MS 5 - The Right Way Forward: The Treasury

[Michael Marshall]

Mr. Speaker,

I would like to begin addressing the members of the house following this once in a century geopolitical and fiscal crisis Britain faces amid a global economic environment last seen in the 1970’s. These dual crisis comes at a time 50% of people in our society have seen a dwindling share of wealth holding only 9% of wealth in the economy while the richest 10% have seen a growing share of wealth to hold 44% of all wealth. This disparity grows substantially to the point 0.1% of people hold 13% of the wealth in the country; 130 times the wealth to their size of the population. This points to fundamental structural issues in our economy felt every day by citizens who are increasingly frustrated, and hostile against a globalist economic system that has made the poor poorer and the rich richer across the last 50 years.

In the 1970’s we found ourselves in a situation as perilous as we find ourselves in now, high deficits and inflation, unstable geopolitical crisis, terrorism and violence rising, and no enemy more uncertain than the future. We can trace the roots of the economic circumstances we find ourselves in to the same decade where international reforms to trade and monetary systems led to the outcomes we have today. In voting for Brexit our citizens sent a message, yielding our sovereignty to a globalist consensus in Brussels was not working for them, and neither is ignoring the fundamental problems we face in our future. That message was not sent by mistake.

It was not always this way. In the 100 years preceding the 1970’s wealth inequality in Great Britain decreased steadily and substantially. We faced recessions and depressions, but the overarching trend was positive for the average citizen and the generations that preceded us rose to monumental challenges across great wars. The solutions are not so far in our past we cannot confidently face our future.

In the Right Way Forward we acknowledge these problems and tell you this is a government that will implement structural changes that may be unpopular, but necessary to resolve these crisis. We will initiate a regimen of fiscal responsibility and transformation that will be uncomfortable for some and good for all. These solutions will not be artificial redistributions of wealth and nationalisation so that wealth ends up even further concentrated as it has in Russia, Venezuela, and North Korea. We will be brave enough to steady the force of government with market-based solutions that fundamentally solve these problems for the next century and not just the next term of Parliament.

The Agenda begins with education. We will redouble our innovation by supporting education with additional funding and identifying gaps between education and good paying jobs. This will be the single most important cornerstone to securing our future making our workers the most innovative, productive, and desirable in the world for high level tasks that insulate us against the forces of automation and globally cheap Labour.

We continue with the need to do the brave thing and tax capital rather than labour. At this moment too many global entities from major conglomerates to individuals are hoarding capital in unproductive ways. We live in a capitalist system and the promise is if you create productive outcomes you deserve to benefit with capital to continue making productive outcomes. That promise must remain unbroken. If you fail to continue making productive outcomes with your capital your benefit of that capital will dwindle. This will spur economic reinvestment to increase wages and hiring in our highly capable workforce while also dampening inflationary pressures.

As for those inflationary pressures we will address the lacking supply of goods in supply chains following the pandemic by rebuilding more resilient supply chains less dependent on unstable regimes and dictators. We will address our energy crisis by recognizing the realities of climate change, and doubling our investments in renewables, but also recognizing the realities of the immediate future to ease the way for energy production across all of Britain’s resources. We will reach net zero, lower your cost of energy, and reach energy independence alike.

We will continue to address the cost of living crisis by improving domestic production on farms and finalizing our trade deals with major food and beverage exporters such as the United States and Brazil. The lack of supply of food and beverages has been directly correlated to the inflationary issues we face and this means British farmers are as important as ever. Embracing automation and public campaigns to spur investment in British agriculture can address this pressure. Simultaneously, completing our trade deals will immediately provide relief across all sectors of consumer goods.

Finally, we will coordinate with the Bank of England to plan fiscal policies around monetary policy. Interest rates set by the Bank of England will play a crucial role to bringing some restraint to discretionary spending and risky investments. While the fiscal policy set by our government can guide investment to safer havens such as the same energy and agricultural sectors we will need reinvestment in. 

To reign in our fiscal belt we will be expanding reforms across social services to provide more options, and let those options that do not fare well dwindle away. This includes expanding caretaking of the elderly. We will be implementing cutting edge commercial technology to save costs and improve services. I will dive deeply into our national audit figures to identify waste, and save by improving efficiencies. We will embrace having jobseekers earn their allowance and improve training programmes. We will begin from zero based budgeting, review spending needs across government offices, and ensure everyone is doing their fair fighting against inflation. 

This is a holistic approach to embracing Brexit and solving our challenges ahead. In our agenda the future is neither our enemy or uncertain. The future is a bright path filled with abundance and opportunity. Britain, we have heard you, and we look forward to being challenged in our outlook. Our best days are yet to come, and I finish with the quote this government has looked to at the beginning of our term:

“"Have no fear of the unknown. Simply step out fearlessly knowing that He is with you, therefor no harm can befall you. All is very, very well. Do this in complete confidence and faith.”