The Socialist Workers Party

Today, I heard about the school's mock election, due to take place on the same date as the British General Election, and decided I would put my name down to be part of the Socialist Workers Party. However, only having vague ideas as to what exactly they stood for - obviously aside from general socialism - I thought that it would be a good idea to have a look at their manifesto.

Now, browsing through it, I can see that many of the ideas here, for instance the complete lack of public service cuts, are overly idealistic. Unfortunately, the recession (which I do not believe was the sole fault of British bankers, which is who they blame there, but rather another financial crisis which started in America) means that some of our comforts will have to be reduced in quantity, as well as increasing taxes.

The key point of this is where these cuts are going to come from. It's a small thing, but as was mentioned on the debate the other night, I believe that reducing the size of the House of Lords is a good idea - or, in my ideals, completely scrapping it - which would save a small amount of money. Another area where money could come from is the prison system, a system which I believe is currently overused by judges when punishing common criminals - fines would be more appropriate for many cases, which could further help by giving the government a slightly greater budget to play with, and would have more of an impact on a thief's mindset than a frankly worthless time period in jail.

As for the increases in tax, the SWP is bang on, I believe, by stating that the money should come from the rich, but unfortunately weakens their manifesto by not actually stating any figures, aside from a rather flimsy '£90B'. TAX, my friends, TAX!

Although the additional rate, coming in next year, is a good move, further moving towards taxing the rich, it is not enough. I believe that there should be a mega-band, starting at earnings of £500,000 per year, which taxes at 90%. This may seem a little extreme, but I believe that once one is that rich, one can afford to give more money to help their country, especially in the current economic climate. I have no precise figures as to how much income it would generate, but I feel it could certainly help!

Another problem is those 'special' party donators, and other cheating scumbags, who choose to keep their money in offshore 'tax havens' (namely Lords Ashcroft and Paul). I have an idea for a new blanket law which would hopefully stop this practice; anyone who does not pay full UK tax loses UK citizenship rights, including the right to vote, and furthermore, the right to donate to political parties. Although this would create hysteria among the 'rightful' rich, it would only serve to make sure that everyone begins on a level playing field, regardless of income.

This could be overseen by the HMRC, as they already keep an eye on any suspicious figures on tax return forms, so could easily extend this. Large penalties could be imposed on those who tried to break these laws.

Ultimately, whilst the SWP's manifesto speaks tomes of delightful truth, and puts forth many ideas, it is a bit vague and idealistic, and is due an update. If I am to stick precisely to their ideas, this is going to be a hard one...