John McDonnell declares war on wealth: Shadow chancellor slams ‘obscene’ billionaires as he spells out plan to seize shares from businesses
- John McDonnell has delivered speech vowing to crack down on ‘obscene’ wealth
- The shadow chancellor insisted that ‘no-one deserves’ to become a billionaire
- Labour wants medium-sized businesses to hand over 10% of shares to workers
John McDonnell stepped up his war on the wealthy and business today as Labour pushed their election campaign further to the Left.
The shadow chancellor said it was ‘obscene’ that people could become billionaires, saying ‘no-one deserves to have that kind of money’.
In an uncompromising speech in London, the veteran left-winger said bosses at firms with public sector contracts should not be paid more than around £350,000.
And he hailed Labour’s proposals to force medium-sized firms to give 10 per cent of their shares to the workers.
Labour is gearing up to unveil a much more dramatic manifesto than their offering two years ago.
Last week Jeremy Corbyn pledged to nationalise huge chunks of BT and offer free broadband to every household – despite warnings it would cost £100billion and require the state to take control of huge swathes of other businesses such as Virgin Media, TalkTalk and Sky.
In an uncompromising speech in London, John McDonnell said bosses at firms with public sector contracts should not be paid more than around £350,000
Mr McDonnell said today: ‘Disparities in pay between senior executives and other employees have become extreme to the point of obscene in recent years.
‘If someone gave you £1 every 10 seconds, it would take you more than 300 years to become a billionaire.
‘Someone on the national minimum wage would have to work 69,000 years to be paid £1 billion.
‘And a newly qualified nurse would have to wait 50,000 years.
No one needs or deserves to have that much money
It is obscene. It is also obscene – by the way – that these billionaires are buying access and tax breaks to Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.’
Mr McDonnell confirmed Labour will milk shares from firms with more than 250 staff. Companies will have to put 10 per cent of shares over time into a fund for workers. The government will also take a cut.
He said: ‘In line with our commitment to building a stakeholder economy we aim to broaden the ownership base of UK businesses to give workers more of a stake in their company.
‘There is evidence to show that this not only advances long-term decision making but also boosts productivity.
‘We have announced the introduction of Inclusive Ownership Funds in which larger companies will be required to transfer 1 per cent of their shares into an employee fund until the fund owns 10 per cent of the company.
‘Shares would be owned collectively by employees with dividend payments distributed up to a maximum of £500 per employee per year.’
In another draconian restriction, Labour will introduce a 20 to 1 pay ratio between the highest and lowest paid employees in the public sector as well as companies bidding for public sector contracts.
‘Mr McDonnell said: ‘We will bring in a 20:1 pay ratio between lowest and highest paid employees in the public sector.
‘We will also move towards a 20:1 pay ratio between lowest and highest paid employees in companies bidding for public sector contracts.
‘A 20:1 ratio means someone earning the living wage, just over £16,000 a year, would permit an executive to be earning nearly £350,000.’
The shadow chancellor said it was ‘obscene’ that people could become billionaires, saying ‘no-one deserves to have that kind of money’