Thread by @docrussjackson

The #WindfallTax was a tax on "the excess profits of the privatised utilities" introduced by the 'New @UKLabour' government of Tony Blair in 1997, following a manifesto commitment to impose a "windfall levy" on the privatised utilities.

Was it any good?

New Labour's #WindfallTax came after 18 years of Tory rule, which had seen #neoliberal privatisation of many state-owned assets, at prices which many considered too low.

It aimed to "put right the bad deal which customers & taxpayers got from the privatisation of the utilities".

The #WindfallTax produced a one-off income to the Govt of £5 billion, used to fund the New Deal, a questionable 'welfare-to-work' (workfare) program, & capital investment for schools & 'Learndirect', a training provider owned by the private equity firm Queens Park Equity.

Questions of affordability & cost dominated public debate in the period leading up to #GE1997. In an effort to avoid a repeat performance of its defeat in 1992, New Labour sought to cast off its image as the ‘tax & spend’ party & targeted its appeal at middle-class voters.

Emphasizing the ‘costs of economic failure & the limits of taxpayer tolerance’, New Labour pledged to move away from ‘passive support for jobless claimants towards active efforts to improve their chances of securing employment within a more prudently managed & stable economy’. 😬

Ultimately, New Labour failed to reduce the gap between north & south, despite the renewal of interest in regional economic performance. Like the #WindfallTax, 'Levelling Up' now just appears to be a crap cut & paste job of aspects of the New Deal, which holds little promise.

Towards the end of New Labour’s third term in office, the three northern English regions (North East, North West & Yorkshire & Humber) were all performing well below the UK average on all main indicators.

Maybe both Starmer's @UKLabour & Johnson's Tories are simply out of ideas.