Theo's Blog: (Reluctantly) in bed with Jeremy Corbyn…

(Reluctantly) In bed with Jeremy Corbyn… The last thing I want to be thinking about in bed is Jeremy Corbyn!  But, I just couldn’t help myself after his pay capping comments, and I felt a Paphitis blog coming on.  Not only kept awake by Mrs P’s snoring, but the Labour leader’s primary school boy socialist economics comments on wage capping interrupted my slumber last night and certainly provided me with food for thought for a new blog.  It’s been a while, but I couldn’t let this one pass without throwing my two-pence worth in, so the blog is back!

Corbyn’s comments on capping a maximum wage as the “fairest thing to do” have been hailed as “absurd” and “totally idiotic” by two of his former economic advisors, Danny Blanchflower and Richard Murphy, and I can see their point! Even the shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams, wouldn’t be drawn on whether she thought it was a good idea or not, and she’s supposed to be on his side.

I fully applaud the political initiative to address inequality in the country, which previously the two posh boys (Cameron and Osborne) totally ignored to their cost, but Corbyn’s ideas have made me question whether he is very bright, in terms of breadth of PR coverage, or very stupid in terms of the effect this would have on the economy.  In fact, the more I think about this one, the more confused I am by what his purpose is.  As a shadow leader he needs to show that he is for the good of the country and the economy, and although the equality issue certainly needs to be addressed, this isn’t a good starting point.

To cap pay would destroy our economy, taking away the aspirations of the up-and-coming British workers on what’s possible.  No one has a dream to reach a capped salary; or, what would be the point of dreaming.  Come on! This is a ridiculous idea and one that will never come to fruition.  That lack of reward for workers would lose us that beautiful British aspirational streak and worst of all, our talent.  What about those who grow up on a poor council estate, like me, who go self-employed and graft and graft, only to be told ‘Actually, stop! You’ve hit your limit and you don’t need to try any more’.  Where’s the plan to stoke that fire in the belly?  Where’s the determination, the grit, the work ethic?  I’m not seeing it from Corbyn currently…not so much a plan for ‘Money, Money, Money’, more ‘dummy, dummy, dummy’.  Has Corbyn actually considered the novelty of bringing people's income and standard of living up…instead of taking others income and standard of living down with envy? There have been many failed socialist experiments around his concepts, and his advisors need to point them out to him.....fast.

The loss of tax on income alone would be a dark and unnecessary hit on the economy as we know it, and we can certainly do without that currently.  Also, to top that, the lack of growth due to the fleeing talent would also be a tax void for the UK.  This will invariably erode the economy.

If this was ever on the table as a policy proposal, which frankly I’d eat my own hat if it was, it is the equivalent in the footballing world of the UK being classed as a non-league side, as opposed to the Premier League, and all our top players would move abroad to Premier League countries.  Does that sound like a team you’d like to play for?  No, I thought not.

Surely we want to create more successful people, not fewer.  Wealth is something that can boost the economy via taxes, spending on services, goods, and through creating new businesses that employ more people.

So, is Corbyn clever or stupid?  Only time will tell, but I hope he doesn’t come out with many more suggestions like this, as whilst Mrs P's snoring is definitely a passion killer, thinking about Jeremy Corbyn takes it to a completely new level! The less I think about Corbyn at night in my own bed, the better!

12 January 2017