Mark My Words Podcast

The Real Cost of Political U-Turns: Jonathan Collins on UK's Infrastructure CrisisMark talks to Jonathan Collins, friend and former leader of Nottingham City Council for 16 years. They discuss in depth Labour's recent budget decisions, infrastructure challenges, and the complexities of political promises. While coming from different sides of the political spectrum, their frank discussion explores local government, infrastructure investment, and the realities of political decision making. The debate around HS2, regional development, and political accountability makes this a must listen for anyone interested in UK politics and economic policy. KEY TAKEAWAYS • Good infrastructure (railways, roads, broadband) is essential for local economic growth - when these basics are missing, even successful businesses struggle to expand. • Politicians avoid being honest about taxes before elections, creating a cycle of unrealistic promises and voter disappointment. • There aren't enough young people being born causing a social care and tax crisis. • Government projects often cost much more than necessary because officials are too focused on avoiding any possible criticism rather than being practical. • The constant stopping and starting of major projects like HS2 wastes enormous amounts of money as contractors have to keep reorganising their work. • Many areas of the UK are held back not by lack of business opportunity, but by poor transport connections and outdated infrastructure. • Union influence on Labour Party decisions is less direct than many people think. • Professional experts often over-engineer infrastructure projects due to fear of future criticism, leading to gold-plated solutions rather than practical ones. • Local councils face challenges in basic service delivery (like waste collection) due to the complex relationship between unions, management, and practical realities. BEST MOMENTS "Part of the challenge with politics is that it often descends into personalities... But ultimately, this is all about how we run the country and it's about policy." "The country isn't working anymore. It isn't functioning and so the conversation is, so are we happy with that? Are we happy to continue doing that?" "There aren't enough young people being born. You're not enough working age people to pay for the old people. We've got social care issues." "If you concentrate on infrastructure and housing, you will get growth. Infrastructure and housing will deliver you growth." "Why does it cost four times as much to do HS2 per mile than it does to do the TGV?" "Each time they get all of their payments, as soon as the government decides to stop again, it's massively disruptive and costly. Stop starting. I mean, it's completely bonkers." VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/ ABOUT THE HOST Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties. CONTACT METHOD Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive ‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

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The State of the UKs DebtMark gives his analysis of the UK's dire economic situation following the spring statement. Mark talks about the current national debt and reveals why we're caught in a dangerous doom loop of increased spending, higher taxes, and reduced growth. He dissects the chancellor's recent announcements, calling most of it "just noise" while highlighting the critical issues that politicians aren’t properly addressing. KEY TAKEAWAYS • The UK's debt crisis has reached critical levels at approximately 100% of GDP (£2.65 trillion), with interest payments alone now costing taxpayers £105 billion annually which is nearly 10% of all government spending. • Government spending is £1.27 trillion yearly (roughly 50% of all money generated in the economy), with welfare representing the largest portion at £313 billion, yet the chancellor's proposed cuts amount to less than 2% of this budget. • The UK is caught in a doom loop where increased taxes to fund growing expenditure only reduces economic growth and productivity, ultimately generating less tax revenue and worsening the debt situation. • The government is using inflation as a strategy to reduce the real value of the national debt, effectively devaluing the pound in everyone's pocket by approximately 3% annually. • Public confidence in economic management is abysmal, with only 16% of voters believing the government is handling the economy well and just 11% viewing the chancellor's performance positively. • Housing may be the one bright spot, with the OBR forecasting construction will reach a 40-year high of 305,000 homes annually by the end of the forecast period, approaching the government's promise of 1.5 million new homes. BEST MOMENTS "Currently we're riding at about 100% of GDP, so the UK owes £2.65 trillion, or 96% to be precise, of the amount of money that flows around this economy every year, which is a huge amount of money." "What they should have done was fix the roof when the sun was shining. But instead what they've done, they've increased welfare spending, they've increased spending on the NHS, which seems incredibly wasteful." "We're in a doom loop. And it needs somebody to come along and take some very difficult decisions to fix that." "It's going to take somebody, a Margaret Thatcher style character, I think, to come along and really get government spending in check because I just don't think Labor are going to do it." VALUABLE RESOURCES https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/ ABOUT THE HOST Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties. CONTACT METHOD Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive ‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

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