With the resignation of Keir Starmer as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, made official this Monday (22), rumors intensified about the favoritism of Andy Burnham, former mayor of Manchester and recently elected member of the British Parliament, to replace him in the position.
Interestingly, this same Monday, a document called “The Productive State” was published in the country’s press media, which defends the implementation of a project to broadly reinforce the State’s capacity to directly manage public services, taking back control of such sectors from the hands of dozens of private companies that provide these services inefficiently.
The document uses the term “Manchesterism”, mentioning similar initiatives carried out by Burnham himself during his term as mayor of Manchester.
In one of its excerpts, the essay argues that UK citizens are paying different “privatization surcharges” on a monthly basis, a term used to refer to “extra amounts embedded in everyday bills (water, electricity, gas and others) that function as hidden and regressive taxes, which also serve to transfer wealth from taxpayers to shareholders”.
“The government is then forced to subsidize the inflated costs with social welfare transfers, such as housing assistance or support with energy bills. For millions of families, these basic expenses consume such a large portion of their income – and much more if we consider those who also pay rent and bear high amounts of their medical care expenses – that economic insecurity has become a permanent condition”, argues the essay.
The text also states that “Britain’s essential sectors cost more than comparable alternatives, not because they produce more or better (than the public sector), but because they are organized to extract more profit, and workers pay the price”.
Team Members
Furthermore, the article reveals the names of the economists and other professionals who work on preparing the project, and who are identified as likely members of a future government team, to replace Starmer’s team.
The main member of the team is Mathew Lawrence, founder of the Common Wealth think tank and described by the British newspaper The Guardian as the author of the document’s main articles.
Another prominent name within Burnham’s team is Miatta Fahnbulleh, who was Minister of Housing in Starmer’s government until last May, when she officially broke with the group led by the now former prime minister.
In a statement published on social media, the Labor Party parliamentarian – and born in Liberia, but naturalized English – classified the deprivatization project presented by the team of which she is part as “an important contribution to the debate on how to solve certain problems, implementing the changes that people so desire and starting to rebuild our fragile economy”.
According to what was promised in the document published this Monday by Burnham’s team, the objective of the proposal is to “reverse 40 years of privatization by issuing ‘bonds for shares’ and creating state-owned competitors”.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
