Bringing Basic Income into focus in Wales
Original image by Nick Fewings
Looking back over the past 6 months it’s difficult to know where to start. So, I’ll start from the very beginning.
The first Welsh Lab was UBI Lab Cardiff. Liam Richards and I set it up on the 1st of May 2020 after a conversation we had about becoming more than just armchair admirers of what was pretty much a crackpot idea just a few years ago. I remember telling Liam about the policy after reading Malcolm Malcolm Torry’s Money For Everyone some 7 years ago. We were flatmates at the time and both of us were workplace representatives for the GMB. It didn’t take long to convince him it was a great idea; and on that occasion it had nothing to do with my powers of persuasion (wink) and everything to do with it being an incredible policy.
I initially toyed with the idea of running a small scale GoFundMe pilot that could run parallel to a pro-bono legal advice service I helped set up with my firm Watkins and Gunn Solicitors, called Cardiff Lawyers Care. The service offers advice to people who are homeless or are facing the prospect of homelessness. The idea manifested itself after I read Rutger Bregman’s Utopia For Realists, where he talks about a pilot in London that gave direct cash payments to homeless people. The results were positive because those who received the cash payments found work and permanent accommodation.
I had conversations with a few local councillors who were positive about the idea, particularly as some of them had been watching the incredible rise of Andrew Yang in America and how his message surrounding automation and the simplicity of a UBI had really cut through – especially with the younger generations. But then COVID struck and lockdown happened.
Original image by Steffan Mitchell
Lockdown has given us all time to reflect. It was that time for reflection that made me think how incredible it would be to have a UBI trial in the capital city, especially given that if a UBI is going to work in Wales, it’s going to have to work in Cardiff.
Lockdown also made me think about something Liam and I always said when we worked in a call centre many moons ago. We compared them to modern day coal mines.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of young people travel from the valleys (where we’re both from) to work in these modern mines. No doubt many of them would prefer to be doing something else but are unable to because society doesn’t offer a safety net for them to go and find out what they really want to do – a UBI would, of course, provide that safety net and freedom of choice.
I noted that UBI Lab Network had been successful in asking councils to back the idea of a pilot in their area. I’d followed the Network for a while and so I decided these were guys that could help make that pilot a reality. It’s safe to say reaching out the Network was a game changer. There is no question that without the support and guidance of the Network we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are right now.
Since we founded the Cardiff Lab it’s been a roller coaster ride. From our letter to the First Minister of Wales where we first used the slogan “Our Generation’s NHS” to it being used as a headline in national newspapers and quoted by politicians is just mind blowing. The slogan has cut through because a UBI shares so many similarities to the NHS – it’s universal, unconditional and it’s there from cradle to grave regardless of your wealth, income or employment status.
The NHS was born in Wales after the last national crisis the UK faced. We must all remember in these difficult times that there will be better days and that in the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity. A UBI is that opportunity. It’s an opportunity for us to build a better, fairer and more equal future.
A UBI can be our generation’s NHS.
More about the author
Jonathan Williams - @JRWill26
Cardiff, Wales
Jonathan is a trainee solicitor at Watkins and Gunn Solicitors. He was recently awarded Cardiff and District Law Society’s Junior Lawyer of the Year Award, in part for his charitable work with veterans and his efforts in helping to set up Cardiff Lawyers Care.