Robin Hood tax campaigners take aim at banks
Article published: Friday, June 22nd 2012
Mancunians are being asked to take aim at the banks this weekend. ‘Robin Hood tax’ campaigners are holding a workshop to train supporters in a move to pick the pockets of the financial sector through a tax which they claim could raise billions for cash-strapped public services.
This Saturday, ‘Robin Hood Tax’ supporters will host a training session at Manchester’s Central Methodist Hall in how to get involved with their push to put a 0.05 per cent tax on the financial sector’s transactions.
Small change for some, but the people behind the campaign, backed by charities, trade unions and other groups around the world, say the tax could raise up to £20 billion in the UK alone to pay for badly needed public services shredded by the Coalition government’s austerity drive.
Organisers say the workshop will skill up people who want to get involved in the technical sides of the tax, how much it could raise to pay for under-attack services in their local area, and how to get involved in building support for the idea.
“We’ll cover the tricky technical aspects of the tax, campaign progress to date, and how you can get involved with your MP, your local media, your colleagues or friends – whichever way you think you can help build support. And of course meet other committed merry (wo)men”, say the organisers.
Critics say such a financial transaction tax (FTT) would lead to widespread evasion, with companies moving their business to other countries or hiding their funds in “tax havens” such as Jersey or the Cayman Islands. Such tax evasion costs £69.9 billion each year according to Tax Justice Network figures – over half the annual cost of the NHS.
In response, the campaign’s website states that “FTTs can be designed so that they are very difficult to avoid. The best example of this is the UK, where we have a stamp duty of 0.5 per cent on all share transactions.
“The UK’s major competitors do not have this and there certainly is no global agreement, yet it is a successful FTT that raises around £3 billion pounds each year. It is designed so it can’t be avoided and London remains one of the biggest stock markets in the world.
“There are many reasons banks would not leave the UK, not least that they need a big enough government that they know will bail them out if things go wrong.”
Since the onset of the financial crisis in 2007 the government has spent £123.93 billion in support of UK banks in cash terms, of which the bailed-out businesses have only paid back £9.1 billion according to National Audit Office figures.
Financial sector companies are also “by far the heaviest users of tax havens” according to a study by Action Aid, with the biggest four British high street banks alone holding 1,649 tax haven subsidiaries.
“The support we’ve received to date has been phenomenal”, states the campaign. “But we know this is going to be a long fight so we need people to get and stay involved with us. We hope this session is the start of an on-going relationship, between us and you, and you and others.”
Richard Goulding
Interested? The workshop takes place from 1pm – 4pm Saturday 23 June at Manchester city centre’s Central Methodist Hall on Oldham Street. It’s free, but places are limited – click here to reserve your spot
Comments
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So how did the ‘workshop’ go?
I expect ti was attended by a very few people, most of them being state employees eager to ensure that everyone else keeps paying their wages and contributing towards their absurdly generous pensions.
Comment by pete on June 25, 2012 at 12:00 am
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