Westminster won't implement a basic income to get us through this crisis - but Wales should

wow thats a bold proposal. Incredibly valuable to people I know, BUT is there any way to ensure this money circulates within the Welsh economy rather than leaching out? With the wonders of IT and the need to reduce cash, it should be within our capability? Or this aspect could be phased in

The voting in at the last election of Tory MP's by the Welsh electorate was dismaying however I hope they all regret their decision all the Torys have ever done is (to quote Cordell) is "Rape the fair Country" they have always taken and given very little Cymru has more poverty than any other UK country look at the last budget £10/head to Scotland £1/head to Wales? This tells it all or are they bribing the Scots So the decision by the Torys not to support the people of Wales as equals does not come as a surprise I hope you who voted in a party that has always treated us as subservient reconsider when you cast your next vote at election time.

To exceptional problems, exceptional solutions. Make it linked to a «Buy Welsh» programme, show that you're capable to rule yourselves. Remember the potato bligh in lreland. You dont't count your money, when you count your deads. Save your lives, save your economy, and save your Liberty. Rhyddyd ! Cymru am byth !!

Ardderchog Helen Mary Jones! This is what is needed! No dramas, no ifs or buts, the way to get it sorted. Thanks. Diolch o galon.

Elsewhere headline reads : "Push to end low pay may have to be scrapped, UK government warned …….Low Pay Commission says cost of fighting coronavirus pandemic endangers flagship pledge to raise national living wage to £10.50 an hour" So here we go again. Bunter's brigade will be in no rush to raise the tax take from the rich and super rich so the cost of Covid-19 "handouts" will be recovered from those that can least afford it. Wales won't do much on any kind of UBI until it breaks free. Until then we have to team up with any one who can see sense and fight for an equitable tax structure with far fewer loopholes, allowances etc, indeed any and all euphemisms for tax evasion on an industrial scale. To date both the major UK Unionist parties have failed abysmally to address this lingering issue and the LibDems were Cameron's little helpers for 5 years so they stink too.

If only it were that simple. There IS a very strong case for a Universal Basic Income for two very basic reasons. First of course is disposable income - you don't have to know anything about economics to understand the economy ultimately relies on people spending. This is the fundamental weakness of the Welsh economy; low wages and thus low spending power. The second is its simplicity. Available to all without the need for endless form filling and, for those currently in receipt of Universal Credit and other social schemes, the ability to go to work without losing benefit or indeed, breaking the law. However, there are issues to be addressed. The first and obvious is exactly how much is paid to the individual, and then what logically follows is the question of who exactly qualifies. In the article by Tegid Roberts reference is made to payment for those working, but such a scheme would apply to everyone, working or not -and would it apply to pensioners? The recovery rate is the tricky issue; a marginal income tax rate of 40% is likely to apply, although obviously after a set threshold. The cost of such a scheme needs to be carefully examined. Helen Mary Jones' scheme (she does not say to whom it would apply) would cost £3bn per year; Tegid Roberts' fully £11bn per year. Before hands are raised in horror, the cost would be offset though its simplicity; the need for an army of civil servants pouring over claim forms would disappear, together with their colleagues in taxation - a simple ubi and a simple tax rate would be very efficient! Increases in spending would also assist in recovering the cost of the scheme. However, three things bother me. The first is the knee jerk reaction to the current problem, for it to work such a scheme needs to be carefully constructed and not be just a convenient political stunt. Secondly, and following on, I doubt if the Assembly has the power to establish such a scheme, and in any event could not - under the present devolution settlement - afford it. My main worry is the economy. A ubi injection, leading to extra spending would, in theory boost the economy (and tax take). However, there would be absolutely no point if recipients run off the Tesco and spend the extra money on goods and services produced outside Wales; which sadly is the case. Let me be clear. I am in favour of ubi, although what I am suggesting is the it needs to be thought through. Of course in an independent state we could get on with it......

In my party, Gwlad we have a done a lot of work on universal basic income and it is a very good idea, as Helen Mary points out. The April Fool's Joke is that however beneficial a universal citizens basic income is, the Welsh Government, unless it has been secretly hiding a great deal of money away for a rainy day, cannot deliver it. At the moment the UK government is in control of Wales and cannot offer one area of the UK a universal basic income without rolling it out to everyone across the UK. As most Government finance is supposedly going into supporting the UK businesses and economy, rolling out a basic income is probably low on the list,especially as merging all the benefits into one would likely cause public sector job losses as the individual benefits, pensions, credits and child allowances transform into one payment per adult or child. If you examine the issue, it is not as straightforward as one might think. For it to work in the long term for Wales, we would need National Independence and the consequential control of our laws, our money supply and , naturally,strict eligibility criteria. The crux is that to give a generous level of basic income to everyone in Wales, funded predominately by taxation of higher earners, we need a better economy. So even after Independence we will have to build a much more productive and wealthy country to pay for a much fairer society. I believe a universal citizen's income is a great idea for Wales .But I don't expect it to come immediately , but as soon as possible after independence. Read more at Gwlad.org in our manifesto and published papers Dr. Siân Caiach, Chair of Gwlad- The Welsh Independence Party NB Please note that we were recently able to successfully apply to the Electoral Commission to use the name "Gwlad" as the of he UKIP spin off "Our Nation" UK Party has been disbanded, This means that we can use the name "Gwlad " without danger of confusion with "Our Nation" The Electoral Commission have also accepted the Phrase "The Welsh Independence Party" as a description.

An increasing amount of posts are "of course, if we had indy............" If this Covid stuff carries on, we will have to have an AUOB permanent cocktail party of opinions, apart from the official OPINION pieces. Did David Jones call this Anathemata?

Would recommend listening to a recent programme on the experience of Alaska and its basic income scheme, its strengths and its weaknesses. Politicians always think we will switch off our critical faculties as soon as we hear them say the words 'bold and ambitious' however it is usually a warning that we should do the opposite and think through the medium and long term consequences before rushing to implement a short-term solution, however appealing it looks at first glance.

If Wales had the money and if WAG had the power and if the UK let us get away with it it would take a couple of years to set up a functional UBI but Wales has neither the money nor the power and Westminster is as likely to allow it as fly to the moon. It certainly wouldn't help in the current crisis no matter how brilliantly it was set up. As for a Wales only currency it cannot work, the border is too fluid and fickle. The Hay Co-op is in England and the Boat Inn Penallt has a car park across the river in England. A serious debate and examination of UBI is long overdue and it has to be more than a hasty filler in a time of crisis. What on earth we do with a quarter million or more redundant civil servants is not the least of the problems, just imagine trying to tell the overpaid parasites in Whitehall that they needed to go to work? The biggest obstacle to UBI will be the removal of opportunities to evade, avoid and generally steal taxes which will bring out two thirds of our Westminster MPs and the entire MSM on a war footing. A simplified tax system is the last thing the wealthy want.