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In Place of Cuts
By Andy | November 24, 2009
Today sees the publication of one of the most important pieces of work by the centre left over recent years.
In Place of Cuts: Tax reform to build a fairer society was produced by George Irvin, Dave Byrne, Richard Murphy, Howard Reed and Sally Ruane and should mark an important milestone in the re-focussing of Labour’s programme. The report is published by Compass and the work that led to it has been supported by Unison. The authors are positive and upbeat:
‘In this report we show not merely that cuts in spending in the midst of a recession is a bad idea, but also that any ‘hole’ can more sensibly be financed through tax reform which makes the current system fairer’
This report relies on a major new model of the economy that has been created to rival that of the Institute of Fiscal Studies.
In Place of Cuts should be required reading for all those who consider themselves of the centre-left or for a more progressive society.
This is not an intellectual or academic project but practical politics. As the authors say in their conclusions:
“.. it is not just tax models and think tank reports we need but the establishment of a progressive consensus for change. The last 12 years of redistribution by stealth has seen some good work done on poverty and public service investment but has ended with a return to mass unemployment and the prospect of years of budget cuts. The Tories call it a broken society – but it won’t be fixed by slashing public spending.”
The immediate priority (, though,) is the case for tax reform. As the poor get poorer, the moral base for taxation levels to sustain civilised public services declines and the planet burns – something needs to change and urgently. The proposals outlined here would make a start at reversing these trends and setting Britain on a new course.
The Report and can be found here.
Polly Toynbee: Cool the cutting fisticuffs – take a long, hard look at tax
Topics: Economics, Finance, Uncategorized |
