In December 2020, UK, government debt was £2.2trillion, nearly five percent more than our entire Gross Domestic Product and 13.7% above the EU average.
Approximately, a third of the national debt is owned by HMG, due to the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme… printing money.
About a third of the cost of servicing the debt, is paid by HMG, to itself!
The UK collected £828bn in taxes in 2019/20, ranking 23rd out of 38, OECD countries, in terms of the tax-to-GDP ratio… 32.8%.
… might be why most of our public services are shambolic, threadbare or keep you waiting…
... for an operation, a passport, a care package, an ambulance, justice and to get the roads mended.
Fiscal policy can be harnessed to reduce inequality in low and middle-income families but it it’s not very good at reducing poverty… levelling up ain’t easy.
There’s a question that sits behind all this;
Does the tax, that citizens' pay, give them efficient and value for money services or would they be better of, paying less tax and deciding for themselves how to spend their money.
The answer is, probably, let people decide for themselves.
But…
… it doesn’t really work like that. There are somethings we can’t do for ourselves.
We can’t have a Cruise missile in the garden shed, in case you-know-who casts and envious eye over Bognor.
And…
… happenstance and life’s little quirks may deliver us something horrible, or run us over with a bus and we’d need full-Monty care, beyond an insurance premium… all too obvious from the gaps in the US.
We syndicate our risks and call it socialised medicine. It’s supposed to be the same for social care but it’s not. That’s why it’s a bad idea to get old in Tory Britain.
The biggest slice of tax comes from Income Tax. Raise income tax by a penny and you’ll get about £5.5bn, extra.
Corporation, or business-tax only yields about £52bn… enough to keep the NHS going for about 120 days.
When BoJo was touting for the job as PM, he claimed;
‘Cutting the rate of corporation tax in the UK always increases the amount of revenue it raises’.
The Tories are looking for a new leader. A lot of them don’t seem to be able to work a calculator and struggle to understand; to get more in taxes you need economic growth, for which there are two main sources;
We don’t have a big enough workforce and immigration is a crime, defined by the Brexit thought police.
In 2019, ranked on GDP per hour worked, UK productivity was around 15% below the US and France.
Tinkering with the tax system is short-term-ism and that is corrosive for the economy.
Focussing on short-term political appeal and ignoring the long-term strategic fundamentals and value creation.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
Efficient public services, shaped by devolved strategic powers
A real living wage, to lift families out of benefits.
A skilled workforce, delivered by a relevant education system, where university is not the default, and includes employers
A digital infrastructure… 1.5m homes have no internet connection
A shift in taxation policy, from delivering shareholder-value, solely through profits, to encouraging value through profits and the benefits the business brings to the social, economic and environmental system in which it operates.
>> I'm hearing - The Covid-19 death toll has passed 200,000.
>> I'm hearing - The new primary care minister, James Morris, has said he does not believe there is currently a ‘crisis’ in general practice. I know this caretaker lot is the 'D-Team' but really?
>> I'm hearing - Stephen Firn, who was chief executive of Oxleas Foundation Trust until 2016 and is now a deputy chair of a FT, has been appointed to lead the Cygnet Healthcare’s healthcare division.
>> I'm hearing - DH+ has no plans to change the GP partnership model... well, that's what they told the Health Select Committee.
>> I'm hearing - all English ambulance services are on the highest, 'REAP-4' alert. In plain English... don't ring for an ambulance, they are all waiting outside a hospital.
