Austerity has failed the UK. The Moody’s downgrade is evidence of that.
Austerity is proving to be bad politics: Italy’s election is proving that.
Labour’s lead of 12% without, as yet, offering any significant policy alternative to the Coalition is also proof of that.
And yet austerity lives on. Sunny Hundal may taunt those in Labour who are wedded to austerity, but that won’t end their commitment to the policy of bankrupting this country in the interests of a few.
When will we see a commitment from a major political party to the policies we need? I argued some time ago that this would revolve around closing the tax gap, creating an industrial strategy and reforming pensions to release money for real long term investment. Nothing has changed since then, except the need for action.
When will a new politics based on the need for positive action rather than the fear that drives negative reaction be offered to the people of the UK, and elsewhere? So far there’s not enough of a hint of it.
Tax Research UK
