Member-only story
Phil Burton Cartledge analyses the political platforms and accountabilities of the Tory wanabee leaders and their fetish with reducing tax by which they mean corporation tax. The FT reports on business’s response to the proposal, which is lukewarm. They point out that only businesses that make a profit pay corporation tax and that for a business of any complexity and with decent accountants, corporation tax is voluntary. The exception would be most patron personal services companies so perhaps the policy is designed for them. The FT article calls for broader support including demand stimulation albeit through tax cuts, but importantly they raise the issue of VAT on energy (but they pay that too) and also investment incentives. VAT at 20% is ridiculous and the Govt. should reduce it; it can now we are out of the EU.
Phil talks about the conflicts in Johnson’s electoral coalition and the victory of the rentier capitalists in gutting any meaningful levelling up programmes, which have been reduced to crude electoral bribes. Interestingly, it seems that no-one is standing that will represent the Tories 2019 first time voters and first time MPs. The decline in regional development effectiveness is a long-term trend. We used to call it Regional Policy and I looked at New Labour’s failure to put this right; they were driven by unproven meso-economic theories and then polluted…
