The loss of the Labour Party in the 2015 General Elections led to the end of Milibandism and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn, the backbencher MP for Islington North. The new leader of Labour Party is now exhorting fellow Englishmen to support “sunshine of socialism” to break through against the “narrow, nasty” politics of the Conservatives. Extremely conscious of rising inequality, child poverty and widening health inequalities, he plans to set up a National Investment bank to invest in infrastructure, such as housing, transport, rural broadband and green energy; and bankroll that investment with “people’s QE”, money created for a social purpose rather than for banks. Corbyn argues that, if it was acceptable to use QE to support the banking system and encourage lending, it should also be acceptable to use it to fund investment. He envisions a modern, more productive and fairer economy. Agreeing with anti austerity economists, like Stiglitz, he is of the opinion that reducing government investment, for the sake of prudence, is dangerous because it prevents growth, innovation and productivity increases. This in turn lowers the tax receipts resulting in higher debt. In fact noted economist Keynes first proposed “monetising public debt” to pay for public works in order to stimulate recovery from depression. The Treasury would sell new bonds direct to the Bank of England, which would issue credits on which the agencies in charge of public works would draw to pay for the labour, equipment and materials they required.

Corbyn camp has vociferously attacked the privatisation spree as “a confidence trick”. They dismiss it stating that the British people have been clearly robbed while those snatching up the public assets have been printing money. Privatisation of water, energy and rail and even the PFI schemes have been one long confidence trick. A Corbyn led Labour Government would reserve the right to renationalise Royal Bank of Scotland and other public assets, with either no compensation or with any undervaluation deducted from any compensation for renationalisation if they are now sold at a knockdown price. Chancellor, George Osborne, plans to sell off £31bn of public assets in 2015-16. This is now opposed by Corbyn arguing that Conservatives’s “free market dogma” will be challenged and a future Labour Government under his leadership would re-empower the state.

Thomas Piketty, “the modern Marx” and author of the international best seller ‘Capital in the Twenty-First Century’, has researched that capital becomes destructive when it chronically exceeds income. A steeply progressive tax, raising top rate of income tax, a land value tax, inheritance tax are few measures that could absorb the superfluous wealth and redirect it to more productive purposes. Under Corbyn’s plans, Labour 2020 will make large reductions in the £93 billion of corporate tax relief and subsidies. He plans to tackle tax avoidance and evasion by stronger anti-avoidance rules brought into UK tax law, aim of country-by-country reporting for multinational corporations, reform of small business taxation to tackle avoidance and evasion, enforcement of proper regulations to ensure that companies pay what they owe and reversal of the cuts to staff in HMRC and at Companies House, taking on more staff at both, to ensure that HMRC can collect the taxes. He laments that UK has shifted from taxing income and wealth to taxing consumption; and from taxing corporations to taxing individuals.

Corbyn will face his first electoral challenge in Scotland in May 2016 Holyrood elections. It will be a tough contest against the incumbent Scottish National party. He has recently signed an agreement with Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale pledging a more autonomous structure. Corbyn, derided by many, will be before the public with his ‘too good to be true’ plans.