Tax Justice is the Alternative to Austerity

Conference reaffirms its agreed opposition to and commitment to fight; austerity, welfare cuts and all attacks on jobs and public services.

The Fresh Start Agreement, designed to attack the poorest and most vulnerable in our society whilst protecting the wealthiest, is one of the greatest cons in our history, sold to us by the DUP, Sinn Féin, the British and Irish Governments and the media on the basis that austerity and cuts are necessary.

The DUP and Sinn Féin made much of the questionable additional loaned money they secured from the British Government, yet neither party demanded billions of pounds for the NI share of the UK tax gap to ensure no cuts were made.

The UK tax gap is estimated in 2014 to be £119.4 billion by the calculations of Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK, which would more than pay for better welfare provision, public services and pay down the deficit. Yet the UK government has consistently refused to adequately legislate to stop tax evasion and avoidance or to resource the collection of the taxes owed. It is an ideological choice to make the poorest pay and the richest richer. A choice that is being forced upon the people of N Ireland by the NI Assembly, due to their failure to demand tax justice.

This conference calls on the NIC to;

• Campaign against the implementation of Welfare reform and Austerity which will be implemented through the Fresh Start Agreement.
• To co-ordinate industrial action against cuts
• Work with NERI and Tax Research UK to produce economic information on the impact of the tax gap on N Ireland society.
• Work with affiliates to deliver a campaign demanding Tax Justice including the production of materials for use by trade union activists and for the wider community and public.
• Lobby the NI Assembly and all political parties on the tax gap and the Tax Justice campaign.
• Organise protests, demonstrations at companies and businesses who have been exposed as tax dodgers, to raise public awareness of the Tax Justice Campaign.
• Campaign against the closure of HMRC offices across N Ireland and for a reversal of the cuts to staffing in HMRC to close the tax gap.
• Campaign against the privatisation of HMRC work.