'There is plenty of money in the country, it’s just a matter of whether you want to get some of it'
Mick Lynch has once again calmly eviscerated an argument about the UK economy as he clashed with Piers Morgan during an appearance on Newsnight on Tuesday evening.
The General Secretary of the RMT union challenged journalist Piers Morgan as they were interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire, after Piers claimed that “there is no money” for when the next leader comes to power. Lynch took apart his argument, which highlighted the UK’s wealth inequality issue.
Morgan said: “This is not like ‘97 when Tony Blair came sweeping in with a massive landslide win but had a very strong economy and was able to hit the ground running and do what he wanted to do. Keir Starmer is not going to have that if he wins this election, there is no money”.
“There is quite a lot of money in this country Piers”, replied Lynch.
To which Piers hit back: “Well there is the way you want to raise it which is to raise taxes on the rich.”
Lynch calmly responded: “There is plenty of money in the country, it’s just a matter of whether you want to get some of it and distribute it more equitably.”
The UK currently ranks as the world’s sixth largest economy, while wealth inequality remains high and continues to rise, with the top 10% of the UK population owning a staggering 57% of wealth in 2021. This compares to the bottom 50% owning less than 5% of the wealth.
During the interview, Mick Lynch went on to argue: “If we want to rebuild our infrastructure, our care service, our NHS, everyone knows it costs money, and people are prepared to pay for it if you deliver a better system.”
He also said: “We need an alternative industrial and economic strategy. We need to reskill the country, get good jobs into working class communities, we need to re-equip working class housing.”
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward
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