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WHAT IF?
Reviewed by ANDRE BEAUMONT
As 2017 draws to an end what radical policies might Worldreviews have suggested if the world had been different?
If David Cameron had decided to be adventurous in his negotiations with the EU prior to the referendum I would have suggested that he demand that the all EU commissioners be selected from the ranks of those elected to the European parliament. They need democratic legitimacy and the parliament needs to be something other than a cipher. The democratic deficit needs reducing.
I would have suggested he get cast iron guarantees that there would never be a European army. If there is one, it will eventually be deployed as if it were the arm of a first rate power, try its strength somewhere underestimated and come away with a bloody nose in the style of Suez. Nato is the better guarantor of European security.
The socialists get one thing right - the means of production are what matters. What they get wrong is that they always go for nationalisation and personal taxation, alienating electorates for the next two decades.
I would suggest 'all' personal taxes are abolished and 'all' taxes are raised at the means of production. So if your hairdresser cuts your hair for £40 then £20 goes to exchequer but no other personal or corporate taxes are raised thereafter. Since VAT and social security charges are such large revenue raisers, 'all' cannot mean all and they will have to stay.
Income tax would go.
Inheritance tax is nearly the most unprogressive tax. The poor do not pay it. The very rich do not pay it. Only the middle class pay it and it means their offspring start again in each generation with fresh mortgages that they pay for two-thirds of their workings lives. At the top end of the middle class you could, like Tony Benn, afford a trust but why govern so much of your living style by tax avoidance considerations? Inheritance tax would go.
Capital gains tax, too, is only paid by a few enterprising souls and smaller businesses. Larger businesses find a way of offsetting it. It mainly discourages business activity and reduces liquidity in markets. Capital gains tax would go.
With no personal taxes to pay, people would be free to move about as the state would have minimal interest in where they derived their livelihood.
Brexit offers the opportunity of other radical ideas.