A MANIFESTO FOR A BETTER SOCIETY
This is a Manifesto for a better, fairer, more economically and socially inclusive Britain, but many of the propositions in it could equally apply to any society that has been scarred by out-of-control free markets. It is not a listing of everything that could be done to improve Britain socially and economically - the changes that the Manifesto highlights have been selected because they will have high leverage for positive economic and social change.
Many nations that regard markets as the servants of the wider society rather than a separate entity tend to have greater inclusion in the employment system, less inequality, better health, education and lower crime rates than Britain - as well as being quite enterprising and economically prosperous.
We realise that many of the proposals will outrage some, but any proposition that constrains those with wealth, power and therefore access to advantage will tend to be strongly opposed by those who support privilege and elitism, who will often use apparently public benefit arguments to promote their interests. They ignore the huge advantages to be gained from a society that encourages all its members to contribute to the very best of their abilities for the wider community as well as themselves and their families. Britain has become hooked on individualistic selfishness, and as in the corporate sector, tends to grossly overestimate the impact of a few, not understanding that high economic performance and innovation need collaborative efforts on the part of many to reach fruition.
1. ECONOMIC MEASURES
Make Retail Banking and Lending accountable to Customers.
Retail banking and lending are different from investment banking in that they directly affect the lives and well-being of millions of people, many of whom are vulnerable because they lack the skills to evaluate what they are being offered and the consequences of their actions.
They are relatively straightforward businesses. Banks and building societies accept money from savers, invest it to obtain secure returns and lend responsibly to borrowers. This kind of business does not need "innovation" of the sort we have witnessed in investment banking, nor should retail banks and building societies have much need of support from the financial markets.
- Legislate to separate investment and retail banking
- Make retail banks and lenders responsible to their customers through an independent commission legally mandated to represent consumers' interests
- Introduce a licensing system for all in senior positions in banks. Licenses to practice would be revoked for unethical or illegal practices
- Give special protection in law to banking institutions run along mutual lines and offer large tax advantages for mutuals.
Tax Havens
Offshore tax havens have been the primary locations for the waves of speculation and greed that have swept the global financial system to disaster. They also shelter the proceeds of crime, corruption and tax evasion.
- Tax Havens to be opened up to scrutiny - all such havens within UK jurisdiction to be forced to disclose their transactions to a statutory authority responsible to Parliament as a whole. UK government to actively participate in international action against tax havens. Tax evasion to be made a criminal offence. All UK citizens attempting to avoid legitimate taxation to be acted against in UK courts. Any persons seeking to avoid UK tax offshore to be stripped of rights of domicile.
Companies' duty to society
Publicly quoted companies, which include most of the largest enterprises, have been subject to huge pressures to deliver unsustainable results by increasingly speculative and short-termist stock markets. Market investors have been assumed to be the 'owners' of companies. They are not. They are actually the agents of real owners, who are seldom asked about investment policy. Top managers have benefited by linking their rewards to pleasing investors. The losers have been customers and staff.
- Company law to be changed to make Directors accountable for acting in the best interests of customers, employees and owners - and to pay regard to the medium and long term impact on the community of their decisions. Legislate to provide tax and financial advantages to enterprises based on co-operative and partnership principles.
Action against inequitable rewards
Those who have the power to do so have rewarded themselves unfairly, taking compensation that has no relationship to the pay of employees in general or to performance. These inequities are causing alienation and are a source of the massive and damaging inequalities to be found in 'Anglo-Saxon' economies.
- Tighter regulation of compensation for economic activity. To include measures such as the setting up of an independent statutory commission responsible to Parliament to review payments unrelated to performance that create excessive differentials within companies. Directors and top managers to be compelled to report their remuneration and the justification for it to their colleagues in the enterprise as well as investors.
2. SOCIAL MEASURES
Progressively reduce privilege and religious divisions in education
The UK (and the US) are two of the most unequal societies in the developed world. In the UK, the perpetuation of class privilege and inequality starts in the education system. The peculiarly rigid British class system has scarred the social and economic landscape for centuries and acted as a depressant on full participation by all in the social and economic life of the nation. The existence of a two-tier education system offers huge advantages to those capable of purchasing privileged education and also denies the system as a whole the benefit of a tranche of interested and educated parents. The continuation of this educational schism is a source of gross inequality of opportunity and a sore that must be healed.
Faith schools are becoming a source of another source of social division and prejudice and need to be progressively dismantled.
- Education provision to be radically reformed to progressively discourage the purchase of privileged or segregated education - faith schools and private schools to lose tax privileges and charitable status
Revise the school and adult education sectors, with much more emphasis on learning practical and life skills, and less on testing for those who are not academically inclined
The UK education system, with its over-emphasis on academic subjects and testing, is failing to engage a substantial minority, who become alienated from learning for the rest of their lives. The whole system needs to be made much more flexible, with a much greater emphasis on practical learning of life skills and employment skills alongside academic studies. For those children who cannot fit in to an academic environment, new institutions need to be developed, with a strong emphasis on helping students to find their interests and aptitudes and on practical skills. Local adult education needs to be much enhanced, focusing on life skills, on managing finances and personal relationships
- Compulsory practical education in managing personal finances; social skills and practical skills such as cooking and healthy living to be introduced into schools at all levels
- National network of support for adults to help them to manage their lives and finances to be extended, based on established institutions such as The Citizens' Advice Bureaux. Incentives to be provided for adults to learn life skills such as problem solving and critical analysis so that they can evaluate the merits of advertising, promotions and pressures to buy from commercial and political sources.
Reinforce the viability of communities
Free market pressures have caused the destruction of many of the institutions that supported healthy communities. Many valuable social institutions such as Post Offices, local banking and transport have been closed for reasons of narrow accounting, ignoring wider social benefits impacts.
Priority to be given to the re-establishment of local banking and savings institutions such as credit unions and the re-opening of local Post Offices to provide retailing and community-based banking and advisory services for individuals and small businesses, as well as extending existing Post Bus services. Financial and practical support to be provided for local intranet facilities and easy access to the national grid for local electricity generation.