More Reforms by the New National Labour Party

More reforms by the New National Labour Party :

(Quotation from The First Policeman in ‘The Fence (Youth Misbehaviour After The Election)’ ) :

     “Well,” smiled the police officer, “we do have a new government! They are not really right wing because they say they intend to make quite a few changes to the economy, like taxing the rich a bit more, capping rents for ordinary properties, providing the unemployed with socially useful work, preventing white collar crime and exploitation of ordinary people, preventing capital flight, some trade barriers and tariffs, and policies to ensure that many of our major companies stay in British hands.”

More Reforms

    The billionaire property landlord and dealer, didn’t like the new tax increases which looked as if they were going to come. There was an immediate increase of the highest band of tax to 50%. It was not the highest that had ever been. In the late nineteen seventies Labour pushed it above that with the result that many rich people moved abroad. Even rebellious rock musicians moved to the south of France to avoid losing their earnings in the increased taxation. In those days there had still been restrictions on the movement of money outside Britain, soon to be torn down in Mrs Thatcher’s ‘free for all’ reforms. Well now the rich were still free to go, but certainly any of their earnings in Britain were to be taxed, as well as earnings from abroad which were returned to Britain. Company tricks to move earnings from Britain to other countries where tax would be lower were not to be permitted any more. The private auditing firms, afraid to lose clients if they upset them by giving honest reports to Companies House and the Inland Revenue, were no longer to be on the side of their employers. They would be selected by the Inland Revenue and the honesty of their work ‘doublechecked’. The Customs and Revenue was to be much enlarged so that proper scrutiny could take place. The age of complicity in corruption was to be a thing of the past. There would be scrutiny, fairness, and honesty. An army of Tax inspectors would accompany the new improved auditing. The laundering of funds by criminal organisations and corruption by directors and accountants was to be a thing of the past, relatively speaking. Serious corruptions would now be subject to real punishments, not just the occasional fines of yesteryear. The old excuse that there was no point filling the prisons with white collar criminals would not be accepted any more. Top directors who filled their own pockets while running their companies into the ground, and leaving workers or their pension funds, or creditors unpaid would no longer be tolerated. Very soon the number of business failures began to reduce. Exploitation and corruption was no longer an option. The economy and the workers actually began to benefit from honest leadership and the desire to keep businesses running, instead of short term profiteering.

    Some business figures in prison reflected on their misdemeanors. New prisons were being built, but overall crime was nosediving so the building programme tapered off. In the short term prisoner numbers increased, but in the long term was expected to fall. All of a sudden there was Zero Tolerance towards many crimes. Also the police and criminal courts started to take more action in civil cases where there had been wrongdoing. Many of these cases were criminalised so they got brought to justice, instead of leaving it to only the people who could afford to take action to preserve their rights. Few ordinary people or victims of abuses by directors, employers, or by people who abused contracts had been taking their abusers to court for restitution, finding the system expensive, risky and difficult. Now the state would intervene in cases where the state could see injustice and would fight for victims. More cases became criminal and civil action for restitution would follow accordingly, without longwinded fuss.

   The expansion of jobs in the Inland Revenue and auditing, and in Police investigation of white collar crimes and scammers created many skilled jobs. Legal jobs for public prosecutors and lawyers on sensible wages naturally expanded too, but now legal expertise and moral enthusiasm were being put to good use instead of being bought and sold to the highest bidder and to work exclusively for business or for director or shareholder profiteers or criminals and semi criminals Doing tax collection on the cheap had proved to be a failed idea. For all the new jobs, the expansion of tax collection proves very worthwhile, covering the expense. Businesses foot the bill for the improved auditing. Tax rules were simplified in many cases to make it more straightforward and more easily policed/audited.

Merchant bankers and stockbrokers must behave and follow the rules, rules to stop creditcrunches, boom and bust happening would be taken seriously from now on.

   The rent capping measures injected wealth into the hands of the ordinary people, stimulating leisure industries and holidays.

    Decrees reducing the levels of air travel. Holidaymakers were pushed by taxes off airplanes and onto road and rail and ferry travel. These were to improve climate change targets, reduce greenhouse gases.

Britain had of course left the EU in this scenario, so at least UK had power over their own decisions and flexibility, but they did in fact work closely with the EU on climate change targets etc. There were many trade barriers, but these stimulated employment and production at home.

6/1/13

  Mobilisation in emergency was full and given priority, medical services viewed as important. Much larger numbers of doctors and nurses. Attention was given to fraud and false benefit claims. Banks were kept rigidly to the benefits of business and community, no credit bubbles and encouragement to get into debt. Honest people were needed in accountancy. There was to be no more reliance on people who merely do things fast and promoting them above everyone else.