The 2020 group of Conservative MPs has apparently submitted a paper to the Conservative manifesto project, which demands that the economy generate motherhood and apple pie in equal proportions:
The group’s first submission to the Tory manifesto process, published Monday, calls for a major drive to boost productivity by making better use of resources instead of relying on cutting labour costs. It says that Britain is lagging behind its rivals in areas such as recycling and “remanufacturing” so that materials or parts have a second or third life. It urges the Government to transfer responsibility for waste from the Environment to the Business department.
Laura Sandys, the Tory MP who wrote the report, “Sweating our Assets,” said such a push could result in a 12 per cent increase in annual profits for manufacturers; create more than 300,000 jobs in the “remanufacturing sector”; improve Britain’s balance of payments by £20 billion by 2020 and save £3 billion by reduced landfill costs and retaining the value of resources.
Whether efficiency gains are actually achieved from recycling depends, of course, on whether it is actually more efficient to recycle. We are already, for example, grinding up waste glass at vast expense, a process that everyone agrees is a waste of resources. My belief is that this comes about through a wicked combination of politicians wanting to be seen to do something, intellectually challenged greens thinking they are saving the planet, and bureaucrats trying to expand their empires.
Reading between the lines, the 2020 group's idea seems to be to have more of the same: to expand the reach of central planning in the economy, give further ground to the greens and to recruit more bureaucrats.
Mr Farage will be pleased.