Midlothian resident and Midlothian View reader Bill Kerr-Smith.
This View has been written by Midlothian View reader Bill Kerr-Smith.
“Against stupidity, the very Gods themselves contend in vain”; this is one of my favourite quotes. I got it from Isaac Asimov, but it originates with an 18th century German playwright called Freidrich Schiller. Which just goes to show that even the passage of centuries has not purged humanity of its quota of “useful idiots”.
The “useful idiots” I have in mind today are the economic illiterates in the Labour cabinet who contend that every policy decision they make is a binary choice between taxing all of us more or slashing the essential services we all use, as they apply Austerity Mk.2.
Let’s deal with Austerity first. Most readers will recall the introduction of Austerity Mk.1 by George Osborne and the Cameron–Clegg coalition government in 2010. At the time he promised these policies would get the budget balanced and reduce the deficit by 2015. In 2015 he and the Treasury announced that “the beatings would have to continue” (my interpretation) until 2018, at least, as the medicine hadn’t quite worked. Osborne stepped down as Chancellor in 2016 and was replaced by Philip Hammond who, in his 2017 budget, confirmed that Austerity would have to continue until at least 2020.
So a 5-year programme that failed was succeeded by another 5-year programme that also failed. In the period 2010 – 2020 cuts of around 40% were made to Local Authority budgets and Ministerial budgets (most especially the the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Justice). These “inspired” policies led us to the state we are intoday, with the social safety net shredded, the justice system on its knees and Local Governments unable to maintain our infrastructure and services at an acceptable level. Who on earth could look at that track record and those outcomes and conclude that what Britain needs is even more of the same?
Now let’s look at tax. There is no doubt that additional tax will have to be part of any credible solution, but why do Starmer & Reeves always present this as a problem? There is certainly no scope for extracting more tax from 90% or more of the taxable population, but there is a huge range of taxes that could be equalised, or collected more efficiently, that would easily fill the “black hole” they have found many times over.
Look at Capital Gains Tax (CGT). Why should unearned income (from profits on the sale of assets) be taxed at a lower rate than earned income (wages)? It wasn’t always like this; from 1965 to 1988 CGT was 30%. In 1988 Nigel Lawson (then Tory Chancellor) increased the rate to 40%. It was Gordon Brown (a Labour Chancellor) who reduced the rate to 18% in 2008. Charging capital gains tax at the same rate as income tax would raise £12 billion of extra tax per annum.
Or look at restricting the rate of tax relief on pensions to the basic rate of income tax, whatever tax rate a person pays, which would raise £14.5 billion of extra tax per annum. Or think about investing £1 billion in HMRC so that it might collect all tax owing by the UK’s 5 million or so companies, because approximately 30% of that sum goes unpaid at present and it could raise £12 billion per annum.
These are only a few of the reforms to the tax system that can be found in the Taxing Wealth Report [written by Richard Murphy]. None of them are new taxes; all of them are simply equalising tax rates on all income or collecting tax due that the government hasn’t provided sufficient resources to collect.
Yesterday Keir Starmer announced Labour’s policy towards the NHS, which is basically saying that they won’t commit any more money until the NHS is reformed to enable it to deliver. This is a little like saying that you need to rebuild the 747 Jumbo jet in-flight and without any resources. But we MUST deliver better health care NOW. In practice, the only short term treatment that we can deliver is more money. Money is not sufficient but it IS necessary… and this is true whatever position you take on “NHS Reform” – reform always takes time and also money to oil the wheels.
So, step 1 has to be to spend more money to get the system as currently designed working as well as it can. Only then should we consider “how do we make it better/cheaper/more sustainable? etc.”. Lord Ara Darzi’s government-commissioned report, out yesterday, attributed the dire state of the health system in large part to the austerity policies of the 2010s, which slashed public spending in a bid to cut the budget deficit. Apparently, the suggestion is that the NHS has been underfunded, at least as far as investment is concerned, by £37 billion. If the shortfall in NHS funding is because of a shortage of investment, then the obvious response required is to provide that investment. The markets are ready to accept investment and the government would have no difficulty in raising the necessary cash, apart from their own blinkered perspectives and idiotic “fiscal rules”.
There must be millions of voters who, like me, gave Labour their vote in the July election for the first time in decades. Like me, they must be deeply distressed to see so much hope disappear in a smoke of sophistry and poor judgement.
