In the spirit of Thomas Attwood and after receiving the Attwood Award, Austin Mitchell MP was so re-inspired that he tabled Early Day Motion No. 1449 on April 29th. Since an EDM may only consist of one phrase, it is hard to read. For Austin put a lot into it: all the reasons why credit creation should be taxed – which is a new and interesting angle in this credit crisis which should really be called “cash crumble”:
That this House considers that
in the light of the nationalisation of one failing buiding society, the help given to markets by the Bank of England’s boost to interbank liquidity and the huge benefit given to the financial sector by the Bank’s proposal to take on up to £50 billion of unsaleable special purpose vehicles of bundled debt to help the banks, building societies and lending institutions escape the consequences of their own follies is disproportionate,
and should be now balanced by ensuring that the financial institutions which have benefited so substantially from the effective privatisation of the great bulk of credit creation by their power to create money via credit cards, bank accounts, mortgages, loans, special purpose vehicles and other financial instruments
thus ensuring that the seigniorage on money creation which once came to the people on public credit created by the minting and printing of money, now goes into bank profits are taxed on the credit they create
to compensate the taxpayer for the fact that the 97 per cent. of credit creation arrogated by the private sector to use and abuse for its own profit and purposes, rather than the benefit of the public, has been so badly misused and has led to yet another financial crisis of the type financial flesh is all too frequently heir to.
Anybody wanting to contact MPs to sign this proposal could use WriteToThem.
Posted in Banks, Early Day Motions, Governments, Parliamentarians
Tagged Austin Mitchell MP, cash crumble, credit crisis, early day motion
Well, thanks to her remarkable efforts in the background I was over the moon! Kelvin Hopkins MP read messages from MPs’ and other well-wishers. John Johansen-Berg gave a most comprehensive overview of Thomas Attwood as a ‘historic model’ for monetary reform as an issue. He was followed by Patrick Baird from the Public Service for Archive and Heritage at Birmingham Central Library.
Then I showed these slides to illustrate the history of Early Day Motions which Austin addressed in his acceptance speech. I have never heard Austin Mitchell MP talking about the subject as animated before. He called money the ‘unseen manager’ and will definitely put an EDM down relating to the ‘credit crisis’. He had seen the ‘10 ways out of the credit crisis‘ in The Independent.
Lord Sudeley with his family’s bankruptcy and the fraudulent execution of his grandmother’s will represented the most prestigious historic ‘bank victim’, echoed by Lord Ahmed more recently. Elfyn Llwyd MP expressed his admiration before Dr. Molly Scott Cato, Economics Spokesperson of the Green Party in the UK, encouraged us not to be disheartened.
Other MPs as well as Baroness Uddin were in the audience and after a break we heard input from the followings speakers:
Andrew Lydon, Localise West Midlands
Colin Hines, the Green New Deal
Mike Grimsdale, former Bank Manager of Lloyds
Mike Croft, Founder of the-coop.com and The Caleb Group.
Dr. Lilly Evans, co-organiser of Dr. Muhammad Yunus at St. James’s Piccadilly.
We ended up in the tea room as an animated group of 12 until it closed at 5.30pm. Saying good-bye took ages in the sun lighting up the gold touches of the Palace of Westminster.
Coincidentally, a debate of the Economic Research Council on the Welfare State was the evening event For the first time I was not alone but took with me William Shepherd who has published the History of Usury.
A discussion of the Welfare State where John Bird MBE, the founder of the Big Issue, impressed me tremendously. He embodies what Muhammad Yunus advocates: social business.
Posted in Celebrating
Tagged Attwood Award, Austin Mitchell MP, House of Commons, Thomas Attwood
Austin Mitchell MP
to receive the 2008 Attwood Award
To honour his continued commitment to monetary reform, Austin Mitchell MP will receive the 2008 Attwood Award on April 22nd 2008 in the House of Commons, Committee Room 10.
Since 2002, Austin Mitchell MP has tabled seven Early Day Motions and supported an eighth one tabled by David Chaytor MP. In total, they were signed by 70 MPs from 7 parties. Ann Cryer, David Drew and Alan Simpson have also signed all eight EDMs.
The current EDM 265 is entitled Green Credit for Green Growth and was tabled by Austin Mitchell MP on November 11th, 2007. It is accompanied by two related issues also tabled by Austin Mitchell MP: the increase in interest of Student Loans (EDM 263) and the Tax Avoidance practised by big accountancy houses (EDM 219).
Furthermore, Green Credit for Green Purposes is a 19-page report that Austin Mitchell MP submitted to the Treasury Select Committee in response to its inquiry into the economics of climate change and the Stern review. The report was published on February 5th, 2008 and contains the full submission.
The Attwood Award was established in 2002 and has honoured local, regional and national initiatives that contribute to the promotion of a new economics grounded in social and spiritual values.
Angela Shaw, a young descendant of Thomas Attwood, will present the 2008 Attwood Award to Austin Mitchell MP, celebrating his advocacy of public money for public needs. John Johansen-Berg, chairman of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and a founder member of the Bromsgrove Group, will give a short introduction to the history of the Award and Thomas Attwood, Birmingham’s first MP who advocated monetary reform.
The event will be chaired by Sabine McNeill, Organiser of the Forum for Stable Currencies, who received the Award in 2003.
Posted in Campaigning, News, Parliamentarians
Tagged Attwood Award, Austin Mitchell MP, Birmingham MP, Thomas Attwood
In the Spirit of the Forum for Stable Currencies