Richard Murphy

Economic justice campaigner. Professor of Accounting Practice, Sheffield University. Former chartered accountant. Political economist. Co-founder, the Green New Deal. Also blogging at www.taxresearch.org.uk .  I post on economics, politics, tax and climate change (and even accounting) because they make big differences to our lives. My bias is to the left but I am not party aligned.  All views my own, not my employer’s.

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Last Notes

2024-09-16 07:23:40

The way we are is unsustainable https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/16/the-way-we-are-is-unsustainable/ The FT is full of warnings for Rachel Reeves this morning, suggesting that her direction of travel is unsustainable unless recession is her goal. Will she heed the warnings?

2024-09-16 06:47:43

Where is Labour going? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/16/where-is-labour-going/ The overwhelming impression Labour has given during its first few weeks in office is that it has no idea about why it wanted to be in government, or what it will do with power now that it has it. After fourteen years in opposition that appears quite extraordinary, except that it reinforces the idea that the whole Starmer project to date has simply been about defeating Corbyn. But in that case, it's fair to ask, where is Labour going?

2024-09-15 07:18:19

What is the obsession with gold? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/15/what-is-the-obsession-with-gold/ Every time I post a video about money, people appear claiming only gold is money and that we must go back on the gold standard. Those saying so are economic dinosaurs who do not understand how the modern economy works and would rather we go back to the era that delivered the Great Depression precisely because of the obsession with gold. They really do need to be ignored.

2024-09-13 08:11:04

Starmer: a man way of his depth when dealing with the NHS https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/13/starmer-a-man-way-of-of-his-depth-when-dealing-with-the-nhs/ Starmer's speech on the NHS yesterday offered view of a man unprepared for office who sends out incompetent messages to those who now work in the organisation he leads and who has no comprehension of the economic environment in which he must manage healthcare.
It's not surprising that now the UK public is seeing Starmer in action that his popularity is falling.

2024-09-12 07:00:23

Starmer’s choice: he won’t fund the NHS even though he knows people will die as a result https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/12/starmers-choice-he-wont-fund-the-nhs-even-though-he-knows-people-will-die-as-a-result/ Starmer is out today saying the NHS must "reform or die", but since he's refusing to provide the funding required to reform, die is the only option actually on the table, which means that people will do so as well. And this from a supposedly Labour government.

2024-09-11 06:42:41

As the July GDP data proves, nothing really changed that month https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/11/as-the-july-gdp-data-proves-nothing-really-changed-that-month/ The GDP data proves what we all knew. We got a new government early that month, and yet nothing changed in the economy. And that will be the message for the next five years. Labour's in office, intent on changing nothing.

2024-09-11 06:06:11

Labour should be picking on tax cheats https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/11/labour-should-be-picking-on-tax-cheats/ Instead of picking on children in poverty and pensioners needing support with fuel bills to pay the price for the Tory economic aftermath, Labour should be picking on tax cheats to fill its coffers, as the National Audit Office agrees, and as I show in the Taxing Wealth Report 2024, would not be hard.

2024-09-10 06:10:02

Why is Labour picking on pensioners? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/10/why-is-labour-picking-on-pensioners/ Of all the groups in society anyone expected Labour to pick on when it came into office, pensioners were the least likely, excepting, perhaps, children in poverty. Now it turns out they are the two groups Labour thinks should pay the price for the mess that Labour claims it has inherited from the Tories. Political incompetence on this scale is hard to make up.

2024-09-10 06:00:53

The House of Lords really does not understand what they call the ‘national debt’ https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/10/the-house-of-lords-really-does-not-understand-what-they-call-the-national-debt/ The House of Lords is panicking about the national debt, but that‘s what happens when you fundamentally misunderstand what it supposedly is, as they do. It’s just a savings facility on which the government is not dependent. Of course there is nothing to panic about in that case.

2024-09-09 07:24:07

If Rachel Reeves wants more money, she needs to crack down on small business tax evasion https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/09/if-rachel-reeves-wants-more-money-she-needs-to-crack-down-on-small-business-tax-evasion/ The National Audit Office has issued a report today replicating almost exactly a lot of what I had to say on HMRC, its lack of organisation and its resulting failure to tackle the small business tax gap in the Taxing Wealth Report 2024. It's good to see. But will the government act?

2024-09-09 07:02:49

They’re not going https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/09/theyre-not-going/ The wealthy aren't going anywhere - as the bankers obviously know.

2024-09-09 06:03:09

Labour, critical thinking, and migration https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/09/labour-critical-thinking-and-migration/ I am frustrated by the Labour party's failure to engage in critical thinking. Critical thinking is questioning and evaluating information to form reliable judgments. Labour is nowhere near doing that.