This View has been written by Kirsty McNeill, the Scottish Labour and Co-operative General Election candidate
Midlothian View readers face a clear choice tomorrow on July the 4th.
We can stick with the status quo: two governments in London and Edinburgh that are at each other’s throats and more interested in picking fights with each other than winning fights for you.
Or we can pick change: economic stability, cheaper bills through GB Energy, a cut in NHS waiting times, a New Deal for Working people with a pay rise for over 200,000 Scots, jobs and opportunities for young people and maximising Scotland’s influence at Westminster.
I hope you’ll choose change over more of the same and I hope you’ll pick Scottish Labour with a sense of optimism in your heart. I know, though, that some of you are more cautious. I understand that. Some folk I’ve spoken to are voting Labour for the first time ever and that means a lot. Others have voted for other parties for a wee while but are returning to Labour because they see we’ve changed and are putting working people first.
Whatever happens, I’ll never take your support for granted. I met someone the other day who is going to vote for the first time in his life – at 50 – and all I could think about all night was how, if I am lucky enough to be elected, I can deliver enough for him to deserve a second vote in a few years time.
I’m proud that in my current job I lead charity programmes delivering help for hard-pressed families up and down the country. The only reason I feel called back to politics is because I believe I could deliver even more change as your MP.
In all the conversations we’ve had – on your doorsteps, on the phone and online – I hope you’ve got a bit of a sense of me as a person. I listen, I care and I get things done.
You can always find more information about me and ways to be in touch on my website. I am not taking anything for granted on Thursday and I’ll be out working for every vote until the end. If enough of you reward me with your support I hope you’ll let me have a little lie-in on Friday morning and then from Friday afternoon please be in touch and let’s get started on delivering the change Midlothian needs.
Kirsty McNeill is the Scottish Labour and Co-operative candidate.
This View has been written by Midlothian View reader Bill Kerr-Smith.
I’d like to sincerely thank Midlothian View for promoting the only Midlothian General Election Hustings last Thursday and to extend those thanks to Black Diamond FM for recording the event and making it available to listen to on their website.
I was at the Hustings, but was unable to hear much of the exchanges because I was on Reception at the One Dalkeith Hub that night, so it was extremely helpful to be able to listen to the entire event online.
The Hustings provided the only opportunity for Midlothian residents to really question the individual candidates and to find out more about them as human beings, rather than simply being party representatives.
It was apparent that some were content to parrot the party line but that official manifesto didn’t limit the potential for others to pursue their individual passions, if elected.
The unique value of the online audio stream is the ability to replay anything that seemed unclear on first listening and to check up on the “did he really say that?” statements, of which there were a few.
It was entertaining to hear the LibDem candidate espouse positions he would never put forward if he had a significant chance of being elected and he certainly added to the pressure on the Conservatives and Labour regarding their “conspiracy of silence” on funding shortfalls in their manifestos. It was obvious that he is now a seasoned campaigner, with an honest and very straight-forward attitude and I think he would get a lot more votes under a Proportional Representation system.
The Scottish Libertarian was startling with his “tax is theft” and “people shouldn’t vote” positions, but I gained the impression that, if he was elected, he wouldn’t bother to take up his post as MP because of his belief that he shouldn’t be telling people what to do (which would certainly make law-making problematic).
The Conservative candidate was simply a vehicle for channeling the manifesto, with no sign of personal passion or independence, but the one certainty I had before the Hustings was that I couldn’t seriously consider voting for his party in any case.
The SNP candidate is a well-known MP and has the advantage of knowing the ropes at Westminster, but still has the “we have one hand behind our back” attitude that has done so much to hamper the SNP in governing Scotland.
The Labour candidate gave the most impressive performance of all the candidates and, apart from being the only woman standing, had the most encouraging and relevant back-story of them all.
I certainly found the event helped me to finalise my decision about where my vote should go, as I had debated whether or not to vote SNP for the first time, or to vote Labour, despite their refusal to consider a number of options that I personally would like to pursue. Roll on Thursday.
In conclusion, I would also like to congratulate Malcolm McGregor (KC) for his expert and entertaining management of a proceedings that could so easily have disappeared down so many rabbit holes.
To listen to the Black Diamond FM recording of the hustings CLICK HERE.
Editor: So what is your View? Anyone can write a View for Midlothian View on this or any other topic. Just email your View to the Midlothian View editor at info@pigeonpenguin.com
