Universal basic income in the United Kingdom
[2] Support for universal basic income was widespread amongst opposition politicians in 2020, including those in: Labour (though rejected by the Starmer leadership),[3] the SNP, Liberal Democrats, and Plaid Cymru,[4] many of whom were among the 170 MPs and Lords who signed a proposal calling on the government to introduce a universal basic income during the coronavirus pandemic.
[1][5] A public petition on the UK government website that ran for six months from 16 March 2020 to 16 September 2020 calling for universal basic income during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom raised over 114,000 signatures.
[6] Thomas Paine, an English-American philosopher and revolutionary, proposed a system whereby all citizens, when reaching adulthood, should be given an equal amount of money from the state.
In 1972 the Cabinet of Edward Heath put forward a proposal for a tax-credit scheme which resembled a citizen's income in some ways but did not cover the whole of the population.
[18] In January 2016, the sole MP of the Green Party of England and Wales, Caroline Lucas, tabled a motion in the British Parliament, calling on the Government to commission research into the effects of a universal basic income and examine its feasibility to replace the UK's existing social security system.
[23] In March 2020, a combined total of over 170 opposition politicians from MPs and Lords, called for the UK government to implement a universal basic income during the coronavirus pandemic in the United Kingdom.
[36] It advocated replacing a swathe of UK means-tested benefits with a single universal payment as a response to the changing landscape of work and an ageing population.
Sums at this level, paid without condition, would significantly improve the living standards and life chances of millions of people and ... are affordable."
In May 2019, a report by Professor Guy Standing, commissioned by the Progressive Economic Forum and forwarded to John McDonnell (the acting Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer) suggested different models for piloting basic income.
A Report for the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer) cites a "perfect storm" of factors that lead to the need for a basic income: Broad ethical justifications for basic income, which Standing cites as "social justice, security, freedom and solidarity" are now working in combination with urgent socio-economic demands.
"[41] In July 2022, data was published from polling by YouGov that suggested that a plurality of British people support a universal basic income.
[43] In November 2023, The Trussell Trust calculated that a single adult in the UK in 2023 needs at least £29,500 a year to have an acceptable standard of living, up from £25,000 in 2022.
In 2018, the Scottish Government agreed to provide £250,000 to undertake initial research on the feasibility of a basic income pilot, making use of experience and expertise from four areas of the country: Glasgow, Edinburgh and the regions of Fife and North Ayrshire.
However, the report also noted that there were "substantive and complex legislative and delivery barriers to piloting a CBI", given that Scottish Parliamentary powers were limited in their ability to make the needed changes to the social security system (which were determined at the UK Parliament in Westminster).
[48] The current constitutional and legal set up "would place significant restrictions on the pilot model design and potentially compromise learnings.
[53] In October 2020, Wales' Future Generations Commissioner Sophie Howe recommended that a universal basic income and a shorter working week should be piloted by the next Welsh Government.
[54] A 2023 report produced by the think tank Autonomy proposed a trial of basic income of £1,600 a month in Jarrow, in north-east England, and East Finchley, in north London.
[56][57] The Welsh government established a basic income project in 2022, focussed on those leaving care, a group that was identified as one that could benefit from extra financial help.
"From 1 July 2022, more than 500 people leaving care in Wales will be offered £1600 each month (before tax) for two years to support them as they make the transition to adult life."
The former Conservative MP Nick Boles said in 2017 that talk of a universal basic income as a response to the rise of robots is "dangerous nonsense".
"[62][63] Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford, has written against UBI claiming it "will lead to higher inequality and poverty" and "undermine social cohesion.
[74] It features welfare advisors, philosophers, economists and many basic income advocates including Guy Standing, George Monbiot, David Graeber and A. C. Grayling.
Founded in Sheffield in 2016, the UBI Lab Network is made up of "a growing number of grassroots groups set up to examine the idea’s potential impact within a certain area and explore the launching of pilot schemes.
