Author Archives: Mark Henderson

This time last year my Lib Dem council colleagues and I on Hull City Council tabled and passed a motion to call for a Universal Basic Income pilot in Hull; we were the first of what is now many Liberal Democrat Councillors to do so. Little did we know a year on Basic Income would pass overwhelmingly at our Autumn party conference into policy and be championed in Parliament by a number of our MPs.

Now, as we see the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic hit our society harder than ever before it is essential for Liberal Democrats to be pioneering and spearheading the charge towards making Basic Income a reality.

This, of course, comes with challenges.

Sceptics, of which I was one, always say,  “no one’s heard of it”, “we’ll never be able to make it work” or “it’s just for policy wonks” but the pandemic gives the idea of Basic Income limelight. It gives Liberal Democrats a lightbulb moment that can commit us to a caring society where no one gets left behind.

A Basic Income is explained simply – it is a fixed, unconditional, universal payment to all in our society. It has the power to be a great leveller to the economic insecurity Coronavirus has exposed.

A Basic Income would have seen the free school’s meals meltdown from government melt away with parents having a safety net. A Basic Income would see those who have fallen through the cracks of Covid support catered to and supported. A Basic Income, if championed by Liberals, could be our generation’s answer to the National Health Service.

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Here in Hull, where I’m a Liberal Democrat Councillor, I was proud that in January we moved a motion that, with unanimous support called on the Government to run the first UK pilot of Universal Basic Income (UBI). This would see every person receive a fixed amount of money to free them from financial insecurity – protecting the most vulnerable in society.

It’s safe to say much has changed since January, but the issue of Universal Basic Income is more important than ever before. The Corvid-19 virus has plunged our nation into chaos and shown how financial insecurity through the nation is rife. We have a duty as a progressive party that champions freedom to act.

I was delighted that one of our leadership hopefuls Layla Moran backed our cause in Hull to the hills and even more so that she has recently written to the Government calling for an emergency UBI.

Liberal Democrats up and down the country should be championing this policy especially given its clear advantages in times of crisis.