A budget for the 99.9% – and for Your Party
The Chancellor will deliver the autumn budget on 26 November. What will it mean for you? The signs are not good. Austerity measures will continue and there will be cuts in spending and tax rises for us all. But what would a budget for the vast majority of us look like?
The UK is the sixth richest country in the world. So, why are our schools falling apart, our hospitals understaffed, and millions of people struggling to get by?
Because our wealth is being hoarded by the 0.1%. The 50 richest families in the UK now hold more wealth than half of the country together. Right now, the economy is set up to grow their wealth. It stagnates our wages. It boosts their profits by sending our bills soaring. It protects their interests while gutting our public services. It ensures their businesses boom while our high streets die.
The Autumn Budget is our chance to change that. What would a Your Party budget look like?
Thanks to huge public pressure, Rachel Reeves has admitted that taxing the wealthy must be included in her budget. It should “be part of the story.” But let’s be real: it should be the main plot.
Wealth inequality is the rot at the heart of our country. It’s poisoning our democracy, strangling economic growth, and fueling rising hate and division. While the rest of us struggle, billionaires and mega-corporations are robbing us blind.
We’ve had enough of working people being taxed more than those living off their extreme wealth. We’ve had enough of gambling magnates worth over £2 billion. They pretend their businesses are profitless and claim they can’t afford moderate taxes.
We’ve had enough of billionaire banking CEOs. They use the UK to make a mint and then cash out tax-free in the UAE. We’ve had enough of mega-retailers turning over £billions, then magicking their tax bill into next to nothing. And we’ve had enough of obscene tax breaks for big pharma. These breaks subsidise the development of drugs. They are sold at such obscene prices that the NHS can’t afford them.
Here’s what a Your Party budget for the 99.9% could look like:
- Introducing a 2% wealth tax on the super-rich, and reforming Capital Gains Tax to close loopholes that make wealth pay more than work
- Cracking down on tax dodgers and introducing a settling-up tax
- Ending subsidies for fossil fuel companies wrecking the planet and ripping us off
- Raising taxes on the tech giants
- Taxing the banks’ excessive profits
- Applying National Insurance to investment income — so that landlords pay the same taxes as their tenants
- End cuts in services. Increase spending on health, education, and criminal justice back to the levels of 2010. Restore funding for public transport, water, and the environment. Bring council housing and welfare benefits to earlier levels. Tackle other public services similarly.