Letter to the Sheffield Star
David Fox asks “Why isn’t there a genuine party for the low-paid, homeless and those on benefits? “(Sheffield Star 9.11.22) I have got good news for him, there is! The Green Party.
We want the Government to provide everyone in the UK with a Basic Income. The Green’s plan would scrap Universal Credit and the cruel benefit sanctions regime, which push people further into poverty and destitution.
The plan would eliminate the cruelty of the current benefits system and liberate people from the anxiety of job insecurity. The Conservative Government has targeted and demonised people who face unemployment, disability and low incomes while making the rich even richer. The switch to Universal Credit and unfair benefit sanctions have caused huge suffering for so many people. A basic income would be available to everyone as a right and would not be removed when you get a job. There will be additional payments for groups of people who experience barriers to working, including disabled people, single parents and people of pension age.
The Greens support a £15 per hour minimum wage and are supporting Trade Unions in their struggles for fair pay increases at least in line with inflation.
The Greens want a new emergency tax package which will see both polluters and the richest pay their fair share to enable a nationwide insulation and renewable energy programme that will provide people with warmer, more comfortable homes, bring bills down permanently and reduce inequality.
The package includes a wealth tax on the richest 1% of households, raising at least £70 billion, alongside closing the loopholes in the Conservatives’ windfall tax on oil and gas companies and backdating it to January 2022. This ‘dirty profits tax’ would force the biggest polluters to pay for the damage they cause while protecting everyone else as we transition to a carbon-free future.
Ash Routh
Walkley Green Party
References
Basic Income Scheme
Wealth Tax
