Source: BBC Radio 4: Today Programme
URL: N/A
Date: 05/09/2014
Event: Natalie Bennett: "if you haven't declared your wealth, then it doesn't belong to you"
Credit: BBC Radio 4
People:
Justin Webb: Natalie Bennett, the leader of the Green Party, is going to be opening their party conference today, and is on the line from Birmingham - good morning to you.
Natalie Bennett: Good morning.
Justin Webb: Give us a taste of what you're going to say in your keynote speech.
Natalie Bennett: What I'll be focussing on is the need to rebalance our society, to have rich individuals and multinational companies paying their fair way, in terms of taxes and in terms of wages, and to make work pay. So what we're calling for is to set a target of £10 an hour minimum wage by 2020.
Justin Webb: And a wealth tax.
Natalie Bennett: And a wealth tax, exactly - that's where rich individuals really need to be paying their way. We're seeing inequality getting out of control in our society, so we're saying that there should be a tax on assets of more than £3 million to be paid annually, of between 1 and 2%. And that's not meant to be punitive and it isn't punitive - what it is is people who can afford to it [sic] need to make a contribution, so that we can reverse the dreadful [sounds more like "dredual"?] austerity, the cuts to public services that are doing such damage in our society.
Justin Webb: I think a lot of economists would say "Yes, you're right that wealth is undertaxed, or undertaxed in comparison with income, but actually, in practical terms, the very wealthy will just avoid it - unless you have a global wealth tax, it's really not worth doing".
Natalie Bennett: Well, I think what we have to do is say people have to pay their way. And of course, you know, there will be evasion and avoidance, but I think some countries that have a wealth tax have a rather nice rule that says: if you haven't declared your wealth, then it doesn't belong to you. And so there are ways of enforcing these rules. But, you know, what we simply have to do is say that we cannot continue down the road we're in - this is not economically [?] sustainable. We have to rebuild our society, rebalance our society, and that's what we're calling for, with the wealth tax and with the call for a target for £10 an hour minimum wage by 2020.
Justin Webb: It's really noticeable that you're, sort of, moving away, consciously moving away, aren't you, from the things that one would assume were green issues.
Natalie Bennett: Ah, not moving away very much, and I'll also be talking a great deal about our opposition to fracking, and I'll be talking about the absolutely important [sic] of dealing with climate change. But what we, what we need to do is, we need to build a society that's sustainable environmentally and sustainable economically. And it's very clear that we're at a point now where after 30 years of Thatcherite ideas, ideas of neoliberalism, of privatisation, dominating our political debate, people have realised that's a bankrupt ideology - they're looking for new answers. So that's why things like us saying that we want to re-nationalise the railways and we want a publicly owned and publicly run NHS and that the profit motive has no place in healthcare - all of those things are chiming with more and more voters, as is showing in the polls.
Justin Webb: Yeah, it's interesting, that, isn't it - I mean, where do you place yourselves, now? Are you the left-wing party in Britain - is that how you'd like to be seen?
Natalie Bennett: Well, I think you're - it depends what you mean by left-wing. If you feel that nationalising the railways - there's about 70% public support for that, surveys show - and indeed if you -
Justin Webb: But it's further than Labour would go.
Natalie Bennett: Very much so, and even a majority of Tory voters were in favour of re-nationalising the railways. So what we really have is three business-as-usual almost indistinguishable largest parties - Labour might sound a bit different from the Tories but actually, when you look at their policies, there's very little substantial difference. They're basically crowded over into a very narrow political space, and that does leave a very large ground for us.
Justin Webb: Natalie Bennett, enjoy your conference, which starts today in Birmingham - thank you.
Natalie Bennett: Thank you.