We’re very squeamish about tax in this country& we avoid talking about it, but I think it’s important we do & that it becomes part of the daily dialogue. That won’t happen by treating it as an academic lecture, but by breaking it down, in terms that people can understand. (1/7)

Redistribution through taxation is not socialism as such, nor the only way of changing things, but if you can get beyond the myth-making & narrative pushed by the media, it’s actually a great way to get people thinking about class interests & the way our society works. (2/7)

Why has indirect taxation grown steadily & almost unnoticed over the decades? VAT is one of the most regressive taxes, because it hits the poorest worst. At the beginning of Thatcher’s reign it was 8%. Now the standard rate is 20%. In whose interest does that work? (3/7)

Another issue. Why can’t we have a fully graduated income tax? One that is worked out by percentages rather than bands? With the technology at our disposal, surely that’s possible in 2020? (4/7)

It’s amazing what the DWP can do to ‘personalise’ social security payments, yet somehow that’s impossible with tax, so we are stuck with these huge bands that can be used as political levers whenever the Government fancies it. Again, whose interest does that serve? (5/7)

More fundamentally, tax poses serious questions about our society & our world, if framed other than a bogeyman. What are we actually here for? To accumulate money for personal aggrandisement or to redistribute in order to create a better, more just & equal society? (6/7)

If we strip away the years of propaganda waged by the tabloid press, in the very service of those who’ve benefited from this unequal accumulation, I think most people would say the latter. Honestly, despite all the frustration of the last 5 years and beyond, I do. (7/7)