Labour and the One Percent

Sadly, local Council leaders continue to promise multi-million-pound cuts to vital public services that serve the 99%, while vying to attract the super-rich 1% to their towns. Thus “in the past two weeks, we’ve learned that IBM, Hastings Insurance Services and the Tejani family (estimated wealth £140 million) have been given £1 million each in Government grants to set up major operations in Leicester.” And, “Another £3 million has been spent by Leicester City Council on refurbishing the city centre office block, pictured, that IBM will occupy.”

Such big business activism on the part of our political leaders is the logical result of their frenetic courting of the super-rich which never seems to end. For example, in March 2013 it was reported that Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and Leicestershire County Council leader Nick Rushton “head[ed] a 25-strong delegation at MIPIM in Cannes to showcase 29 development sites in the city and county” to multi-national corporations. (MIPIM is a 4-day real estate exhibition, conference and networking event gathering 21,000 international property professionals.)

Clearly if the super-rich corporations that “Sir Peter and Company” wined and dined actually paid their way in society, then few people would query our political representatives encouraging them to settle in our region. But it seems that many of the businesses owned by the 1% don’t make as positive contribution to society as we might hope, certainly when compared to smaller local businesses that are not likely to attract £1 million state handouts!

IBM is a case in point. Do we really need to attract a multi-national corporation to our city that so regularly treats their employees with contempt? Remember this is the same IBM that routinely breaks the law in China by forcing their factory workers to work 15-hour shifts, with a total break time of 1.5 hours. This when Chinese laws limits the maximum hours in a work day to 12 hours, including overtime and 1.5 hours in break time.

In America IBM’s track record is similarly shoddy, and it has been a keen supporter of…

“…a national consortium of state politicians and powerful corporations, ALEC — the American Legislative Exchange Council — which presents itself as a “nonpartisan public-private partnership”. But behind that mantra lies a vast network of corporate lobbying and political action aimed to increase corporate profits at public expense without public knowledge.”

This problematic story is not so different for Hastings Insurance Services, which is largely a creature of its primary owners, the predatory global investment banking vultures, Goldman Sachs. Hastings Insurance’s current CEO, Gary Hoffman, is a banker of some fame, having served as the Vice-Chairman of Barclays plc from 2006-2008. His role at Barclays is particularly interesting given the international media attention that the bank received shortly after Mr Hoffman’s departure when it was exposed that in 2009 Barclays paid the equivalent of a miserly 1% in tax.

With the HSBC scandal rocking the world (again), it is worth considering why Leicester’s Labour dominated Council is so keen to get into bed with big business when the benefits they might accrue to the city are debateble to say the least. Yet there is an alternative, and that comes in the form of the two councillors who are members of Leicester Independent Councillors Against Cuts (which is affiliated to TUSC – the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition).

Indeed, just last weekend the Leicester Independent Councillors Against Cuts made good on the recent Council anti corporate tax dodging motion they succeeded in pushing the Labour Council to support last month. This they managed to do by organising a successful protest outside of tax-dodger extraordinaire Boots the chemist (for a report back on this protest see “Millions Stolen from Leicester: Bringing Tax Justice to Boots“).

In order to ensure that the Council works to favour people not bankers, Leicester Independent Councillors Against Cuts is aiming to stand a candidate in every ward in the coming local elections, and will be supporting TUSC candidates in all three parliamentary seats. So if you want to get involved get in building an alternative to the enforced poverty and austerity of the mainstream parties of cuts then now’s your chance to get in contact with Councillor Wayne Naylor or Councillor Barbara Potter to let them know how you can help their grassroots campaign to change our city forever.

Email: Wayne.Naylor (at) leicester.gov.uk or Barbara.Potter (at) leicester.gov.uk