As many may well know, I?m no fan of Labour. However, the coalition is making far too many mistakes for my liking and needs to sharpen up their act too. The main thing which allows the coalition to get away with so much is, in my opinion, the woeful state of the opposition. Put simply, Labour need some good ideas and they need to come out fighting. The problem is that many, possibly most, voters hold Labour responsible for much of the country?s current economic woes, and, in any case, there is no money left for the traditional Labour solution of firehosing money at every problem in sight. Nevertheless, arguably ?New? Labours greatest and most durable successes were zero or low cost ideas ? ideas like sorting out Northern Ireland, introducing Civil Partnerships and free entry to museums. They need a whole load more ideas like that to have any hope of returning to government any time soon.
I hope this doesn?t turn into another ?Ed is crap? thread ? I?m looking for sensible, vaguely costed solutions that you think might just get the coalition worried and show that the next election isn?t a foregone conclusion.
Here?s my starter for ten.
- Abolish Corporation Tax for UK businesses opening, or foreign businesses relocating, to the 25 worst employment black-spots in the UK. This will undercut our European competitors and provide many much needed jobs and regeneration directly into our most blighted constituencies. That these places will probably already be Labour strongholds makes it all the more unbelievable that they haven?t tried this already. This is an affordable idea because it applies to businesses that may not have chosen to set up at all ? the cost saving comes from the reduced welfare bill of employing new workers who would have otherwise remained workless.
- Suggest areas where spending cuts could be made, rather than a ?yah-boo-it-sucks-to-be-you? style battle every time the coalition try to shred a ha?penny off some obscure budget. For example, all of those diversity co-ordinators and non-jobs that proliferated throughout the Labour years, are ?all? of them strictly necessary?
- Simplify the tax code by merging all personal taxation (income tax, Nat Insurance, Cap Gains etc) into one ?super-income? tax whereby any income, regardless of how it is ?earned? (whether it is by wages, dividends, interest payments etc.) is taxed at the same flat rate (somewhere around the 35-40% mark so that no-one, irrespective of where they are on the pay scale will end up paying more) with a larger, more generous personal allowance of, for example, £15k. The advantage of this is that huge swathes of the poorest are completely removed from paying tax at all, the marginal tax rate of coming off benefits is far less and the system is significantly simplified.
- Rather than pay child allowance, or various other in-work benefits, simply raise the parents? personal allowance instead. This has the twin effect of removing bureaucracy and it would no longer be seen as a state handout.
That?s my starter. I accept that none of these ideas will win an election in their own right ? however, Labour?s strategy has to be simple enough. They must find a way to maximise private sector jobs, build growth, reduce spending and try and keep the Unions together (both the Trades Unions and the Union of England and Scotland) to even have a hope of winning an election.