On the 2014 budget-and what a better 2014 budget should be like
As you know, George Osborne announced his latest budget, which will continue to hurt ordinary people just as he and his colleagues have done during this Parliament. I can clearly say that those small concessions (a rise in the tax-free allowance, bingo and beer duty being cut by small amounts, and a rise in fuel duty being cancelled) are not real conessions at all. In particular, the changes affecting ISAs will just widen inequalities further and those extra loans that will be taken out in the 2014 budget will end up largely funding the export arms industry. This budget will in any case just continue the worsening ConDems' austerity and keep making life harder and harder for society's most vulnerable.
I am glad therefore that there was a good turnout to hand in the 'People's Budget', sponsored by the People's Assembly Against Austerity, to Downing Street, and I am pleased to say that in 48 hours we collected 4,000 signatures for it.
As for a better 2014 budget, here are five important things that should happen in order to get Britain back on track:
1. First of all, reverse the shocking levels of inequality Britain has. This can be done not only by reintroducing the 50p tax rate, it can also be done by restoring EMA, scrapping tuition fees (graduates bring very useful skills indeed), and by making sure both private and public sector workplaces have fair pay ratios of not more than 10:1.
2. Tackle the recklessness of the bankers and bosses. It was their greed, after all, that caused the worldwide economic recession in the first place. However, they still blackmail us into bailing them out at our expense and they still raise their salaries and bonuses often by ludicrous amounts. Bankers' bonuses need to be capped and employers' greed should not be rewarded, via for example, workfare programmes or a failure to enforce the living wage as opposed to the current minimum wage.
3. Invest in green jobs. Britain has considerable green jobs potential because its rivers can be useful for generating hydroelectric power, for example, and wind farms can be useful on Britain's west coast as well. Britain, and the rest of the world, must phase out reliance on fossil fuel-based jobs as soon as possible, not only because fossil fuel reserves are dwindling but also for environmental reasons.
4. Reverse the negative housing trends. Extension of 'Help to Buy' will just reinflate the housing bubble and if implemented could end up causing a housing crash similar to the one that befell Ireland in 2008, with disastrous results. 'Right to Buy' also not only needs to be ended, but reversed, and we need to make sure houses and flats are treated as homes and not as investments or cash cows.
5. Scrap Trident-and other dangerous weapons Britain does not need. Needless to say, the Trident programme needs to be scrapped without delay-Britain does not need nuclear weapons and nor does any nation for that matter-the Cold War is long since over. Britain should also stop wasting money on exporting arms, especially to nations like Saudi Arabia or Israel, as this only funds human rights abuses and further destructive wars.
Regards, Alan.
I am glad therefore that there was a good turnout to hand in the 'People's Budget', sponsored by the People's Assembly Against Austerity, to Downing Street, and I am pleased to say that in 48 hours we collected 4,000 signatures for it.
As for a better 2014 budget, here are five important things that should happen in order to get Britain back on track:
1. First of all, reverse the shocking levels of inequality Britain has. This can be done not only by reintroducing the 50p tax rate, it can also be done by restoring EMA, scrapping tuition fees (graduates bring very useful skills indeed), and by making sure both private and public sector workplaces have fair pay ratios of not more than 10:1.
2. Tackle the recklessness of the bankers and bosses. It was their greed, after all, that caused the worldwide economic recession in the first place. However, they still blackmail us into bailing them out at our expense and they still raise their salaries and bonuses often by ludicrous amounts. Bankers' bonuses need to be capped and employers' greed should not be rewarded, via for example, workfare programmes or a failure to enforce the living wage as opposed to the current minimum wage.
3. Invest in green jobs. Britain has considerable green jobs potential because its rivers can be useful for generating hydroelectric power, for example, and wind farms can be useful on Britain's west coast as well. Britain, and the rest of the world, must phase out reliance on fossil fuel-based jobs as soon as possible, not only because fossil fuel reserves are dwindling but also for environmental reasons.
4. Reverse the negative housing trends. Extension of 'Help to Buy' will just reinflate the housing bubble and if implemented could end up causing a housing crash similar to the one that befell Ireland in 2008, with disastrous results. 'Right to Buy' also not only needs to be ended, but reversed, and we need to make sure houses and flats are treated as homes and not as investments or cash cows.
5. Scrap Trident-and other dangerous weapons Britain does not need. Needless to say, the Trident programme needs to be scrapped without delay-Britain does not need nuclear weapons and nor does any nation for that matter-the Cold War is long since over. Britain should also stop wasting money on exporting arms, especially to nations like Saudi Arabia or Israel, as this only funds human rights abuses and further destructive wars.
Regards, Alan.
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