Layer 507 . . . Scotland, Capitalist Realism, Maximum Wages, Welfare Cuts, Cannabis Taxation, The Age of Austerity and Morality

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There are several good articles in the Guardian today, all of which deserve to be read by progressives and others who care about political literacy.

Alex Salmond's column is a brilliant exposition on why Scotland needs either full devolution or independence:

An independent Scotland will be a beacon of fairness


As an independent nation Scotland can make a far greater contribution to progressive politics, while reinvogorating our social union with England

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/23/scottish-independence-social-union

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Paul Mason: 'These revolts have ended the period of capitalist realism' - video

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/video/2012/jan/23/paul-mason-revolts-capitalist-realism-video

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Only a maximum wage can end the great pay robbery


Corporate wealth is being siphoned off by a kleptocratic class that has neither earned nor generated it

by George Monbiot

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/23/george-monbiot-executive-pay-robbery

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For Greece default is the only option


The dreadful debt saga will only come to a close when Greece takes charge of its predicament

by Costas Lapavitsas

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/23/greece-default-only-option-debt

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Welfare cuts: now they're slamming the door on the truly desperate


After a dismal day in the Lords comes the cruellest cut to the welfare state, in which emergency loans go over to 'local' control

by Polly Toynbee

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/23/welfare-cuts-emergency-loans

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The payout to the boss of RBS is a disastrous deal for the taxpayer


Ministers could act over Stephen Hester, the most lavishly rewarded public servant of all – but will they?


by Aditya Chakrabortty

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/23/stephen-hester-payout-bad-for-taxpayer


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Cannabis taxation: a win-win all round, Richard Branson tells MPs


Virgin boss appears before Commons committee to argue for regulation of drug and diversion of resources to crime-fighting

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jan/24/cannabis-tax-branson-mps-virgin

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These letters certainly deserve to be noted, especially the one by Michael Meacher -


Alternatives to the age of austerity

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jan/23/alternatives-to-age-of-austerity

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Last week Polly Toynbee wrote this column -

On morality Ed Miliband is way ahead of Cameron. Now for the economy


Miliband has done well to force Cameron to fight on Labour territory. But he needs to change the economic conversation


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/19/ed-miliband-cameron-economy


Before the election Cameron made one speech on "markets without morality", one of his butterfly touch-downs, but has done nothing since – until Ed Miliband got "predatory capitalism" up and running. Focus groups tell Cameron he has to run to catch up: voters are angry at runaway excess in hard times. But where's the beef? Praise for free markets and blame for regulation left no plan for correcting corrupted capitalism. Bank regulation has been kicked into 2019 – political neverland: in a trice the entire NHS is put up for tender to "any qualified provider", but banks get seven years to "prepare" while they lobby against already weak reforms.


Labour's adoption of all the High Pay Commission recommendations is more radical than the party's been given credit for. Listen how loudly business protests at putting employees on remuneration committees. Why? Because that requires works councils to elect representatives, opening a new world of German-style collaboration, more productive and leading to fairer pay. Labour would oblige all companies to publish a pay ratio, showing pay scales. All fund managers would have to reveal how they voted on boardroom pay, shaming pension funds that rubber-stamp greed at shareholders' expense. This week Miliband challenged predatory takeovers, such as Kraft eating up Cadbury.


So far not bad, and the Tories are trailing. Now Labour needs to jump ahead again with bolder plans. Take this week's Fair Pay Network report on supermarkets' poverty pay. To cut the benefit bill steeply, Labour should demand rich companies don't leave taxpayers to subsidise starvation wages with tax credits. If the TaxPayers' Alliance were not a Conservative party front, it would support a living wage.


The Eds are right to make 2015 year zero. Only when seeing how bad the economy is, and which cuts have done most damage, can they choose priorities. Even within George Osborne's iron envelope, opposite choices can be made. With 3 million out of work, would raising public-sector pay come first? No: jobs and growth, an investment bank, work for the young, restoring worst cuts and building homes come first. Money washes around, from the Concorde-style HS2 to Boris's airport, bibles in schools, a yacht for the Queen, bank bonuses, a free schools bonanza and £3bn on NHS turmoil. From Trident, wars and whims, there is money. While Goldman Sachs pays bonuses the size of Albania's GDP, this rich country has phenomenal untaxed wealth in property accumulated by the top 5%: shedloads more is sequestered abroad. Public appetite for fair tax collection and sharing of the burdens grows. Why else is Cameron frit?


A firm baseline for the economy need not stop Labour opposing cuts. Costed promises can be made: why not earmark aircraft carriers for universal childcare, make a mansion tax build new homes, and super-tax companies who overpay directors for small business investment? There need be no contradiction between an economic policy voters trust, and an imaginative radicalism they would support. Labour has done well to pull Cameron on to its own agenda. But winning the election matters most.

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