Call for universal welfare payment

‘RADICAL ALTERNATIVE’ WOULD SEE EVERY CITIZEN GET CASH

SUPPORT is growing in Kirklees for a campaign to replace the current welfare system with what has been described as “a radical alternative.”

People from across the political spectrum are backing the concept of a Universal Basic Income (UBI), a flat, regular payment made to every UK citizen throughout their life.

Now a movement that has founded ‘UBI labs’ has spread to Kirklees. Spearheaded by Labour councillor Erin Hill, UBI Lab Kirklees will add its collective voice to calls for a pilot basic income scheme.

The Kirklees group, which was set up in September, follows in the wake of others already launched in Liverpool, Leeds and the North East.

The movement began in Sheffield in 2017. The idea has already been piloted in Finland, Kenya, India and cities across the United States.

Clr Hill, who represents Crosland Moor and Netherton, described the UBI experiment as “radical and controversial” but with the potential to be “really transformative.”

And while it was not “a magic solution to all our problems” she called it “a vital part of creating the better society we so clearly need.”

She said: “The concept is simple. All citizens receive a flat payment on a regular basis that is unconditional on income and so not means tested.

“It is paid to every citizen and you get it throughout your life. One option is from birth. Other proposals say from the age of 18.

“Personally I think it makes sense to introduce it from birth. We already have child benefit in this country and that allows for a greater effect on families and for it to be used for children.”

She said the notion of UBI had had a very positive reaction from women and could be a way of equalising gender roles.

She added: “I believe that as a society we need to take a hard look at what we value. People are telling me that there is a financial penalty built into our society about caring for people. What do we value as a society? How might we do things differently?

“For me as a councillor what comes through all the time is that people are in an awful situation through no fault of their own.

“Right now we have local people doing six or seven zero-hour contract jobs and still having to claim benefits; nurses and teaching assistants relying on food banks; people caring for relatives and being financially punished for it; and most people in poverty also being in work.

“Something has got to change. Across the world we have seen UBI transform lives and communities. I want us to be part of that transformation too.

“The UBI idea is radical and controversial but we have gone so far down this hill of punishing people that it’s only something radical that will work.

“Setting up UBI Lab Kirklees is not about converting people to the idea. It’s about having a conversation with people: what is wrong and could this fix it? We cannot carry on like this.”

Clr Hill referred to the UBI movement as “quite a wide-ranging idea” that broke party-political boundaries to attract like-minded people from across the political spectrum.

She rejected criticism that providing a basic income would encourage some people to avoid taking up employment and that a weekly payment could be funded “by making big companies pay their fair share of taxes.”

She added: “The knee-jerk reaction is ‘Why would anybody work if they had this?’ Yet wherever it’s been rolled out it’s built jobs.

“Talking to local people and groups first, I’d be keen to work with the council as a partner but it’s about what issues local people bring forward.

“How do we move that forward? We would need a sympathetic government to move forward trials and pilots.

“What has come out of the pilots is that more people end up in work in the long term. People’s mental health and physical health are better.”

Members of the UBI Lab network have started conversations about basic income with council leaders, councillors and directly-elected mayors across the country.

Across the world we have seen UBI transform lives and communities. I want us to be part of that transformation too. People are in an awful situation through no fault of their own.