Occupying Common Ground

http://opinion.publicfinance.co.uk/2011/11/occupying-common-ground/

The protesters camping outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London are voicing the views of many people – and pointing the way towards real local democracy

What has the Occupy movement outside St Paul’s Cathedral and other places got to do with the work of the local authority treasurer?

The answer might seem to be ‘not much’ – but that would be a serious error of judgement. Those protesters have the world of the local authority well within their sights. If serious proposals come from these camps and these influence public debate, this is an area where real demands for change may be made.

On my last visit to Tent City University (where I had the honour of speaking), a very serious debate on the issue of land value taxation was in progress. It has been a recurrent theme of discussion there.

That tax is, of course, a direct alternative to council tax, which is, as many of those involved in the discussion were all too aware, profoundly regressive. The charge it makes on those with low incomes tends to be much higher proportionately than that made on higher income owners in larger properties.

That puts this tax firmly in the whole 99%/1% inequality arena that is at the core of the concerns of the Occupy movement. Our suspicion is that this will have lasting repercussions.

But that is not the end of the interest  the Occupy movement has for those working in local authorities. The process of democracy itself is under scrutiny in these camps, which are themselves explorations in consensus decision-making.

 Richard Murphy