Profits should benefit all

One argument of those in favour of the congestion charge was that it is the only way to pay for decent public transport. The recent announcement of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s £8.1 billion profits points to an alternative source of funds - taxing wealthy companies.

This sort of solution is often derided by the political establishment, but only because they all accept the dogma of free-market economics. This year has seen a number of big companies declare their largest profits ever, at a time when the stock market has been in the doldrums and workers have seen attacks on their pensions, low pay rises and record levels of debt (one source of the bankers’ wealth).

The main parties compete with each other to keep company taxation as low as possible. Why? Only the Scottish Socialist Party wants to tax wealthy companies to provide the funds for essential public services.

The figures of big company profits show how easy it would be to put a fraction of that cash to work for the common good instead of private greed.

JOE HARTNEY

Wester Broom Gardens

Edinburgh