Rescuing
Democracy in the United Kingdom from our current Elected
Dictatorship
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Spin, not
face-to-face confrontations with the voters, is the Government's
chosen method of communication. Ordinary
people are dangerous. Ordinary people might ask a question
which throws a politician 'off message'; the Cabinet member
might reveal himself or herself to be a human being like
us, and not a programmed android. Worse still, he or she
might tell the truth.
Ann Leslie - Daily Mail, September
16, 2004
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Letwin's
£8bn tax challenge for Labour
The
Tories threw down the gauntlet on taxation yesterday,
challenging Labour to say which taxes will rise if it
wins the election.
Shadow
Chancellor Oliver Letwin said Gordon Brown faces an estimated
£8 billion deficit in the public finances after
polling day. He said the Tories, if elected, will plug
that gap with cash from the £35 billion efficiency
savings they outlined on Tuesday.
Mr
Letwin said it was up to the Chancellor to say how the
Government would cover the deficit. The Shadow Chancellor
set out four tax rise options available to Mr Brown -
and challenged him to rule them out in what he called
a 'truth-on-tax challenge'. According to Mr Letwin the
four choices were:
*
Imposing capital gains tax on house sales to raise £12
billion
*
Introducing VAT on food, costing the average family £8
a week and raising around £10.5 billion.
*Adding
2p to basic rate of tax, costing someone on £30,000/year
an extra £9/week, raising £6.8bn.
*Hiking
National Insurance Contributions for top rate taxpayers
by 10%. this would cost someone on £50,000 an extra
£32/week and raise £7.7 billion.
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Council
Tax Target: The South - Millions to be hit in council tax
sting
The
great 0870 scam - the 158th stealth tax imposed on us by Blair
Tories
axe stamp duty for houses up to £250,000
There
will be huge tax rises if Labour wins
£1,000
a year tax rise face families if New Labour win a third term
By
James Chapman - Political Correspondent - Daily Mail, January
27, 2005
A
third term for Labour would mean tax rises of £1,000 a year
for hardworking families, experts have warned. Gordon Brown will
have to raise taxes by at least £11 billion a year to pay
for his spending plans according to an authoritative analysis
by independent researchers. They say the national tax burden is
like to reach a 25-year high by 2010.
The
devastating verdict from the Institute for Fiscal Studies - regarded
as Britain's leading independent economic forecaster - will put
tax at the heart of the General Election battle.
Howard's
way much better, says economic think-tank -
By
Edmund Conway - Daily Mail, January 27, 2005
Gordon
Brown has barely a one-in- three chance of meeting his
key borrowing rule without raising taxes, the Institute
for Fiscal Studies claims.
The IFS said the Chancellor would have to raise taxes
by at least £11bn - to plug the gaping hole in the
public finances. It
believes the most likely outcome is that Brown increases
National Insurance contributions.
Yesterday's
warning comes as a major blow to Brown's financial credibility.
By contrast, the tax and spending cuts unveiled by Michael
Howard's Tory Party will leave the government accounts
in a much better position, the leading think-tank concluded.
In
its closely-watched 'Green Budget' which proposes measures
the Chancellor ought to implement in his spring Budget,
the IFS said the Treasury would have to bend its 'golden
rule'. The rule is that a government must only borrow
to invest over the course of an economic cycle.
The
Treasury originally said it expected the current cycle
to end next year, but some suspect it will declare an
end to the cycle this year, raising its chances of meeting
the rule
This
will leave the public finances in an even worse state
for the next cycle. The think-tank said that, in its worse-case
scenario government would keep running up a deficit for
the entire length of the next cycle, leaving the 'golden
rule' in tatters.
The
IFS also expects Brown to break his other rule to keep
total government debt beneath 45% of gross domestic product
(GDP) within the next two to three years.
Morgan
Stanley, which helped compile the report, warned the economy
could be badly struck by fall in house prices.
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The
Tories seized on the findings to challenge Tony Blair to spell
out which taxes he planned to increase to plug the black hole
in the public finances. Michael Howard said it was clear a typical
working couple on average earnings would face a tax rise of £1,000
a year - the equivalent of 3p in the pound.
In
a major boost for the Tory leader, the IFS endorsed his plans
to cut public spending by 2% of national income to pay for £4
billion of tax cuts. It also said the Tories were more likely
than the Chancellor to meet his 'golden rule' of only borrowing
to invest and not to finance current spending.
Mr
Howard said: "Mr Blair should admit that he will have to
put up taxes to pay for his spending plans. The only question
is which taxes? There will be a clear choice at the next election:
more waste and higher taxes under Mr Blair, or value for money
and lower taxes with Conservatives."
In
its annual 'Green Budget', published in collaboration with U.S.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley, the IFS concludes tax revenues
will not grow as quickly as the Treasury hopes. The Chancellor's
problem is that he has promised to massively increase funding
for schools and hospitals at a time when tax revenue from company
tax, fuel duties and VAT have been lower than expected.
By
next year, the IFS says, Labour will be taking 2.1% more of national
earnings in tax than the Tories did in 1997. The tax burden will
reach its highest level since the mid-1980's by 2010, at 40.5%
of national income. The IFS also warns that under Labour's plans
an extra 800,000 families will be sucked into the 40% top rate
in the next five years.
It
predicts that Labour will attempt to cut taxes in its pre-election
Budget - as it did before the last two elections - before putting
them up if it wins a third term. Plans to give free nursery care
to all three and four year-olds will cost an extra £1.3
billion alone, the experts say.
