tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post201581302133449949..comments2023-11-05T22:35:31.766+00:00Comments on Neil Clark: How Jim Callaghan changed the worldNeil Clarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10479041156190090119noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-90187781159120651592007-09-25T10:17:00.000+01:002007-09-25T10:17:00.000+01:00I note that you completely ignored my main point. ...I note that you completely ignored my main point. Still, no change there.<BR/><BR/>Of course, if it is the case that North Sea oil was divvied up so that we got twelve times more than the Norwegians (based on relative population sizes), then I'll concede that my point is completely irrelevant. Perhaps you can provide a link demonstrating this?<BR/><BR/>As it happens, I have been to Norway. I'm sure it's very pleasant indeed for those who can afford more than the bare minimum of basic sustenance, but I wasn't in a position to judge. But since Norway has the happy combination of immense oil and gas wealth and a very small population, it's hardly surprising that it's in a better situation than, say, Bangladesh.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-44817660853221849202007-09-25T08:33:00.000+01:002007-09-25T08:33:00.000+01:00You're missing the point about Norway, Olaf. Norwa...You're missing the point about Norway, Olaf. Norway followed a statist path regarding the exploitation of its North sea oil, setting up Statoil, a State Petroleum Fund etc. That was the approach Britain was following under Labour, with Tony Benn as Energy Secretary. But Thatcher came along and sold off BNOC and control the oil industry was effectively handed over to the multinationals. Thatcher frittered away the revenues of North Sea oil on paying people not to work, under Labour it would have gone on industrial regeneration and modernising our national infrastructure. Norway demonstrates what happens when common sense comes before 'free market' dogma. <BR/>I wonder if you've ever been there: go there and then come back and tell me that the Thatcherite <BR/>policies on North sea oil were the right ones.<BR/>re the death penalty jibe: no I'm not 'keen' on the death penalty, I just think that, sadly, it may be necessary to restore it as a deterrent to murder.Neil Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10479041156190090119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-54272013643078059272007-09-24T21:56:00.000+01:002007-09-24T21:56:00.000+01:00Another country in Europe followed a similar stati...<I>Another country in Europe followed a similar statist approach to its oil industry: Norway, now one of the richest countries in the world.</I><BR/><BR/>...with a population that's a tiny fraction of Britain's, an inconvenient but nonetheless extremely relevant statistic that you blithely ignore - even though it was pointed out to you the last time you made this absurd comparison.<BR/><BR/>So how would you go about culling Britain's population to reduce it to a similar size, given that that would appear to be a prerequisite for your argument to hold up? I know you're keen on the death penalty, but you'd need full-scale genocide for this to be viable.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-27179973337446442342007-09-24T19:08:00.000+01:002007-09-24T19:08:00.000+01:00what's the point of this? to show that there was- ...what's the point of this? to show that there was- and still is- an alternative. The Thatcherites have tried to rewrite history by saying that their victory was inevitable: the aim of piece is to show that it wasn't.Neil Clarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10479041156190090119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17766817.post-66059778760493389732007-09-24T13:17:00.000+01:002007-09-24T13:17:00.000+01:00Interesting, sort of - but what is the point of th...Interesting, sort of - but what is the point of this if- if- if-only stuff (apart from earning you an honest crust, of course)? It didn't happen. End of story.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16112462990202280587noreply@blogger.com