The state of the British economy is a disgrace. It has been on the high road to post-imperial collapse since the Tory Government of John Major drove it into the unsustainable ERM.
The Workers Party of Britain is an optimistic party. We think this situation can be reversed but we are running out of time. We need to act vigorously as one nation within the next two decades or all may be lost.
Only common-sense socialism can now rebuild a country where social infrastructure is as important as transport, logistics, communications and energy infrastructures. You cannot separate national health and welfare, education and housing stock from the provision of the structures required to grow the economy. We are pro-growth but growth can only come from investment in society today in order to achieve tomorrow’s sustainable development.
We therefore reject the bogus theory of ‘trickle down’ economics. We will introduce fair and comprehensive tax reform including our commitment to a one off 5% wealth tax on all estates valued fairly at over £10 million. These funds will be used to kick-start a national economic and social investment strategy with an estimated £17bn windfall.
Our priorities lie not in increasing current expenditures in an inflationary way to patch up the mistakes of the inept political class but in ensuring a fair distribution of resources that protect the most vulnerable, encouraging community-directed initiative and entrepreneurialism in the working class itself and building the social infrastructure. This latter means full access to the NHS, benefits and pensions that wipe out poverty (especially child poverty and poverty for the elderly), life-long educational opportunity and guaranteed housing for every citizen of the country.
We are not afraid to say that people should work where they are able but receive the support of the community where they are not. We also want an historic renewal of the relationship between the State and the trades unions which reached its greatest success in the Second World War and led directly to the welfare state but this cannot happen while the trades unions remain timidly tied by their bureaucracies to a morally bankrupt Labour Party.
Housing for the People
The scandal of young people not being able to afford their own homes or (at the least) having automatic access to fair rent social housing expresses the utter failure of neo-liberal capitalism. Even the children of the well-off upper middle classes now pay exorbitant rents to wealthy buy-to-let ‘pensioners’. In many cases, with the collapse of the welfare state and numerous pension fund robberies, investment in property became the safest place to plan for your retirement. This situation is not sustainable. Our birth rate is falling because families start later and with less resources. This then encourages business interests to clamour for more migrants who put even greater pressure on limited and deteriorating housing stock.
The Workers Party of Britain will end this catastrophe for young people and families which is also a catastrophe for our migrant population, often destined to end up in our worst housing conditions. We will begin a programme of social housing that will over-ride all unnecessary planning constraints. We will be prepared for the compulsory expropriation of all unused land banks and the fast-tracking of permits. We will end the scandal of sub-standard buy-to-let as the default policy of a failed political class by ensuring the right to buy or transfer of such assets to local authorities. We will, however, continue to support and protect the rights of those many thousands who have invested in property as a result of a lack of productive avenues of investment in industry, or as a result of the lack of faith in pension providers. The mess that successive Governments have made in terms of long-term household financial security may take decades of determined action to correct. We will make sure that it is safer and more profitable to invest money in British infrastructure and industry and we will free up land and property for social development. We will also encourage opportunities for workers and trade unions to acquire collectively-owned land and property in the countryside and on the coasts for the rest and relaxation of the working class while being mindful of a prior commitment to affordable housing for rural and coastal workers.
We will tighten up further on any eviction action that is not based on anti-social behaviour towards neighbours and the community. We will also get tough on noise pollution, anti-social behaviour in general and use of property for criminal purposes. We will continue to democratise the ownership and responsibilities of multi-ownership dwellings. We will, however, guarantee the right to independent home ownership and social mobility that can release social housing stock for those starting out on the housing ladder.
A flagship policy is our support for increased tenant control of council housing (the Tenant Managed Housing Co-op model) to empower communities and develop the will and capacity, supported by local authorities, social care and police, to turn our remaining and new estates into havens instead of abandoned territories prey to exploitation. We will ensure financial support to assist the vulnerable to participate in the community and for tenants to have the tools to maintain and develop their communities.
Julie Lowe 