Pirates push plans for ‘basic income’

MPs from Iceland’s Pirate Party (‘Píratar’) are proposing a universal ‘basic income’ to be paid by the State to all citizens of Iceland, irrespective of employment or other revenue.

In a parliamentary bill moved by three Pirate MPs, including party leader Birgitta Jónsdóttir, the Icelandic government is urged to set the ball rolling on bringing in an “unconditional basic payment, aimed at bolstering people’s economic and social rights and eradicating poverty”.

The aim of the new system would be to “wipe out certain in-built inequalities in society”. The text of the bill points out that Iceland is bound by a United National treaty to ensure the economic, social and cultural rights of its citizens.

The Pirate Party tried submitting the plans in the last parliament but failed to get the proposals though. The Finnish government announced earlier this year that they were contemplating a similar system.

The full text of the bill (in Icelandic) can be found here.