ePetition - A Basic Income trial for Brighton and Hove

There have been a number of local groups in the UK that have formed over the past few years all with the aim of promoting the idea of basic income such as the UBI Labs in the North of England (Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Kirklees etc.). We, Basic Income South East, have recently formed to continue the movement but with a focus on the South East of England, starting with Brighton and Hove.

Proponents of Basic Income argue it is the fairest way of sharing wealth and could guarantee minimum standards of living. They also argue it would dramatically reduce, if not eliminate poverty in the UK, improve the wellbeing of everyone and help the local economy. Every individual would receive regular payments from the government with no strings attached, taking away the conditionality that the current welfare system has. By covering everyone's basic needs, a basic income would enable them to have more stability and security in their lives and thrive rather than just survive. Recently we have seen evidence of the lack of security that many have through the coronavirus outbreak and with an increasingly unstable economic future, we feel it is better to support people with an upfront payment rather than dealing with any problems after they occur.

There have been several trials of basic income that have occurred including recently in Finland but also in Canada during the 1970s and other countries across the world such as Kenya and India. The UK government, however, has yet to support such a scheme in the UK, although the Scottish government have taken it upon themselves to investigate the practicalities of a pilot scheme and have been working on a feasibility study over the last few years. They will publish their results later this year, with the potential of a pilot happening north of the border. In last year’s general election, the Green Party included basic income as a core part of their manifesto and were joined by the Labour Party who supported the idea of several trials across the UK. In addition, several local authorities have backed the idea of trials in their area including Sheffield (June 2019), Liverpool (2018) and Hull (Jan 2020).

This ePetition ran from 26/03/2020 to 21/10/2020 and has now finished.

2308 people signed this ePetition.