The following piece is submitted by K Carter of the Workers Party TU Group as a contribution towards the development of our policy in this area.
For far too long now the ability of capital to move freely out of Britain and across the globe is a major contributor to the industrial malaise affecting the United Kingdom.
British workers and their families have for far too long now been at the mercy of rapacious capitalist companies who without sanction are able to cast workers onto the scrap heap as they move their capital abroad in search of cheaper wages and other workers to exploit.
There is chronic under-investment in the economy of the United Kingdom as many companies do not have a long term industrial strategy as they are run by hedge fund/investment companies who seek to accumulate as much profit as they can in as short a time as possible.
Steps must be taken for both the workers and the wider economy in order to make capital flight of profitable companies more difficult.
Therefore any profitable company that seeks to move its capital from the United Kingdom will have to face the following penalties –
Extension of statutory notice period for any redundancies so that workers and supply chains will have greater time periods wherein they can plan for a loss of employment. This will be a minimum period of twelve months.
An increased redundancy package that will see all workers paid a flat rate package of 9 months wages regardless of time served plus a higher rate of 2.5 weeks pay per year of service.
The company wishing to export capital will also be subjected to UK tax on profits that are then generated by the export of the business to a third country.
We believe that many profitable UK companies would be hesitant to close up shop and leave the United Kingdom if there were financial penalties that would be levied upon them. This would also drive up investment within the wider British economy as these companies would be forced into investing within the UK in order that they stay efficient and competitive upon the world stage.