British politics is now reduced to a cross-party agenda of incessant and often trivial intervention. Ask not what your government can do for you www.ft.com/content/ecf1... - ThreadSky

robertshrimsley.bsky.social • 45 days ago

British politics is now reduced to a cross-party agenda of incessant and often trivial intervention.

Ask not what your government can do for you https://www.ft.com/content/ecf1786a-a2ec-46a8-a221-ee5635fb7b4e

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project-manager.bsky.social•44 days ago

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timwildschut.bsky.social•44 days ago

Compared to Dutch and German cities (for example) UK cities look like garbage tips, arguably due to a lack of intervention rather than a surfeit of it.

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•45 days ago

From football regulators to the resale price of pop concert tickets the UK is hooked on intervention which is widening the cost of scope of the state.

https://www.ft.com/content/ecf1786a-a2ec-46a8-a221-ee5635fb7b4e

ryan1969.bsky.social•44 days ago

But then you hear that gig workers are now having to pay a fee to get paid. Doesn't that need regulation? As for £5 to drop someone off at Gatwick airport, can that be regulated out please! can you have less regulation without more fleecing of customers?

pickardje.bsky.social•44 days ago

fwiw a crackdown on ticket tout price gouging may be minor *but* it is an easy win for government which 1) costs nothing and 2) may even get some gratitude from some voters, almost zero downside

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•44 days ago

Not the point - however annoying, it is not an essential utility or a problem which requires the government. Not the job of the state to regulate the annoying.

pickardje.bsky.social•44 days ago

hypothetical test case: if a billionaire bought up UK’s entire supply of turkeys a fortnight before Christmas and offered to sell them for £300 each would PM Shrimsley be relaxed?

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•44 days ago

Hypothetical test case. If the moon was made of green cheese would you spread it on your toast for tea.

cjlemire.com•44 days ago

pickardje.bsky.social•44 days ago

they said that bluesky was too consensual, but here we are arguing about green cheese, I like it

pibasedlifeform.bsky.social•44 days ago

Well hang on a sec here

Is this moon based green cheese sustainable?

Am I essentially eating my way through at what makes tides work?

Its not as simple as putting cheese on toast, however delicious it might be

kentindell.bsky.social•44 days ago

Spreadable green cheese is something you definitely would not want to spread on your toast. If you have some in the fridge, I recommend throwing it away. While wearing a mask.

phooey.bsky.social•44 days ago

The state is there to protect consumers from harm and rip offs. This is such a case.

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•44 days ago

Lots of things are overpriced. Gucci Handbags are overpriced. It isn't a rip-off the state has to concern itself with if you don't have to buy it.

phooey.bsky.social•44 days ago

The state is there to intervene in cases of market failure. Ticket touting / gouging on the current scale (with bots of ticket touts buying the majority of tickets in advance and then charging exorbitant fees) is clear market failure.

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•44 days ago

The state is there for market failures in essential services. (And by the way if we are arguing market failure, which I don't, then tickets are clearly underpriced or there would not be a market for huge mark-ups).

bondhack.ft.com•44 days ago

Consumer protection isn’t a job for government? Interesting take.

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•44 days ago

Define consumer protection. Fraud or misleading info is already covered by the law. What we are talking about is someone offering something desirable but inessential to people at an exorbitant price they do not have to pay.

bondhack.ft.com•44 days ago

There's extensive precedent for governments stepping in when they think markets are unfairly skewed/abused. That's the whole basis of antitrust law. It doesn't have to be through outright fraud or misselling for governments to step in. Biden also proposed limits on hidden ticket fees for example.

grantybot.bsky.social•44 days ago

It is the role of the government to crack down on a price gouging scheme that rips off the people they represent. They're supposed to look after us

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•44 days ago

Why? This isn't water or electricity. If you feel gouged, don't buy the ticket.

steve151999.bsky.social•44 days ago

What about when the scalpers have skewed the market & obtained the tickets by illegal methods thus depriving the potential concert goers of a fair chance of buying a ticket? Surely that’s the market should be regulated to create a level playing field for all?

paulsharples.bsky.social•44 days ago

“Annoying” is a misdescription. “Unethical” is the word

jasonoflondon.bsky.social•44 days ago

Isn't the point with music/arts that there is a long-accepted social benefit that the market does not account for? Museums are not essential, for example. They're a merit good/service.

littlewashita.bsky.social•44 days ago

That’s about all our US Atty General, Merrick Garland, accomplished in the last four years…
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/23/tech/live-nation-antitrust-violations-doj-lawsuit/index.html

donmercutio.bsky.social•44 days ago

It is not annoying it is market interfere and not fair competition. Someone buying up all the supply then pushing up the price is profiteering. If it was for gas... Oh yeah they let that happen too...

strumstrum.bsky.social•44 days ago

In a democracy, it is the job of government to be useful. That may include regulating the annoying.

