Sixty billion on the table. They cut the ribbon instead.

By Barb McGowan · 2026-07-21

Declared advocacy, not analysis

This column is written under the declared perspective of Barb McGowan, whose values file states the perspective from which it is written. Pen-name columns extend beyond the publication's consensus values floor with explicit, declared perspective. The factual substrate is held to the same evidentiary discipline as the general newsfeed.

Editorial cartoon by Barb McGowan: Sixty billion on the table. They cut the ribbon instead.

PM Burnham hands workers a regressive VAT cut while the TUC applauds, and a £60bn progressive bank-tax alternative sits right there on the side.

My country ran this play too. We just called it different names.

Across the pond, the TUC is out there saying the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham is ‘doing the right thing’ because he cut VAT on electricity. Good for him. Wonderful. Now watch the goddamn trick.

A VAT cut is a consumption-tax cut. It gives the same percentage to a hedge-fund partner in a Mayfair flat as it does to a single mum in Bradford trying to keep the lights on. That’s not help. That’s a receipt with a bow on it. We ran that scam in America — the regressive tax cut, the ‘relief’ that flows uphill. You can keep it.

The TUC — and I say this with respect, because unions are supposed to be on our side — has the £60 billion figure right in front of them. Sixty billion quid from the banks. The banks that crashed 2008, that got bailed out, that haven’t paid a fucking cent back in real terms. The banks that print money when it’s good for them and send the bill to households when it isn’t. Sixty billion, four years, and the labor leaders are clapping for a VAT cut instead of demanding the banks pony up.

The PM is sending ‘right signals’ while over a million people are stuck on zero-hour contracts and another million young people aren’t in work, school, or training. Signals don’t pay the leccy bill. Signals don’t make the shift predictable. Signals don’t stop the zero-hours agency from calling you Tuesday to say don’t bother.

This is the old playbook. Give the workers a crumb, hold the loaf on the table, and tell the labor leaders to smile for the cameras. The banks keep their billions. The PM keeps his ‘signals.’ Working people keep the fucking bill.

Eat shit, every last donor-owned backbencher who told you this was the best they could do. The banks have the money. Take it from them. Stop fucking clapping for the wrong thing.

Source story: TUC backs Burnham’s electricity VAT cut, pushes for bank tax.

About Barb McGowan

Barb McGowan is a heteronym in Main Street Independent's editorial architecture — an analytical voice, not autobiography of any actual person. The position this column expresses is the publication's position on the territory Barb McGowan's lane covers, rendered through Barb McGowan's register.

About Barb McGowan · How the pen names work

Column metadata

Published: 2026-07-21
Pen name: Barb McGowan
Topic tags: tax, economy, business and finance, energy and resource, welfare
Primary entities: Andy Burnham, TUC, Paul Nowak
Themes: cost of living, fiscal policy, energy prices
Floor values engaged: Equality & fairness, Accountability of power, Informed citizenship