work and darker when they come home (assuming they work 8 till 5). It’s bound to be darker at one end or the other of the day, in winter, due to our latitude; both have their disadvantages.

By: Matthew Reynolds

Matthew Reynolds — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:14:29 +0000

If Labour accept the need for spending cuts to restrain the fiscal deficit and want lower carbon emissions then what is stopping them from being bolder than George Osborne ?The Shadow Chancellor has embraced the governments own logic so it shows you how incapable Labour are of basic rationality that they attack an opposition idea grounded in Labour’s own thinking.

Why not cut Whitehall’s energy usage by 20% and save £600 million to fund helping the Third World reduce carbon emissions while getting their economies moving ? As 54% of global CO2 comes from the developing world the UK could end aid to nations that do not need it (Brazil & China and India) or that do not deserve it (Russia) and divert that money to help stimulate green growth in Africa.You could end the waste of funds on consultants at DFID and reduce civil service numbers at that department of state.

That could fund a major UK effort to green overseas aid so that we help developing nations help get emission levels down.It would be better value for money if DFID had fewer civil servants,had no more costly consultants and if Whitehall’s energy usage went down by say 20%.Money could be tied to progress. The aim being to preserve equity so that developing nations could grow their economies to reduce poverty while cutting carbon emissions.If lower energy usage in Whitehall was part of the mix then that would be good.Plus we could influence world opinion more effectively if we practiced as we preached as a nation on green issues.

By: oldrightie

oldrightie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:10:28 +0000

“So much of the public sector has not started to take enegry efficiency seriously in the way leading companies have done.”

No votes to be had in doing things properly.

By: Ian Jones

Ian Jones — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:35:42 +0000

Seems most of the taxpayers money is still heading into the banks. Another 7bn to Lloyds, how much has Scotland cost this nation?

By: David B

David B — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:33:23 +0000

This is the old Investment V Cuts argument from the government. They cannot see that we need to make cuts and that some cuts can be made in a way that improve efficency.

They have heard the word “reduction” and now the spin machine is in a spin!!!

By: Alan Phillips

Alan Phillips — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:28:15 +0000

I used to work in an office (private sector) where people would turn on the heating to the point where they’d have to open a window!

It’s easy to spend other peoples money, and workers often do so at work without regards to the cost.

These people need to develop a “do as you would do at home” mentality. Instead of putting the heating up, put on a pullover type approach. It isn’t rocket science. In my view, the public sector workers need to be re-educated in remembering who pays their wages and their obligation to do so with a responsibility to do so without incurring costs that can be avoided. They need to be told that from the day the Conservatives take office, the culture will change. They need to be reminded that like any private business, they need to balance the budget, and that this will drive the future decisions that the departments will work to. If they are too expensive, cuts WILL be made.

By: Freddy

Freddy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:52:35 +0000

Would you care to comment on Osborne’s other announcement, that a new Tory government would set up a “green investment bank”.

P.S. I’m disgusted.

By: Acorn

Acorn — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:01:15 +0000

If you want an example of how not to do it, the subject of government energy consumption is a classic. There are now more government quangos in this trough than you can shake a stick at. The NAO did a report on it in Dec 07, it is a good place to start for beginners. This is about the only report you will find that actually tells you how much energy the governments uses, and the initiatives that have been abandoned.

http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0708/energy_consumption_and_carbon.aspx

The Sustainable Development Commission publish the SDiG report; this has mutated into a government puff document. (Definitely one for the quango axe.)

http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/sustainable-development-in-government.html

By: ChrisM

ChrisM — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:49:49 +0000

I totally agree that the Government should be doing more to save energy, and walk the walk instead of talking the talk.
However I also think that an inquiry should be held into the scandal of the scientists at the Hadley centre that has been revealed in the last few days.
I see that both George Monbiot and Andy Revkin who are well known for their belief in man made global warming are now saying they should have been more sceptical of some of the claims. Unfortunately all of the main political parties seem to have been sucked into being gullible, as Carl Sagan once said “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” and it would appear that the evidence they do have is not robust otherwise they would not have to do the things they appear to have done.
They are after all wanting us to change our whole way of life and possibly impoverish ourselves for many years to come.
The BBC has tried to sweep it under the carpet as has some of the rest of the main stream media, but the changes we are being asked to make require us to be confidant in the scientists and our elected representatives really are doing what’s right, otherwise if in the future if as I suspect the edifice collapses it will make the present disdain with politicians seem like a walk in the park.

By: backofanenvelope

backofanenvelope — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:42:29 +0000

I understand that all Whitehall departments have energy consumption reduction targets. They have had them for years. Not one of them have met their targets; some use more energy.

Someone needs to get hold of Sir Humphrey by the short and curlies and make him take notice.

By: Mike Stallard

Mike Stallard — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:32:41 +0000

The Church Hall where I go to teach tonight has a lot of lights. And it is paid for by the government quite a lot too.
In most of the rooms, there are automatic light sensors so that, once you leave, the lights go off automatically. When there is nobody around, the place has just got emergency lights burning. (It is a pretty rough area).
By just cutting departmental budgets by 10%, some initiative is left to the people who do the cutting. That means that they stand much more chance of getting it right.
You would not believe the ham fisted way the government supervises my lessons this evening. You cannot micro manage from Westminster.
But you can set an example.