Years of higher interest rates have sent our rent, mortgage, and debt payments soaring, while banks have raked in huge profits for doing absolutely nothing.
The big four UK banks (Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and NatWest) made a record pre-tax profit of £45.9 billion in 2024 and £45.7bn in 2025. [1]
Introducing a 38% levy, in line with the Energy Profits Levy on oil and gas companies who also profited from the cost of living crisis, could bring in over £12 billion. [2]
Banks are (unsurprisingly) against this; the CEOs of Lloyds, Barclays, and HSBC have publicly begged Rachel Reeves not to - and been rewarded with huge bonuses for successfully lobbying against a windfall tax in last year's Autumn Budget. [3]
Introducing a windfall tax on banks would clearly signal the kind of change Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer promised to deliver and that millions of us desperately want to see, and help to prove that Labour aren’t in the pocket of big donors or beholden to corporate lobbyists from the City.
As the cost of living crisis rages on, a tax on banks is a much fairer place to start than raiding the accounts of ordinary savers and small businesses.
Add your name now to tell Rachel Reeves to #TaxTheBanks.
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