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•44 days ago

No it isn't the job of the govt "to be useful" which is why we don't have a state-run handyman service, a civil servant to drop off my laundry, go to Tesco or deal with spiders in the house

strumstrum.bsky.social•44 days ago

You miss the point. In a democracy, a government that fails to be useful ceases to be the government; they're voted out. They need not be omni-purpose, but they need to be useful.

jonathanlomax.bsky.social•44 days ago

Spot on, a perfect policy for a govt with no money.

gpollara.bsky.social•44 days ago

Agree Jim, that's what I thought too re ticket touts.

It helps the "is my life a bit better under this government?" test.

ianmusgrave.bsky.social•44 days ago

The football ‘industry’ is ripe for exploitation due to fan loyalty and doesn’t operate as a competitive ‘market’ - it’s a perfectly good sector for government intervention

catharina24.bsky.social•44 days ago

When you’ve not been able to go on a proper holiday for years (my last one was in 2017) outings- tickets- are precious moments of leisure. So not being priced out and ripped off makes me very grateful..

amhoward.bsky.social•44 days ago

The problem for the right is that ticket resale is an expression of the invisible hand of the market. Shit happens, prices reflect the difference between supply and demand. The problem for the right is that demand inelasticity stems from very human qualities like love, loyalty and passion.

pickardje.bsky.social•44 days ago

also, I would wince if the government tried to regulate the original price of the ticket, or of an LP - at the expense of artists and venues - this is all about trying to suppress the parasitical middle men

danbrady.bsky.social•44 days ago

I see your point in principle, but non-utility monopolies and mergers are regulated for good reason. The government can help keep the market freer than dominant players would otherwise make it. Govt is there to represent the people’s interests. Tech giants are a lesson in 21st century monopolies.

simonywaking.bsky.social•44 days ago

Counterpoint. Trivial and over complex regulations often stem from a failure to intervene earlier at a more profound level. Eg. Rules over vape flavours are only deemed necessary because of the failure to stop a new addictive drug product becoming a commercial venture seeking to maximise sales.

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•44 days ago

In that case ban them, or limit their sale to minors (as this legislation does) Don't say a product is legal but then fiddle around regulating flavours.

simonywaking.bsky.social•44 days ago

Agree. Vapes are useful for smokers to move to a less harmful habit. They should have been restricted in distribution to existing smokers and banned as a commercially marketed product. Thus my point - it is *failure to intervene* at the outset that leads to deck-chair rearranging at a later date.

simonywaking.bsky.social•44 days ago

I guess my quibble is the anti-interventionist vibe I get from your piece, when my feeling is that it is cowardly unwillingness to intervene more decisively that creates this trivial activity after the event.

warwicks1.bsky.social•45 days ago

I find lots to agree with in what you say. But....I'd argue in some instances new regulation is needed as a counterweight to large financial organisations increasingly resorting to legal means to rig systems in their favour. A football regulator is a good example of that and, for me, very welcome.

strumstrum.bsky.social•45 days ago

Isn't one of the reasons the Civil Service is so big is because all the things the EU Commission used to do, now has to be done by our CS?

robertshrimsley.bsky.social•45 days ago

It is a factor, yes

tommccallum.com•44 days ago

Giggling to see that the replies to this thread completely proved your point about what people now seem to expect of government and what government thinks it is there for.

Now, what if we could all be self-responsible and let government get on with creating an environment for us to thrive?

bmitchellwrites.bsky.social•44 days ago

I sort of agree and disagree. One of the roles of govt, in my view, should be to make our lives easier, more straightforward, So many sectors behave like the wild west, causing real stress. e.g. insurance or the building trade. The latter are a law unto themselves. Our regulators have been pathetic

bmitchellwrites.bsky.social•44 days ago

at holding certain industries to account and protecting consumers (water. Even Ofcom with re: to GB News). Life has become a real slog b'cos so many organisations and companies behave appallingly and treat customers like mugs. Govts should intervene in these cases.

bmitchellwrites.bsky.social•44 days ago

Train companies, dodgy landlords, broadband and phone providers. Wherever you look, you see examples of orgs. fail in their duty to provide paying customers the services they should get.

braincells.bsky.social•45 days ago

The contrast with some of the Nordic politicians such as Stubb and Orpo of Finland is incredible. Our lot seem so childish in comparison.

maketsufi.bsky.social•45 days ago

Orpo is terrible tbh.

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