Where do I stand? (Part 1:
The economy)
A lot of people are asking where
I stand on various political issues. I'm not going to go into too much detail as
a leadership candidate, because ultimately it's a team approach. What I will be
doing in forthcoming posts is setting out my general beliefs, starting with the
economy.
I believe in a low-tax economy.
If you reduce taxes, you encourage people to work harder and businesses to
expand. That creates jobs, and in turn gives a boost to tax revenue and cuts the
cost of welfare.
Key point: "It costs less than
you think to cut tax"
I believe in simpler taxation.
The UK has the second-most complicated tax system in the world. My track record
in UKIP on this is strong: when I was General Secretary I put together the
'chain booklets' which we were using as far back as 2008/9.
If you have a simpler tax
system, it's harder for the big multinationals to avoid paying their fair share.
I don't want the Amazons and Starbucks of this world to be able to get away with
paying far less than their local competitors. Competition is all about a level
playing field. That means that we should look very closely at ideas like
replacing the bureaucrats' dream tax (VAT) with a simpler and fairer system. It
means we should look at ways to merge Income Tax and National
Insurance.
Key point: "Simpler taxation is
fairer taxation"
I believe in the free market.
The free market explains why I have free phone calls and internet when I use my
phone in France, Spain, the USA, Switzerland, Australia, or any of a number of
countries where it's commercially viable. In a free market, the customer is
king. The state-control European Union approach of forcing companies to cut
international costs leads to higher monthly phone bills for everyone. When you
distort the free market, it can lead to danger.
The free market is what spurs
businesses on to grow, and again that creates jobs, cuts unemployment, raises
tax revenue and boosts the economy. We should try to let our SMEs get on with
what they do best. It's competition that keeps businesses
effective.
I want the free market to work
as well as it can, and so government should steer well clear of interference
unless there's overwhelming evidence that it's needed. Sometimes there are
reasons for government to get involved. We need standards to ensure that goods
are of high quality for our consumers. Public-private partnerships often just
lead to the worst of both worlds.
We also need a strategic
national approach though. We shouldn't allow our steel industry to die because
government doesn't see that short-term support could lead to a long-term
thriving, viable industry bringing tax revenue in. We should recognise that some
things (like delivering letters from John O'Groats to Lands End) are natural
monopolies.
Key point: "The free market is
our future, but we mustn't ignore our national strategic
interest."
I believe that society should
always reward hard work. If you're fit to work, then you should always be better
off by working than being on benefits. If you're not fit to work, society should
take care of you.
For various reasons, some people
will be able to work only part-time. Often though, they fall into a trap of
finding that they'll be worse off by working.
I've seen plenty of clever ideas
for how we can simplify the system (eg. 'negative income tax' to replace certain
benefits). Here's the point though: everything must be thoroughly researched
before it becomes UKIP policy. At the General Election our Manifesto was the
only one to be independently-costed. Our sums added up; the others'
didn't.
Key point:
"Reward hard work"
