{"id":15626,"date":"2018-07-05T17:03:37","date_gmt":"2018-07-05T16:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15626"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:38","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:38","slug":"john-mcdonnell-ann-pettifor-radical-rethink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15626","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Market not always right\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shadow chancellor John McDonnell joined renowned economist Ann Pettifor at Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policy conference on Thursday (July 5) to call for a radical rethink of the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 failed economic policies.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis idea that the market is always right \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that somehow if you cut taxes to the rich it will trickle down to the others as well \u00e2\u20ac\u201d we know that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not true,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 McDonnell said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd we know that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not true because we have 5,000 homeless sleeping in our streets at the moment.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not true because we know only three months ago a homeless person died only feet away from the entrance to Parliament,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not true because there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a million people who received social care and they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anymore. We know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not true because two thirds of the 400,000 children in poverty are in households that work and wages are so low.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat whole system \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that whole line of thought \u00e2\u20ac\u201d has been discredited.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Pettifor likewise dismissed the neoliberal dogma that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dominated economic thinking for the last four decades. She pointed out the lie that the government doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the money to invest in jobs, public services, and infrastructure and to transform our economy into one that contends with the massive threat of climate change.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe country believes that we have no money, that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve run out of money, that we have no resources,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lie and we know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lie because someone found \u00c2\u01411000 billion pounds to bail out the City of London, which is almost the total of our annual income.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Pettifor, who is widely credited for predicting the financial crisis, said that it was jobs that power an economy that works for everyone, not just for a wealthy elite.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bJobs generate income, but not just for you,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government gets income as well in tax revenue. When people spend, they also get revenues for VAT. Whatever firm they are spending with, the government gets more money in corporation tax.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how we balance the books \u00e2\u20ac\u201d by creating employment.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Small elite<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The monetary system has been \u00e2\u20ac\u015bturned over to a small elite,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said, highlighting how money now is funneled into property speculation that makes the economy unproductive. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have to take our monetary system back.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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McDonnell agreed, and outlined how a Labour government would take this \u00e2\u20ac\u015bmonetary system back\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 to ensure \u00e2\u20ac\u015bprosperity is shared by everybody.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Labour would implement a fair taxation system that would make the top 5 per cent pay more in tax. This, he said, would ensure that the NHS is properly funded. Labour would tackle the housing crisis head-on by investing in a housebuilding programme that would ensure at least half of the million homes built would be council homes.<\/p>\n

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He underlined the importance of an industrial strategy in which a future Labour government would again plan the economy \u00e2\u20ac\u201d with trade unions as partners \u00e2\u20ac\u201d to bolster the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s key industries and create highly-skilled and well-paid jobs. The public sector pay cap would also be scrapped, and Labour would introduce a new real living wage of at least \u00c2\u014110 an hour to reinvigorate the economy.<\/p>\n

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Turning to Brexit, McDonnell pointed out that Labour will fight tooth-and-nail against any Tory deal that threatens jobs and investment. He called on the government to either \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdo the deal or get out of the way and let Labour do it.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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McDonnell pledged that trade unions would play a central role in Labour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future plans.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u0098A different type of government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will be a different type of government,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt will not just be a small group of MPs administrating centrally from above. When we go into government we all go into government, and this trade union goes into government with us,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added to rousing applause.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou will have a direct say in our policy,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told delegates to a standing ovation. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe will no longer be a Labour party that somehow looks at the trade union movement as an embarrassing relative. You founded us and you will be part of us for as long as the Labour party exists as a socialist party.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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John McDonnell spoke to UniteLive after his speech in the video below:<\/p>\n

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