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Sunday, 28 February 2010
Closing tax loopholes could stop the cuts
On Saturday I attended the Making it Public conference in Manchester. A wide variety of people attended and we discussed the issue which the mainstream media seem intent to ignore – in short the fact that there is no need to embark on a vicious round of public spending cuts at all.
Andrew Fisher, an economist from the Left Economics Advisory Panel, spelt out some simple facts that should become common knowledge as we gear up to defend our public services.
He has put some of this down for a leaflet which will soon be available on the Convention of the Left website but I‘ve been shown the draft text and these facts jump out straight away.
“£70 billion is lost every year through tax evasion and a further £25 billion is lost through avoidance, by big business and wealthy individuals. Much of this could be recovered if more tax inspectors were hired and the legal loopholes were closed.
“But the Government is cutting the number of tax staff every year. Last year this meant that another £27.7billion of tax went uncollected by HM Revenue and Customs.
“By just collecting the tax that is rightfully ours, including from the wealthy and big business, we could avoid public service cuts."
So put simply we could close most of the budget deficit by simply collecting the tax that is due – but remains unpaid by the rich and super-rich.
So the task of everyone who wants to see a fairer society is not just to campaign against cuts being promised by Labour, Tory and Lib-Dems, but also to demand a fairer system of taxation where we all pay our due – regardless of the ability to hire a good tax lawyer.
So put simply we could close most of the budget deficit by simply collecting the tax that is due – but remains unpaid by the rich and super-rich.
So the task of everyone who wants to see a fairer society is not just to campaign against cuts being promised by Labour, Tory and Lib-Dems, but also to demand a fairer system of taxation where we all pay our due – regardless of the ability to hire a good tax lawyer.
Thursday, 25 February 2010
One billion NHS Cuts - patients will suffer
The MEN front page story of cuts of £1billion from the NHS budget for Greater Manchester will leave most people stunned. The scale of attack is horrifying.
You could not possibly cut this amount of money without it having an effect on patient care.
It would mean fewer staff, and more pressure on those who are left. It would mean more chaos, potentially leading to the problems that we have already seen at mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.
I don’t believe that you can claim to cut ‘back-room’ staff without an impact on frontline services.
I doubt very much whether the fees paid for overpriced PFI deals will be cut, or there will be a halt called to contracts with private providers.
If this is the start of things to come for our public services, it is imperative that people get together to organise ourselves to oppose these cuts. We must unite, staff, patients, and trade unions to defend our National Health Service.
A rising tide of Islamophobia
Today Seumas Milne from The Guardian wrote this excellent piece about the dangers of criminalising young Muslims in the aftermath of the free Gaza protests last year. There is a rising tide of Islamophobia in Britain that unless challenged poses dire threats for the future of our multicultural society. I'm proud that the Respect Party has always stood against any form of racism. politicians who pander to Islamopobia are playing with fire.
Here is Seamus's article in full.
If young British Muslims had any doubts that they are singled out for special treatment in the land of their birth, the punishments being meted out to those who took part in last year’s London demonstrations against Israel’s war on Gaza will have dispelled them. The protests near the Israeli embassy at the height of the onslaught were angry: bottles and stones were thrown, a Starbucks was trashed and the police employed unusually violent tactics, even by the standards of other recent confrontations, such as the G20 protests.
But a year later, it turns out that it’s the sentences that are truly exceptional. Of 119 people arrested, 78 have been charged, all but two of them young Muslims (most between the ages of 16 and 19), according to Manchester University’s Joanna Gilmore, even though such figures in no way reflect the mix of those who took part. In the past few weeks, 15 have been convicted, mostly of violent disorder, and jailed for between eight months and two-and-a-half years – having switched to guilty pleas to avoid heavier terms. Another nine are up to be sentenced tomorrow.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
School Places for All
Parents, children and school governors will be joining a lobby on Thursday at Manchester Town Hall to protest at the shortage of primary school places in the city. The problem, I’m told by friends, is particularly bad in Levenshulme.
It really is a scandal that we have young children with no school place – or having to travel long distances every morning and evening to get to a school with a spare place for them. This is a problem that should never have been allowed to develop.
We should remember that this is no accident. It was only a few years ago that the City Council was happily closing schools – both primary and secondary – claiming that they had to deal with the ‘problem’ of surplus places. I remember Manchester teachers and parents opposing these closures at the time pointing out that this future shortage would be inevitable if the council pushed ahead with it’s mass closure programme. These sensible words of warning were dismissed as ‘scare-mongering’ by the council at the time. Teachers and parents were accused of ‘living in the past’ and told they didn’t understand the ‘changing population of Manchester’.
We should remember that this is no accident. It was only a few years ago that the City Council was happily closing schools – both primary and secondary – claiming that they had to deal with the ‘problem’ of surplus places. I remember Manchester teachers and parents opposing these closures at the time pointing out that this future shortage would be inevitable if the council pushed ahead with it’s mass closure programme. These sensible words of warning were dismissed as ‘scare-mongering’ by the council at the time. Teachers and parents were accused of ‘living in the past’ and told they didn’t understand the ‘changing population of Manchester’.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Defending Public Services - Making it public
Never mind that ordinary people didn't create the mess, while the bankers who did are still lining their pockets: never mind that cutting public expenditure could push us back into an even deeper recession, the mantra of the neo-Liberals who write the economic policies of Cameron, Brown and Clegg is cut, cut and cut again.
Making it Public will bring together economists, trade unionists and community activists to discuss an alternative - and to champion our vital public services. I hope the see you there.
Saturday 27th February, 11.00am - 4.30pm, Friends Meeting House, Mount Street, Manchester
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Campaigning in the local elections
My friends Angelique and Martin are busy campaigning for the local elections in the south of the city. Martin Lambert is standing for Respect in Longsight and Angelique is standing in Gorton South. They've made some short videos which you can watch below.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
George says make our votes count
It's clear that the political process in this country has been dragged through the mud by the expenses scandal. With real reform of the voting system - where people's votes actually counted - perhaps we would not have had so many abuses. We certainly wouldn't have had so many badly thought out pieces of legislation voted through Parliament by MPs who have no fear of losing their seats.
But then I suppose that’s why the leaders of both Labour and the Conservatives are so set against a truly proportional system of voting.
Highlights of George's speech in the Constitutional Reform & Governance Bill Debate are below and you can listen at the bottom:-
Mr. George Galloway (Bethnal Green and Bow) (Respect): Like the hon. Member for City of York (Hugh Bayley), I am a long-time member of the Labour campaign for proportional representation….
Monday, 8 February 2010
There must be a better way
“We all feel let down by mainstream politicians, they don't care about ordinary people. They grovel to the rich and powerful. They line their pockets with expenses. It's no wonder people don't feel like voting. Respect is offering a different type of politics.
“All three old parties promise big cuts in public services which will wreck our communities. Respect opposes these cuts which will lose more jobs. They want us to pay for the gambling losses of bankers who still get huge bonuses.
“New Labour spent billions bailing out the banking system yet we do not control them. Respect would take control of the banks and invest in jobs and services, including green industries.
“Afghanistan is an unwinnable conflict. Respect opposes this British and US adventure. We are campaigning to bring the troops home now. We do not want any more deaths for US power. We should escalate our efforts for peace.
“One of the best things about Manchester is its cultural diversity, and its 'live and let live' attitude, I wouldn't want to bring up my daughter anywhere else. Some want to scapegoat for lack of resources. Instead of blaming the council or the government, they blame immigrants. Respect rejects this rubbish.
“We fight for equality for all communities and resources for all. Sticking together is a better way to fight for houses and services. “
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