Labour’s Ian Murray: We need universal basic income to beat coronavirus
The government must introduce a universal basic income to protect the UK’s most vulnerable workers amid a coronavirus-fuelled economic downturn, Labour deputy leadership contender Ian Murray warned this week.
He also called on Boris Johnson to step up measures to protect businesses in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic – or risk “local community businesses going to the wall”.
In a frank and wide-ranging interview with CityAM, the Edinburgh South MP – who ran several firms before entering parliament – welcomed chancellor Rishi Sunak’s pledge to underwrite £330bn worth of business loans.
£330bn loans ‘not enough’ for firms
But he said more should be done to guarantee the future of businesses beyond the crisis.
The former shadow Scottish secretary said: “Passing on debt to companies isn’t going to save jobs and livelihoods in the longer-term.
“It is vital that any loans are repayable long-term with a zero per cent interest rate.”
Universal basic income can save gig economy workers
The introduction of an emergency universal basic income may also become necessary, Murray added.
“So many workers – gig economy workers, freelancers, short-term contract workers – have, at the drop of a hat, been left with absolutely no income,” he said.
“This section of the workforce will have no income whatsoever, with no end in sight – yet they are the bedrock of so many industries,” he added.
The 43-year-old, who has been on the right of Labour’s parliamentary party since becoming an MP in 2010, spoke following the party’s suspension of all campaigning due to the pandemic last week.
A staunch critic of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Murray said Labour must support businesses owners and workers in equal measure at this time of national crisis.
“Being pro-business and pro-social justice is one and the same thing,” Murray argued.
“We seem to have created this narrative in the Labour movement that you can’t be a promoter of social justice if you run your own business.
“But being pro-business sets the environment for people to get good jobs, to get good pay, to get progression in the workplace – this notion that Labour hates business has to stop.”
He said that Labour should redouble its efforts to collaborate with business on issues such as climate change and the housing shortage.
Labour must engage with business
“We should be talking to business about what the future of work looks like,” Murray added.
“We need to be talking about how we embrace artificial intelligence, robotics, automation, so that not only does our economy benefit from that, but so workers benefit from that also.”
Murray’s vision for where Labour should be is refreshingly pragmatic, though perhaps out of step with the party’s membership – he is trailing fourth in the polls behind frontrunners Angela Rayner and Richard Burgon.
General election woes
After handing an 80-seat majority to the Conservatives at last December’s general election, Murray believes Labour’s main objective must now be to build a broader, election-winning coalition of support that includes City workers.
To what extent, then, does ideology drive Murray’s politics?
“I’m like a stick of rock with Labour values,” he said. “I believe in equality, social justice, the redistribution of wealth, cooperation – everything the Labour movement has always stood for.
“But I’m also pragmatic. If, as some people say, the 2019 manifesto was the third most lauded text behind the Bible and the 2017 manifesto, the question you have to ask yourself is: why did people vote Tory at the last election?”
Throughout a lengthy deputy leadership campaign, which has consisted of 13 hustings, Murray has stressed the need for Labour to distance itself from its current leader.
He has called for Labour to be tougher on cases of antisemitism, to be an unequivocally pro-Europe party, and to move Labour’s focus from re-nationalisation of utilities to other forms of public ownership, such as co-operatives and social enterprises.
Time to bring an end to Corbynism?
So should Corbynism be put away with?
“Look, the public had their say at the last election: it was a resounding defeat, one of the worst in our history.
“To put it into context, a two per cent swing to the Conservatives at the next election will give them a majority of 240.
“So in terms of leadership, in terms of our policy platform, in terms of credibility, the public turned round and responded with an emphatic ‘no’.”
When CityAM put to him that some commentators on the left have suggested keeping Jeremy Corbyn as party leader for the duration of the coronavirus crisis, Murray was adamant that this would be a wrong course of action.
Murray said: “We can’t afford more continuity – that’s why I entered this race. So let’s stop trashing our record in government, let’s set out an honest policy platform rooted in Labour values that the public are happy with, and let’s start being a credible government of the future.”
The results of the Labour leadership elections are set to be announced in London on 4 April.