Mike Rouse Digs Deeper

There was a big story at the weekend about a "couple who broke up for financial reasons".

Mike Rouse debated it with one of our mutual blogging mates and decided to do a post on how his views developed in the light of the story - here.

Well, the subject of the original article has contacted Mike Rouse and further altered Mike's perceptions as described in a follow up post. As a result of the turn of events Mike has a much more interesting and rounded story.

In respect of the problems faced by young couples, there is no single remedy or policy solution. In truth, there are several underlying problems that need to be tackled including public housing allocation, taxes, benefits, the overall housing market and crime. David Cameron's promise to put the interests of ordinary families at the heart of policy is an important commitment to getting on top of the malaise.

Top Young Conservative Blogger

Matthew Sinclair who writes the excellent Sinclair's Musings is the best Young Conservative blogger according to my readership - he was the first to accumulate 50 reader votes. Matthew recently graduated from the LSE with an MSC in Economic History (Research). The content of Matthew's blog can be fairly hevayweight, but is always very readable.

Although fiercely partisan (good), Matthew is definitely his own man and can be relied upon to bring an original perspective to the political issues of the day. I urge my readership to go over to his place, take a look and leave a comment.

It was a two-horse race as the front-runners secured 70% of the votes cast. So congrats to Matthew's nearest challenger, Will Burstow who reached 50 votes shortly after Matthew. Another recommended read. PS - I've decided on a new poll.

Measures To Assist Young People

Today, I am happy to be the guest blogger at the excellent Birmingham University Conservative Future blog. I thought it would be appropriate to do a brief post there on why young voters are Natural Tories.

On this theme here are few statistics to digest

- Young voters are the more likely than any other age group to feel that the tax burden is too high.
- Average student debt on graduation has increased from £2,212 in 1992 to £13,501 in 2005 and is predicted to reach £20,000 for entrants in 2005
- Am overwhelming majority of young people in the UK aspire to live abroad at some point.
- In spite of over a £1bn being spent to combat it school truancy figures are breaking new records.

To summarise, there is a growing divergence between youngsters who opt in and opt out of the education system. But even those who stay in the system must overcome great challenges. New graduates face massive and growing debt burden, spiralling living costs and high marginal taxes at low to medium income levels mean that it is a diminishing number of young workers who can actually realise the most basic and common aspiration of a decent job and full financial independence.

What Would This Tory Do?

Problem 1 - Housing Shortage

a) Managed Immigration and Deportation Of Illegal Aliens - this should be the usual state of affairs, but given this government's woeful record it would be a new policy.
b) Land Value Tax - this is known as land reform and encourages the efficient use of land. Where it has occurred (e.g. Ireland) there has been a significant rise in property ownership which is significantly correlated with social cohesion and lower crime levels. The quid pro quo is a reduction in other property taxes such as council tax.
c) Tax On Unused/Derelict Buildings - A key measure taken by Giuliani that helped to transform New York for the better.
d) A bonfire of building and planning regulations

Problem 2 - Student Debt

a) The target of 50% of the population going to university is arbitrary and misguided (there are not that many graduate jobs and at the other end of the spectrum the retirement age keeps being raised to support the public finances). Bin the target and let's get more youngsters working earlier.
b) The government should be more selective in which type of university courses receive central funding. I would be in favour of phasing in a voucher system based on the benefit to society of various courses.
c) Universities should be further exposed to market pressures. I hope that this would lead to innovative market solutions in the education market such as accelerated degree programmes/weekend courses/employer partnerships etc.

Problem 3 - Attacking Disincentives To Work

a) Simplify the range of available benefits. For example make no distinction between disability and unemployment benefits.
b) Combine the tax and benefits system so that marginal tax rates for low-paid workers are never excessive.
c) Set up a personal social fund so that you are rewarded for staying in the system.
d) Unemployment benefits should be a social insurance not a permanent featherbed. Enforce a lifetime upper limit on the receipt of benefits.
e) The black economy destroys legitimate businesses. Crack down on it.

Problem 4 - The Underclass

a) 20% of all school-leavers are illiterate. This is a scandal. A mixture of phonics techniques, punishing the parents of truants and intensive remedial teaching (if necessary during school holidays) for laggards should rectify this.
b) Provide facilities and free heroin for registered heroin addicts, thus pulling the rug out from dealers' incentive to get people hooked.
c) Crack and heroin dealing should be tried as attempted or actual murderers in the courts.
d) Consider the impact of families of all legislation. In particular, ensure the tax system discriminates to promote two-parent families.
e) Encourage small voluntary group initiatives in the community and provide support to help them roll out best practice initiatives.

