LEAP alternative budget launched as “10 Years On: Whatever happened to equality?”

As Chancellor Gordon Brown prepares his Budget, ten years on from New Labour's election, LEAP (comprising leading radical economists and Labour MPs) assesses the Government's economic strategy and asks “Whatever happened to equality?”

The gap between rich and poor has grown under New Labour, and the Government's green strategy is in danger of further exacerbating that gap. LEAP looks at the structural problems of UK economic strategy and concludes that intelligent policy-making decisions, not market solutions, are needed to deal with the crises of inequality and the environment.

John McDonnell, Chair of LEAP and Labour leadership candidate, said:

“After all our high hopes of 1997, ten years on Labour Party members and others are asking ‘whatever happened to equality?’

“Ten years in power affords any Government the opportunity of laying the foundations of the society it aspires to create. Disappointment has set in due to the lack of progress in tackling poverty, and because of the widening gap between rich and poor.

“The LEAP papers look at the impact of the Chancellor's policies and alternatives that need to be pursued for the benefit of the majority of people in this country and for the environment.”

Professor Richard Wilkinson, said:

“Many of the social problems Britain is experiencing are directly attributable to the widening income inequalities which took place during the 1980s and 1990s. So far the government has failed to undo that damage.”

“Inequality is expensive and adds substantially to the burden on almost all public services - health, education, police and social services. With narrower income differences Britain would be a healthier, more successful and cohesive society. Tackling inequality must be a priority.”

Kelvin Hopkins MP, said:

“The Chancellor's immediate priorities should be to lift the funding crisis in the NHS and to raise the basic State Pension to the level of the applicable Minimum Guarantee.”

“He should pay for these and other commitments by progressive increases in income tax on the wealthy, by removing the Upper Earnings Limit on National Insurance Contributions and by effective measures to crack down on tax evasion and tax avoidance which cost the Treasury billions of pounds in lost revenue every month.”

John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network, said:

“Over the course of this government the tax burden has continued to shift from high income earners and business onto middle and lower income households. The Chancellor should reverse this process by being more rigorous in tackling abusive tax avoidance. We would like to see a general anti-avoidance principle enshrined in British law, putting an end to the tax avoidance culture which has taken hold in this country.”

Professor Prem Sikka, said:

“Our pensioner population should be entitled to retire with dignity and without the need to apply for means-tested benefits. We have a policy which shows how we can fund decent state pensions without an increase in taxes for ordinary people.”

Richard Murphy, Tax Research LLP, said:

“We have to be careful about carbon taxes. The risk is that the poorest will pay most of them. What we need to do instead is change the rules of the energy market so that it no longer seeks to make maximum energy sales and does instead work as people's energy partner, working to supply carbon efficient energy solutions.”

Cllr Gordon Nardell, said:

“Debate about economics has become caricatured as a choice between globalisation and protectionism. We have to move the debate beyond that. Socialists have always been internationalists. Poverty and inequality can only be resolved by pursuing policies across national boundaries.”

“The set of polices we call ‘globalisation’ have nothing to do with genuine international co-operation. They simply protect the wealthiest individuals in the wealthiest countries. We are proposing national policies based on international solidarity. That's the approach most Labour Party supporters want to see from our Government.”

Rosamund Stock, LSE, said:

“Our society is just like an organism that has to survive in a complex and ever-changing environment. Organisms which do not adapt to changes simply do not survive.”

“Organisms, systems or societies are only as intelligent as the decision mechanisms they use. Markets aren't up to the job. We need intelligent decision making or we will not survive.”

-ends-