Some Proposals from a Rational Christian Point of View
<edit> I’m not a Christian any more and frankly, I don’t feel the need to support things I said in the past. However, some of the logic…
<edit> I’m not a Christian any more and frankly, I don’t feel the need to support things I said in the past. However, some of the logic probably still stands </edit>
I quickly wrote some policies and why I think they make sense to Christians in order to send it to a Christian organisation. I’m not sure I’d have published it otherwise so please be gentle but here are some thoughts, happy to hear your criticism:
Improve productivity by looking at the service sector and the “long tail” of unproductive firms in every sector. There is a significant productivity gap between the UK and other European countries so I’ve found these suggestions from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/jrf-response-industrial-strategy-green-paper). I think the Bible informs us that work is good. This isn’t to say people should need to do demeaning jobs or work every hour of the day, but work provides people with dignity and the ability to support themselves.
Reform universal credit. Likewise it would be good to make sure that it’s always better for people to be working rather than not, without weakening support for the needy. Of key importance is making sure that when a person starts working they aren’t scared they will lose money or be unable to receive their benefits if they lose it. I would therefore reform universal credit, again in line with the Joseph Rowntree Foundations’s recommendations. They seem to me to be clever and have done their due diligence. For instance they talk about making sure there is no wait for benefits ( https://www.jrf.org.uk/report/universal-credit-briefing ). There are clear biblical parallels for this one, both in terms of broad theology and specifics “If your neighbor is poor and gives you his cloak as security for a loan, do not keep the cloak overnight.”
Suggest a reasonable national living wage in each location. If you work a normal working week you should be able to have a reasonable standard of living for the place where you live. On the other hand, the idea that it costs the same to live anywhere in Britain is crazy. My parents live in a house just outside of London that is worth ~£400k; I rend a room in a slightly bigger house in the North East (NE) that is worth ~£100k. The living wage and business rates should be lower in areas with higher unemployment in order to encourage businesses to open there. If the living wage is the same in the NE as in central Manchester, why would companies choose to create jobs in the NE? Also, this has to be a centrally managed policy else it will be a rush to the bottom — I’d raise the funds for the business rates by putting rates up in London. I think as Christians we can be pragmatic (as opposed to utilitarian), so why not look at economic policies which will create jobs where there aren’t any.
A proper infrastructure package. Let’s build new roads, and railways, let’s make it cheaper and easier for people to get to work and reduce the amount of people’s lives that are spent in gridlock. Also, this money would create more jobs.
A carbon tax. This idea is so straight forward. Carbon causes huge amounts of uncompensated damage, so why not add that to the cost. The key is to make it revenue neutral. Don’t see it as a sneaky way to raise money because the public will see that, say that they will get income tax rebates from the carbon tax — it’s not a money-maker, it’s not an environmental policy, it’s a common sense economic policy that rebalances an unfair subsidy that we give to fossil fuels (that they make a mess and we pay to clean it up). Here is a good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DddPNrzpkw . As Christians we believe we are stewards of the world, and this policy would help. I’m not sure about the idea of pricing things rather than moral choices, but it’s clear that the current strategy isn’t working and we are doing huge amounts of damage.
Balance the budget apart from investment that will yield return. Things cost money and if the cost of the NHS etc keeps rising, we’ll have to take more in taxes. It is unwise on any level to keep spending more without restraint. On the other hand, policies which are investment shouldn’t count towards this because they will yield money in the future. If there is another financial crisis, the poorest will suffer (as they have over the last 8 years) so making wise financial decisions now will protect them down the line. Shrewd management is thing that I as a Christian support, not for its own sake but so as to bless others and use resources wisely.
Republished from an earlier blog.