That's all for now. Feel free to critique. What would you do to help young Brits thrive?

Winning Hearts And Minds

Here's a couple of sensible quotes about education and teachers that mirror my views.

Education is the transmission of civilization.

Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more.

A blogger who holds the Stalinist-sounding post of "political education officer" has caught my eye. As the website for the organisation to which he/she belongs to lists no events or campaigns for this year, I’m hoping that he/she doesn’t manage to do much "teaching" based on the following views expressed on the website to which he/she contributes.

On the Queen

"Do you think the French have any guillotines left that we could borrow?"


On the Klu Klux Klan

"Aka the Republican Party"

On the Tory response to Hitler

"Appeasement of their fascist fellow-travellers on the continent"

If you’re interested to join this group, they are looking to fill the following vacant roles. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Officer and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Officer. Free membership may be available to the first person to guess the organisation. Clue - it isn't the Labour group on Sandwell Council.

Update

Well done to Haddock for matching the views to the organisation (See comments). Their posts on Europe, the Queen and Education are particularly revealing.

Tory Youth

It's all very well to say that you are as young as you feel, but age is more than a number - and I'm happy to pay tribute to the relative strengths of my juniors. At their best, youngsters can exhibit optimism, bravery, flexibility and brilliance which are rarely seen in older specimens. And with all the talk of Cameron and the Tories appealing to yoof I've decided to put them in the spotlight.

Before I start, I think that the Leftie/Grauniad view of youngsters is erroneous at best. An alien from the planet Zog would conclude from that propaganda that the political youth of today are wholly alienated by previous generations, hyper-liberal on social issues, interested in the environment above all else and fairly selfless. That's not borne out by my experience. Independently minded, many feel that their ambitions are frustrated by the high cost of housing and high levels of taxes in the UK and definitely have issues with the nanny state. Generally fun-loving, most express deep concern about general standards of behaviour - more than the baby-boomers seem comfortable articulating. I certainly find a lot in common with young Conservative bloggers and want to put a few of them in the spotlight.

Youth Blogfathers

I'm going to start by mentioning two bloggers who in their different ways are making a great contribution to the young conservative network. First of all I must mention John Moorcraft who is doing a PhD research on Conservative Future and must have the greatest amount of Young Conservative blogroll of anyone. I'm going to call his webiste CF Links Central in my blogroll, not that his posts aren't worth checking. Next up is Mark Clarke - in his role as CF Chairman he is getting his hands dirty and enthusing and managing the troops in a way that is sure to contribute to the wider cause. Young Conservatives seem to be responding very positively to his initiatives especially the marginal seat campaign programme.

Uni Students

Next, I'm going to mention two 21 year olds. Thunderdragon has been on the scene from before I started and I like the way he handles a broad range of subjects in an engaging and friendly manner. Definitely one of the good guys. Fairly new to the scene Tejus Ramakrishnan moves in similar blogging circles to me and is a sharp guy - in the best sense. He is developing an interesting blogging style and he doesn't shy away from ideological positions.

Teen Idols

Finally, I'm going to mention two teenagers. They are the next generation. The impressive historical knowledge they both demonstrate in their blogging goes way beyond a history GCSE syllabus and surely indicates their effective manipulation of the Internet as a resource. I'm feeling particularly well disposed to 17 year old Will B at the moment. Not only are his use of graphics excellent and his blog coherent, but I particularly appreciated his (unsolicited) support during the Piper debacle. Finally, I'll mention the youngest of my recommended bloggers Sam Tarran aged 15. A Midlander, Sam tells it like it is. I'm sure he has Lefty teachers and their like pulling their hair out.

Other Favourites Already Listed

Whilst on the topic, I will mention the excellent Bimingham Uni CF site (which I have listed under Midlands in my links). Also, Martine Martin's Lebwog and Chris Palmer of Political Crossroads are young bloggers. They have been on my blogroll for a while and are worth regular visits.

Which of the above do you think are the best and what have I missed? And what impact do you think that the under 30 Tories are having on the party at large? I'll sort the blogroll out once we've had a discussion.