2024-09-08 07:38:02

Why the rich aren’t leaving, or coming, to the UK https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/08/why-the-rich-arent-leaving-or-coming-to-the-uk/ An estate agent has said one in six millionaires might be leaving the UK, and no one will come to replace them. They're wrong about those leaving: most millionaires are going nowhere. They're right about how unattractive we now are to the rich.

2024-09-08 07:35:27

Wes Streeting: the undertaker to the NHS https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/08/wes-streeting-the-undertaker-to-the-nhs/ Wes Streeting has been talking about existential threats to the NHS this weekend without showing the slightest comprehension of the fact that his own highly likely inaction on the underlying causes of ill health will be what brings it to its knees.

2024-09-08 06:38:39

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland need better powers to tax https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/08/scotland-wales-and-northern-ireland-need-better-powers-to-tax/ The UK's devolved governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland need proper powers to tax, or they will always be governing with one arm tied behind their backs. Without such powers, a devolved government is a sham, and so too is the so-called United Kingdom.

2024-09-06 05:55:42

Do we need any more public inquiries? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/06/do-we-need-any-more-public-inquiries/ When public inquiries take seven years to report and delay justice for up to a decade whilst telling us what we already know, which ministers could have admitted at the time, what is their purpose?

2024-09-05 05:55:54

Neoliberalism was the underlying cause of the Grenfell disaster https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/05/neoliberalism-was-the-underlying-cause-of-the-grenfell-disaster/ Only by ridding our politics of neoliberal thinking will we eliminate the risk of another Grenfell happening, but what is the likelihood of that happening when most of our politicians are corrupted by that thinking?

2024-09-03 06:17:16

Is Keir Starmer an authoritarian? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/03/is-keir-starmer-an-authoritarian/ The EU has offered the UK the chance of free movement for people under the age of 30, but Keir Starmer is adamant that this must not happen. He has offered no good reason, just like the parent who says no to a child without offering explanation as to why. Could it be that having the chance to say no without good reason is why he sought power?

2024-09-02 07:15:17

There is no economic crisis in the UK. So why is Rachel Reeves making people suffer? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/02/there-is-no-economic-crisis-in-the-uk-so-why-is-rachel-reeves-making-people-suffer/ Labour is claiming that cutting the winter fuel allowance and keeping children in poverty has prevented UK economic collapse. That is untrue. No cuts are necessary as many alternative sources of funding are available to the government. Reeves is prioritising financial markets over public welfare. Her decisions are harming vulnerable populations.

2024-09-01 06:49:55

Labour is a neoliberal to its core https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/09/01/labour-is-a-neoliberal-to-its-core/ Labour was built on the basis of a proud left-of-centre tradition that was based on support for working people and a belief in the power of the state to build well-being for everyone, and not just a few. But that’s gone. Just like the Tories, it is now dedicated to the cult of the individual and is opposed to the state and all it can do for us. The question is, what can we do about this?

2024-08-28 06:45:43

There’s a void at the heart of Starmer’s government where vision and ideas should be https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/28/theres-a-void-at-the-heart-of-starmers-government-where-vision-and-ideas-should-be/ Starmer made clear yesterday that Labour is focused on maintaining the status quo rather than enacting meaningful change, missing, as it does, the ethical values and strategic thinking needed for delivering effective government. His is a government without purpose, and that's deeply troubling.

2024-08-27 06:07:28

Land value taxation is not a panacea https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/27/land-value-taxation-is-not-a-panacea/ Land value taxation is a 19th-century idea that has very rarely been used. Its proponents say it is the great unavoidable tax that could potentially replace all other taxes. The problem is it is based on assumptions that might be fine in theory but which would be incomprehensible in practice – and that’s no way to impose a tax charge.

2024-08-19 06:51:12

Words can incite hate https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/19/words-can-incite-hate/ In a newsletter, the Institute for Economic Affairs has argued that words cannot incite harm. I disagree. I find their position morally troubling and potentially deeply dangerous for society.

2024-08-19 06:24:08

Rachel Reeves would make a mess of any household’s finances https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/19/rachel-reeves-would-make-a-mess-of-any-households-finances/
Rachel Reeves keeps saying that we should manage the economy as if it were a household. That is completely wrong. But if it were true, the decisions she is making would end up destroying the finances of any household, she’s making such a mess of things.

