@basicincome_uk

Not-for-profit promoting unconditional basic income in the UK. Everyone deserves the means to live. RTs/likes ≠ endorsement. #basicincome #whatwouldyoudo

 UK
Joined February 2013
  • Tweets46K
  • Following4.5K
  • Followers12.2K
1.1KMedia
ICYMI: Last week's excellent "Basic Income: Backbone for The Arts" is available to watch again on our YouTube Channel - youtu.be/JJWlpJHkXVA #BasicIncome #BasicIncomeArts

Basic Income UK: Backbone for The Arts

The arts are an essential part of our lives, yet we don't support t...

youtube.com
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BIUK Trade Unions@BIUKTradeUnionsOct 23
“Others”, Matt? You mean low-paid workers, disabled people, carers, pensioners and children? Millions receiving benefits already work. Britain needs decent jobs, a Living Wage, strong unions and UBI, not another attempt to turn workers against people in poverty.
Matt Vickers MP
@Matt_VickersMPOct 22
🚨 Britain's benefits bill is ballooning out of control. Every meeting of Labour MP’s is about “…who can we tax more to give more benefits to others” Labour are sacrificing our national security in order to maintain this completely unsustainable welfare system. We need to get Britain working again.
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Basic Income Earth@BasicIncomeOrg7h
What changes when we stop judging people in poverty and trust them with cash? Alameda’s Rise Up pilot gave 150 low-income households $1,000 month for two years, unconditionally. They reported better mental health, greater savings and less reliance on debt. zurl.co/MVw2e
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John Boy 2 Living in AR SUX@johnRL736h
#UBI #UniversalBasicIncome #RaiseTheWage #TrueLiveableWage #Fight4AUnion #Unions #TaxTheRich #WealthTax #UBI4ALL #TaxAI #MakeAIBenefitAll #HealthcareForAll #UniversalHealthCare #HousingForAll #EndPoverty #FairEconomy
Basic Income UK@basicincome_uk18h
Introduce a Universal Basic Income. xitter.cf/basicincome_uk/status/…
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Basic Income UK@basicincome_ukOct 25
Exactly, Callum. You can't budget your way out of inadequate wages and unaffordable essentials. People have already cut back. UBI provides the income floor; UBS reduces living costs. Add a Living Wage and strong unions. Life should be more than survival.
Callum Lyon
@CallumLyonOct 25
People are cancelling subscriptions, buying cheaper food, avoiding nights out and putting off holidays because everything costs too much. They're switching supermarkets, comparing energy tariffs and cutting back on little things that used to make life enjoyable. And yet, millions of people are still struggling to make their wages last until payday. You can only cut back so much when rent, bills, transport and food take up most of your income. At some point, the problem isn't how people spend their money. It's how much of their money it costs just to live.
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Basic Income UK@basicincome_ukOct 25
Water is a public necessity, not a private cash machine. We stand with @We_OwnIt. UBS secures essential services; UBI provides income security. @andyburnham: block the @thameswater bailout. Put people before profit. Sign the petition! 234 characters.
We Own It@We_OwnItOct 25
Sign the petition: weownit.org.uk/StopTheBailou… 4 DAYS TO GO! We have until Thursday 29th Oct to get Andy Burnham to block the Thames Water bailout and bring it into public ownership
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Basic Income UK@basicincome_ukOct 25
Helen is right. You cannot promise to end homelessness and hunger while housing support falls further behind rents. Unfreeze LHA and restore its link to local rents. Then go further: UBI for income security, UBS for affordable essentials. Prevention, not crisis management.
Helen Barnard@Helen_BarnardOct 24
The government is committed to tackling homelessness and ending the need for emergency food. Neither is plausible while LHA stays frozen. The freeze is driving people out of their homes & to the doors of foodbanks. I know the Chancellor and PM understand. They need to act.
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‘UK bosses are now paid around 130 times the average worker’s salary’ At Disabled Members’ Conference, UNISON president @JamesAnthonyRN calls on the government to show up for public services with greater investment, fair pay and by bringing back services in-house. #WeShowUp
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Basic Income UK retweeted
Stephanie Kelton
@StephanieKeltonOct 25
A more honest and effective way to begin an answer to the “pay for” question.
Larry Sanders@Sanders4HealthOct 24
Money is created when government spends. Money is not the problem. The question is what we do with money and for whose benefit. Let's start with renewable energy, insulated homes, rent controls and council houses? Their economics has delivered poverty and billionaires. Enough!
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Introduce a Universal Basic Income. xitter.cf/basicincome_uk/status/…
Farrukh
@implausibleblogOct 23
The Trussell Trust’s latest report makes for grim reading: • 9 million people are projected to experience severe hardship in 2026/27 • 3 million of them are children • That’s around 1 in 7 people in the UK What should Labour do in the Budget to make sure people can afford the essentials?
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Exactly. Financial insecurity isn't just an economic problem; it's a mental health issue. Basic income trials found improvements in wellbeing and reduced stress. UBI provides income security; UBS tackles essential costs. Prevention matters as much as treatment.
Burlington Throat Factory 🍉🏳️‍🌈@jennmintOct 24
A lot of "mental health issues" disappear when bills are paid, rent is secure, and the fridge is full. Peace is expensive. And pretending money doesn't affect mental health is privilege.
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Saul Staniforth@SaulStaniforthOct 25
.@Neal_Compass: "I couldn't live on the meagre benefits people are getting. To suggest that we have to cut those.. actually that's where the engine of growth is, that's the people who spend.. how do you get people out spending.. not by cutting benefits of people at the bottom"
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Jeremy, 'never' is doing a lot of work. In recessions, spending protects jobs and incomes. Investment in health, housing and infrastructure can drive growth itself. The OBR recognises this. Economic policy needs evidence, not arbitrary spending ceilings.
Sir Jeremy Hunt MP
@Jeremy_HuntOct 24
Governments should never increase public spending by faster than the growth rate of the economy. Tune into today’s @DailyTPodcast where we discuss the upcoming budget with @CamillaTominey @timothy_stanley
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And here's the contradiction: if weak growth partly reflects decades of underinvestment in housing, healthcare, infrastructure and skills, why use weak growth to justify further restraint? You can't build a stronger economy by refusing to invest in its foundations.
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Exactly, Callum. You can't budget your way out of inadequate wages and unaffordable essentials. People have already cut back. UBI provides the income floor; UBS reduces living costs. Add a Living Wage and strong unions. Life should be more than survival.
Callum Lyon
@CallumLyonOct 25
People are cancelling subscriptions, buying cheaper food, avoiding nights out and putting off holidays because everything costs too much. They're switching supermarkets, comparing energy tariffs and cutting back on little things that used to make life enjoyable. And yet, millions of people are still struggling to make their wages last until payday. You can only cut back so much when rent, bills, transport and food take up most of your income. At some point, the problem isn't how people spend their money. It's how much of their money it costs just to live.
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Scott Santens
@scottsantensOct 24
PRESS RELEASE: From a Nobel Laureate to AI Founders, Global Support Grows for Sharing AI's Gains Through Universal Basic Income Via @ITSAfoundation, the pledge includes @AndrewYang, Nobel economist Vernon Smith, and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. prnewswire.com/news-releases…

