Donald Trump’s tariffs have dominated the news this week, unsettling markets and the international order.
The global economy and the rules that have governed it are clearly changing.
Let’s be clear, tariff barriers and protectionism will have far-reaching consequences for the UK.
It’s the UK government’s responsibility to make the economy as resilient as possible – ensuring our communities are protected from harm.
They need to nurture a strong economy and society that can withstand global shocks, like Trump’s tariffs.
A weak economy
As it stands, the UK’s economy looks far from strong: inequality is out of control, poverty is surging and the NHS and public services are failing to serve the basic needs of countless people. Let’s not forget, people are the foundation of the economy.
But what about statistics? By narrow measures, like GDP, the UK economy is basically flat, neither growing or contracting.
But when you measure more broadly, things look a lot bleaker. A recent league table of the world’s happiest nations, for example, found the UK had fallen to its lowest ever position.
Invest and build resilience
A weak economy makes us all a lot more vulnerable to crises, whether they be tariffs, wars, or global pandemics.
For too long the UK government has failed to invest in things like hospitals, schools, transport and energy infrastructure. This has put us in the weak position we’re in now.
The government must invest more in these services and infrastructure to secure a better future economy – and society.
The government keeps saying they won’t raise taxes to invest in these things. This is wrong.
Tax tech giants and extreme wealth
The government has options to raise a lot more money – and not by taxing workers more.
They can introduce a wealth tax of 2% on net wealth over £10 million. This could raise £24 billion a year.
They could make capital gains tax rates the same as income tax rates, raising a further £12 billion a year.
They could strengthen the Digital Services Tax on tech giants like Amazon, Google, Meta, and X – bringing in up to £15 billion extra a year.
This is instead of cutting the Digital Services Tax to appease Trump and his billionaire friends, which is the wrong move when this small tax only impacts the very richest tech giants and is lower in the UK than many other countries.
Public support for these taxes on extraordinary wealth and huge corporations is growing every week. You’ve helped us to do that.