DOMINIC RAAB MP: 10 POLICIES TO UNLEASH THE GREAT BRITISH UNDERDOG
The Conservative vision of fairness should focus on backing the underdog – people who work hard to compete on merit, overcome vested interests and succeed against the odds, writes Dominic Raab MP in Unleashing the British Underdog: 10 bets on the little guy.
He puts forward 10 policies which will widen opportunity and improve social mobility:
- Extend Open Access, the scheme that sponsors talented children from all backgrounds to go to independent schools.
- Fast-track Troops to Teachers, to encourage more schools staffed by veterans to be set up in areas of deprivation.
- Give VAT tax breaks to charities such as Fight for Peace which help turn round the lives of disaffected youngsters.
- Re-instate Young Apprenticeships, so that non-academic children have a better range of vocational options.
- Expand opportunities for “legal executives”, to encourage wider non-graduate entry into the profession.
- Give start-ups and micro-businesses tax breaks, such as exemptions on employers’ NI contributions and cuts in business rates.
- Extend the 0% band on stamp duty to £250,000, to help first time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder.
- Release ‘dead equity’ for tenants in social housing, to incentivise home ownership and finance new social housing.
- Teach refugees English on arrival, so they can find work and integrate into the community.
- Introduce a simple tax allowance for employers of disabled people to cover the cost of workplace adaptations.
Raab estimates that the cost of the above measures would be about £1.6 billion – a cost which would be covered six times over by a range of regulatory and bureaucratic reforms that he lists which would save at least £10 billion.
Media Impact:
- The Times: Getting the underdog up and running – Dominic Raab MP
- Conservative Home: Dom Raab MP advocates ten policies to help the little guy
- The Yorkshire Post: Ten-point plan announced to promote ‘work hard ethics’; Lewis Brown also wrote a piece for the opinion section
- Public Finance: MP calls for tax breaks and help for the ‘underdog’
- Accountancy Live: MP calls for tax breaks to improve social mobility
