Citizens Income Trust April Update
With local and regional elections taking place across the UK on May 6th campaigners are making a big push to get Basic Income on the political agenda.
Across Scotland, Wales and England, candidates are being urged to sign pledges to promote Basic Income trials in their area.
In Scotland, 87 candidates from seven different parties have signed the pledge calling for UBI trials in the country.
Perhaps as significantly, four out of the five party leaders at the BBC’s party leaders debate supported the idea of Basic Income trials in Scotland. The Tories Douglas Ross was the odd one out.
In Wales, meanwhile, 104 candidates have signed the pledge in support of Basic Income trials in the nation.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are making UBI a significant pillar of their election campaign as well, and you can be part of that (see below).
Mayoral candidates in England and other parts of the UK are also being asked to pledge their support for trials in their areas.
Perhaps the most high profile signatory so far has been the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
Like other social reform movements, the Basic Income one starts with building support at the grassroots.
At its simplest, that is about discussing Basic Income with your friends and family. That is why the folk at Basic Income Conversation have created the Basic Income Conversation Toolkit and are encouraging everyone to get talking about Basic Income.
As BIC director Michael Pugh says:
“A basic income would go to everyone, so everyone should have their say about what it looks like.
“We want to spark a wave of basic income conversations right across the country this Spring, embedding the idea into public consciousness”.
Read more about the toolkit and get talking about Basic Income.
Meanwhile, more evidence that UBI works. The city of Stockton, California, started giving people on low incomes $500 per month, no strings attached, in February 2019.
Last month the analysis of the first year of the trial was published.
The results won’t be surprising for those of us who believe in Basic Income, but it might be to those who think it discourages work or leads to people frittering their money on booze and cigarettes.
According to researchers, people receiving the Basic Income were more likely to be in full time work after a year than the control group.
Researchers were able to track spending because the money was delivered via debit cards.
Most of it was spent on food.
Less than 1% went on cigarettes and alcohol.
The driving force behind this trial was the young mayor of Stockton, Michael Tubbs.
You can hear from him on April 12, in conversation with Michael Pugh of Basic Income Conversation (see below for details).
The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), perhaps the largest umbrella organisation for UBI-related groups, is holding its Congress in August 2021 in Glasgow (though it will be mainly online).
They want people to submit “papers and pitches for talks, workshops and other activities” for the event.
The theme for the Congress is:
‘Idea to Reality. We want to consider how we take basic income from a big idea for big change to a reality’.
For more details of how you can submit, follow this link.
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Has the pandemic reinvigorated the case for universal basic income?
Thursday 8th April, 17:00 – 18:00 BST
The panel includes Tuomas Muraja, a Finnish freelance journalist and author who was one of the 2,000 people selected to take part in Finland’s two year universal basic income trial (2017-2018).
Michael Tubbs with Basic Income Conversation
Monday 12th April – 6-7pm
Hear directly from the mayor of Stockton, California on how he managed to get a successful Basic Income trial off the ground in his home town.
Scottish Election 2021 – Basic Income Hustings
Thu, 22 April, 19:00 – 21:00
Basic Income Network Scotland are hosting a hustings event on April 22 to give candidates a chance to present their party’s approach to a Universal Basic Income.
Thursday 29th April, 14.00-15.15
What is the food security case for basic income? How can we design a basic income that best tackles food insecurity? What other impacts – positive or negative – could introducing a basic income have on the food system?
What happens if we give everyone ‘free money’?
from the BBC
Download the Basic Income Conversation Toolkit
and have a conversation with friends, family or colleagues.
Changing hearts and minds is done one person at a time!