Corbyn’s anti-market agenda will hit the poorest the hardest
29 September 2015
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Commenting on Jeremy Corbyn’s speech to Labour Party Conference, Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“Disappointingly, Jeremy Corbyn used his first leader’s speech to put forward a wrongheaded and regressive economic agenda. His prescriptions fail to recognise that it is government intervention itself which pushes up prices, making life much more expensive for families up and down the country. His policy programme would hit the poor hard.
“Renationalisation of the railways would increase political meddling, bureaucracy and mismanagement. It would likely come with more state subsidies to attempt to lower fares. 60% of spending on rail fares is undertaken by the richest 20% of households. The Corbyn plan amounts to an inefficient subsidy to the richest from the poorest.
“Proposals for a huge state house building programme are completely at odds with the indisputable evidence that the UK’s rigid planning laws are the cause of structurally high prices. Building new council homes where he thinks people should live is an attempt to sidestep, not tackle, that problem.
“A strategy of nationalisation, greater government intervention and more red tape will increase the burden on taxpayers, hamper investment, strengthen vested interests and do nothing to reduce living costs for ordinary men and women across Britain.”
Notes to Editors:
To arrange an interview with an IEA spokesperson, please contact Stephanie Lis, Head of Communications on 0207 799 8900 or 07766 221 268, slis@iea.org.uk
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.
The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
“Disappointingly, Jeremy Corbyn used his first leader’s speech to put forward a wrongheaded and regressive economic agenda. His prescriptions fail to recognise that it is government intervention itself which pushes up prices, making life much more expensive for families up and down the country. His policy programme would hit the poor hard.
“Renationalisation of the railways would increase political meddling, bureaucracy and mismanagement. It would likely come with more state subsidies to attempt to lower fares. 60% of spending on rail fares is undertaken by the richest 20% of households. The Corbyn plan amounts to an inefficient subsidy to the richest from the poorest.
“Proposals for a huge state house building programme are completely at odds with the indisputable evidence that the UK’s rigid planning laws are the cause of structurally high prices. Building new council homes where he thinks people should live is an attempt to sidestep, not tackle, that problem.
“A strategy of nationalisation, greater government intervention and more red tape will increase the burden on taxpayers, hamper investment, strengthen vested interests and do nothing to reduce living costs for ordinary men and women across Britain.”
Notes to Editors:
To arrange an interview with an IEA spokesperson, please contact Stephanie Lis, Head of Communications on 0207 799 8900 or 07766 221 268, slis@iea.org.uk
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.
The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.
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