Funding the Future

Trump is demolishing the East Wing of the White House to build a privately funded $300 million ballroom. It’s being paid for by undisclosed corporate donors and is being built without proper regulatory approval. This isn’t restoration or renewal. It’s a hostile takeover of one of democracy’s most symbolic buildings, and when money rebuilds power, citizens lose it.

We’re told tax is a curse and even “theft.” That’s wrong. Tax is how we build a fair society. It plays an essential role in the funding of education, healthcare, and economic stability and justice. It’s how we express our shared responsibility. The real immorality lies in avoiding tax. In this video, I explain why tax is not a burden but the foundation of democracy itself.

Catherine Mann of the Bank of England says inflation will stay above 2%. But what if the problem isn’t inflation but is the target itself? The 2% rule was invented in the 1990s to please markets, not to help people. In this video, I explain why our obsession with hitting that number is crushing wages, stalling investment, and protecting the rich at the expense of everyone else. It's time for an inflation policy that serves people, jobs, and the planet, and not financial markets.

There’s a real debt crisis in Britain – but it’s not the one the politicians or journalists are talking about. While Rachel Reeves and the media obsess over government borrowing, 4 million people are already in negative budgets, meaning they're unable to afford the basics of life without debt. This video explains why the real debt crisis in the UK is about private debt, not public debt. It shows how austerity, low wages, speculative markets and broken benefits drive ordinary families into despair, all while the Treasury celebrates its so-called “fiscal discipline.” I argue that government debt is not a burden; it’s a tool, but private debt is a real trap. Meanwhile, the Treasury's obsession with balanced budgets is leading Britain towards social collapse and, dangerously, towards fascism. Watch, share, and tell me what you think in the poll below.

Rachel Reeves says she needs to raise taxes to “balance the books.” But that’s not how government finance works. In this video, I explain why that tax doesn’t fund spending, why raising taxes on most people now would kill demand, and why idle wealth, and not workers, should be taxed if anything has to be at this moment. The government’s job is to sustain spending power, not drain it.

Every pound of so-called “government debt” is a private financial asset. When the government spends, it creates money that becomes your wealth. Yet politicians pretend debt is a burden. In this video, I explain how our politicians' dangerous ignorance about the real nature of government debt drives austerity, destroys prosperity, and keeps Britain poor.

People keep asking why I still make these videos every day at the age of 67. The truth is simple: our economy is still deeply unfair. I’ve seen inequality, prejudice, and the injustice created by privilege all my life — and I can’t stay silent. This is why I keep going: because another world is possible.

Donald Trump has built his entire political project on hype and delusion — the same ingredients that fuel every economic bubble. But belief cannot defy reality forever. When cruelty replaces competence and lies replace truth, collapse follows. In this video, I explain why Trump’s political and economic bubble is unsustainable, how tariffs and speculation are destroying US livelihoods, and why the far-right worldwide will fall with him. Watch to the end — because when the bubble bursts, we’ll need to rebuild democracy, truth, and care.

Why are Britain’s politicians so hopeless? From Tory fantasists to Labour deniers, Westminster has driven out the talented, the imaginative and the honest. The Conservative Party destroyed itself with Brexit and a cult of property and privilege. Labour has buried its belief in care, collective purpose and truth under Treasury orthodoxy. Both parties repel intelligence in different ways, one by demanding belief in the impossible, the other by denying what’s obviously true. In this video, I explain how mediocrity became the political norm, why ideology now drives out ability, and how belief in truth and public purpose could still renew our democracy.

Britain’s housing market has become a Ponzi scheme — built not on value, but on debt, illusion and exclusion. Successive governments have turned homes into speculative assets, trapping generations in rent, despair and insecurity. In this video, I explain how tax breaks, financialisation and political cowardice created a housing system that rewards luck and age, not effort — and what must now be done to rebuild homes, communities and hope.

AI doesn’t think. Crypto isn’t money. Both claim to be revolutionary, but both are built on fantasy. In this video, I unpack the shared myth that code can replace care, that hype can replace real value, and that speculation can replace society. From the greed driving crypto to the fear driving AI, I argue that both reflect a deeper crisis in capitalism itself.

Neoliberalism promised prosperity but delivered austerity, insecurity, and despair. It hollowed out our public services, undermined democracy, and left wealth in the hands of the few. In this video, I ask "What comes next?" A new economics must put people before markets, care before profit, and truth before fear. This is about rebuilding democracy from the ground up — and it begins by admitting neoliberalism has failed.

Around the world, people are marching: against Trump’s authoritarianism in the USA, Macron’s failures in France, and the cruelty of Gaza policy in the UK. Everywhere, governments are asking how to stop protest? when they should be asking why people feel the need to protest?. In this video, I argue that protest is a democratic safety valve — a sign that governments are failing to meet basic human needs like food, housing, warmth, dignity, and justice. When people protest, it’s because they have been ignored. Governments that suppress protest aren’t defending democracy; they are betraying it. The real question is not how to silence dissent, but how to listen and act on what it tells us. Watch now to explore why protest is essential to democratic life — and what it tells us about political failure and the possibility of renewal.

The Financial Times asked whether the global economy can survive another shock. I think it’s the question of our time. Debt, war and climate change are pushing us to breaking point and yet our governments still pretend that markets will save us. In this video, I explain why that’s a dangerous illusion, how neoliberal policy has made us fragile, and why only courageous governments, ready to act in the public interest, can prevent systemic collapse.

Right-wing commentators claim inequality in Britain is falling. It isn’t. The Office for National Statistics says the Gini coefficient has improved — but the truth is that it ignores capital gains, wealth accumulation, debt, and inflation that hits the poor hardest. In this video, I expose the real story behind Britain’s growing inequality and why official data is misleading, as well as suggesting what we need to do to tackle this issue.

In 2011 I wrote The Courageous State — a call for governments that act with purpose and confidence, not cowardice. Fourteen years later, we still live with austerity, outsourcing and fear. I argue it’s time to reclaim the language of democracy — to speak of courage, care, and common purpose. The words we choose decide the world we live in. Watch now — and ask yourself: Do you want a courageous state?

What if the UK government admitted it already uses modern monetary theory? Would markets panic — or would we finally have the power to rebuild Britain? In this video, I explain: Why MMT isn’t a policy, but a fact. How the “market panic” MMT would supposedly create is a myth. How the UK could use MMT to invest, create jobs, and tackle inequality. The truth is simple: the UK already creates money this way. The question is — how do we make that work for us all?  

AI is reshaping work faster than universities, employers, or governments can adapt. In this intergenerational conversation, I talk with my son Tom about how artificial intelligence has destroyed the old promise: work hard, get good grades, and you’ll get a good job. From “ghost jobs” to algorithmic hiring and a two-tier workforce, this video explores what happens when AI changes everything — and how young people can still shape their future.

Tory Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride wants to take £47 billion out of the UK economy — mostly by cutting benefits for migrants and those with mental ill health. That isn’t prudence. It’s managed decline. In this video, I explain what really happens when you cut money from the poorest: demand collapses, jobs vanish, and resentment grows. The truth is simple: spending creates income, and austerity destroys it.  

Tory Mel Stride wants to slash the UK’s overseas aid to 0.1% of national income. That’s not just cruel, it’s racism and fascism dressed up as fiscal prudence. Cutting aid means condemning millions to poverty, fuelling migration, and destroying economic stability. This is the politics of contempt in action, when Britain should lead the world by helping it, not punishing it for existing.