The UK general election is scheduled for Thursday, 4 July 2024. You may want to support our campaign for UBI with a short pre-election letter/email to MP Candidates and a long follow-up letter/email after the election to your elected MP.
You will find below a draft pre-election letter which you may want to modify according to your personal style and preferences:
To: [ Candidate]
From: [Your Name]
I hope this finds you well and that the campaign isn’t too gruelling. I am a part of the UBI Lab Network, a grassroots group setup to explore the potential of Universal Basic Income (UBI).
We believe that a Universal Basic Income can help create a caring society that is able to support families and individuals and provide a vital ‘safety floor’ during crises such as, Covid-19, the cost-of-living crisis and weather extremes due to climate change.
After decades of underinvestment, cities in the north are falling even further behind the south. 30% of all children, that is 4.3 million, are in poverty in 2022/23. This has risen from 3.6m in 2010/11. We should be ashamed. UBI is one of the few policies that stands a chance of eradicating absolute poverty outright, as well as meeting the implications for our workforce of powerful and emerging exponential technologies like Artificial Intelligence.
We believe that we must urgently strengthen our welfare system, so it can keep us safe during a crisis and properly support individuals and families through good times and bad. The creation of a Universal Basic Income – a regular and unconditional cash payment to every person in the UK – could be a big part of the solution.
I understand that you are currently very busy campaigning. Therefore, we will contact you after the General Election to ask for a meeting to discuss supporting local Basic Income pilots that demonstrate the impact of this transformative policy. In case you have any comments or questions, we are more than happy for you to reply to this message.
Best wishes,
[NAME], on behalf of the UBI Lab Network and UBI Lab Leeds.
[POSTCODE]
You can find the MP candidates of your constituency and their email addresses at the following website: https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/parl.2024-07-04/uk-parliamentary-general-election/
You can click on the name of your constituency or scroll down to the bottom of the page, insert your post code, click on your address and you will be presented with the names and contact details of all the candidates in your constituency.
You can find below the draft post-election letter/email for your elected MP which you may want to modify according to your personal style and preferences:
To: [MP]
From: [Your Name]
From the pandemic to the cost-of-living crisis, it’s clear that our welfare system is not fit for purpose. Millions of people have fallen through the gaps in the government’s support packages.
2023 saw £18.7 billion of unclaimed means–tested benefits in 2023, and this has risen by £4 billion in 2024. The complexities of the benefits system along with the stigma in our society of being on benefits, has meant many families do not get the support they need. We need a welfare state that supports and protects families and individuals, instead of attempting to catch them out.
After decades of underinvestment, cities in the north are falling even further behind the south. London boroughs are seeing already-high rates of poverty skyrocket. 30% of all children, that is 4.3 million, are in poverty in 2022/23. This has risen from 3.6m in 2010/11. We should be ashamed.
We urgently need to strengthen our welfare system. The creation of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) – a regular and unconditional cash payment to every person in the UK – could be a big part of the solution.
It isn’t the only solution – we still need high quality public services and extra support for those with additional needs. But it is clear from pilots around the world that giving people money directly is the most effective and efficient way for them to meet their essential needs.
A Basic Income would provide financial security for all, giving everyone the resources they need to fulfill their potential. It would transform our social security system with a scheme fit for the 21st century – one that would allow everyone to develop and contribute their talents. This is not dissimilar to what the NHS did for our country in the 20th century.
A UBI would allow individuals and families to make changes in their lives, such as retraining to a different career path due to Artificial Intelligence and effectively respond to future pandemics and price fluctuations as a result of wars and environmental disasters.
A Basic Income would build resilience into our society and our communities. It would provide the investment we need to rebuild our towns and cities. It will bring communities together because having more money means having more time to do other things, such as volunteering instead of working paycheck by paycheck. It would increase innovation and creativity, allowing people across the UK to follow their passions and create innovative solutions to the complex problems we face.
Many people ask how we would pay for a UBI. The first part of the answer is that we urgently need wealth redistribution. The top 1% own 23% of everything in the UK, and the top 10% own 57%. We have the ninth most unequal economy in the OECD. This presents a great opportunity to tackle inequality – a disease that corrodes communities, lives and public services.
A UBI would come from money already in the economy, and in the long term, it would cut costs in other areas due to the policy’s effectiveness and efficiency. The financial cost of homelessness is £1 billion a year or £30,000 per person. UBI pilots, such as in Denver, have been shown to radically cut rates of rough sleeping. The same can be said for the NHS, which would benefit enormously from a UBI as there is a direct link between inequality and worse physical, mental and social health.
Towns, cities and regions around the world, from Wales to California, are trying out UBI. Many have found that a guaranteed income allows their citizens to live happier, healthier and more secure lives. 18 councils across the UK, plus the Welsh Senedd, have now passed motions calling for a pilot in their areas.
The current welfare system is failing communities in every part of the UK. It’s time to try something new. I am calling on you to meet representatives from the UK movement for a Basic Income to discuss ways how UBI can be piloted in the UK and ultimately introduced as a better social security system.
Best wishes,
[NAME], on behalf of the UBI Lab Network.
[POSTCODE]
You can download both letters here.