Please take action - support a motion to the Scottish Parliament

Submitted by Kathryn Busby on 25 November 2009

If you live in Scotland, please take action to support MSP Dr Bill Wilson's motion which calls for a limit to pay differentials in publicly funded bodies such as universities and local authorities.

Read the text of the motion to the Scottish Parliament.

Please write to your MSP now and ask her/him to support the motion.

Dr Wilson, an SNP MSP for the West of Scotland, wants the remuneration of the best-paid staff in such bodies not to exceed that of the worst-paid by a factor of (he suggests) ten. He made these calls in a motion lodged on 24th November, in which he cited research by Professors Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett and Richard Layard which has shown that an unequal society is unhealthy and unhappy and that even the wealthiest in very unequal societies suffer significant disbenefits.

Dr Wilson commented:  “The current economic crisis was precipitated by the reckless actions of highly paid individuals.  Yet, in spite of the palpable failure of these fat cats, business bombards us with propaganda, insisting that we cannot attract competent individuals without paying obscenely large salaries and bonuses.  They also warn us of the dangers of expecting them to pay what most people would regard a fair amount of tax.

“The public rarely gets to hear the other side of the story.  The trickle-down effect is a myth, and there is now a significant body of evidence, collected by the academics mentioned in my motion, which indicates that most social and environmental problems, such as violence, drug- and alcohol-abuse, obesity, mental illness, lack of community life, unhealthily long working hours and large prison populations, are worse in unequal societies, and that even the wealthiest in such societies suffer as a result.

“Public policies should be designed to benefit the long-term happiness and wellbeing of the many, not tailored according to the desires of the ill-informed super-wealthy, who fail to appreciate that their materialistic excesses are not even in their own long-term best interests.  It’s time to call the bluff of those who accumulate excessive wealth and distort society.  Greed is demonstrably not good.

Professors Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett commented:  “This is a very welcome motion.  If we are to make significant reductions in the health and social problems facing our societies, inequalities of income must be reduced.  This motion shows how the public sector can lead the way, setting an example for the private sector to follow.”