Policy

Our government is bloated not just because it is inefficient, but because there are too many layers trying to do too many things, many of which they shouldn't be doing. Amongst our policies, we would:

• Cut the number of MPs and Lords by one-third, and pay the remainder a more generous amount to cover all costs except for travel expenses.
• Cut the number of major departments of state, Cabinet ministers and junior ministers.
• Present to the EU a list of derogations, and hold an "in or out" referendum.
• Have a bonfire of the quangos, rules & regulations.
• Ensure local taxes go directly to local government, taking a bigger share of the cost of a simplified and slimmed-down layer of local bureaucracy.

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Our economy is unbalanced, with too much consumption and not enough saving, too much speculation and not enough wealth-creation, too much means-testing and not enough incentive to provide for yourself. Amongst our policies, we would:

• Replace Income Tax, employee's National Insurance and most state welfare, with a Basic Income and Flat Tax.
• Scrap the minimum wage, as the Basic Income provides better protection.
• Reduce taxation on work, funded by cuts in government spending, and increased taxes on consumption (see draft budget).
• Return to sound money, so we get real growth, not bubbles.
• Encourage saving (e.g. give legal priority to repaying savers' deposits when banks go bust, but no bail-outs).
• Dis-integrate "too-big-to-fail" Vertically-Integrated Large Enterprises.

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Our education system remains a bastion of social division. But we do not improve the bad by penalizing the good. We must free all establishments to pursue their distinct visions. Amongst our policies, we would:

• Scrap the LEAs, and make every school or college independent, free to make profits and to attract investors.
• Earmark part (£3,900?) of each child's Basic Income for education, topped up with public funds (£1,800?).
• Transfer control of parts of a child's Basic Income from parent to child as the child achieves threshold educational standards.
• Provide higher-education funding for small numbers of elite students in non-vocational courses and large numbers of students on essential vocational courses.
• Place greater emphasis on part-time further education, learning while earning, using under-utilized school facilities.

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Healthcare will always be rationed, and the rich will always be able to buy more care. Communised healthcareFrom each according to his means, to each according to his needs discourages people from looking after and providing for themselves. Amongst our policies, we would:

• Privatize GP surgeries, and provide £100/year in the Basic Income to pay for first £100 of primary care.
• Protect pensioners and low-earners from additional primary-care costs.
• Maintain provision of other healthcare services free at the point of use.
• Institute tax-free Health Saving Accounts to encourage saving for care costs.
• After 10 years of HSAs, start to expand the range of healthcare services for which a direct contribution is required from those that can afford it.
• Privatize these services accordingly. Encourage new entrants and innovative combinations of primary, secondary and tertiary care.
• Legalize assisted death in carefully-controlled circumstances.

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The first duty of government is the defence of person, property and nation. Government is increasingly heavy-handed with decent citizens, and too lenient with miscreants. Amongst our policies, we would:

• Fund more holding-cells at police stations and places in prisons.
• Reduce bureaucracy, so policemen spend more time on the beat.
• Require more individual (i.e. not paired) foot-patrols.
• Place greater emphasis on prevention and detection and less on simply recording crime.
• Institute short-sharp-shock prisons and sentences for early offenders of less serious crimes.
• Ensure that immigrants earn their citizenship and entitlement to Basic Income by paying tax (£15,000 of Income Tax?).
• Scrap any plans for ID cards.

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Trade, not aid. Free exchange, not protectionism. Defence, not aggression. Amongst our policies, we would:

• Make defence spending a priority, not a soft target for cuts. If we are going to send our military to war, they must be properly equipped.
• Retain military operational independence.
• Judge spending against the full range of future threats, and not just against the needs of the current campaign.
• Respect other countries' values. We should defend our values, and provide sanctuary against more oppressive values, but not seek to impose them on other countries.
• Provide aid for emergencies only. Aid for economic construction and export subsidies undermine local economies.
• Seek trading partnerships with as many partners as possible, but accept no dilution of national sovereignty.

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Governments should intervene to protect the public interest in natural monopolies and other public goods. But the interventions should be as few and as simple as possible. Amongst our policies, we would:

• Amend the planning system and repatriate business rates, so councils and taxpayers benefit from development.
• Replace all climate-change instruments with a carbon tax applied upstream.
• Make security the top priority for energy policy. Impose a fossil-fuel levy to diversify away from gas, oil and coal, and reduce taxes on work.
• Stop milking drivers. Fuel duty should cover the cost of road construction, no more.
• Introduce a vignette system for motorways, so foreign hauliers pay their share of maintenance costs.
• Support two new high-speed rail lines, and improved connections between transport hubs.

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