Newbury Town Council supports study into Universal Basic Income

Support for ‘game changer‘ scheme for people struggling below poverty line

NEWBURY Town Council has approved a motion supporting a study into Universal Basic Income (UBI).

In a full council meeting on Monday, February 1, councillor Steve Masters (Green, Speenhamland) put forward a motion requesting that the town council “supports, in principle, a UBI and calls on our MP Laura Farris and the Government to provide funds to establish a study scheme in Newbury”.

The motion will not see any council funds spent – instead it expresses the council’s support for the initiative, encourages members and local stakeholders to explore how a UBI trial could be established in Newbury and calls on the Government for funding for trials to test how the initiative could support people across the country.

UBI would provide a regular, unconditional minimum income for all citizens, replacing the current means-tested benefits system.

Presenting the motion, Mr Masters said the scheme would be a “game changer” for people struggling below the poverty line.

He said: “Our strong local economy here in Newbury has been seriously impacted by the pandemic, and the worst of the challenges may still be ahead of us.

“What’s brought this drastically into focus is that we need to be able to meet future shocks and protect our residents from the worst effects, and we have to be prepared.

“We already have universal services to help people – we have a basic income for child support, a state pension for those in retirement, a universal education system and national curriculum in school, and of course a universal healthcare system in our NHS, all provided by the state and free for all at point of access regardless of state and wealth.

“Like the NHS, UBI is the game changer of our time.

“Just as the NHS transformed the health of this country, UBI has the power to transform our relationship with work and indeed the lack of work.”

The motion was approved almost unanimously, with the only Conservative councillor Jeff Beck (Clay Hill) abstaining.

Supporting the motion, Tony Vickers (Lib Dem, Wash Common) said: “It’s very important, even though we’re a relatively prosperous part of the country, that if there is to be a national trial then it’s trialled in areas like Newbury because it’s got to have on side even the most prosperous areas.

“I like to think that no town can think it’s free and prosperous unless the whole country is free and prosperous.

“We enjoy our freedoms together and not separately.

“Yes we’re lucky, but there are a small minority of really unlucky and desperate families among us, and perhaps some of them never expected to be in that state and it is outside their control, and that’s the importance of bringing in UBI.”

Erik Pattenden (Lib Dem, East Fields) said: “What’s very clear is that the system we have needs to change.

“Inequality and the poverty gap has increased significantly over the last few years.

“A study into a trial into UBI seems a small but significant step to investigate how to resolve these problems in future.”

David Marsh (Green, Wash Common) added: “It’s becoming increasingly clear that UBI is an idea whose time has come.

“Those who refuse to engage with it are the same kind of people who a century ago were opposing sick pay, holiday pay, unemployment pay and benefits.”