CWU urges Labour to 'go easy on BT'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.British Telecom should escape the full force of Labour's proposed windfall tax on the privatised utilities, the Communication Workers' Union urged yesterday in a policy document demanding an end to many of the regulatory restrictions of the phone company's business.
The union, which has around 75,000 members in the telecommunications industry, admitted Labour may have to include the group in the tax net for legal reasons but insisted it had shed most of its utility trappings and should be treated more leniently.
Tony Young, the CWU's joint general secretary, said BT was already tightly regulated and had contributed pounds 8bn to Treasury coffers in corporation tax. He said: "The pragmatic realisation is that there is going to be a windfall tax. BT has been well regulated and consumers have benefited. Those factors ought to have been taken into account by Labour."
The document outlining the union's strategy for the industry urges the next government to remove the ban on BT and Mercury broadcasting entertainment services down their phone wires. It also argues for an end to the ban on BT offering radio technology for fixed phone lines, a system used by the fast-growing phone company Ionica.
Another proposal is to allow BT to buy the 40 per cent of the Cellnet mobile network off its partner, Securicor.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments