Defending now too risky! Time to attack

The recent by-elections have a clear message for Labour: there have to be major changes to avoid embarrassing results next May! The time is ripe for an attack by Labour on their opponents; defending narrow leads in the opinion polls could lead to disaster.
     One of the most original analyses of the Labour conference was provided by the Observer`s Andrew Rawnsley, who compared the party`s performance with a football team, ahead 1-0 in the match, but hanging on for dear life until the final whistle, not looking like a government-in-waiting at all. Not too surprising, perhaps, in view of the fact that every proposal Labour leaders make is criticised by their opponents and press; even moderate reforms of the private rental system were viewed as similar to those of Hugo Chavez! However, Rawnsley has a point. As every fan knows, the team which defends a one goal lead too early is asking for trouble.

     After the Tory conference, and the sudden appearance of £7bn, even the not-so-astute Lib Dems pointed out that the Tories had created an "open goal". But the truth is that the Tories` downright selfishness and cruelty have provided an easy target for years.The real mystery is why Labour doesn`t shoot! With seven months still to go before the election, a Labour offensive now, even an all-out onslaught, could provide them with the mandate needed to transform our socially immobile society.

      What should be attacked? For starters, the Tories cannot be allowed to continue their nonsense about Labour being the "borrowing" party, and so getting the country into even more debt. Recent research has shown that coaliton borrowing in the last 5 years has totalled £572.5bn, compared with £442.7bn borrowed by Labour over 13 years! Remember, too, how the Tories started the 2010 administration by claiming above all else that the deficit had to be reduced, so that debt would not be a burden for the next generation? Then they, and their complicit Lib Dem cronies, tripled university fees to ensure that burden was massive for tens of thousands!

     As for their claims about their "long-term economic plan"!! Whereas the public sector net debt stood at 57% of the Gross Domestic product in May 2010, by the end of June, 2014, it was 77%, despite their brilliant plan to cut 350,000 public sector jobs, with more to come, including, unbelievably, at HMRC. We all know, too, how unemployment figures have been skewed by zero-hours contracts, increases in the number of self-employed and by those disqualified from gaining JSA. But where are Labour`s protests about how the public is being tricked by these Tory con-men? 

     Attacking the coalition`s record on welfare should be a no-brainer for Labour, but despite Andy Burnham`s efforts, and notwithstanding the media`s failure to investigate the sale of much of the NHS, do the majority of voters believe that the privatisation of the health service has begun? So-called "benefit scroungers" have been castigated by this government since day one, but no-one mentions the £85bn given to the corporate sector every year? The working poor are increasingly reliant on taxpayers` subsidies, so why aren`t firms forced to pay substantially more? How about the Tories` broken promises? Don`t the Labour policy-makers remember promises like "no frontline cuts","no rise in VAT" and "no top-down reorganisation of the NHS"? Did the Tories tell the electorate that state schools would be put under huge pressure to academise, or that free schools would eat into the education budget at alarming rates? We were told how tax avoidance was "morally repugnant" but not that thousands of tax inspectors would lose their jobs, or that well-known tax avoiding firms would continue to get government grants and contracts! Why should anyone believe a word the Tories say?

    As for the future!! Tory domestic policies like the "low tax-low wage economy", or the aim to shrink the state to levels last seen in 1948, or further tax reductions for the well-off are there to be shot at. Similarly, Ukip`s proposals for tax  need to be scrutinised and made public . Miliband`s encouraging stance against "predatory capitalism" seems to have disappeared, and the general approach now is much more conciliatory to big business at a time when a large majority are feeling the pinch because of the greed of banks, energy companies, private landlords and such like. Advice from Blairites about being tougher on immigration has to be ignored, as Labour, as Diane Abbott rightly says, can never go to the right enough to sate the demands of Ukip followers.

   Sitting back, waiting for the polls to magically improve, will not do; millions of taxpaying voters have had enough, but are being forced into political lethargy and Ukip`s welcoming arms because Labour isn`t proving to be as different as once promised. It`s still not too late.

Letter to Observer on tax receipts

The fact, reported by Andrew Rawnsley, that the decrease in "the cash flow into the government`s coffers", despite the existence of the "fastest growing economy in the developed world", is confounding Treasury officials, begs many questions about their competence.(George Osborne only has some very scrawny rabbits in his hat,30/11/14) It`s hardly rocket science! When a government simultaneously raises the tax threshold for the low-paid, refuses to increase the minimum wage by any meaningful amount, drives the workforce into zero-hour contracts, part-time work, or emergency self-employment, and reduces the income tax rate for the richest, is it that difficult to analyse the reason for low tax receipts?

      When millions of workers are not being paid the living wage, having to rely on benefits to survive, whilst bosses squirrel  away their obscene bonuses and salaries in tax havens, and the government describes tax avoidance as "morally repugnant" but reduces HMRC`s workforce by thousands, further clues should not be needed.

With the officials "perplexed" and their boss unsure of what eight times seven is, it`s not really surprising the government is so "far adrift from its original target to clear the deficit"!

Winning the teachers` vote

With Tristram Hunt`s feeble attempt to attack the privileges enjoyed by the private education sector, presumably trying unsuccessfully to develop policies showing respect for ordinary people, Labour clearly is in need of rejuvenation, even radicalisation, in the area of education. His bungled effort ended up insulting all involved in state education, with the implication that teaching in private schools is so much superior!

      There is, without doubt, a desperate need to display more respect for working people, and education provides Labour with many opportunities to do just that. For starters, it has to be accepted that Gove "conned" the country; his reforms were unnecessary, examinations were not too easy, and the improving GCSE and A-level results were because of hard work by students and teachers, and improved teaching methods. Imagine how disappointed proud parents and their offspring would have been when Labour failed to challenge Gove`s ridiculous assertions. That failure merited the description,  'Disrespect'!

Schools generally were improving back in 2010, and did not need 'freedom' away from local authority interference. Gove and the Tories were worried because state sector results were beginning to match, even better, those of the private schools, which explains why they concentrated on destroying the more even "playing field", that experienced and expert educationalists had developed over many years.That`s why Labour should propose the repeal of all of Gove`s assessment reforms; coursework, modules, and resits should all be returned at once.

On the subject of private education, the exemption of school fees from VAT is an obvious target, if the suspicion that the Labour party favours the well-off more than the ordinary people is to be challenged. The bias universities show to applicants from private schools must be on Labour`s agenda too. With only 7%  being educated at private schools, the fact that some of the so-called 'top' universities have up to 50/60 of their undergraduates from the private sector is disgraceful, and will only change with bold legislation.How about a simple 7% cap for all universities on privately educated undergraduates?

Perhaps even more obvious is that the teaching profession is not in need of the patronising "TLC" approach of the new Education secretary, but, along with much needed  praise. Labour should be offering pay increases, and sensible pension provision. Working to the age of 68 is obviously wrong, as is the current 60 hour working week; parents and heads need to be told that teachers simply cannot be expected to mark every single piece of work the pupils do, or write innumerable lesson plans as well as termly reviews etc. Hunt`s teachers may have managed it, but class sizes and students` abilities and attitudes are somewhat different in the real world! Ofsted and Labour should be stressing how at least 90% of our state school teachers would have no trouble whatsoever teaching in a private school, instead of the obvious implications being made of the shadow secretary`s outbursts.It`s time to see whether his license should be renewed!

Guardian letter on Parthenon marbles

The British museum`s attempts to improve the "frosty relations between Russia and the West in the wake of the invasion of eastern Ukraine" would have had more impact if the works of art loaned to the Hermitage museum actually belonged to Britain.(Part of Elgin marbles leave UK for first time,05/12/14) Lending the Parthenon marbles, instead of, for example, some Turner landscapes or samples from the royal family`s vast collection, is simply provocative, and will do nothing but cause resentment in Greece, and display our hypocrisy to the world. How quick we are to offer judgements when Jewish owned artwork is discovered in ex-Nazis` homes! (Modernist art haul,"looted by Nazis", recovered by German police,04/11/13)

Jonathan Jones has rightly argued that British museums must "face up to reality" and that "cultural imperialism" belongs in history`s dustbin, but clearly his passionate plea fell on deaf ears.(The art world`s shame: why Britain must give its colonial booty back,04/11/14) How can anyone justify, in the 21st century, the looting of Greek treasure by a greedy, profiteering British aristocrat, two hundred and ten years ago? The return of the marbles is long overdue, would provide a welcome boost to an impoverished Greek economy, and would display some British acceptance of guilt for its imperial past. Lending some of the pieces to Russia is simply shameful,and questions must be asked about the role played in this by the Secretary of State for Culture.

Any political party with a  sense of decency would include a promise to return the marbles to their rightful home in its election manifesto!

Respect shown through tax avoidance policies

Labour`s recent statements regarding the need to show respect to the working people are accompanied by its standard policies, including those on reducing tax avoidance. Trouble is vague rhetoric about closing loopholes convinces no-one; its been heard many times before, and the tax gap keeps on growing. If the practice of having representatives from the Big 4 accountancy firms,which make billions from advising on tax avoidance, on Treasury tax committees, continues loopholès will never close.Osborne`s autumn statement was similarly vague, whilst his giving Northern Ireland freedom to reduce its corporation tax will only add to the confusion.

      What better way is there for Labour to show its respect for the people by having policies to ensure every individual and every company, with no exceptions, pay the correct amount of tax? There are a number of initiatives which Labour could introduce which would not only clearly illustrate to the electorate on whose side they really are, but also have instant election-appeal to effect the opinion polls. For instance, a business rate supplement to be paid to the government, in addition to the standard  local rate levied on firms, including the likes of Amazon and Starbucks, which insist on doing their utmost to pay as little tax as possible, despite their businesses flourishing from benefits paid for by the rest of us. Many of these companies would inevitably threaten to leave the country, but is their departure likely when they make so much money here? How many voters would actually disagree with making these unscrupulous firms pay their fair share?

     Labour can show its respect for working people by ensuring that not just them but everyone, individuals and businesses alike, has a responsibilty to pay taxes, as they provide the necessary security and transport so essential in a 21st century civilised state. Rich people`s wealth has been acquired not only because their firms have made profits, nor even because of the hard work done by employees, but because taxes others paid provided for the health and education of their workforce. Notwithstanding this duty to pay, firms could also be encouraged to pay up by the award of the Fair Tax Mark, which could be the firms` notification to the public that they are acting responsibly, and aiding the economy as a whole.

  At the moment only one FTSE 100 company, SSE, has qualified for the Mark, but with additional publicity from leading Labour politicians and bigwigs in the run-up to the election, it could become the must-have company logo in the next five years. Accompanied by a Fair Pay Mark, awarded to businesses paying at least the living wage to all those directly and indirectly employed by them, and increased public awareness, leading to more selective consumerism,  Miliband could soon be proclaiming to have stemmed the tide of 'predatory capitalism'! Eighteen of the top 100 companies currently pay a living wage, but who knows which ones they are?

    Then there`s the simple matter of honours, issued by governments to people whose efforts benefit the nation as a whole. Doesn`t that rule out all bankers and tax avoiders? If their companies cannot play by the rules shouldn`t CEOs forfeit their right to both past and future honours? It should apply to so-called celebrities and sports stars too. What could be a cheaper, more beneficial policy than that? A culture change is needed with regards to tax, and the idea that we would all avoid tax if we could afford the accountants needs immediate de-bunking. There will be no change, however, as long as the country continues to "honour" those who have deliberately deprived the Treasury of millions of pounds.

     What about the professionals whose expertise is needed to collect the correct amount of tax from individuals and corporations? Coalition policy has been to reduce the number of workers at HMRC whilst trying to convince us all tax avoiders will soon 'be smelling the coffee' because of their "morally" reprehensible behaviour. A Labour commitment to reinstate tax inspectors  is hardly rocket science, when each one is responsible for the collection of taxes at least three or four times their salaries.

       Closing loopholes and using the General Anti-abuse Law may well prove difficult in reducing what is an obscenely large tax gap, but these proposals could prove electorally fruitful for Labour, in an area which epitomises the coalition`s indifference to inequality. Many critics have suggested that Labour` current election  pledges do not go far enough, needing more detail and radicalisation. The electorate have clearly heard enough meaningless rhetoric on the subject of tax avoidance; some straightforward policies would go down well! Whilst not disagreeing with German and French finance ministers who think the "lack of tax harmonisation is one of the main causes allowing aggressive tax planning", until the European countries agree policies, Labour can still use tax avoidance initiatives to their own electoral advantage.

