A number of people have asked me to clarify where I stand with Labour, and whether I will work for them. It\u2019s only fair in that case to make clear what my plans are.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m carrying on as I have done for a number of years. I will be continuing to run Tax Research UK as well as undertaking my new duties as Professor of Practice in International Political Economy at City University and supporting the Fair Tax Mark.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m delighted that over the summer three of the five projects that are the basis of my research funding from the Friends' Provident Foundation have received the prominence that Jeremy Corbyn has given them: anyone who wants to advance their ideas would feel the same. I will continue, as I have over the summer, to rigorously defend the value of those ideas.<\/p>\n
But as a person who has spent more than a decade now generating and then developing ideas that is what I plan to continue to do, and will be willing to talk to and advise anyone who wants to put them to reasonable use, as at least six UK political parties have, in various ways, done over the last few years.<\/p>\n
As I have said, often, I did not write Jeremy Corbyn\u2019s economic policies and am by no means responsible for them all. And I am certainly not, whatever the press says, his economics guru. I am just a man who writes a blog, does research, produces ideas, and meets people who want to talk about them. In that case of course I\u2019ll talk to Labour about my ideas if they want me to do so: that\u2019s what advocacy of an idea permits.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s not an exclusive relationship. It never has been: for example, I last worked for the Greens in the EU Parliament in July.<\/p>\n
So, it\u2019s business as usual.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"