FW: The case for a one-off tax of the rich‏

Greg Philo, research director of Glasgow University Media Unit has an interesting article on the Guardian website in which he makes a simple but profound point on the supposed financial crisis: “a one-off tax of just 20% on the wealth of this group (richest 10%) would pay the national debt and dramatically reduce the deficit”. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/15/deficit-crisis-tax-the-rich

Given that the country is governed by a Con Dem cabinet full of millionaires and the coalition government is time-locked for 5 years, it is perhaps not a propitious time to propose such a bold measure.

However Philo draws on polling evidence which shows that although there is support for dealing with the national debt, there is much more support for dealing with it by tackling accumulated wealth than regressive taxation and cuts. The differences are statistically significant but the really interesting bit is that you’d expect the left to support a wealth tax but those polled were asked a pretty careful question, were given the necessary information, and 74% supported a one-off tax of the wealth of the top 10%. Even more interesting is that there was support across social groups.

The key about this piece is that it really does reinforce that the Con Dems really don’t have a mandate to pursue a policy of slash and burn and that a simple, if limited, alternative commands significant support in the populace.

This article is of significance to UNISON’s million voices campaign - research like this can be used to highlight alternatives to the cuts to services in the lead-up to protest actions on 29 September and 20 October.