Politics and society
(London) The wealthy and tech giants like Google should pay more tax to help the poor, with injections of money into the public sector. Former oil industry executive and current Anglican Primate Justin Welby has criticised the British economy, where one in eight workers, that is, 3.8 million people, are living in poverty. To mark the release of the Report by the Commission on Economic Justice, of which Welby was also part, the Anglican Primate called for “a fundamental rethink of how the British economy works because there are millions of people living in poverty despite working, who cannot even afford Fish and Chips” (a traditional British dish). The theological head of the Church of England made these remarks in an interview with the BBC to mark the launch of the report by the Commission on Economic Justice, which calls for the current minimum wage to be increased by £1 an hour to 10 euros for those over 25. According to the archbishop, a reform of the tax system is also a matter of urgency, with the introduction of a “minimum tax rate” on multinationals. “What is clear”, Justin Welby said, “is that tax should be a fundamental part of being a citizen, and that those who have the most should pay the most. And that no company, through being multinational, can evade the responsibilities of paying its proper amount of tax, based on the revenues it earns” in the UK.