Guardian letter on autumn statement

The autumn statement will have done nothing to change public opinion regarding the government`s commitment to reducing tax avoidance. With "just one in five believing political parties" have done enough to ensure companies and rich individuals pay their fair share, Osborne`s arrogant rhetoric on the subject will have changed very few opinions. (Osborne on the offensive over tax and deficit,03/12/14) Nothing was said which contained even the simplest of deterrents, like hugely increasing business rates for tax avoiding companies, or removing all honours from their CEOs. Instead, giving more freedom for Northern Ireland to set its own level of corporation tax, presumably at 12.5% to match that of the Republic, will cause more problems, especially when the finance ministers of Germany, France and Italy are stressing that the "lack of tax harmonisation is one of the main causes allowing aggressive tax planning",(Pressure on Juncker grows despite vow to fast-track EU tax legislation,03/12/14) Tax expert, Richard Murphy, has pointed out anyway, that under EU law, this could well be deemed illegal regional aid, whilst the "Google tax",only likely to raise at most £355m a year by 2019, is another example, as John Cridland admits,of the UK "going it alone".(Political capital, little revenue,04/12/14)

        The last time Osborne tried to create tax advantages for companies investing in Britain with the "patent box" scam, Germany forced him to back down. It seems he never learns! Are other countries in the EU expected to sit back and quietly watch businesses move their HQ to Belfast, thereby depriving their Treasuries of much needed revenue? Only when all EU members co-operate fully, agree tactics, and avoid "advice" from the Big 4 accountancy firms, will tax avoidance by the multi-nationals be reduced.

The student vote could be vital

With university occupations mushrooming across the country, as students call for a return to free education, unsurprisingly the duplicitous Tory chancellor continued on his path towards shrinking the state back to levels last seen in the 1940s.  With up to a million more jobs still to be cut in the public sector under his plans, and years of enforced austerity and poverty for most of the workforce, Osborne claimed to be encouraging students into postgraduate study. However, what he was doing actually was the opposite; allowing postgraduates yet more loans of £10,000 to study for a master`s degree would mean many students starting their careers with debts of over £50,000, and is not likely, as the UCU general secretary said, "to attract the brightest and best into further study". Let`s hope students use their votes in May, and that Labour increases its efforts to ensure all students are registered to vote; students have an important role to play in the election.

         Quite rightly, duplicitous Lib Dem MPs, including their leader, are in danger of losing their seats in next year`s election because they reneged on their promise to campaign for an end to tuition fees. Hopefully, students will not forget, either, how the Tory Education Secretary insulted them by stating that the GCSE and A-level examinations, for which they worked so hard in order to gain top grades,were, in his opinion too easy and needed more "rigour". Let`s hope they remember how Gove`s reforms meant for many of them changes in course details, assessment procedures and even in their subject teacher! Driving good teachers out of the profession has been one thing in which this government has excelled, and for which they will surely pay, come next May! Students will recall how these reforms went through parliament with the full backing of all Tory and Lib Dem MPs.
      As for Ukip, students will be aware of their preference for grammar schools, and how they simply result in 75% of all pupils getting an inferior education; they don`t even pretend that everyone should have a chance to show their true abilities. Many of today`s university students will no doubt have been late developers and would not have been able to show their true talents in secondary moderns, and gain the qualifications necessary for university entrance. Anyway, what is likely is that students will be aware of the other even more sinister Ukip policies, and reject them out of hand!

       A party wanting to win the student vote will not only be considering reducing the fees, and therefore the ridiculous amount of debt with which postgraduates are saddled, but also proposing to restore the even "playing field" to which Gove objected so much. That would require the wholesale repeal of all things Goveist. Furthermore, students are part of Generation Rent, and any party, in the run-up to the election, which ignores how people living in private rented property are being exploited by profiteering landlords, does not deserve their support. Tinkering with this problem is not an option; the formation of an Ofsted-type unit to assess the condition of all rented property before then setting an appropriate and affordable rent is, and students would show their appreciation at the ballot box!