Iain Maclennan, Green

Green PPC (Portsmouth North),
Iain Maclennan's endorsement & reply

"I would strongly support these policies in principle, although Green Party policy proposes maintaining the tax free personal allowance at the current level of £6,475 and raising the lower National Insurance limit to the same amount. So... with this small caveat, in answer to your Qs:

Q1. YES
Q2. YES
Q3. YES

Green Party policy on taxation is summarised thus:

• Introduce the new higher rate of income
tax at 50% for incomes above £100,000,
raising £2.3bn pa.

• Abolish the upper limit for National
Insurance contributions, raising £9.1bn
in 2010.

• Help lower earners by raising the lower
National Insurance limit to the personal
allowance rate (which is £6,475 a year,
or £124.52 a week), costing £3.9bn.

• Help lower earners by reintroducing the
10% tax band and the 22p basic rate,
costing £14.9bn.

• Increase the main rate of Corporation Tax
from 28% back to 30% and reduce the small
firms rate back to 20%, altogether raising
£1.4bn.

• Raise the Capital Gains Tax rate from 18%
to the recipient’s highest income tax rate
(that is 22%, 40% or 50%), raising £1bn

Addressing inequality, including global inequality, is at the heart of Green Party policy. Social injustice is inextricably linked with the causes of the financial crisis and climate change, and unless we take decisive and effective action to introduce a fairer taxation system everyone, both rich and poor, will be worse off. Unequal societies invariably have more crime, more substance misuse, more people in prison, more insecurity, more premature death, lower average birth weights, worse infant mortality etc than more equal societies. Evidence shows that even rich people in more equal societies are better off than rich people in more unequal societies. A fair, transparent, progressive taxation system will ensure that we make real and long-overdue progress towards narrowing the obscene and ever-widening gap between the best and worse off in society".

Dr Iain Maclennan