After Jeremy Hunt announced his “E’s and Wizz” Budget and Keir Starmer brought out his “five missions”, here’s a message from the Project for Peace and Justice, brought to you by Jeremy Corbyn:

Last week, the Chancellor announced a budget that did nothing to alleviate the obscene levels of poverty and inequality in our society – instead protecting the riches of global corporations and the wealthiest in our society.

He should have used the opportunity to present policies to deal with the cost of living crisis with a budget that could have made a difference to the lives of all those that have suffered under 13 years of austerity, the Covid-19 pandemic and a decline in real wages.

That’s why we need an alternative budget that puts people first, based on the following five demands:

A REAL PAY RISE FOR ALL 

Everyone has a right to live and work with dignity. That means giving nurses, teachers and public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise, implementing a minimum wage of £15 per hour, banning zero-hours contracts and reversing cruel benefit sanctions.

DEMOCRATIC PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

As millions struggle to pay their energy bills, fossil fuel giants are taking home record profits.  Private profiteering is ripping people off and destroying our planet.  Alongside water, rail and mail, it’s time we put energy back where it belongs: in public hands.

Democratic public ownership will empower communities, bring prices down and kickstart a Green New Deal that invests in clean energy.

HOUSING FOR THE MANY

Housing is a human right, not a commodity – everyone deserves a decent, safe, warm and affordable place to live.

We need an immediate rent freeze and reduction, an end to no-fault evictions and an urgent mass council home building programme.

TAX THE RICH TO SAVE THE NHS

After years of austerity and privatisation, our NHS is on its knees. It’s time to end outsourcing, invest in a fully public system of universal healthcare and build a National Care Service.

The government says there’s no more money for our NHS – but they’re wrong. We can give our public services the money they need by introducing a wealth tax, raising income tax on the top five per cent of earners and making corporations pay their fair share.

WELCOME REFUGEES AND A WORLD FREE FROM WAR

Refugees are being scapegoated for an economic crisis they didn’t create. We must work towards a world of peace, free from nuclear weapons where conflicts are resolved through diplomacy and negotiation. We need a humane migration system based on dignity, compassion and care, which gives asylum seekers the right to work, healthcare and housing.

The refugees of today are our doctors, teachers and neighbours of tomorrow.

As we face the starkest cost-of-living crisis in a generation, we cannot afford to be timid. We need to offer a clearer alternative to the Tories’ failed economic experiment. As striking workers in Trafalgar Square demonstrated, there is an appetite for something different.

The manifesto [Labour] put forward in 2017 and 2019 gave hope to millions around the country – and now we must continue to build [a] radical alternative vision for our country. You can find out more about these demands in my article in the Morning Star.

We must unite, organise and build our vision for a fairer world.  I hope you will join me in demanding and campaigning for these policies, and sign up to support them here.

Fair enough?

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