65 Ways to Fix Broken Britain


There's a lot wrong with this country. Many of the problems could be fixed, if there was the will to do so. Keith Gilmour has emailed this list, his '65 Ways to Fix Broken Britain', which CF is happy to reproduce here.

CF doesn't necessarily agree with every idea on the list, but at least there is a list. Something to debate. A starting point.  If only our hopeless politicians, or woeful political parties, would come up with some practical, understandable ideas, rather than flinging shit at each other, and lying about each other all day.

Here's the list:


Recruit (and reward) whistleblowers to expose waste and inefficiency in public services

Curtail the out-of-control 'I trip, therefore I sue' compensation culture

Ditto the offence industry

Encourage everyone to spring clean their possessions and give to charity
shops anything they don't want or need

Do more government advertising on the cheap via competitions (as when members of the public submitted to the BBC homemade 'London 2012' Olympics logos far superior to the one that cost us £400,000)

Cut the bureaucratic overkill that puts many people off volunteering

Scrap extraneous new database schemes

Scrap quangos that duplicate – or invent – unnecessary work

Scrap mindlessly excessive health and safety bureaucracies

Educate the badly-behaved teen and preteen minority separately (and
more appropriately), thereby making it far easier to improve standards in
our deterrent-free schools

Stop giving aid money to corrupt, despotic regimes and give it, instead, directly to the charities that work in countries currently suffering under
such regimes

Encourage overseas aid agencies and charities to distribute charity pledge
dog tags and wristbands reminding recipients of some very basic facts –
e.g. 'Condoms Prevent AIDS; Raping Virgins Doesn't'

Wherever possible, send troops to oust brutal despots

Ditto parts of the world where species are being poached to the verge of extinction

Start charging obese adults for all healthcare (other than gastric bands)

End the wasteful and counterproductive War on Drugs that forces addicts
into open-ended crime sprees, makes the drugs more dangerous (and easier
for under-eighteens to access) and which funds other organised crime

Reduce teenage pregnancies by not rewarding them with state handouts

Scrap anti-euthanasia laws that keep terminally ill people, who no longer
wish to live, alive and in pain against their wills

Save money on surveillance programs by deporting extremists who insist
they hate us and despise our values

Avoid wasting money on monitoring and supervision programs (whilst reducing their chances of ever re-offending to zero) by never releasing
from prison people who've raped toddlers

Create a gang members register similar to the sex offenders register

Ditto a heroin-users register

Encourage prisoners guilty of particularly sickening crimes to commit
suicide, or else create for them much simpler and cheaper accommodation (that doesn't cost us £30,000 a year per inmate)

Allow homeowners to use 'any means necessary' to defend their families, their property and their possessions

Protect prostitutes from robbery and violence – and others from being trafficked and enslaved – by regulating this aspect of the sex industry

Provide supervised accommodation for the mentally ill and homeless

Tax junk food manufacturers to help cover the costs of obesity

Tax chewing gum manufacturers to cover the costs of removing it from pavements

Either stop importing foreigners to do 'the jobs we don't want to do' or
stop paying benefit addicts to do nothing

Offer experimental drugs to any seriously ill person willing to risk trying them, thereby speeding up the development of new treatments

Make it easier for infertile women (or those who'd simply prefer to skip
nine months of pregnancy) to adopt orphans from overseas

Change the organ donation system from 'opt in' to 'opt out'

Set traps to catch thugs targeting fire crews with projectiles

Ban burkas and niqabs from British streets

Build more nuclear power stations

Reverse the closure of care homes, post offices and pubs

Create more allotments to allow people without gardens to grow their
own food

Encourage micro-generation of electricity by increasing grants to
homeowners

Compel takeaways to put health information/warnings on their food cartons

Provide more public drinking fountains to discourage the purchase of
bottled water

Make it cheaper and easier for would-be entrepreneurs to start up new businesses

Head off an obesity epidemic by offering young people free, healthy school meals and subsidised gym memberships

