A little unexpectedly I have been invited to attend a speech Jeremy Corbyn is giving this morning and to then sit on a panel afterwards to answer questions on three issues. These are, I understand, the tax gap, tax justice issues including those relating to corporate transparency, and what Jeremy calls People's QE, and which I have previously called green infrastructure QE.
I must stress that I am not a member of the Labour Party and that I would also support other candidates if they wanted me to do so on issues where I had expertise to offer, but so far it seems as if it is only Jeremy who will be making the running on these issues. In that case I will be happy to answer the questions anyone attending wants to raise.
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That is my good news for the day. If Jeremy Corbyn were to retain his ethics, but to combine them with sound non-tory economics, he would be someone well worth voting for.
All I can say is ‘Go for it Richard’.
I do hope that you and Jeremy ‘click’ and that he keeps on asking for your advice!
if the Labour party is to remain useful, Corbyn has to win and return it to its senses. If this means Labour is a voice in the wilderness for ten years then so be it-Corbyn is addressing real issues-Burnham/Cooper/Kendal are grotesque puppets of the Tories.
Well said Simon – I couldn’t agree more.
Change will not come without a disruptive force engaging the current narrative.
After all the gloom and doom I feel from your recent blogs not a criticism but the reality of neoliberal economics I find this extremely positive and could possibly support Labour again if they were to adopt a lot of the economic policies you have been advocating for some time now.
I’ve always been an Andy supporter and several times suggested
that we should be more self-employed friendly. I’ve run a small business for 30 years and after the welfare vote and now this sensible move from Corbyn I’m starting to rethink my vote.
Andy supports Land Value Taxation, which is why I would have gone for him if Jeremy hadn’t entered the contest.
Jeremy needs some good economic analysis and policies, which I am sure he will open to. Good that he will get some advice from Richard. I’m trying to get through to Jeremy on LVT, because he needs to understand the crucial part that this can play in solving the housing crisis. We have spoken to him briefly in the past and he acknowledges the issue. I’ve just tried, unsuccessfully, to speak to Kelvin Hopkins who is a member of our campaign and has Jeremy’s ear.
Corbyn is an ‘old Labour’ tribalist otherwise he wouldn’t be against PR.
Unfortunately unconditional commitment to electoral reform, along with a genuine reaching out to other progressives e.g. Green’s, is Labour’s only genuine hope of redemption.
With Scotland betrayed by Labour, I can’t see the UK staying united either unless such profound and radical change is at the core of the next Labour leader’s vision.
Corbyn, an imperfect candidate I will admit, but he is the only one seeking to challenge the perceived wisdom of neoliberal philosophy. I think it was Jim Hightower who said ‘the opposite of courage is conformity, even a dead fish can go with the flow’. Trying to out tory the tories begets more of the same. Our society and our planet need something different so counsel him honestly Richard and it will be a step in the right direction.
It’s absolutely no surprise, but all too depressing that what’s currently making the news on the Guardian’s site – and likely for the rest of the media today is Tony Blair’s intervention (where any questions about Iraq are banned).
The frank refusal in any of the coverage to report, let alone consider, any of Corbyn’s policies is, of course, par for the course, but the Guardian’s response has been hysterically blinkered. Anne Perkins and Raphael Behr have again trotted out pieces obsessed with positioning and strategy with ne’re a mention of positive policies between them – needless to say, Blair’s intervention was free of them too.
Jeremy Corbyn for the next Labour leader … hmmmm.
How I feel about that is I am not even interested if it is anybody else. Corbyn is the only one offering a serious alternative to the other Tory-lite chancers.
But – and there is always a but isn’t there? — I worry that if he does become leader then Labour are destined repeat the wilderness years of Michael Foot.
Because the miserable reality is that I think most people, most English people at least, who bother to vote are I think conservative.
Once in the privacy of the ballot box they’ll vote for selfish reasons, despite what they might say elsewhere. Isn’t that what happened in May?
Add to that the sheer scale of the pro-Tory print media propaganda machine that will reinforce the selfish narrative day in day out.
It is brilliantly successful at getting working and poor people at each other’s throats and blaming each other instead of the real culprits.
I recognise that this is all very depressing and negative, and I’ll be delighted to be proved wrong and look stupid.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be.
But I’m still backing Corbyn.
A glimmer of hope for something better for this country…thanks Jeremy, and thanks Richard!
The question is: could he do that from within the Labor Partly?
‘…the Labor Partly’
Ahaha. What was once The Labour Party became The Labour Partly and is now on the verge of becoming The Labour Hardly.
You asked for crucial subjects…
Given the role of anonymous companies (despite what appears to be wet-dog legislation – Let’s see the regulations for its application), anonymous trusts represented by name-plate fiduciaries (trustees), ‘non-domiciled’ multinationals wandering from one complaisant tax haven to another), tax havens with their facility for creating “nests” of companies for tax evasion,(undeclared) OTC trading, money-laundering, commodities speculation, other criminal activities writ large… the UK needs to create and finance at a credible level a proactive specialist inspectorate with subpoena powers and the authority to bring prosecutions. Its brief should also include the right to make public recommendations for specific criminal and financial law reforms.
The active implementation of this approach would bring in significant revenue and help sanitize several areas of our political and economic process.
If Corbyn is supported by some young lions and lionesses, he could do rather well.
He doesn’t need blancmange careerists! “Cambridge” Tories to the dark blue “Oxford” Government.
Someone really ought to find a crucifix, garlic and a wooden stake in order to put Tony B(ig)liar to rest. In order not offend the sensibilities of Richard or other contributors to this blog, I won’t elaborate on where he can stick his third way!
Corbyn needs able people that an be set loose on the incumbents at Westminster to tear them politically limb from limb.
The Toires are open to attack as they are now the party that
1. “Loots” the state for the benefit of their wealthy “city friends”
2. Cuts the benefits of hard working poor.
3. Increases the taxes on the hard workng self employed and would be entrepreneurs.
Surely Labour can find the ammunition they need?