Some call it the Robin Hood Tax, others call it the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) or Tobin Tax, I call it a really good idea. This tiny tax could take $400,000,000,000 out of the pockets of the bankers who got rich by crashing the economy and use that money to stop service cuts and help the people who are suffering the most from poverty and the effects of climate change, and who did the least to cause it.
This amazing 0.05% tax first proposed by James Tobin is gathering support right across the globe. It is an idea whose time has come.
Over the course of the past 18 months, the FTT has shifted from a radical idea to a realistic proposition considered by the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission and Parliament, the G20 and several national governments.
Ahead of the European Council on 23-24 June, this is our chance to demonstrate the strength, breadth and diversity of support for the international Financial Transaction Tax. Our government need to know that we are watching them, and that we expect them to deliver. It’s a big day for a tiny tax which has a huge potential to improve people’s lives all over the world and here in the UK.
As a parliamentary candidate, in the months before the 2010 general election, I pledged my support for a FTT and politicians are increasingly sitting up and taking notice. The European Parliament has repeatedly called for the implementation of an FTT, be it at global or EU-only level. At national level, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently chairs the G20, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have long been considered leading supporters.
You can pledge your support here.
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