Britain has a “revenue crisis” not a spending crisis
Tax expert Richard Murphy has told an audience at the TUC that Britain faces a "revenue crisis" but not a spending crisis. He urged increases in tax revenue.
Tax expert Richard Murphy has told an audience at the TUC that Britain faces a “revenue crisis” and an “unemployment crisis” but not a spending crisis. He urged the Government to seek ways to increase tax revenue rather than cutting public spending.
Speaking at the TUC’s ‘Beyond Crisis’ conference, Murphy presented a series of slides including one (see below) setting out the dramatic fall in government revenue since 2008.
Murphy, who blogs at Tax Research UK, set out that spending must be on investment and not consumption. Left Foot Forward has previously shown how investment in the UK has fallen off a cliff. Murphy also warned of the impact on unemployment of cuts in public spending. He quoted John Maynard Keynes who said in 1933:
“Look after the unemployment, and the budget will look after itself.”
Murphy called for taxes on:
- bank payments within the UK
- empty houses as mentioned in yesterday’s Observer
- the highest paid
- cheating companies avoidance taxation
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