The Sherwood Echo: 16th July
July 16th, 2010 by Robin Hood
Posted in: Latest, The Sherwood Echo, Top stories
The Robin Hood Tax continues to gather momentum in UK politics as pressure for a fair, ambitious bank tax grows.
City Minister: Now is the time for banks collectively to restore their reputation
On Monday, Mark Hoban, City Minister gave his strongest hint yet that banks could be hit with a financial activities tax on profits and pay of the kind recently suggested by the IMF. Although no final decisions have been agreed the encouraging news is that there is a Treasury team working on the details of how a FAT tax could work. This comes the week after the IMF urged Osborne to triple his bank levy and replace it with a FAT tax.
Hoban also urged banks to demonstrate the “pay restraint” being demanded of workers in both the public and private sector. In a marked shift in language Hoban described the banks as ‘fair weather friends’ who ‘must play their role and make amends with the public.’ However, the government did not say they would commit to such a tax without international agreement. At the rate it is being the FAT tax is still a long way from what we know the banks can afford to pay, and there has been no discussion to linking the revenue to helping those hit hardest by the crisis. A welcome shift towards a Robin Hood Tax but we still have a long way to go to make it something Robin would be proud.
Support for a Robin Hood Tax in Parliament
Plaid Cymru MPs laid amendments to the Finance Bill which would introduce a Robin Hood Tax on bankers as an alternative to the regressive hike in VAT which will hit the poorest hardest. Plaid Cymru treasury spokesperson, a Robin Hood Champion, Jonathan Edwards MP, said:
The Finance Bill was debated on the floor of the House of Commons early in the week. Although both amendments were defeated the amendments marked the start of a cross party parliamentary support in working towards a Robin Hood Tax.
Robin at T in The Park
Last weekend a group of merry men from SCIAF (Scotland’s Aid Agency) were out and about spreading the word at T in The Park. The team did a great job face painting festival goers and getting thousands of people signing up to support the campaign.
