With the UK Chancellor making available over £350bn of funding (so far) the UK has seen an unprecedented (and much welcomed) level of financial support from the UK government in an attempt to safeguard jobs, livelihoods and minimise the financial impact of Corona Virus.

However, it’s also fair to say that 1 year ago… prior to the Corona Virus crisis, the UK was not in a strong financial position due to having:

1. suffered years of austerity & inequality, with many struggling simply to put food on the table, whilst at the same time others had been taking record multi-million pound bonuses
2. to deal with the uncertainties around …. Brex….. The B word!

Many will remember the substantial bank bailouts of 2008 which were also funded by UK tax payers.

The true costs varies depending who you ask, but The National Audit Office estimate an eventual direct loss to taxpayers (once the UK Gov sold its shares IN RBS & Lloyds) of approx £3.3 billion.

Despite that, in 2010 alone, around 5,000 bankers each received payouts of over £1 million.

Therefore, it’s VITAL that once the dust settles and the UK returns to “business as usual” we have significant and robust safeguards in place to ensure this unprecedented injection of UK tax payer funds isn’t simply siphoned off by the rich & wealthy via huge profits, bonuses and dividends, whilst those on low incomes continue to be hit hardest by even greater austerity measures.

In addition, this crisis has shown us VERY clearly just how VITAL “low income” workers are in enabling our country to continue to operate and survive; whether it be Nurses (£24,805*), care workers (£18,521*), cleaners (£15,125*), warehouse workers (£17,969*), customer service assistants (£17,490*), delivery drivers(£20,768*), refuse collectors (£17,093*), and more.
(* All salaries are national averages based on data from Payscale.com)

During this killer pandemic, it’s not the CEO’s and millionaires who have been on the front line; it’s the people who often are on minimum or “living” wage.

Therefore, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to do things differently.

We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve millions of lives.

We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to kick-start a fairer redistribution of UK wealth which will make the country & UK businesses stronger as we continue with life post-Covid 19, and as the Brexit transition continues.

 

Therefore, this petition asks Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson to urgently (within 6 months) make 3 simple changes:

1. Introduce legislation so that companies & organisations cannot pay dividends, bonuses or other financial rewards in any significant amount (i.e. not over £10k) until any “bailout” sum has been repaid in full, AND the pay gap issue has been reduce as defined below (2).
2. Introduce legislation that would (for all companies & organisations) directly link/cap salaries of the highest earners to be no more than 5x that of the lowest earners.
   
   For example, a CEO earning £100,000 would have to ensure lowest earners are on at least £20,000 per year before they can increase their own salary.
   
   To prevent abuse, this figure should take into account ALL benefits so that people can’t simply take £100k in salary, and reward themselves significantly more via dividends or bonuses instead.
   
   For those companies with pay gaps greater than 5:1 provide a transition period of no more than 5 years within which to bring the pay gap to within 5:1
   
   The ratio of 5:1 still provides plenty of room for various tiers of employment, and ensuring senior staff are still rewarded for the extra skills, knowledge, experience and responsibilities they may hold.
   
   By its very nature, this will have the added benefit of limiting “excessive” bonuses without the need for additional legislation on bonuses, thus keeping the system simple.
3. Introduce legislation so that all future job adverts should state either:
   a) The specific salary on offer, or
   b) The salary range on offer for that role (but with the range limited to no more than 10%)
   
   All jobs have a “value” to the company/organisation so this measure will help end inequality & discrimination (not just the “gender pay gap”). It will also aid transparency to ensure (1) and (2) above are being adhered to.

 

We believe this will result in the following benefits:

• Redistribution of wealth improving millions of lives
  
  (In 2019 the average unsecured household debt (i.e. excluding mortgages) was £15,385 representing a significant 30.4% of household income)
• Increase the number of people with disposable income, which in turn will:
  o   Increase spending to reinvigorate the economy faster
  o   Assist & strengthen small businesses and entrepreneurs
  o   Aid those wishing to save for deposits for homes
  o   Increase the number of people who can afford to help charities, increasing “trickle down” effect to help even more people
  o   Increase the number of people who can finally afford to put into private pensions, thus reducing future financial impact on state required aid.
• Reduce mental illnesses caused (or worsened) by financial pressures.
  
  (46% of people in problem debt also have a mental health problem. Mental ill health is the single largest cause of disability in the UK, contributing up to 22.8% of the total burden in England alone, and has been estimated to cost £105.2 billion each year)

With so much funding already distributed across so many, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve the lives of millions ... please don't waste it.