UK Green Party XR Clive Lord – Written Evidence (LBC0091)
Although I am an individual, if you have not already done so, I strongly recommend you should consult Guy Standing, who can give evidence on behalf of the Basic income Earth Networ BIEN),. and Caroline Lucas and Natalie Bennett, who are signatories to a presentation already made to parliament.
Guy Standing stresses that a basic income is a right, rather than an anti-poverty ‘handout’.
In developed economies with some form of anti-poverty safety net, this links up with the fact that most such systems are means tested. The withdrawal of means tested benefits operates as a tax, proportionately massive, on low incomes. The minimum basic income must be sufficient to remove entirely that real but disguised tax equivalent.
An overlooked consequence of a basic income was revealed by the Finnish scheme, which reduced mental health problems, and a scheme which did not suffer from inadequacies for which the Finnish scheme was criticised, could save the NHS considerable sums, possibly even paying for itself in this way.