A Fairer Society and How to Achieve It

I was delighted to see an article in a recent (27 January) issue if The Independent newspaper with a similar title to this and setting out a programme that is closely similar to the one that I’ve been advocating for some time on this blog. The article was by Owen Jones and I’m just picking out the policy points here, most of which I’m sure readers will recognise and support. Here they are:

Introduce a statutory living wage with immediate effect.

Resolve the housing crisis by regulating private rents and stop preventing councils from building thousands of homes.

Introduce a 50% tax on all earnings over £100,000. Use the proceeds to drive home insulation, creating jobs for unemployed youngsters and reducing fuel bills.

Cut out tax avoidance by the super rich (estimated at over £20bn every year) by introducing a General Anti-Tax Avoidance Bill. Kick out the accountancy firms who have ‘advised’ on drawing up tax laws and then tell their clients how to dodge them.

Establish publicly run local banks.

Have an Industrial Strategy focused on regions worst affected by de-industrialisation, creating secure, skilled and dignified jobs especially in the field of green energy.

Move towards publicly owned rail and energy. In the case of rail, as each franchise expires bring them back into the public sector.

Create a new charter of workers’ rights including an end to zero hours contracts.

Establish a universal childcare system that would pay for itself as parents currently unable to work are able to take up jobs.

In my own pieces I’ve said little about housing and childcare so I was glad to see these policies suggested. I’ve said quite a bit about taxation and would add the idea of flat rate National Insurance with no upper limit beyond which payments are not made. The rate would work out at around 7% so that there would be a useful redistributive effect and a reduction in the costs to employers for taking on workers at ordinary levels of pay.
So this is the way to go. It ‘only’ remains for a trustworthy political party to take these on board and if none such exists, perhaps wise and energetic younger people such as Owen Jones can take these essential ideas forward by creating a new party or by other means that attract and involve the many people who will support such a programme.