Build massive, underground water tanks near areas prone to flooding

Name, shame and penalise 'jobsworth' and 'not my job' types depressingly prevalent in the public sector

Increase street lighting and police patrols in problem neighbourhoods

Stop relying on unpaid volunteers to set up and staff youth clubs and cafes intended to prevent young people in problem areas from drifting into crime

Stop paying incapacity benefit to people who aren't actually incapacitated

Put school pupils found to be well-nigh devoid of empathy on 'watch lists' before they leave

Offer to hide tiny cameras in the homes of women fearing domestic violence

Automatically reject Islamist asylum seekers

Publicly praise philanthropists as examples to follow or better

Extend parenting classes to anyone who can be encouraged to participate

Take back the millions of pounds madly dished out to prisoners who had to empty their own bedpans every morning – and don't give them any more

Recruit teams of 'fixers' to seek out and repair potholes in roads across
Britain (instead of waiting for motorists, belatedly, to report them)

Ditto litter and graffiti – and road signs obscured by bushes or grime

Commission colourful and inspirational murals for big, blank walls

Send teams of advisers door-to-door to help homeowners make their properties more energy efficient

Identify and eradicate unnecessary paperwork currently hampering
teachers, nurses and police officers

Refurbish derelict buildings (or demolish them and return the land to
nature)

Save money on art for government offices and embassies by instead requesting donations from secondary school art departments

Increase screening programs for earlier detection of serious diseases

Use non-violent prisoners as unpaid labour on a massive scale

Reduce the number of management consultants in the public sector

Insist the Common Agricultural Policy be scrapped

Sell advertising space on money



CF is off for lunch at his mummy's house now; your task is to debate these ideas, fully and frankly. in the comments. Off you go.


_

19 comments:

JuliaM said...

Only things I have problems with are:

Encourage everyone to spring clean their possessions and give to charity shops anything they don't want or need - not the business of the government what people do with their items

Wherever possible, send troops to oust brutal despots - not the business of the government what other countries do

Change the organ donation system from 'opt in' to 'opt out' - the government doesn't own our bodies, and shouldn't be encouraged to think it does

Ban burkas and niqabs from British streets - ditto for what we wear, though if anyone laughs and points at you, no compensation for hurt feelings or public order offence applies

Compel takeaways to put health information/warnings on their food cartons - anyone who needs to be told junk food is fattening if you eat too much is - by definition - too dumb to bother with..

Ed P said...

Wow, what a big list!

No (free at the point of use) healthcare for the obese? Who would determine the treatment choice between, say, two people weighing a few grams either side of some arbitrary split point, but both equally ill? I'd just make all but essential medical interventions NOT free on the NHS, e.g., cosmetic and "life-style" surgery, tattoo removal, etc.

Longrider said...

It's a start as you say. Like Julia, Ed P and yourself, there's a fair bit I disagree with. Organ donation, aid and military intervention to start with.

But, as you say - it's something to discuss.

Ed P said...

Two more points: Vast underground water tanks to cope with flash floods is a mad plan - the tank volumes required to make this work would cost Billions. Perhaps better to ban hard-standings - front gardens used to play a significant role is the slow absorption of rainwater (as did the flood plains now covered with houses - the clue was in the name). It's not the volume of water, but the speed at which it reaches the drains.
And, "refuse islamist asylum seekers" is just bigoted and unworkable. An "ability to speak English" test (or desire to learn it) might help - it's mainly a cultural integration problem.

manwiddicombe said...

I'm suffering from Authoritarian Scheme Overload after reading that list.

Many of those things are contradictory or just plain bigoted
e.g 1 "Save money on surveillance programs by deporting extremists who insist they hate us and despise our values" and "Put school pupils found to be well-nigh devoid of empathy on 'watch lists' before they leave"
e.g 2 "Stop relying on unpaid volunteers to set up and staff youth clubs and cafes intended to prevent young people in problem areas from drifting into crime
" and "Use non-violent prisoners as unpaid labour on a massive scale"

Lucky this list hasn't been issued by a politician because bloggers would tear it to pieces .. .. ..