2024-08-12 06:52:37

Why has Richard Tice had an offshore trust? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/12/why-has-richard-tice-had-an-offshor-trust/ A question needing an answer

2024-08-09 06:13:02

It’s time to bring the Bank of England back under government control https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/09/its-time-to-bring-the-bank-of-england-back-under-government-control/ It's claimed that the Bank of England is independent of the government. Almost certainly, that's a complete sham. But it's one that's been used to impose policy against the best interests of people in this country. This pretence has to end, and the government has to be accountable for all our economic policy.

2024-08-07 07:17:47

What we need is action to improve lives https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/07/what-we-need-is-action-to-improve-lives/ Rioters promoting racist hate do not have legitimate political concerns. On the other hand, millions of people who are concerned about inequality, poor jobs, failing public services and poor housing have wholly appropriate grievances in the UK. Tackle those, and the opportunity for racists would disappear.

2024-08-04 07:26:57

Unless Labour listens and learns, we are in big trouble https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/04/unless-labour-listens-and-learns-we-are-in-big-trouble/Nothing condones neo-fascist violence. But until Labour realises that it has to tackle inequality, those promoting violence will exploit the anger of those left behind to secure support for their cause. The choice is for Labour to make, but so far it is sending out the message that it intends to promote inequality. Are they really surprised people are angry as a result? They have to change tack.

2024-08-04 06:51:03

Government deficits create private wealth https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/04/government-deficits-create-private-wealth/ It’s widely claimed that our national debt threatens the well-being and stability of the UK, which is quite absurd when the national debt exactly equates to the value of private wealth that the government has injected into the UK’s economy. Why is it that those talking about the national debt do not seem to know this stuff?

2024-08-01 06:15:13

The Bank of England is fuelling inflation https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/08/01/the-bank-of-england-is-fuelling-inflation/ The Bank of England is signalling we're going to have high interest rates for a long time because it thinks we are still at risk of suffering inflation. But that's absurd. The Bank of England is now the biggest creator of inflationary pressure in our economy.

2024-07-30 06:09:05

Rachel Reeves could not have done worse than this https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/30/rachel-reeves-could-not-have-done-worse-than-this/ If Rachel Reeves wants to go down as one of the worst Chancellors in history, then she set about establishing her claim with yesterday's ‘blame the Tories for things we all already knew' speech. When her ambition is to penalise pensioners but let the rich off tax increases you know from the outset how badly she's misjudged the mood of the country.

2024-07-09 06:36:19

Labour could change the UK for (almost) nothing https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/09/labour-could-change-the-uk-for-almost-nothing/ Labour governments have a long history of changing this country with measures that cost the government very little or nothing at all. In a new video series – which will go on for some time – I am going to suggest how Labour might do that now. It's time to be positive about the changes that Labour could deliver without any arguments about economics.

2024-07-08 06:55:18

The centre cannot hold. The question is, what comes next? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/08/the-centre-cannot-hold-the-question-is-what-comes-next/ Having been given due warning of an impending electoral disaster in France, centre and left-wing parties cooperated to ensure that the far right did not win the majority of seats in the French Parliament. Now, however, the differences between the centre and the left are apparent. In that case, what happens next?

2024-07-08 06:25:24

Why growth, Rachel Reeves? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/08/why-growth-rachel-reeves/ If 'growth' is Rachel Reeves' mission, she has, at the very least, to say what it is she plans to grow and with what planned outcome. Right now, there are no answers, but only questions, all of which imply she has little idea what this supposed mission is all about.

2024-07-07 06:16:17

Wes Streeting is wrong: rising tides do not float all boats https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/07/wes-streeting-is-wrong-rising-tides-do-not-float-all-boats/ Wes Streeting used a right-wing economic trope yesterday that suggests that ‘trickle down’ economics works. Forty plus years of evidence shows that it does not, and that deep poverty is rising in this country. Apparently, he is indifferent to that. This is not a good start.

2024-07-06 06:33:06

If we had PR Labour would now be negotiating support so that it might form a government https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/06/if-we-had-pr-labour-would-now-be-negotiating-support-so-that-it-might-form-a-government/ Wouldn't it be better if, right now, Labour, the LibDems and Greens were negotiating a coalition agreement? Surely that would have delivered a better government?

2024-07-05 11:45:10

Did Keir Starmer really win? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/05/did-keir-starmer-really-win/ Labour won a massive majority but did Keir Starmer really win? His constituency data presents a very different view – as does a comparison with Jeremy Corbyn. He has delivered an unloved landslide majority to govern the country.

2024-07-05 05:02:39

I could be wrong about this, but I doubt it https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/05/i-could-be-wrong-about-this-but-i-doubt-it/ These are my forecasts for Labour’s five years in office. Only read them if you want to be depressed.

