What Would I do in Power?

 Many of us have ideas of what we would do in the Prime Ministers' shoes, I’m one of those people. I think it is easy for us to say we would do that, or do that. But in reality, we have no idea how to balance a budget. It seems that our current government doesn't care about balancing a budget so why should I? 

Economy

It is right to say that we need to play our part in making the economy greener, with the eventual aim to go carbon neutral as soon as possible. It will hurt, and it will cost a lot, but in doing so will grow the economy of Great Britain. I will talk more about this in detail in the energy section, but it’s time the government paid for insulating homes in the UK. 

It will be free to the user, paid for by a levy on energy bills. The levy will be created in such a way that the energy savings of the insulation will be higher than the levy itself. Meaning the cost of energy will be the same or lower than it was before the insulation. 

So why is this in the economy section, well the number of jobs that would be created by this would be incredible. The idea would be that they are to be paid a living wage for their area, and that will be paid for by the government. This would then be paid off by the energy levy that would be put on household and corporate bills. 

I would also make serious efforts to renationalise many parts of the economy that has been sold off. But, rather than buying out existing companies, networks, and infrastructure. I would build new, from the ground up to be efficient, to offer the best prices for the British people. To offer well-paying jobs to the British people, and to give the British people pride in their services. 

I would create a new Internet Service Provider in the UK, UKNET, With the aim of offering fair-priced high-speed internet. I’m not talking about the so-called high-speed connections seen in many parts of the country. It would offer low-cost or even free 100/10 Mbit connections to those on benefits. I would like them to offer up to 2.5 GBit connections to all addresses in the UK. It would be run like a private company, with the aim to make 3-5% profit, slowly paying back the government for the huge investment that would be needed. 

The idea would be to make the UK primed for offering a great competitive advantage for a variety of services, streamers, digital companies, banks, stock traders, media companies and anyone else who needs high-speed connections at a fair price. They would also allow other networks to piggyback connections, acting as a virtual service provider, either to use this as the primary connection or to make it a backup connection. 

I would also look to create a new logistics network in the UK, UKPS, UK Postal Services, with the aim of making delivery in the UK faster, cheaper and better for the environment. It would work like many logistic companies, but would only use electric vehicles or when necessary, synthetic fuels. Such as biodiesel, or ethanol. Once again they would aim to make 3-5% profit much like all of these new services. 

Next, a new energy company would be created, both as a provider and producer of power. UK Energy. The aim would be to offer fair rates on green energy. Like all of these new companies, it would be owned by the government, aim to make a 3-5% profit margin and provide a greener fairer future. I will talk about this more in the energy section of this list. It would offer subsidised energy to those in the most need, like those with children with disabilities, who cannot work or are on benefits. 

I would create a construction company, the UK Corp of Engineers, specifically aimed at infrastructure and public construction. They would work closes with the armed forces, giving many an avenue of employment after being in the army. They would build roads, schools, hospitals, prisons, energy infrastructure and anything else needed by the government. They would also work with private companies looking to have construction done, hotels, warehouses, and manufacturing centres… all would be open for contract work around the UK. It would also be allowed to operate around the world as a form of state aid, where it can help developing countries construct anything from networking to clean energy infrastructure. 

Using the UK Corp of Engineers I would go on a massive building program, constructing social housing across the UK, to ensure that all families, single people, and couples, no matter who they are, they can at least have a roof over their head. 

Taxes

For me this is a really easy one, I would not only make sure there is a 45% tax band but also bring back the 50% tax band. I think it is time those with the highest incomes bear the largest brunt of supporting society.

When it comes to taxes paid on profits I think we should have a tiered system in place much like the taxes paid by people. So smaller companies pay less tax, making them more competitive globally while larger multinationals have to pay more. I would also simplify the tax codes in the UK and make it harder for companies to get out of paying their fair share of taxes. 

I would also help accelerate the move towards a greener economy by rewarding companies that use green energy, install solar panels, make moves to be more energy efficient, change their vehicles to electric and many other ways to make the country better for the environment. 

Education

How can we expect to have a growing economy in the coming years and decades if we don’t put our best foot forward? I would like to see greater investment into schools, colleges, and universities. I would get them to work with UK Energy to add solar panels and wind turbines to their buildings and property. I would make it so UK Energy bought the power at the going rate for these customers. 

I would also look into sweeping reforms, to get more teachers, with better pay and better motivation. Vast increases in funding for the education centre would help to give our children the best likelihood of success into the future. I would bring back work placements, so all school children have work experience and references. 

I would also do one other large thing, I would make it so the government paid for degrees for anyone with a company sponsor. The idea would be simple, the companies would agree to hire someone in the future if they complete a certain course, and the government would pay for it. If they fail the course or drop out, it would be treated like existing student debt, if the company fails to hire them the company would be liable for the cost of the education. 

