The left wing website
Progess Online have decided to invite Labour supporters to say what they think the next Labour leader (i.e. Brown) should do in his first 100 days. Unsurprisingly, there are some utterly bizarre and crazy ideas, my favourite of which are two from a
LabourHome regular which are essentially linked,
"Scrap all tax breaks, scrap Employees and Employers national Insurance and impose income tax and corporation tax at the same rate (somewhere between 30% and 35%) on all sources of income, regardless of recipient.
Scrap the tax free personal allowance and tax relief for pensions contributions and then replace the entire benefits and state pensions system with a Citizen's Income at current Income Support/Jobseeker's Allowance/Pensions Credit rates for ALL legal residents (depending on age)."
Massive tax hikes and then forcing everyone to be dependent on state handouts. Brilliant. Sheer genius!
The left wing website Progess Online have decided to invite Labour supporters to say what they think the next Labour leader (i.e. Brown) should do in his first 100 days. Unsurprisingly, there are some utterly bizarre and crazy ideas, my favourite of which are two from a LabourHome regular which are essentially linked, 
4 comments:
Oh, those on the left of the Socialist Party are getting bolder by the day as they see the impending end of Blair's era. The Compass thoughts published just a few days ago were equally loony left. As I said here, let's have more of it!
A bit late on the commenting here, but I just found Dizzy's blog via Guido, so...
It's not so loony left.
The first part is simply Flat Tax. Not a mad NewLabour cargo-cult version of Flat Tax, either; it's the real thing. Of course, it does all depend on where they want to set the threshold, but essentially it's exactly what "right-wingers" have been advocating (and getting ridiculed by socialists for) for ages. Even the 30-35% figure is roughly what the boy Osbourne was talking about before Cameron sat on him, as I recall.
The Citizen's Income has some following among libertarians, too. I'm not convinced myself, but the argument is similar to that behind Flat Tax: by making it simpler, you remove whole swathes of government. I'm not sure libs would advocate setting it at current benefit levels, mind you.
Either the pinkos know not what they say (not entirely unlikely - and they do have a tendency to stumble upon things twenty years after the rest of us and think they're first), or somebody's doing a spot of trolling.
I thought MW was a Tory (leaning towards UKIP). I am surprised how much airtime he gets at Labour home, but flat tax and non-means tested benefits are hardly left-wing
I don't agree it's flat tax. I agree it looks like flat tax though. It's talking about "all sources of income" and will apply a massive increase in the amount one pays at th elevels being suggested.
When coupled with the proposal to scrap all tax free allowances, and tax relief on pensions, it's introduces yet more dis-incentives to save.
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