25 signatures reached
To: George Osborne
UK Government should support the Financial Transaction Tax
Mr Osborne,
Please join with other European countries and support the creation of a Financial Transaction Tax. Such a Tax on financial speculation could raise millions of pounds to support domestic and overseas problems and issues such as the flooding, infrastructure projects, climate change, famine and drought.
Why is this important?
Banks and financial institutions can make millions from risky speculations. However, when these go wrong, as happened in 2008, billions of pounds of public money were used to bail out the banks and save them from the consequences of their risk taking.
Since the 2008 crash the total paid in bonuses will this year pass through the £80bn barrier – some three and a half times the amount banks have paid in Corporation tax and the bank levy – and equates to around £1,250 for every man, woman and child in the Britain.
This Tax is not intended to be punitive: nicknamed the "Robin Hood Tax" it is, like the folk hero, intended to redistribute wealth and help those in difficulty. If we, the public and the tax payers, must share the financial risks of banks' trading then it seems simply fair that, at other times, we should also receive some benefit. This money can be distributed and spent to the benefit of all - in the UK, abroad and for the environment.
