Even on their own terms the Tories are now exposed to assault on several grounds. Cameron threw down the gauntlet by asking: Who do you trust? Labour should pick it up. Large majorities in the electorate think the Tories are the party of the rich, not for them; witness the tax cuts for millionaires and […]
Posts under ‘Taxation’
Tories now wide open to attack: when is Labour going to exocet them?
Oct 5th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.
The Tory party’s 15% strategy
Oct 2nd, 2014 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Thankfully conference speeches don’t win general elections. There is no denying that Dave’s final performance at the Tory party’s annual gathering was masterful. It oozed the prime ministerial, that much exalted but seldom-attained quality. His speech was passionate, confident, coherent. Apart from an untimely Freudian (“… these are the people we resent“), Dave acted the […]
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G20 should aim tax avoidance rules at the banks & super-rich
Sep 19th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.The latest OECD draft rules to regulate massive corporate tax avoidance are a real advance so long as the 44 countries concerned (90% of the world’s economy) stick to their resolve, push these measures through and resist the enormous lobbying that they can expect from a determined corporate push-back. But the past record on that is […]
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Labour’s economic policy – a lingering attachment to austerity
Aug 30th, 2014 by Peter Kenyon.There was nothing subtle about economic policy under New Labour. ‘We are getting into bed with business‘. Fingers to the hoi polloi. ‘You’ve got nowhere else to go‘. People in their millions voted blindly for it in 1997. A significant proportion got wise by 2001 and placed their ‘X’ elsewhere or decided ‘None of the […]
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The SNP vision of a deregulated Scotland is reason enough to vote No
Aug 26th, 2014 by Richard Leonard.Vision is essential in politics. It illuminates the possibility that things could be different, better and inspires people to not just believe in change, but to be driven to do something about it. That’s why it will play a big part in determining the outcome of next month’s referendum on the question of a separate […]
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Labour should champion a wealth tax
Aug 26th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.It is worth remembering that the most popular item in Francois Hollande’s manifesto which propelled him to the French presidency was imposing a high rate of tax on the very richest in the country. Admittedly his popularity has nose-dived since then, but that is for totally different reasons to do with France’s economic straitjacket within […]
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London: tax haven-on-the-Thames
Aug 2nd, 2014 by Michael Meacher.The latest evidence of massive tax avoidance going on right under our noses – uninvestigated, undetected, unaddressed – is truly staggering. A Financial Times analysis of Land Registry data has found that that at least £122bn of property in England and Wales, a sum equal to no less than 8% of Britain’s entire GDP, is held […]
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Far from blocking tax avoidance, the Tories have made the UK a tax haven
Jul 10th, 2014 by Michael Meacher.The Guardian revelations about the receipt of donations and tax arrangements of Andrea Leadson, Osborne’s junior Treasury minister, raise again the murky influence of Tory money on British politics via such devices as family trusts, non-dom arrangements, offshore mortgages, and employee benefit trusts. But that does not reveal the real scandal, namely that so far […]
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The Coalition’s Last Stand
Jun 13th, 2014 by Grahame Morris.Dennis Skinner summed up the country’s mood when he declared the recent Queen’s speech to be the “Coalition’s last stand.” The Government set out their agenda for the next 12 months leading up to the general election. It was a missed opportunity, lacking the ideas, policy and ambition that is required to meet the challenges we face, […]
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UK Uncut targets Vodaphone in new wave of tax dodging protests
May 16th, 2014 by Jon Lansman.The announcement that anti-austerity direct action group UK Uncut is to target Vodaphone in a new wave of protests follows wide anger at news of Gary Barlow’s tax dodge. The campaign expects hundreds to take action against the mobile phone company in a “national day of action” on 14 June in protest against their tax dodging activities. UK Uncut, backed by […]
