It's been an important year for tax justice in the UK. We've achieved some big campaigning wins with the help of our supporters.
Our research, that showed £37bn could be raised from wealth taxes, has been shared widely: on TV, on the radio, in newspapers and magazines. MPs have quoted it in the House of Commons. It’s been debated by cross-party MPs in committee rooms throughout the Palace of Westminster. Our focus will continue to be on wealth taxes next year. As a general election looms, we’ll have an even bigger opportunity to push for new taxes on the super rich. With the help of our supporters, we had several other big campaign wins this year. We won an oil windfall tax North Sea energy companies have been booming this year, announcing record profits on the back of soaring oil and gas prices. Alongside our allies we campaigned hard for a windfall tax on oil and gas producers. 89,000 of our supporters signed a petition demanding a windfall tax. And in May, after much resistance, the government u-turned, and announced the introduction of a windfall tax to raise £5bn. We fought dirty money We’ve campaigned for a clamp down on dirty international money flowing through the UK for years. And in 2022 we helped force the government to tackle it. The Economic Crime Bill was about to be dropped from the government's legislative agenda at the beginning of the year. We helped force a u-turn in March, making the government keep it on the table. The Economic Crime Act was voted into law in August, bringing in strong new enforcement powers to uncover dirty money flows in the UK. You convinced local councils to back fair tax In May and June, thousands of our supporters sent over 16,000 messages to their local councillors demanding they take a stand against tax avoidance and companies with links to tax havens. In response to our campaigning 22 councils have pledged to take action, signing up to the Fair Tax Foundation’s pledge. The most recent council was Brent in London on Monday. You can see a full list here. Thank you if you supported our work this year. We've made real strides towards a fairer tax system. While many things are tough as we end the year, it’s important to remember that we can change things. 
The UK is entering a period of major disruption. Nurses are striking for fair pay for the first time ever this week. Paramedics will walk out next week with soldiers being drafted in to drive ambulances.
Physiotherapists in the NHS have voted to strike, as have midwives in Wales, while junior doctors are balloting on whether to strike. All of these workers are battling to keep the NHS running through one of the worst winter crises ever (as they did through Covid). Sign up to our newsletter > However record numbers are leaving the health service because of stress and low pay, following years of government neglect. 1 in 4 hospitals have set up food banks for their staff. The strikes have been called because, on top of all of this, NHS workers have been offered pay ‘rises’ well below the rate of inflation. This means that their real pay will fall. The government is refusing to negotiate. Ministers have repeatedly said there’s no money available to protect NHS workers’ wages. This isn’t true. How to raise £37bn The UK is a wealthy country, home to some of the world’s richest people. Taxing the wealth of multi-millionaires could fund a pay increase for NHS workers – and protect the health service into the future. As our analysis shows, £37bn could be raised from wealth taxes alone. The government knows this. They know that wealth taxes could be introduced on the super rich. They know this money could be used to pay nurses and other public sector workers properly. They know the strikes could be averted. And yet they choose not to tax wealth. Doing nothing as the UK enters huge industrial disputes is a political choice on the part of the government. They are to blame for the disruption and upheavals that will be felt in the coming weeks and we must hold them to account. |
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