A wealth tax is not enough

Printed in The Socialist 22 May

Rightly opposing the government plans to cut disability benefits, Labour MP Richard Burgon has instead suggested a 2% tax on assets over £10 million.

Right-wing economists insist that rich people will just evade a wealth tax, or leave the country. This is a shameful excuse. Closing loopholes and immediately imposing controls would avoid capital flight.

Why is money in the hands of the rich in the first place though? Our bills rise yet we have water companies dumping sewage in our seas and rivers. At the same time, (and equally nauseating) they dish out dividends and bonuses. We shouldn’t settle for 2% of that. We should have 100% of that.

Even the not-for-profit Dwr Cymru (Welsh Water) has made Welsh rivers some of the most polluted in the UK while its executives frequently take home the better part of a million quid each in salary and bonuses.

That’s what you get with ‘arms length’ public ownership or privatisation. Utilities must be genuinely nationalised: publicly owned, publicly controlled, under the democratic management of workers and service users, in a joined-up plan for a socialist economy.

The wealth in society exists to properly support disabled people and meet everyone’s needs. Let’s not beg for scraps.