The End (Bye Bye!) said...

Seems a bit Authoritarian in places there, CF.

Some good ones though.

Anonymous said...

Somewhat offtopic, but fuck me, it made me furious:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8277378.stm

Quiet_Man said...

What is it with people who want to put things right and gross intrusions into personal liberty?

Anonymous said...

One of the things I have a problem with is:

Tax junk food manufacturers to help cover the costs of obesity

Why? It's not like people are being force -fed the stuff. If that's what people want to buy and eat, so be it. That type of thinking is analagous to a pedestrian suing the motor manufacturer because he/she wasn't looking when crossing the street.

No no no, CF. Not very libertarian at all.

Anonymous said...

FWIW, there's one simple way to fix "Broken Britain":

Never ever ever again let socialists near the levers of power!!

Constantly Furious said...

As I said, I don't necessarily agree with all of 'em myself...

Jill said...

Gordon Waters, there's some jackbooted items there.

66: dispense with all the authoritarian suggestions from 1-65

67: give us back habeas corpus

68: raise the minimum wage to a sum that a family unit with 2 full time workers earning it wouldn't need benefits

Tcheuchter said...

"Insist the Common Agricultural Policy be scrapped"

There is no amount of insisting that will succeed in scrapping the CAP. If you want the United Kingdom to be free of the constraints of the CAP you must ensure that anti-EUSSR MPs are elected, and to do that you will have to vote (like it or not) UKIP.

bnzss said...

Looks like a weird mash of quasi-libertarian and neoconservativism.

Interesting.

Weekend Yachtsman said...

Far too much statist crap in that list for my liking.

Back to the drawing board, chaps, and remember, The State is Not Your Friend.

Ever.

Even when it's apparently doing or supporting things you approve of.

Anonymous said...

Step 1. Undo every piece of legislation since 1997.

Step 2. Shoot in the face every fucker who has voted Labour ever.

Step 3. Repeat step 2.

Done.

Z.

Unknown said...

'Make it easier for infertile women (or those who'd simply prefer to skip
nine months of pregnancy) to adopt orphans from overseas'


What's wrong with our own orphans like? Do you want everyone to look like Madonna!?

Unknown said...

@JuliaM (Ref: Change the organ donation system from 'opt in' to 'opt out' - the government doesn't own our bodies, and shouldn't be encouraged to think it does)

It's simple - people have a choice. But at the moment, people choose to take but not give. Whereas if people had to 'opt out' instead, then they should also be opting out of receiving organs.

I also think that EVERYBODY should give blood when they turn 18 (not on their birthday though) to put them 'in credit'. Anyone who refuses (unless due to a medical condition) should be refused blood when needed.

Unknown said...

"WHY DO WE ALLOW PREGNANT WOMEN (who are not rape victims or teens) TO MURDER THEIR UNBORN CHILD THROUGH ABORTION (TAKE SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFE) AND DEPRIVE THE CHILD OF ITS RIGHT TO LIFE, YET DONT ALLOW PEOPLE WITH SEVERE PAIN, SUFFERING, ETC THE CHOICE TO END THEIR LIFE(TAKE THEIR OWN LIFE).

IF WE HAVE A RIGHT TO LIFE WE SHOULD ALSO HAVE A RIGHT TO DEATH. IT'S OUR LIFE SO WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO CHOOSE TO END IT CLEANLY AND WITHOUT RUININING OTHER LIVES IN THE PROCESS (I.E: DOCTORS BEING STRUCK OFF, SPOUSES BEING JAILED, DRIVERS/CHILDREN/ETC BEING SCARRED FOR LIFE) AND AFTER BEING GIVEN ADVICE, COUNSELING AND SUPPORT.

YOU WOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO KEEP AN ANIMAL ALIVE IF IT WAS SUFFERING.