Where I agree with Jeremy Corbyn

Most of Jeremy Corbyn's policy would be a disaster for Britain, says Merryn Somerset Webb. But there is one area where we agree.

This was a week to cause sleepless nights. The refugee crisis got worse. Infighting and border closures across Europe made it look as if the short-lived age of free movement within the European Union has come to an end. We all thought far too much about possible movements in US interest rates. And Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader of the Labour party. It's all been rather exhausting.

Sadly, we suspect it's going to get more so. The migration crisis is nearer its beginning than its end. That's because, regardless of the media obsession with Syria, it isn't really about Syria. And it isn't about war either. Instead, says James Fergusson, it is all about water scarcity. That means it isn't just displaced people from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen who want to come to our wet north. It's all of sub-Saharan Africa too. And there isn't anything we can do about that. This crisis will run and run, getting more politically fraught along the way. And it might well break the EU.

The eurozone's long-term survival lies in it having the political will to turn a monetary union into a fiscal union. But if it can't even keep its internal borders open for a month in a crisis, what chance does it have of completely merging the finances of its member states? Almost none. And if it can't do that, what chance does it have of making it through the next financial crisis? We'd say none at all.

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On the plus side, this may not be an issue for the UK. It's highly unlikely we'll ever again see a good case made for us to join the eurozone, and Corbyn's election might have taken us a step closer to leaving the EU (he sees it, as he sees everything else, as some kind of banker-led capitalist conspiracy and his supporters may vote his way).

John Stepek looks at this and the other financial/economic consequences of Corbyn in this week's issue. They mostly fall into the 'awake at night' category. But, as is our way, we've also tried to look on the bright side this week to think about things we might agree with Corbyn on, and come to appreciate his lobbying on. One is tax relief. The idea that the various tax reliefs on offer to corporates in the UK add up to the £90bn-odd Corbyn's advisers claim is nonsense. But there are still far too many ways to opt out of paying tax here (tax relief on interest being the worst) and we don't mind some light being shone on that.

Then there are wealth taxes. We are interested in land value taxation, and we gather Corbyn is too. We also think wealth is undertaxed, as does he. The problem, of course, is that he wants new taxes on top of old (we would prefer to slash income taxes in favour of wealth/land taxes).

But still, if he starts some of these conversations it may be no bad thing. I suspect we won't agree with much else (most of Corbyn's ideas add up to economic and social suicide). But I'd be interested to hear from you. I suspect not many of you voted for him as leader. But has he any policy ideas you approve of? Let us know in the comments below.

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Merryn Somerset Webb

Merryn Somerset Webb started her career in Tokyo at public broadcaster NHK before becoming a Japanese equity broker at what was then Warburgs. She went on to work at SBC and UBS without moving from her desk in Kamiyacho (it was the age of mergers).

After five years in Japan she returned to work in the UK at Paribas. This soon became BNP Paribas. Again, no desk move was required. On leaving the City, Merryn helped The Week magazine with its City pages before becoming the launch editor of MoneyWeek in 2000 and taking on columns first in the Sunday Times and then in 2009 in the Financial Times

Twenty years on, MoneyWeek is the best-selling financial magazine in the UK. Merryn was its Editor in Chief until 2022. She is now a senior columnist at Bloomberg and host of the Merryn Talks Money podcast -  but still writes for Moneyweek monthly. 

Merryn is also is a non executive director of two investment trusts – BlackRock Throgmorton, and the Murray Income Investment Trust.