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JB's avatar

Some great insight there. Thank you so much for shining some light on it.

I have always voted Conservantive but promised after 2020 that I would never do again until the whole party is purged of the ConSocialists that have been on the rise since the mid-90s. I'm now a full blown Libertarian so this law is utterly shocking. For me it provides some key learning points;

(1) Govt actually recognises that moving to Net Zero is going to immiserate us (I had hoped all the PPE grads in Parliament simple had no basic understanding of physics - whilst I think that is the case, their special advisor/activists understand the implications and are planning accordingly). They realise this but are continuing with NZ anyway. Evil.

(2) Compliance through technology is coming - digital currency will see to that. The Energy Bill is another example.

(3) Compliance through nudging has been going on for more than 50yrs. Govts have been increasing the nr of state supplicants for that amount of time and this removes moral agency... and just look at what it has done to personal responsibility across almost every aspect of public life.

(4) I work in infrastructure development (> 30yrs) and have seen how Acts of Parliament (perhaps originally well meaning) and secondary legislation issued through Regulations (via Sec of State with very limited scrutiny) and governed by state bodies, stymies personal decision making and accountability because one ends up following a huge nr of complex procedures (which may appear straightforward on paper but are fiendishly complex in the real world. If you don't think that can happen think about the rules of football and what constitutes a penalty and how much controversy there is when c95% are awarded). It's exhausting to do.

(5) We should be very wary and prepared for significant over-reach with every bit of Govt legislation - it never stops where the words direct you to. Remember that 70+Yr old chap getting arrested for shouting at a Labour Party conference in the early 2000s. He was arrested under an Act brought in to allegedly prevent terrorism. A 70yr old man shouting at Tony Blair from the back of a conference hall.

(6) Depressingly, I am now of the opinion that every single piece of legislation and Govt action is net negative for our Society unless it is to decrease the role of the State). This Bill is dramatically increasing the role of the State so we should expect some dramatically bad outcomes for us. Can anyone think of a modern example where Govts backed a winner? I can't. Think of the Town and Country Planning Act - 70yrs post introduction it micro manages developers to build houses of dreadful quality and dreadful atheistic that people don't really want (pre-1930s houses are after seen as the most desirable by people).

Keep up this great work.

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Dylan Roberts's avatar

Thank you for this excellent article.

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