A real plan for an affordable Britain
Britain has the potential to be a flourishing economy where everyone has the resources they need to thrive.
But right now we are facing the biggest collapse in living standards for 60 years.
Across the country, household budgets are being squeezed like never before. Many face a growing stranglehold as we see big price hikes in food, energy and other essentials while wages fail to keep up.
This squeeze on household finances did not begin in 2022. Most people haven’t had a proper pay rise for a decade, and at the same time our social security system has been dismantled and under-funded to the point where it no longer provides a safety net to keep people out of poverty.
Not everyone is in the grip of this crisis. Some large corporations are seeing their profits go through the roof. Since the 2008 financial crash government policy has unleashed a surge in riches for the already wealthy and created a record number of UK billionaires. Living standards for the richest people in the UK are among the best in the world, while those for everyone else are falling behind other wealthy nations.
This unbalanced economy is bad for all of us, because the only way our economy succeeds is when everyone shares in the success.
We face this scale of crisis because of decisions made by those in the driving seat of our economy. Successive governments have failed to prioritise the wellbeing, security and prosperity of ordinary people and build a balanced economy that benefits everyone.
At every stage in this crisis, the government has been playing catch-up, rather than getting out in front of the problems we face. Even the energy price freeze, while welcome, will still leave many unable to afford the energy they need this winter and does nothing to guarantee affordable energy over the longer-term.
An agenda of tax cuts, public spending cuts, and corporate deregulation that mostly benefits the richest and big business is only making the problem worse. This failed economics of the past is what led us into this situation. More of the same cannot be the answer.
Politicians have the power to make better choices now. Solutions are available. Solutions that are fair, realistic, and popular with the public.
We want politicians to Stop the Squeeze by urgently introducing policies which both address the immediate crisis and fix structural problems with our economy that have led us to this point.
- Affordable essentials and an end to excess profits
Energy is a basic need. It must be kept within reach for all. The government should implement a strategy to guarantee clean, affordable energy for everyone. This requires major reforms to our energy market to bring an end to profiteering and drive a rapid acceleration of investment in cleaner technologies that lower people’s bills and help avert dangerous climate impacts.
- Boost Incomes
Everyone needs an income they can live well on. The Government should deliver an immediate increase in the minimum wage, link future changes to the cost of living, and redesign our social security system to ensure everyone has access to a Living Income.
- Higher taxes on wealth
Our tax system is broken. When the economy crashes we pay the price, while the wealthy and big corporations get richer. More trickle down economics is not the answer. A nurse or teacher should not be paying higher rates of tax on their total income than those who earn many times more than they do. We need higher taxes on wealth, so that those who earn the most, and own the most, pay their proper share.
It is time to rewrite the rules of our economy so that everyone who is part of it shares in the rewards.
It is time to Stop the Squeeze and introduce a real plan for an affordable Britain where everyone can thrive.
