cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/32080319

In video game design this would be called "emergent storytelling".

If Starmer were to decide to tax the "super-rich" rather than cut benefits, the question of whether he could raise enough money to cover expenditure and his ambitions is complex. Here's an analysis formatted for Lemmy, with sources at the bottom:

Can Taxing the Super-Rich Fund Starmer's Ambitions and Cover UK Expenditure?

The debate around funding the UK's public services and Keir Starmer's Labour Party ambitions often pits benefit cuts against increased taxation on the wealthy. While a significant revenue stream could be generated from the "super-rich," whether it's enough to cover the UK's vast expenditure and all of Labour's proposed spending is a nuanced question.

The Scale of Expenditure and Labour's Ambitions First, let's consider the financial targets:

• Current Government Expenditure: For 2025/26, the UK's government expenditure remains substantial. Day-to-day departmental spending is projected to be around £543.8 billion, with an additional £129.5 billion for capital spending. Key areas include health, social care, local government, and defence.
• Starmer's Ambitions (Labour's Manifesto): Labour's 2024 manifesto outlined several key spending commitments aimed at economic growth, green initiatives, and public service investment:
  • A £7.3 billion National Wealth Fund for clean energy.
  • Increasing public R&D spending to £22 billion annually.
  • Building 1.5 million homes over the next parliament (300,000 annually).
  • Ending hotel use for asylum seekers and clearing the backlog.
  • A "New Deal for Working People" with a genuine living wage.
  • A "proper windfall tax on oil and gas companies."
  • Investments in green energy infrastructure (onshore wind, solar, offshore wind, nuclear).
  • A "Young Futures programme" focusing on mental health and youth workers.
• Welfare Policy Shift: Starmer initially considered £5 billion in benefit cuts but has recently made concessions, particularly on disability benefits, due to internal party rebellion. This shift implies a greater need for alternative funding sources.

Potential Revenue from Taxing the Super-Rich Various proposals exist for increasing revenue from the wealthiest:

• Wealth Tax: Organisations like Oxfam and Tax Justice UK have advocated for a 2% wealth tax on individuals with assets of £10 million or more.
  • Estimated Revenue: Research from King's College London and Tax Justice UK suggests such a tax could generate £24 billion annually from the wealthiest 20,000 individuals, even accounting for behavioral changes like emigration. Another study indicated a 2% wealth tax over the past three decades could have raised £160 billion.
• Other "Super-Rich" Taxes:
  • Abolishing Non-Dom Status: Labour's manifesto pledged to scrap non-dom tax status, though recent hints suggest a potential reconsideration due to millionaire outflows.
  • Increased Stamp Duty Surcharge for Non-UK Residents: A proposed 1% increase.
  • Ending VAT Exemption and Business Rates Relief for Private Schools: Estimated to raise over £1.5 billion.
  • Windfall Tax on Oil and Gas Companies: A consistent Labour commitment.

The "Enough Money" Question

• Closing the Gap: An annual £24 billion from a wealth tax is a substantial sum. This amount could easily reverse all planned disability benefit cuts and reinstate the winter fuel allowance, with a significant surplus potentially directed towards the NHS or other public services. The initially proposed £5 billion benefit cut is considerably less than this potential revenue.
• Full Coverage: While £24 billion is significant, it pales in comparison to the UK's hundreds of billions in total government expenditure. It's highly unlikely that taxing the "super-rich" alone could cover the entirety of the UK's annual spending and all of Labour's ambitious manifesto promises without additional revenue streams or careful spending prioritisation.
• Behavioural Responses and Implementation: The actual revenue generated by new taxes on the wealthy can be influenced by behavioral changes (e.g., tax avoidance, emigration), although some research indicates this impact might be less severe than commonly feared. Effective and fair implementation of such taxes would also be a challenge.
• Economic Context: The UK economy faces slower growth for the remainder of 2025, and a weakening labor market. While some confidence indicators are improving, these economic realities add to the fiscal pressures.

Conclusion

If Keir Starmer were to implement robust measures to tax the "super-rich," such as a significant wealth tax, it could undoubtedly generate tens of billions of pounds annually. This revenue would very likely be more than sufficient to offset planned benefit cuts and provide substantial funding for some of Labour's key spending ambitions, particularly in public services and targeted support. However, to cover the entirety of the UK's vast government expenditure and all of Labour's ambitious manifesto promises, it is improbable that taxing the "super-rich" alone would be enough. Such measures would likely need to be part of a broader fiscal strategy involving other revenue-raising initiatives, potential spending reprioritisation, and prudent economic management. The political will to enact such significant tax reforms and manage any potential economic repercussions (like capital flight) would also be crucial.

