Ponderings | The Utopian

Things that seem to be good but might not be

Electric cars. How is the government going to recover all the fuel tax, when the majority of vehicles are electric?

The UK consumes about 50 billion litres of fuel a year for transport. With the change to electric vehicles that fuel will need to be provided by electricity. Total generation is about 300 billion kW - that fuel will need about 70 billion kW (check figures!).

Where's that extra electricity going to come from?

How is the government going to make up the lost fuel duty?

Reducing CO2. The UK's CO2 emissions have halved over the past 40 years, and compare very favourably to other, similar, countries. That's good, right?

Recyled paper. Why is recycled paper so much more expensive than paper from virgin wood?

Brexit - good or bad?

I wouldn't mind any of it if GB used the situation to (for example) establish world-leading rights and pay for workers, the highest environmental standards and respect of nature, equal access to health, education and housing, nuclear disarmament and disinvestment in the arms trade, no border controls, and fair trade with partners. Thereby becoming something of a trailblazer, and a nation fit to admire and a good place to live for everyone.

Cost of Living Crisis - an Easy Fix

This answer is less to do with the cause of the current crisis (Ukraine, mid-life global capitalism, UK-domestic politics, etc.) and more some easy to apply immediate solutions. In my view the cost of living crisis has always been around for far too many people. Anyway, my answer.

Local Power. Centralised power in the UK is the near existential cause of many of the problems. Two obvious ways this shows are in the North/South divide, and the way public finance works, with 70% of locally generated cash taken by central government, and then partially and unevenly given back. But it runs much deeper than these symptoms, and unravelling why, the whole impact, and how to somehow correct the many injustices and hardships caused is, well, 'complicated'! Maybe I'll have a stab at it one day*, but for now, a few other easier ideas.

Direct tax. Tax in general should be progressive. That is, you pay more *as a proportion of your wealth* if you earn more, or have more. The ‘proportion’ bit is important. It’s sometimes said that the rich do, in fact, pay more tax than the poor, and in some ways that’s true. But not as a proportion of their income or wealth, so the present system is not progressive. I think tax at 99p in the £1 for anything over £50,000 should do for starters! And of course a tax on wealth - 2% of personal assets each year please. Thank you.

Indirect taxation. Most (around 65%) of the tax in the UK is generated from indirect tax – that is, tax on goods and services. So, like direct tax, indirect tax affects those on lower incomes far more than the rich. Axe VAT on essentials like gas and electricity for example.

Close tax loopholes. Obviously, Amazon, Apple, Google and the rest of them are a disgrace and need to be dealt with, but there’s a whole range of outrageous tax breaks for the rich. Why is it that private schools are treated as a VAT-exempt charity for example?

Land Value Tax. I know there are pros and cons, but if the value of land goes up because of planning permission or sudden demand for example, the increase in value should be taxed. Many other countries do it – why not in the UK?

Inheritance tax. I’d expect a lot of people will disagree with this. 100% inheritance tax. Think it through!

Universal Basic Income. I’ve flipped about with this for years, and now I think its time has come. Means tested benefits (like housing benefit and universal credit) are rubbish on so many levels. Stigma, cost of administration, many many people failing to claim or receiving what they’re due. So an income of say £1000 per month for everyone in the UK. Things like housing and child support will need to be thought through, and protecting common services needs to be built in. Whatever, UBI now.

Social housing. Affordable, quality housing properly maintained and managed. It’s the one thing our society can do that would actually pay for itself if done properly, and change really does start with homes.

Public transport. Low cost, maybe free, state owned and run public transport. No discussion.

Insulate Britain. If we insulate existing homes and build new ones to a decent standard (like Passivhaus) we’d save the NHS 43p in the pound. Slash heating costs, meet COP calls with room to spare, a comfortable healthy home for all.

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* Many have looked at this and contributed some persuasive insights. For example, Ben Ansell. And with apologies to TPE - Agitate, Educate, Organise. Post-16 Educator is a good source of debate.