The Robin Hood tax

They say...'In a nutshell, the big idea behind the Robin Hood Tax is to generate billions of pounds – hopefully even hundreds of billions of pounds. That money will fight poverty in the UK and overseas. It will tackle climate change. And it will come from fairer taxation of the financial sector.


A tiny tax on the financial sector can generate £20 billion annually in the UK alone. That's enough to protect schools and hospitals. Enough to stop massive cuts across the public sector. Enough to build new lives around the world – and to deal with the new climate challenges our world is facing.


As a result of the financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has calculated UK government debt will be 40% higher. That 40% equates to £737 billion pounds, or £28,000 pounds for every taxpayer in the country. Having to pay back that debt means cuts in vital services on which millions of people around the country rely.


Total cost to the UK of financial crisis in terms of lost output according to the IMF was 27% of 2008 GDP.


So it's time for justice. It's time for justice for ordinary families and businesses. For the one in five British families faced with a choice between buying food or paying the heating bill. For the millions of people around the world forced into poverty by a financial crisis they did absolutely nothing to bring about.


The Robin Hood Tax is justice. The banks can afford it. The systems are in place to collect it. It won't affect ordinary members of the public, their bank accounts or their savings. It's fair, it's timely, and it's possible.'


I say... this tax will not be considered by any main political party and is essentially a non starter. It would help to kill off londons perception as the worlds biggest financial city as it decreases competitveness. Financial services is the most important industry that the uk has left. We don't have mines, we don't have car factories, we rely on financial services more than almost every other country in the world, so therefore taxing bankers like this is not the way forward.


Also it may be described as a tax on banks but it won't be paid by banks. It's an operating cost, so will be passed on to their customers: individuals with bank accounts and pension funds, companies that will raise their own prices, etc. In other words, it will make everything slightly more expensive and all investments gain slightly less return.


However I do see the appeal of getting more money back fromnthe rich banks thats essentially caused the credit crunch, but this is not possible with this rbin hood tax. The only hope of this ever working is if every other major country in the world implemented this tax as that would rule out banks leaving the country.