From a Nobel Laureate to AI Founders, Global Support Grows for Sharing AI's Gains Through Universal...

/PRNewswire/ -- The AI Pledge for Humanity, a public commitment to turn AI's gains into a shared AI dividend, an unconditional income floor for everyone, has...

prnewswire.com
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Water is a public necessity, not a private cash machine. We stand with @We_OwnIt. UBS secures essential services; UBI provides income security. @andyburnham: block the @thameswater bailout. Put people before profit. Sign the petition! 234 characters.
We Own It@We_OwnItOct 25
Sign the petition: weownit.org.uk/StopTheBailou… 4 DAYS TO GO! We have until Thursday 29th Oct to get Andy Burnham to block the Thames Water bailout and bring it into public ownership
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Helen is right. You cannot promise to end homelessness and hunger while housing support falls further behind rents. Unfreeze LHA and restore its link to local rents. Then go further: UBI for income security, UBS for affordable essentials. Prevention, not crisis management.
Helen Barnard@Helen_BarnardOct 24
The government is committed to tackling homelessness and ending the need for emergency food. Neither is plausible while LHA stays frozen. The freeze is driving people out of their homes & to the doors of foodbanks. I know the Chancellor and PM understand. They need to act.
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Basic Income UK retweeted
Basic Income UK@basicincome_ukOct 23
Housing support that still leaves 58% of working-age private renters receiving it materially deprived is treating symptoms, not fixing the structure. UBI provides the income floor; UBS cuts essential costs. We need to redesign the system, not manage poverty.
Resolution Foundation
@resfoundationOct 23
Private renters on housing support already go without essentials. Last year, six-in-ten (58 per cent) working-age adults in private-renting families on housing support could not afford basic items 👉 buff.ly/tmfEAWh
Chart showing proportion of working-age adults in private-renting families on housing support who are materially deprived, and who cannot afford selected essentials: GB, 2024-25

ALT Chart showing proportion of working-age adults in private-renting families on housing support who are materially deprived, and who cannot afford selected essentials: GB, 2024-25

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BIUK Trade Unions@BIUKTradeUnionsOct 24
5/5 Want Britain working? Invest in decent jobs, training, a Living Wage and strong unions. Add UBI for income security, UBS for essential services and a Green New Deal for productive employment. The goal is less poverty, not simply fewer benefit claims.
BIUK Trade Unions@BIUKTradeUnionsOct 24
Joe, you call Labour the 'Welfare Party' while proposing prepaid cards, benefit cuts and more reassessments. Where are the jobs? The NHS treatment? The decent wages? You're confusing cutting the benefits bill with helping people. Poverty isn't an employment policy 🧵
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Basic Income UK@basicincome_ukOct 23
“Workers v shirkers” is lazy divide-and-rule. Millions of claimants are in work; others are disabled, carers, sick or between jobs. Cutting support makes people poorer and sicker, then leaves the NHS to pick up the pieces (higher taxes!). Raise pay and cut living costs instead.
Jen k 🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
@Jenny_1884Oct 22
It’s sickening isn’t it when 6 Million people on benefits will receive £150 energy bill discount this winter & yet workers who are struggling to pay their bills get NOTHING. A lot of people on benefits are better off than workers because they get so many more additional benefits that workers don’t get. It’s wrong that you can be better off on benefits than working. REWARD WORKERS NOT SHIRKERS
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