We would create the most skilled workforce in the world, if someone wants to get a high-skill job, we will make it possible for them. This is also a way for us to increase the amount of investment in the UK. By providing the best skills, exactly where they are needed we can be flexible and highly skilled. 

I would also reward people for going to medical school, not only making it free but also helping with their living costs while they are in education. The idea would be to have an ever-increasing number of doctors, nurses, dentists etc. 

NHS

The NHS is one of those political things that really shouldn’t be political. But yet it is. 

I would like to see the NHS properly funded, the plans put in place for education would make the NHS more viable in the long term. But in the short term, a change needs to be enacted. That change would obviously need to include more funding. 

More importantly, we need to make an NHS that works for working people. Many of my aims would help increase the number of jobs within the UK, which would mean a higher number of people who need to be seen outside of working hours. The first thing that would be put in place is to ensure that all people can get time off work for seeing a doctor. But more importantly, we would need to hire more doctors in order to offer late and weekend appointments. 

I would do this by increasing the pay rate for doctors and also offering a one-off relocation fee, meaning if a doctor would like to come to the UK, they would sign a five-year contract and would be given an amount of money to help them find housing, access local groups and generally become comfortable in the UK.

I would also offer a one-off payment for qualified nurses that would like to move to the UK on the same terms as the doctors, sign a five-year contract and get a little payout to help them get settled. The aim once again is to ensure that the NHS can perform its best work without worry of shortages. 

I would also conduct a massive study, asking all doctors, what they need to give the best care they can. Better facilities, equipment, more training, and then I would try my best to give them what they need. 

I would make it easier for doctors to prescribe cannabis for patients they they feel would benefit, from pain, mental health, cancer, and any other needs that could be addressed with the product. 

Energy

So I have already talked about the creation of UK Energy and how it would function to some degree. But here I want to talk about what would be my plan. A plan to change Britain, to leverage our place in the world to the best it can be. Britain is very lucky, it is geographically close to Europe, but as an island has extensive energy resources. 

I would make it so every new wind turbine is owned by UK Energy, and I would build as many as we can. I would let it be known to the world that the plan is to buy turbines built in Britain, for British waters. Meaning if a company wants to get in on what would be one of the world's largest green energy contracts, they would have to start production in the UK. 

I would also go on to build nuclear reactors, I would want the entire UK's baseload energy needs to be fulfilled by nuclear, so every time someone buys an electric car, there is a promise that there will be reliable, low-carbon energy. 

On top of that, there would be a large amount of research into building large-scale energy storage. Be it battery, thermal, pumped hydro, or whatever makes the most sense for the UK.

 

Also, I would make it a legal requirement for all government buildings to be fitting with solar and microturbines. These assets would be owned by UK Energy, and in the case of them being installed on local authority buildings, they would share the revenue with them. Hospitals, jails, courthouses, offices, army buildings, everywhere would be expected to be retrofitted with renewable power generation. 

I would require private companies to install solar, they can either do it themselves and enjoy the power production for their own uses or they could allow UK Energy to install it and pay them a percentage of the income from the power produced. Also, they would be required to build semi-transparent solar panel coverings over all of the car park areas they have, once again either themselves or done by UK Energy. 

Every single street lamppost would be equipped with a solar panel and internal battery, this is to offset the cost and energy use of street lighting. Mostly to free up as much of the grid as possible for the charging of electric cars overnight. 

So why are we producing so much power, I mean the nuclear alone would be enough to convert a massive chunk of the UK's power to low-carbon energy. We already have much of our power coming from renewables and I would see to grow that. The aim would be simple, to become Europe's power plant. To produce as much power as we can, green power, and sell it on to France, or anyone who wants to buy it. 

The UK would also become highly competitive for energy-intensive industries, steel production, manufacturing, data centres, number crunching, and render farms. There are many other high-energy industries that would love to have a low-carbon, low-cost source of energy. It could also be worked out to reuse the heat from these industries to help heat homes in winter or direct that heat to other uses such as heating offices and prisons, used in secondary industries or even recapture the energy using low boiling point liquids to run turbines. 

UK Energy will also be tasked with investigating new wars of harnessing the natural resources of the UK, from wave power, to tidal lagoons, new designs of wind turbines to research into higher performance solar panels. I would also task them with the development of UK nuclear designs, small modular reactors, thorium, and breeder reactors, creating new technology that can be sold around the world. 

Conclusion

None of this would be cheap, and it would in the short term be a drag on the economy. But it is my belief that for Britain to be a global player, for us to be not only relevant but prevalent into the coming century. We need to change, I don’t think we can go back to the EU but we should do our best to take advantage of what we have gained. 

I think we have to accept that many jobs will be automated, and if we are wanting to have a growing economy into the future that we need to sell the biggest resource in the world, the most important resource in the world. Energy. Green, low-carbon energy, grown on a scale not seen since the industrial revolution. 

But what do you think? What would you do in the place of the leader of Britain? 

Thanks for reading, 

Spec.