Author Archives: Michael Andrewes

Christmas Competition: How can we reduce inequality?

Monday. Four days of the working work to come! “Things never change” thought Michael as his self-driving car drew up and he hopped in and caught up with some work. Still, the rat-run to work! Still, everyone copied in on emails! On the radio, Nigella Farage wittered on as ever about “country rights” in Europe to Joanna Humphrys as Today marked the centenary of Brexit in 2019. Moreover, Michael inwardly moaned that maybe equality for women had gone too far!

His grandfather had talked glowingly at breakfast about how the Lib Dem government had taken Britain back into Europe in 2042 ushering in an era of greater prosperity and equality, retaking advantage of The European single market and better workers’ rights. Moreover, Michael had shuddered at his grandfather’s childhood tales of PM Boris Johnson and his chancellor Rees-Mogg’s almost Dickensian Britain before that “But is life really more equal now than 100 years ago?” He asked Alexa to do some research for him.

Alexa told him about the hated DWP and things called food banks and sanctions. In 2050, the Lib Dems had introduced a universal basic income albeit at the paltry level of £20 a week. A success, it reduced unemployment, the opposite of opponents’ scaremongering. As the UBI rose, as well as improving equality and mental health, everyone had a half-way decent income even if they wanted to take time to care for family, volunteer or pursue interests.

Posted in News and Op-eds | Tagged | 2 Comments

2,133 days of active service but no fuel allowance

“It’s bureaucracy gone mad!” is a familiar cry from Lib Dem MPs, councillors and activists across the country. But I think in Portsmouth we probably have something that takes the biscuit in that regard.

Here, Mike Hancock has been taken up the case of a 94 year-old Second World War veteran, Mr Bob McGowan who was denied his winter fuel payment by moving one day too late. He is now threatening to hand back his war medals in disgust at the way that he has been treated unless, at the very least, he gets an apology and a donation to Help …

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged | 3 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • David Evans
    Hi Alison. Thanks for your prompt response. It is very enlightening. Unfortunately, I think you missed one key aspect of what I was asking about. To me, the...
  • Roland
    @David - The laugh is you could see this coming. Decades back the US limited the power of computers sold to the USSR, after the wall came down we discovered in ...
  • Roland
    @David - The laugh is you could see this coming. Decades back the US limited the power of computers sold to the USSR, after the wall came down we discovered in ...
  • Katharine Pindar
    I recall that one of our ideas to raise taxes fairly was to tax company share buy-backs, and I read the other day that a big company, GKN perhaps, was just plan...
  • Peter Davies
    @Stephen Nash. Looking at that spreadsheet, I make a 5% raise in additional rate worth 8.9 bn. Aligning CGT with income tax would raise about 14 bn and increase...