Every policy pronouncement that Ed Miliband makes seems to have not been thought through. So they contain the potential for real harm should he be elected. In fact it is utterly incredible how a British politician can be so utterly ignorant of the consequences of their actions.
- 5% profit cap on private NHS providers. Will these even cover the cost of the capital they have borrowed to set up their business? And profit is the reward for looking after customers. Cap that profit and there is no incentive to look after the customers (patients) better. And remember that MOST private NHS contracts were set up under Labour. The rate has slowed down under the coalition.
- Limiting zero hours contracts to 12 weeks. So, quite simply, after 12 weeks the employee will lose their job. Creating huge problems over security of income. And because of the hassle involved a lot of employers just won’t bother. So there will be fewer jobs.
- Envy taxes. On banker’s bonuses, high earners and nice houses. All three of these taxes will actually reduce government income. Their only purpose is to punish success. And we all know what happens when a behaviour is punished. Already hundreds of thousands of Brits have emigrated to escape high taxes, very many more would follow if these punishments were implemented.
- Mansion tax is quadruple tax on the same money. Income tax when you earn to pay for your home, stamp duty when you buy it, inheritance tax when you die and now mansion tax because of nasty envy. The effect of mansion tax on stamp duty will result in the treasury receiving less income.
- Increasing the top rate of income tax reduces government income, it did every time it has been tried before. And the Laffer Curve predicts that people will choose less income when rates become punitive.
- Bankers are very mobile, all they need is a phone, an internet connection and a computer. Already many London bankers have left for places like Dubai (zero income tax), Singapore (top rate for high earners 20%) and Switzerland (top rate 11.5% + canton tax (13% in Zurich)). The London lifestyle is only worth so much government extortion, living in Dubai will double a banker’s income. Labour would drive out great chunks of an industry that brings huge benefits to the country.
- Reducing student fees to £6,000. A naked bribe for the student vote. And a policy that massively favours rich people. It is unclear whether Labour will really make up the missing £3,000, so our universities could suffer. And the money to pay for this has to come from somewhere. Labour are always very happy to spend your money but they have no idea where it can come from.
- Increasing corporation tax, initially to 21%. This is the most stupid tax there is, it directly removes from the economy the funds used for investment and job creation. The world knows this; in 1981 the average rate across the OECD was 48 per cent. It has now plummeted to 24 per cent and is on the way further down. Increasing it will directly harm the economy and will also drive business out of the country. Nobody with even a basic understanding of economics could propose such a damaging course of action. And it probably won’t raise money as it will create reduced economic activity.
- Ending the under occupancy charge (spare room subsidy). Labour don’t explain where the money to fund this will come from (you) or where the extra rooms will be found. With a severe housing shortage Labour want to use your money to pay for people to squat in bigger houses than they need. This proposal of theirs is utterly immoral.
- Labour still want to freeze energy bills. Last time they were pushing this stupidity was when prices were at an all time high! They don’t explain where the money will come from to finance this policy if the world price of energy does go up. And high prices are partly a result of the last Labour energy minister (Ed Miliband) putting green levies on your energy bill and reducing competition in the sector. They utterly don’t understand how the world really works.
- Free child care. This is a typical Labour spend spend spend bribe. And you will pay for it. And your children and grandchildren will.
- Increasing the national minimum wage to £8. Now I am all for giving more money to poor people when they earn it. But this will result in higher unemployment, the laws of supply and demand say so. The economy of the world will just end up employing people elsewhere, where they are less expensive. And there is nothing that Labour can do to prevent this.
- Labour say that they are going to control immigration. But they can’t, EU law doesn’t allow them to. Contrast that with David Cameron renegotiating the EU agreement so we can control immigration and then asking us all, in a referendum, if we are happy with that. The Labour hypocrisy on immigration is utterly amazing because it is they who deliberately opened the floodgates.
- GP waiting time maximum 48 hours. Hypocrisy here again. It was the new GP contract Labour introduced in 2004 that removed out of hours care and overloaded A&E. An action of utter stupidity. Now they have made this promise with no explanation where they will find the thousands of extra GPs from or how they would pay for them.
- Increasing government spending. Which means either increasing your taxes or increasing the debt that we all owe and have to pay interest on. Lucy Powell admitted this to Andrew Neil, they are going to package it as “capital spending” just as Gordon Brown packaged his fiscal incontinence as “investment”. Obviously “capital spending” is just a new carte blanche for spending ministers to run amok. As they have done in every Labour government in history.
There is more but you must be horrified by now. Compare the above with David Cameron’s government that was handed a crippled economy and in just five years has turned it round to halve the deficit, increase employment to its highest ever and increased real household income to its highest ever. Stunning achievements. Why would anyone want to throw that away?
—————————————————————-
Other articles that are relevant (click highlighted text to open article):
Who on Earth would ever vote Labour?