Labour’s business stance is so sensible that even business people have to applaud it

Business people clapping and Jeremy Corbyn


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Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has proposals for improving the UK for the many, not just the super-rich few. And the party’s moderate stance is actually so sensible that even business people have to applaud it.

Immense opportunity

Speaking at the annual conference of the UK’s largest business lobby group – the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) – on 18 November, Corbyn said he wanted to:

build a country that’s prosperous, where business thrives alongside the people and the environment.

And stressing that “it’s not anti-business to be against poverty pay”, he added that “it’s in our common interest to build the high skills green economy of the future”. He also made it clear that:

the opportunities created for businesses under a Labour government will be immense.

Corbyn had previously told the CBI that he had ‘no problem’ with businesses making money, but that:

If they do become incredibly rich, then I invite them to be happy with their wealth but also to share it a bit by paying their taxes as appropriately so that our public services are there for them – just as much as they’re there for everybody else – so that we don’t have this horribly divided society.

Labour’s green skills revolution will benefit businesses

Corbyn’s party has proposed a climate apprenticeship programme to “upskill” the UK workforce by training around 80,000 people a year. This will help companies to compete and succeed in the green economy. Labour also plans to reform the Conservatives’ Apprenticeship Levy and insists that “the Tories have failed to invest in our economy, failed to deliver apprenticeships and failed to face up to the climate emergency”.

Even CBI director general Carolyn Fairbairn welcomed Labour’s stance on apprenticeships and vocational training.

Billionaires, however…

The Conservative Party has reportedly received over £50m from around a third of Britain’s billionaires since 2005; and by 2023/24, it will have gifted these elites “tax breaks and corporate giveaways” to the tune of about £100bn since 2010. As Corbyn stressed, “this isn’t a coincidence”. His party, meanwhile, is asking the ultra-rich to pay their taxes so that British workers can be happier and healthier:

Increasing inequality and the increasing power of the ultra-rich have been disastrous for ordinary people. In fact, as Oxfam’s Max Lawson has insisted, the existence of billionaires is “a sign of economic failure” and ‘undermines democracy’. That’s why it’s right for Corbyn to challenge this reality.

Labour’s promise of democratic public control of vital services – like healthcare, education, energy, and transport – is popular. And it makes economic sense. On the other hand, even the Financial Times has accused Britain of being “over-tolerant” of ultra-rich elites dominating in certain parts of the private sector. Such monopolies, says Investopedia, “can lead to high costs for consumers, inferior products and services, and corrupt behavior”. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, meanwhile, points out that the resulting decrease in competition essentially “slows overall economic growth”.

Who should have the power?

While a Corbyn government will benefit most businesses, it will also tackle the destructive power of the ultra-rich. That’s why they’re attacking Corbyn so much. But if we want power to shift away from them and towards ordinary working people, voting for Corbyn is a must.

Featured image via YouTube – ITV News

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