UK charities call for 'Robin Hood tax' on banks 1

Fundraising | Vibeka Mair | 10 Feb 2010

A coalition of some of the UK’s best-known charities have launched a campaign calling for a global tax on all transactions between financial institutions to raise money to fight poverty, protect public services and tackle climate change.

Oxfam, Barnardo’s, the Salvation Army, ActionAid and Save the Children are among 50 other organisations calling for a ‘Robin Hood tax’ which would levy all financial dealings between banks.

An Oxfam spokeswoman said: “While different rates of tax would apply to different types of transactions, they would start at just five pence for every thousand pounds traded – an average of 0.05 per cent.

“The market for financial transactions has exploded in the last decade, and now is worth 60 times global GDP. Before the financial crisis banking was the most profitable industry in the world. At the same time the financial sector is not taxed as much as other sectors.

“This campaign is calling for countries which levy the tax to keep half the proceeds domestically and for the rest to be split 50-50 between poverty reduction and tackling climate change. The UK’s share of the tax would amount to tens of billions of pounds.”

The UK campaign is part of an international movement with similar calls being made in the USA, Europe and across the developing world.

World leaders, including UK prime minister Gordon Brown, German chancellor Angela Merkel and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy have all spoken out in recent months in support of some form of transaction tax.

Financial figures who have backed a transaction tax include Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority and RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton.

The campaign, which is launched this week with a promotional film (see below) starring Bill Nighy and written and directed by Richard Curtis, has a website (http://www.robinhoodtax.org.uk/) and is on twitter @robinhood.

Directory: ActionAid | Barnardo's | Oxfam | Salvation Army | Save the Children

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David
Director
Rail
10 Feb 2010

Forget about fighting poverty and protecting public services and concentrate on the third thing that we are told it is for. 'Tackling' the now discredited man-made climate change.

Here's how it goes - we permit this tax in good faith only to find that climate change is deemed the most urgent and worthy of these causes. To 'save the planet' the majority of the money is used to create commodity trading exchanges to buy and sell carbon credits and their exotic derivatives (just like we did with properties in the last bubble).

That's why you haven't heard any banks fighting this (why would they - they must be wringing their hands in anticipation).

You see, with unemployment on the rise and industry in decline, it is becoming harder for them to sell the idea of setting up these trading systems and houses.

By using this transaction 'tax', they can fund the setting up of their new market and YOU will foot the bill through the inevitable increase in bank charges to cover the cost.

Lovely Jubbly!

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