Billionaires have broken Britain and wrecked the climate – we must make them pay to fix it, writes James O’Nions of Global Justice Now
The NHS is crumbling, schools are underfunded, energy bills keep rising – and billionaires keep getting richer. We’re in a crisis of inequality, but successive governments are choosing to balance the books on the backs of the poorest people. It doesn’t have to be this way. A wealth tax on the super-rich could be used to fund the services we all depend on.
At the same time, the system that funnels wealth to the already-rich is also pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Half the world’s emissions come from a handful of fossil fuel companies. These companies have known about the danger they’re putting us all in for decades. The people who have made trillions knowingly destroying nature, and putting our futures at risk, must foot the bill for cleaning up the mess they’ve created.
The economy should work for the people who keep the country running, not corporations and billionaires. Our government must prioritise creating decent, reliable jobs for everyone in every community, and supporting the renewable industries of the future, rather than preserving extreme wealth for a few at the top.
On Saturday 20 September, we’re bringing together organisations representing millions of people in London under the umbrella demand to Make Them Pay. Trade unions (including the FBU), environmental groups, inequality campaigners and social justice groups will be marching together to say that workers much come before billionaires in the transition to a clean energy future. Join us.
■ The Make Them Pay march is on Saturday 20 September. See makethempay.org.uk
