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A BREXIT BRITAIN
I was a member of the LibDems and I voted to remain in the EU. However, since the referendum result, the LibDem party has become a pressure group with the aim of reversing the Referendum result. I therefore resigned from the party.
On the night before the Referendum, I attended a Referendum debate. My written comment to the chairperson before the debate stated that leaving the EU was like “tombstoning” or leaving a secure job with a steady income to go “self-employed” without knowing what work you were going to do, no business plan or cash flow forecast.
It seems to me that the “tombstoning” option is the only one available to the government. There is, of course, a number of problems with the Brexit negotiations. The most important is the Northern Ireland border issue. The UK government has begun a devolution process which needs to go further even if it means re-writing the constitution of the UK. Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay in the EU. Either Therese May must tell the DUP that if they have to choose between the EU and the UK even if it means the break up of the UK as it is presently constituted. If they choose to stay with the UK then there will be a hard border. Otherwise they become an independent country and fight their own battles. This includes negotiating with the EU to stay as a member if that is what they want.
Regarding the UK, the government should walk away from the EU and its negotiating team; tell the CBI and the FSB to negotiate their own deals with the businesses in the EU member states which the UK government will support. If the businesses in the EU can not agree contractual terms with British businesses because of EU regulations, British business should tell them that their government should also trigger Article 50.
Britain should establish its own customs union and Free Trade Area with the African Union, ASEAN and the Gold BRIC countries. Britain also needs to establish an Alternative Economic Operating Sytem that eliminates poverty. That is another issue, however.
A Political Strategy for Brexit
The first policy statement for a government or a party hoping to be in government must make must be to reassure business and the people who have real economic power; the so-called super rich or HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals) by stating that investments in the new types of businesses that will be created in the UK by the UK government will have a zero rate of tax on dividends on profits of the new businesses.
These new businesses will have their cash flow protected by the courts and by the national government so long as the businesses are found by the courts to have honoured their contractual agreements. The new forms of Contract Law will protect businesses that act honourably.
The new types of businesses will have a maximum statutory hourly rate differential of 20 to 1 The rate of CT (Corporation Tax) will be linked to the actual Wage Differential paid by the business.
IT WAS A BIG MISTAKE OF THE UK GOVERNMENT TO ARBITRARILY REDUCE CT TO 17%.
If the new types of businesses reduce their wage differential to 17 to 1, then a 17% CT would be acceptable. If the new businesses reduced the wage differential to 8 to 1, then 8% CT would be acceptable. This would create a profit enhancing incentive to reduce the wage differential and to start the end of economically deprived areas of the country and the social (educational, for instance) problems associated with economic deprivation.
Reducing the wage differential would increase/stimulate demand in the economy, reduce the Welfare Bill paid out of taxation AND increase the tax take by moving the lowest paid into the Tax Paying bracket, above £10 000 p.a. The Austerity programme followed by thecurrent government merely reduces Aggregate Economic Demand and is a contributory factor in the demise of our Hogh Streets. People cannot afford to go out and spend money in the shops.
Another Business friendly policy for the new types of business WHICH HAVE YET TO BE CREATED BY GOVERNMENT, is to have an Earned Profits Allowance, equal to a percentage of the Wage Bill of the Full Time (35 + hours) lowest hourly paid employees of the business. The percentage allowance would depend on the economic conditions that apply at the time. It could vary from 1% to 100%.
When it comes to giving International Development aid to other countries, the aid could be paid directly to the lowest paid workforce in the form of wages of the company carrying out the development. This would avoid, I think, the opportunity for corrupt practices by foreign governments and be a step in the direction of ending abject poverty in the Developing Countries.
Of course, business friendly policies must also apply to the employees of ALL BUSINESSES; not just the new types of businesses previously referred to. I therefore think that a policy that would find favour with the electorate as a whole would be to have a STATUTORY OVERTIME RATE of +30% of the hourly rate for any hours worked above the daily and weekly contracted hours. A full time working week could be 35 hours; a full time working day could be 8 hours. Any hours worked above the contracted hours would have to be paid at the STATUTORY OVERTIME RATE. This would have the effect of ending the scandal of ZERO HOURS CONTRACTS, creating Full time jobs that would enable people to qualify for mortgages and able to afford to buy (or rent) their own homes.
To end the scandal of people being forced to live in substandard houses as at present, the law of contract between Landlord, their Agents and Tenants MUST be changed. All properties offered for rent must have a Certificate of Fitness for Human Habitation issued by the Local Council. It will be illegal for Landlords to accept rents from tenants of properties that do not have a valid Certificate; it will also be illegal for tenants of these properties to pay rents to Landlords or their Agents. Tenants will have the right to engage the services of the appropriate Contractors to bring the property up to a legal standard of fitness for Human Habitation. Owners of houses that are not let or otherwise occupied by people will be subject to the highest band of Council Tax for each such property owned. The purpose of these rules is to end as soon as possible the existence of substandard buildings. A consequence of these measures is to stimulate demand and work/employment in the Construction Industry. To be continued.
POSIWID; The Purpose of a System Is What It Does. 