Sources:

• UK Government Expenditure:
  • "Main Estimates 2025/26." HM Treasury. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/main-estimates-2025-26 (Note: This is a placeholder as actual 2025/26 Main Estimates will be published closer to the financial year. The numbers used are indicative of the scale of spending.)
• Labour Party Manifesto and Policy:
  • "Labour Party Manifesto 2024." (Refer to the official Labour Party website for the most up-to-date manifesto details.)
  • News reports on Starmer's position on benefit cuts and concessions (e.g., BBC News, The Guardian, Financial Times for recent policy developments).
• Wealth Tax Research and Proposals:
  • Tax Justice UK. https://www.taxjustice.uk/
  • Oxfam UK. https://www.oxfam.org.uk/
  • King's College London research on wealth taxation (specific reports can be found via King's College London's research pages or academic databases).
• Economic Context:
  • Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts. https://obr.uk/
  • Bank of England Monetary Policy Reports. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/

Disclaimer: I very much asked AI for help on this one.

The Great British National Strike, taking place this weekend, is set to see more than 500,000 people across the country walking out in protest of the state of the UK.”

That’s how right-wing TV channel GB News previewed Saturday’s outbreak of al fresco grumbles, few of them more than a couple of dozen strong.

It makes you wonder if GBeebies has any more idea what ‘walking out’ means than the damp squib’s organisers have of what constitutes a ‘strike’.

These so-called "strikes" lack the backing of organised workers, socialist parties, and real trade unions. They’ve hijacked our language while pushing an agenda that doesn’t represent the working class.

We won’t let them march unchallenged into our cities, masquerading as the voice of labour. It’s time to show them what real workers' power looks like.

• Raise this in your union meetings, trades councils, and leftist orgs.
• Organise against these right-wing LARPers.

WE DEMAND:

• Fair pay for all workers
• Decent housing for the many, not profit for the few
• Fully funded public services
• Fight the bosses—not migrants!

Locations

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to expand its military offensive against Gaza, with some officials suggesting it plans to capture and occupy the whole of the strip.

The Israeli military has called up tens of thousands of reservists in preparation, claiming it is “increasing the pressure” on Hamas to hasten the return of Israeli hostages. But the father of one of the hostages has even called on soldiers “not to report for reserve duty for moral and ethical reasons”, while a hostage campaign group has accused the government of “sacrificing” them.

The immediate effect will also extremely worsen the already dire situation for Palestinians in Gaza as the plans are set to forcibly displace people by centralising aid. Even before this new offensive, the World Food Programme says it has already run out of food and the Red Cross has said the humanitarian response in Gaza was on the verge of “total collapse”. Israel even likely attacked a peace flotilla near Malta with drones which was attempting to deliver aid.

Turns? They've been turned!

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Peter Taaffe, who after a long illness died on 23 April 2025. The loss of Peter is a big blow to the working class movement and Trotskyism internationally. Since becoming active in the revolutionary movement in 1960, Peter made an indispensable contribution, both theoretically and practically in the hard graft necessary to build a revolutionary party and international. Peter was a leading member of the International Secretariat of the Committee for a Workers’ International (CWI), Political Secretary of the Socialist Party in England & Wales, and for many years its General Secretary.

Characteristically, Peter fought a determined battle against numerous illnesses in recent years which allowed him to enjoy his final years a little longer. On behalf of the CWI throughout the world and the Socialist Party in England & Wales, we send our heartfelt condolences to Peter’s wife Linda, daughters Nancy and Katie, his grandchildren and great-grandson, and all his family and friends.

Coming from Birkenhead, and an extremely poor working class background, Peter found his way to Marxism and revolutionary politics. Never going to university, working for Liverpool City Council for a time, he educated himself through the revolutionary movement and experience. Well versed in literature as well as Marxism, he was not what is often perceived in some circles as a stereotypical theoretician coming from a petty bourgeois background. As a result, Peter was an inspiration, especially to those not from an academic or petty bourgeois background themselves – he demonstrated what those from a working class background can be capable of theoretically and culturally. One of Peter’s strengths was that he never lost touch with the working class and oppressed as a workers’ leader. He continued to feel the pain and suffering they experienced. One of the greatest public orators of his generation, with a distinctive Merseyside accent and speaking style, Peter was able to immediately connect with audiences small and large. Peter summed up the horrors of capitalism and the struggles of the working class, explaining Marxist ideas in an accessible manner.

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James Carville, the political advisor who coined the phrase ‘it’s the economy stupid’ as a campaigning slogan for Democrat Bill Clinton to win the 1992 presidential election, was once asked what he’d like to be reincarnated as. “The bond market,” he replied, “it can intimidate anyone.” 9 April 2025 will be remembered as the day that proved that ‘anyone’ includes current US President Donald Trump.

Traditionally, when stock markets are falling, government debt or bond markets go up, as investors search for safe havens. This is particularly true of US government debt given the US’s dominance of the world financial system. In the first days after ‘Liberation Day’ that was what happened, but then the US bond markets suffered the steepest fall in four decades. Even more alarming, the price of gold – traditionally the safest haven of all – also started to fall. This was an indication that the whole global financial system was in danger of freezing up. Investors were selling whatever they could. A new global financial crisis was on the cards – probably on an even bigger scale than the one that triggered the Great Recession of 2008-09.

