New Thinking Required
The UK is suffering from a lack of confidence at a critical time for the country. Assuming Brexit does actually take place, the country will need to find a new direction and create a new dynamic within the global economy.
There is a strong sense of frustration with the political scene, illustrated by the rise of UKIP and flirtation with the hard left.
Advocates of capitalism have not recovered from the banking crisis, but state control can offer no solutions. People need to reclaim control of their lives and not surrender control to the state.
There is no magic solution to this malaise, but small steps can be taken to gradually improve the situation.
The rant
Politics
Our current relationship with politicians is failing and needs to be addressed urgently.
1. Move to a system of proportional representation. The current voting system ha failed with millions of people effectively disenfranchised. Millions are also unable to vote for the party they actually support as there is no hope of being elected in parliament.The system also prevents representation of smaller parties such as the Greens
1. Scrap Prime Minister's Questions. This is a complete farce and shows parliament in the worst possible light while achieving nothing.
2. Make party leader press conferences compulsory. Voters need to see top politicians answering difficult questions in order to judge their abilities.
3. State provision of services is extremely inefficient and often corrupt, there is no case for the government to have an additional role.
Housing
Housing is one of the biggest problems faced by the UK. Nearly all the crisis points in the economy can be traced back to housing failure.
House prices are simply too high and have been throughout the past 20 years at least. Inflated house prices increase the overall cost of living.
The Bank of England monetary policy has made the situation even worse. Interest rates have been far too low since the financial crisis. Low rates have encouraged financial speculation while low rates have pushed an army of investors into the buy-to-rent market.
The 2% inflation target is too high, forcing both the Bank of England and global central banks into keeping interest rates far too low which encourages asset-price inflation.