2024-07-01 05:54:32

Supporting a failing status quo is not a strategy. It’s a recipe for failure https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/07/01/supporting-a-failing-status-quo-is-not-a-strategy-its-a-recipe-for-failure/ Macron has failed in France by trying to perpetuate the status quo. The Tories have already failed here, doing just that. And Labour’s only plan is to deliver yet more utterly inappropriate neoliberal policy. If they want to deliver fascism in the UK, Labour is going the right way about doing so.

2024-06-30 07:49:11

The doctor will see you now https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/30/the-doctor-will-see-you-now/ The truth is that none of us expect to see the doctor now, or anytime soon. And yet, that's absurd because there is serious unemployment among doctors in the UK. That's because the Tories have sacked them. Labour could put 6,000 of them – one for every GP surgery in England – back to work on 5 July. The impact would be enormous. But I very much doubt it will happen.

2024-06-28 07:26:29

UK first quarter GDP has been found to have included a rounding error https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/28/uk-first-quarter-gdp-has-been-found-to-have-included-a-rounding-error/ New GDP data only provides good news to really desperate politicians. For everyone else, it says things are at least as bad as you think, and possibly worse.

2024-06-27 07:21:54

Will Wes Streeting fail on his first day in office, and set the scene for the whole of the next Labour government? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/27/will-wes-streeting-fail-on-his-first-day-in-office-and-set-the-scene-for-the-whole-of-the-next-labour-government/
There are around 6,000 unemployed GPs in the UK. Wes Streeting could offer them all a job on day one of the new Labour government and transform healthcare. But will he? Of course, he won't. Rachel Reeves won't let him do something as sensible as that. But, by not doing this, Streeting and Reeves will set Labour on its course to failure.

2024-06-27 06:03:28

Why have we tolerated the Bank of England’s dismal failure on QE? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/27/why-have-we-tolerated-the-bank-of-englands-dismal-failure-on-qe/ The whole QE programme was a sham to disguise the fact that the government was creating new money. It was totally unnecessary to issue bonds to disguise that fact, or for the government to buy them, and now to supposedly resell them. Only dogma required this, but the cost might be £100bn. And that makes the PPE scandal look to be tiny.

2024-06-24 06:03:39

Am I on the far left? https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/24/am-i-on-the-far-left/ Far-right commentators are suggesting that I am on the far left of the political spectrum. Really?
Since when did a belief in democracy, the need for a strong government capable of delivering decent public services for a very mixed economy, plus an absolute determination that no child should live in poverty, make a person far left? Could it be that those suggesting that I am in danger of falling off the edge of the far right?

2024-06-22 07:11:51

Migration: you ain’t seen nothing yet https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/22/migration-you-aint-seen-nothing-yet/ Whatever our politicians say, migration is going to increase - because climate change guarantees it will.

2024-06-21 06:52:29

Why the Tories think it’s OK to gamble on elections, and the much more sinister dimensions to this belief https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/21/why-the-tories-thinks-its-ok-to-gamble-on-elections-and-the-much-more-sinister-dimensions-to-this-belief/ Tory insiders have bet on the election because, just as was the case with Covid parties, they think that the normal rules do not apply to them. The trouble is, they have also legislated to suspend the normal rules in the UK's freeports - and that is a much more sinister development.

2024-06-20 06:52:16

The last thing the UK university sector needs is an increase in tuition fees https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/20/the-last-thing-the-uk-university-sector-needs-is-an-increase-in-tuition-fees/ Universities are calling for such an increase. They should be calling for a change to migration policy and an end to the pretence that our universities should compete against each other instead of providing integrated higher education to meet the needs of all in the UK.

2024-06-20 06:22:21

The UK’s precarious £15 trillion of fiancial wealth https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/20/the-uks-precarious-15-trillion-of-fiancial-wealth/ The UK looks to be a wealthy country with £15 trillion of financial assets. But they’ll rapidly disappear if we do not invest in our children and young people, in climate change and in preserving our democracy, and most of our politicians appear quite uninterested in that.

2024-06-13 06:33:35

Tax is not essential: public services are. It’s time that election debates shifted their focus https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/13/tax-is-not-essential-public-services-are-its-time-that-election-debates-shifted-their-focus/ Let’s move on from tax in this election debate. It’s time to talk about public service levels instead, because they are much more important.

2024-06-10 06:19:58

We’re in for a mighty political ride https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/06/10/were-in-for-a-mighty-political-ride/ Support for the Tories has helped since 2019 because of their failure to deliver. Labour is seeking office without any plan to deliver. The likelihood is that it too will see it support collapse before the next general election. In that case the real question is, what will happen then?