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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/912/23339
From The Socialist newspaper, 10 August 2016
Them & Us
Them and us fishes, image by Suzanne Beishon (Click to enlarge)
Bosses' pay boost
Chief executives of elite 'FTSE 100' corporations have watched their pay rise by a third between 2010 and 2015. Meanwhile, workers' real wages have fallen by a tenth since 2007 (see story below left).
The same bosses took home 140 times as much as the average employee's pay, according to the High Pay Centre.
The average pay for chief execs was £5.5 million. That's enough to pay for 239 nurses. Each.
How do you think the Socialist would like to see that money spent? On 100 fat cats, or 23,900 nurses?
Hint: nurses and teachers have rarely been known to crash the economy. And in February, a BBC Freedom of Information request found 23,443 unfilled nursing vacancies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Taxes v benefits
Super-rich property holders could cheat the Treasury out of £18 billion this financial year. Meanwhile, up to £13 billion of benefits went unclaimed last year.
A new National Audit Office report on capital gains tax says that due to the "complexity of the rules and lack of reporting requirements, there is scope for wide-scale misuse to go undetected." Perhaps reversing the cuts to tax inspectors might help?
And the Department for Work and Pensions reports that many entitled to state support did not manage to claim it. It estimated only half those eligible for jobseeker's allowance actually got hold of it. Only six in ten received pension credit, and eight in ten housing benefit or IS/ESA disability benefits.
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Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 10 August 2016:
#KeepCorbyn
#KeepCorbyn: stand firm for socialism
Liverpool: Corbyn slams "politics of the elite"
Wallasey Labour meet in resistance to the Blairites
Mood for unity but not with right-wing Labour infiltrators
Thousands attend Corbyn rally in Cornwall
Bristol: Jeremy Corbyn wins support from young people
Hull: Jeremy Corbyn rally the biggest for 20 years
Jeremy Corbyn attracts 1,000 in York
Socialist Party news and analysis
Fight to defend HIV drug victory
Privatised medical record chaos
Grunwick strike
Grunwick strike 40 years on - lessons of an epic battle
Socialist Party workplace news
Fawley strike defeats 'race to bottom' exploitation of migrant workers
Low paid cleaners declare victory after 58 days on strike
Samworth Brothers step up bullying and intimidation of workers
Communication Workers Union backs Jeremy Corbyn
HMY Radford shopfitters strike against penny-pinching company
South Wales NUM supports Jeremy Corbyn
2011 Riots
2011 riots: An outpouring of anger at the system
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Axe the Housing Act: 'We can't pay, we'll organise and we'll stay'
Great reception in Hackney for Chicago 'Black Lives Matter' socialist
South London #BlackLivesMatter protest marches on Downing Street
Leeds Pride 2016: Pride must be political!
Socialist Party comments and reviews
Sanctioned - a victim of government callousness
Food waste - the logic of capitalism
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