The article continues and gives a marxist analysis of economic and geo political power.

Written by: Hannah Sell, Socialist Party general secretary

TUSC are standing candidates across the UK.

The Trade Unionists and Socialist Coalition stand against cuts, war, and all members of TUSC pledge to take no more than a workers wage through politics.

The Greens became the largest party on Bristol Council last year, promising change after years of service cuts under Labour. What has this bright new future meant for Bristol? £50 million more cuts!

Greens were beaming ear to ear, two of their leading councillors spoke of their “pride” in their council budget. That’s pride in slashing funding for services for domestic abuse, mental health, and children in care, and reducing bin collections to once every four weeks.

The change in council has meant very little for the people of Bristol. Yet again we have a party aligned with austerity, maintaining a political system which puts private profit first.

Labour’s attempt to pose as opposition was extremely hypocritical. They spent the last eight years running the city, making cuts, and blaming the Tory government.

Now Labour sits in Westminster, and the Greens in Bristol. But austerity still continues. Labour even moved an amendment to reopen public toilets – toilets closed by a Labour mayor seven years ago!

Councillors repeatedly spoke of the collaboration between parties in the budget process, congratulating themselves for bridging a “broad church” of different ideologies. It’s hardly a wide array of opinions when they’re united in cuts and devastating the most vulnerable.

There wasn’t even a sniff of fightback to the national Labour government, in order to protect the community from the defunding of public services.

The Socialist Party was out in force, joining the lobby outside the council building organised by the trades union council. We gave out Socialist Party leaflets opposing cuts and pointing a route away from austerity.

Councillors do have a choice. They must refuse to make cuts, and instead mobilise a mass campaign of people to demand that council funding be restored.

Bristol council does still have the flexibility to prevent cuts in the short term, while a campaign is built. This budget saw the Greens find £60 million more to put into council reserves.

As we see public services cut, the Greens have the gall to state that this money is to be held back for an emergency. As if the current funding crisis doesn’t qualify as an emergency!

The Greens have no new ideas for running the council, and are totally fangless in opposition to Starmer’s Labour government. Now more than ever, we need a new mass workers’ party to take the reins from careerist politicians and into the hands of the working class.

Below is a transcription of the images. And the letter Farage wrote.

cornwallresists Cornwall Resists response to Nigel Farage:

Oh dear, we seem to have rattled Farage the fascist. 

We’re going to celebrate that as a win!

According to Farage, we’re domestic terrorists who should be proscribed, describing us as “a very violent and dangerous organisation”. 

He also claims hundreds of people contacted the venue asking them to cancel his conference, and that we prevented 100 people from attending altogether. If this is the case, we’re very happy with that result. We hope that Carn Brea Leisure centre will think again next time Farage wants to use its premises as a breeding ground for hate. We do not tolerate hate, especially on our turf.

Like most people, we aren’t pacifists - we will defend ourselves and our communities when under attack. As we saw in Plymouth last summer when fascists attacked us for hours with bricks and fireworks, the police do not protect us. We - the people - protect us. 

But let’s also be clear - the violence that occurred on Monday night was instigated by the police, Reform-hired security and Reform supporters. 

On Monday afternoon we were able to block one of the entrances to the conference. We didn’t try to storm it, we simply stood in the way. Reform supporters didn’t have to walk through us - they could have gone back to the main entrance, which many did. However instead of redirecting Reform supporters back to the main entrance, the police and Reform security tried to get them through our blockade by violently assaulting people, punching people and throwing them to the floor. 

Reform supporters were deliberately provoking protesters, getting in their faces and even punching one person in the face. The police did nothing to stop them, so it was down to us to protect our friends and allies. Across the road a Reform supporter spray-painted “Islamism is Nazism”.

Anti-racists outnumbered fascists in Southampton on Saturday. Around 400 people turned out to show up to 100 fascists that they’re not welcome in the city.

The fascists, led by Ukip leader Nick Tenconi, marched to the Southampton cenotaph. Tenconi asked who there was from Southampton—and was met with silence.

They sang the praises of United States president Donald Trump, carrying a banner that read, “Mass deportations now.” They tried to weaponise child sexual exploitation and the Southport murders to push a racist agenda. And chants of “Free Tommy Robinson” rang out.

But anywhere they marched, anti-racists followed them—marching behind them with a police line separating the two groups.

A word from your fellow radical Squid:

I was able to attend in person with an Anarchist group. the police blocked our movements, tried to follow us after the dispersal most likely to collect intel, whilst at the demo they used a large camera and a drone to try and capture surveillance. with the right wing movement growing and becoming openly fascist we need to be as careful as ever. attend demos with masks on, follow bloc dress codes, use signal and leave ID and phones at home, one day the police may well be working for these fascists, and before someone says this isn't fascism. let me remind you the nazi's started with mass deportation, they named communists as public enemies and we are seeing theses very same trends unfold.

be safe out the comrades.

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.

Come join a leftist org, join our struggle and let's fight the bosses.