Need for a hard-hitting ‘wealth tax’ in next week’s Budget

IT’S not just me and my Green Party stating the vital urgency for Britain to have a hard-hitting ‘wealth tax’ in next week’s national budget.

The recent World Economic Forum’s January meeting in Davos strongly supported it, bringing us in line with most other affluent nations.

Ending obscene inequality, which has been such a big part of ‘ruling class’ global and British capitalism for centuries, is as much a part of green argument for global and British climate justice, as it’s one for seeking essential parallel social justice. This means rating profits of corporations, property owners, investors and banks as well below the survival needs of both people and nature, plus getting all prominent religions in the world to both preach and practice their ‘faiths’ of heavenly ‘spiritual’ rewards coming only from self-sacrifice and frugal consumption, with hell’s fiery torture kept for self-indulgent private material wealth and greed.

It’s weird how both government politicians and religious priests are getting away with telling the persistent lies of how they, and British people in general, follow so-called ‘Christian’ or ‘religious faith’ values, when in fact they all support and collaborate in all-powerful, omnipresent, self-indulgent capitalism with all its private individual – or family – extremely unequal monetary and property ownership.

So everywhere our very ‘technically modern’ 21st century still stupidly harbours the climate ‘death wish’ of wealth and greed commanding power and privilege.

Most ordinary folk don’t even know how the property and financial guts of capitalism actually runs, or who owns what and how they got it – despite inadequate national Land Registry and HMRC records.

In fact, ask any student from top Somerset schools, or FE colleges “who owns your town?”, or, “how is money created and controlled?”, or what is usury and who fixes exchange and interest rates?” You’ll get the same “don’t know” blank answer.

Oxfam research, helped by Guardian and Morning Star papers and educated by huge multi-national corporations, recently concentrating down globally from about 15,000 to 1,500, shows that over half global wealth is now controlled by about a dozen to 15 super-rich ‘family dynasties’, with the UK controlled by a mere five or six. This vast moral corruption centres upon Monaco’s ‘monstrous rich’ and the Bahamas’ ‘offshore buck-aneers’, all living in sumptuous secrecy and luxury.

Don’t believe me: just search for both Panama (2016) and Pandora (2021) Papers on the internet.

Christianity’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’ call to bless the poor and damn the rich (Luke 6 and Matthew 19), and to give up all your possessions trying to pass through the ‘eye of a needle’, become totally daft in capitalism’s endless obsession with growth and greed, with future life’s survival now resting on urgent, carefully planned de-growth and recession!

Alan Debenham Taunton, Somerset

Why I think Gavin Williamson ‘clueless’

THANK you to Mrs Newman for her response. I would like to remind her that the Secretary of State for Education sets out the content of the study programme which is taught in state schools, so any ‘pandering to modern attitudes’ is at the behest of the Education Secretary.

Regarding Mr Williamson as Education Secretary, he is a public servant, his salary is paid by the taxpayer and he is accountable to the electorate. Admittedly, the Covid pandemic was a challenging time but during his tenure as Education Secretary chaos reigned when firm leadership was required.

Previously he had been sacked as defence secretary in 2019 by Theresa May for allegedly leaking information and finally he resigned in 2022 to clear his name on bullying charges. Given his track record I would suggest it is factual, not impolite to refer to him as ‘clueless’. Catherine Pickles Buckfastleigh, Devon