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Sentamu hits out at greed culture of fat cats
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu
THE Archbishop of York has urged the Government to introduce a radical overhaul of the tax system and called for greed to be made as socially unacceptable as racism and homophobia.
Dr John Sentamu claimed many of the wealthiest in society are avoiding paying their dues in a stinging attack on the growing divide between Britain’s rich and poor.
Highlighting the growing gulf between the poorest sections of society and the nation’s uber-wealthy, Dr Sentamu also said those who have accumulated the biggest fortunes should not be included on the Queen’s Honours List.
The Archbishop admitted there needs to be a cultural shift in the nation’s ideology as wealth has “for so long been seen as a mark of status”.
But he maintained the Queen’s honours should not be given to “those who have already rewarded themselves most handsomely”.
“To have to choose between two coveted sources of honour and prestige would be salutary,” he said. “On the same basis, it might be worth extending this to the Queen’s Awards to Industry so that companies with the largest pay differences between senior and junior staff would know that they were less likely to win these awards.”
Writing in today’s Yorkshire Post, Dr Sentamu has launched a broadside against the figures at the helm of Britain’s leading companies, and claimed their massive salaries could not be justified – especially to their own staff.
The revelation that CEOs of the FTSE 100 companies received average pay increases of almost 50 per cent last year was a clear indication of the huge discrepancies within Britain’s society, he said.
“Typically these CEOs receive 300 times as much as the least well paid British employees in their companies,” he added.
“If they have a responsibility to their staff, it is hard to imagine a more powerful way of telling some people that they are of little value than to pay them one-third of one per cent of your own salary. Top pay has been found to bear little or no relation to company performance, but even if it did, isn’t the performance of a company dependent on the work and well-being of all its staff?”
Dr Sentamu warned the widening gap between the richest and poorest sections of society would have dire social consequences with increasing child poverty, social mobility slowing down and growing divisions based on class and status.
But perhaps the most radical aspect of his assessment of Britain’s precarious financial state is his clarion call for a shift in the national psyche about the super- wealthy. Instead of so much emphasis being placed on accruing vast fortunes, Dr Sentamu claimed greed should be made as socially unacceptable as racism, homophobia and the discrimination of women.
He said: “Changes in public attitudes can take place quite quickly. Over the last few decades racism has lost its respectability and is seen as unacceptable.
“The same applies to homophobia and discrimination against women. My belief and trust is that a society which has shown itself capable of making such rapid changes to attitudes in these areas will also prove capable of recognising that our society will work best when we recognise that as human beings we are all, fundamentally of equal worth and members of one society.”
Dr Sentamu also sets out a vision for a more transparent tax system to provide a clearer insight into how much the super-wealthy are paying to help finance the running of the country. He maintained tax avoidance by both rich individuals and multi-national companies must be addressed.
The Archbishop suggested tax forms should have a box to tick to state the amount that is being paid can be made public. “Not to tick the box would suggest that you felt you had something to hide.
“Given the Government’s attempts to reduce the public spending deficit, each thousand pounds of tax avoided presumably means an additional thousand pounds of cuts to public services on which the least well off are particularly dependent.”
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Comments
There are 6 comments to this article
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jhvorlicky
Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 10:20 PMWealth alone is not the problem - whereas the manner of achieving it MAY be. Sentamu! Stick to your Holy Scriptures! And another thing, Mr Sentamu: members of your global organisation have been paying themselves fat bonuses from the pockets of those who can least afford it for hundreds of years, all in the name of Jesus Christ.
Cosmo
Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 05:50 PMFrom where did he make this pronouncment ? was it the newly re-furbished Bishopthorpe PALACE, and how many millions did this cost ? and where does the C of E invest it's BILLIONS yes BILLIONS to ensure best returns. Let he without sin etc etc.
Visionary
Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 01:01 PMThe only way that we are going to get the inequality in the UK put back into balance is by moving away from a society that is run by the "fortunate few", primarily to enhance their own wealth and prosperity, into a society of opportunity for all who wish to grasp it. However distasteful it is for the Government and Banks, who are enjoying the fruits of this system engineered by them, for their benefit, we need industry, we cannot survive as Napoleon forcast as a Nation of shop keepers, selling Chinese products to consumers who become unemployed, buying their own demise on the High St. We need to create demand for authentic domestic products, insist on them on the High St, do without if necessary, demand creates production, production creates industry. Industry makes things , employs people who need jobs, to buy houses, make homes, that create societies, reduce crime, generate wealth and prosperity for all not just the "fortunate few" and Chinese industry. These fortunate few are not going to bite the hand that feeds them, so expect no positive action from Banks and the Government. John Santamu, fine man he is, can pontificate about social injustice, inequality, unemployment and obscene greed, but until the victims of this insane system say enough is enough, and do something about it, use the power they have to choose and choose British products to energise British industry we will end up where our spending power equals benefits entitlement !
forwhatitsworth
Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 12:14 PMI believe that the Archbishop's heart is in the right place on this one but he could take a more tangible approach when he next attends the Upper Chamber at the Palace of Westminster. Why not make a speech from the floor, tabling a debate over this matter and see what support he gains from his fellow LordshipsLadies, a fair section of whom are representative of the very people he see's as been wrongly elevated to the ranks of ermine because of their status within the financial system of this country?! Whilst he is at it, why not publish on his web-page, the time these people spend in the debating chamber, as balanced against what they are claiming from the public purse, in expenses and fees? Though not in the same league as some of the high-flyers in the banking ssystem, there may well be a degree of greed here that could also be highlighted and that appears to stretch right across the political spectrum from national representatives to local ones! He does have a point about bankers and financial sector "fat-cats" being recognised by the sovereign in the honours system and this might be something he could direct at current and former PMs, who have regularly mis-used them for political expediency. Dr. Sentamu made a very principled and well publicised stand against the tyrant Robert Mugabe, and has vowed not to wear his clerical dog collar again in public, until the Zimbabwe president is removed from power (could be waiting a long time). Maybe, he should now stop wearing his mitre until greed is purged from our financial system and political classes?! (Could be waiting much longer still!!)
Ragnar
Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 05:08 PMremind me again just where Sentamu lives...............................oh yes, Bishopthorpe Palace, and how much does he earn? He once asked the people of York not to resist the building of homeless hostels in their area but as someone said, "just how big is Bishopthorpe Palace, can't he put them up there?
Brer Fox
Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 01:59 PMIt might be nice if the church followed its doctrine with action and divested itself of the obscene wealth it has itself .
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