How far will this week’s budget go in ‘levelling up’ the UK in line with the government’s stated aims? Whilst much of the public debate has centred on what changes to taxing and spending the new Chancellor Rishi Sunak could make, there has been less analysis about how proposed measures could reduce economic inequality, which is surely a key hallmark …
How can the UK government justify arms sales that fuel the war in Yemen?
Laura Gyte describes why Oxfam intervened in a court case brought against the UK government over arms sales. UPDATE: on 20 June the Court of Appeal ruled that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia are unlawful. In April, the Court of Appeal heard a claim brought by Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) on whether the UK government’s decision to …
Debt: a noose around Somalia’s future
Full debt cancellation is the only way forward for Somalia, write Dustin Barter, Oxfam’s Senior Campaigns and Policy Manager in Somalia, and Mohamed A. Ahmed, Independent Debt Specialist. As the African Union Summit kicks off in Addis Adaba this week, Somalia remains swamped in debt, struggling to kick-start a more positive trajectory. Debt relief, a once hot topic (thanks Bono!), …
Taxing wealth is key to fighting inequality
Conventional wisdom about taxing wealth is shifting, writes Didier Jacobs, Oxfam America’s Senior Policy Advisor. Long dismissed as unfeasible, and frowned upon as politically incorrect, radical ideas are now gaining ground. The new star on the left of the US Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, suggests increasing the top income tax rate to 70%. That sounds more radical than Bernie Sanders’ …
Feminist solutions to man-made economic inequality
Francesca Rhodes, Gender Policy Advisor, Man-Kwun Chan, Influencing Advisor, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Care, and Anam Parvez Butt, Gender Justice Research Lead at Oxfam GB outline some of the key ways public spending and taxation could reduce gender inequality. In the words of feminist activist, Paula Varela: ‘Women… have the majority of the precarious jobs, and we perform the overwhelming …
Davos is here again
Duncan Green summarises Oxfam’s new report.
European governments’ treatment of refugees is doing long term damage to international law
OPINION: The EU’s stance towards migration sets a dangerous precedent argues Maya Mailer, Head of Humanitarian Policy & Campaigns. Today, as Oxfam launches a new campaign calling on world leaders to stand as one with refugees, the right to seek protection in another country is under threat. I visited some of Europe’s refugee camps recently. Oxfam was founded in 1942 …