The
report adds: "To put the public finances back on a path as
strong as the Treasury aimed for in the 2004 Budget would require
a tax increase of at least £11 billion.
Mr
Howard said the report should serve as a clear warning to the
British people. "It is a warning about the price they pay
for voting Labour at the next election," he said.
Labour
insisted that its spending plans were affordable. Chief Secretary
to the Treasury Paul Boateng said:"Figures and forecasts
from think-tanks and other pundits come and go."
A
senior Treasure source said the IFS analysis was 'all over the
place' and accused its experts of using figures that were out
of date. The IFS forecasts a budget deficit of 0.9% of national
income for 2006/7 - equivalent to £11 billion - while the
Treasure says it expects none at all. This is mainly due to the
IFS forecasting a lower income than the Treasury says it expects
from taxes.
But
levels of borrowing present the Chancellor with another headache.
The Office for National Statistics revealed last week that the
Treasury had borrowed £37.1 billion so far this financial
year. Experts say that figure is to rise to £44 billion
by April. Mr Brown, who set a Budget target of borrowing £34
billion for the year, is hoping that income from taxes will narrow
the gap.
For
the health of our democracy, we, the people of the United Kingdom,
must find a way to force Mr Blair to resign
Such
defiance of the democratic process and the will of the majority
of we people of the UK, must be exposed by voters as a matter
or urgency, and not just in the two by-elections we have had this
July and the European elections in June 2004. But how can this
be done?
The
most effective way of getting our deceitful PM to resign would
be to mobilise the army of Labour MPs currently in the House of
Commons and get them to demand it, the loss of their seat to be
a penalty if they did not. All voters in Labour-held constituencies
need to write a letter along these lines to their local Labour
MPs:
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Dear
Despite
his absolute and unequivocal assurances over the past year
of the serious risk to our security of Saddam Hussein's
'weapons of mass destruction', Prime Minister Blair
has admitted, that the threat was non-existent. For that
critical error of judgement and for his gross incompetence
in handling this very important issue, I ask you to take
immediate steps to ensure that Tony Blair does the honourable
thing and resign without delay..
I
would therefore be much obliged if you would propose and
help mobilise a Parliamentary vote of 'No Confidence' in
Mr Blair which, despite Labour's huge majority, would leave
the PM with no option but to resign.
If
I get no reply to this letter, I shall assume you will continue
to support Mr Blair as our Prime Minister. In such circumstances
I shall not vote for you in the forthcoming General Election.
Signed:
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Simple,
non-violent, protest letters along these lines on a variety of
issues could be the basis for re-vitalising our democracy and
increasing voters' interest and participation in politics. Download
a printable copy of the above letter here.
There
is another way for the voice of the silent majority to be heard,
a voice that made sure broken promises would not only be revealed,
but punished in subsequent elections.
In
the year available before the General Election expected in 2005,
many topics are available as ammunition, each one asking questions.
A weapon for our purpose will be the results of Opinion Polls
in individual constituencies using ICM, NOP, Gallop, Mori
or YouGov.
Questions
suggested for this purpose are listed here.
CAST
YOUR VOTE ON A VARIETY OF OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES HERE.
Current
and prospective Parliamentary candidates of all Parties running
for election could share a platform at public forums in every
constituency. They would be presented with the results of
polls on this issue expressed by the majority of voters in that
constituency.
The candidates could be asked if their own views and that of their
Party manifesto corresponded with the polls, and if not, how they
intended to represent the will of the majority of local voters.
Local and National Press, Radio and TV coverage would be arranged
and the results published on this web site.
Here
is another powerful strategy for using your vote effectively in
the forthcoming General Election. Send your sitting and prospective
MPs a letter defining your requirements if they want your vote.
This example deals with the proposed
EU Constitutional Treaty.
Your
letters would end: "If you do not answer
this letter, I shall take it that you intend to follow the Government
line. I shall act accordingly in the forthcoming General Election.
Or
why not create a questionnaire that you send to all the candidates
in your constituency, getting them to give yes/no answers to questions
of your choice, and ending it with the same paragraph(above).
Download
a printable example of the questionnaire.
It
is high time for the people of this United Kingdom to stop allowing
themselves to be manipulated by politicians. We need our representatives
in Parliament to genuinely reflect the view of the majority in
their own constituency, even if this means going against their
personal and/or their party's policy. While they may argue their
case, hoping to change the minds of the majority in their constituency,
they should ultimately be obliged to reflect the majority view
of those who elect them.
It
will be argued by politicians of all parties that most voters
don't have the knowledge necessary to express an opinion on important
subjects at issue, and that our vote is a form of delegated democracy.
We should argue that it is their duty to ensure that we voters
do have ready access to such information as is necessary to form
an intelligent opinion. That, after all, is one main purpose of
Opposition Parties in our Parliamentary Democracy.
Most
important of all, such proceedings would rekindle in voters their
latent interest and obligation to cast their vote, knowing that
the candidate of their choice would be more likely to act in accordance
with their wishes. A much higher turnout in elections would be
the result.
Contact
your local Party Chairman. Gain his support for setting up public
forums in your constituency on these, as well as any other relevant
topics, well before the next General Election expected in 2005.
You should then, depending on the integrity of the candidate of
your choice, feel fairly certain that your view on any subject
being debated in Parliament will more accurately be reflected
by your representative in that assembly.
