Five Ways To Help Theresa May Keep Her Promises
"The UK government will work for all not just the privileged few" - Theresa May
Prime Minister, Theresa May said “...we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us.” She also promised “the Government I lead will be driven not by the interests of the rich and powerful, but by the interests of ordinary, working class people”
Great rhetoric – but not much evidence of action so far.
Perhaps she should read From Here To Prosperity, a best seller in Amazon’s International Economic Development section. She’d find a set of practical actions to help give her promises the kick start they need. Here are five examples --- FIVE SIMPLE, PRACTICAL AND ACTIONABLE STEPS TO BUST ECONOMIC INEQUALITY
Give 5 million UK workers a 15% pay rise.
How? Make the minimum wage a true Living Wage. Do it today. Increase it from £7.20 to £8.25 right now. This would give 5 million people up to a 15% pay rise. It is affordable as it would come from corporate profits, small business could be helped with the transition through corporation tax breaks.
Put 10% back in the pockets of 25 million people.
Abolish income tax for those earning under £32,000. ; This would only make an 8% difference to government revenue --which could be made up elsewhere – for example through a wealth tax. This will let 25 million people keep around 10% more of their income AND inject £60 billion into the economy in the process -- growth, and creating jobs.
Generate £80 billion a year from the privileged 3%
We can help Theresa make the privileged work for all of us. A small tax on anyone with wealth assets over £1.5million - that’s about 3% of population – can pay a1.5% tax on their asset --- which would generate an estimated £80 billion a year. Imagine how this increase in in government revenue could create a better country for all of us -- fund a 20% increase in education (£20 billion) perhaps?? to include free university tuition and career training as well as more good teachers and better facilities.
Land a better tax system for property owners
Scrap Council Tax and Business Rates which raise around £55 billion. Replace it with a tax based on land values. Why the change? So that the people who benefit the most from increased property values because of improvements in the surrounding infrastructure – actually contribute fairly to it. Why is it a good idea? Based on this new tax system, only around 25% of property owners would pay more in taxes BUT it would bring around £50 billion more in revenues. Imagine the new infrastructure we could build - high speed rail, more and better metros, enhanced regional airports....
Abolish corporation tax.
By abolishing Corporation Tax, which currently raises £40 billion, and replacing it with Corporate Social Contribution (CSC), we could raise over £100 billion. It would involve setting a higher level of tax than the current Corporation Tax BUT companies that are proactively socially responsible will be allowed to offset some of their tax liability against their social responsible initiatives -- such as fair pay, stakeholder rewards, no political contributions etc. This increase in revenue could help create a more healthy workforce by funding a 20% increase health spending -- that’s £30billion to reduce waiting times and improving healthcare
OK Theresa – you made the promise – we’ve shared five ways to make them real. What’s stopping you?
You can find more ideas on building a sustainable economy and greater social justice in the book From Here to Prosperity, by Thomas J Burgess -- available from Amazon
