The Robinhood Tax
At the G20 summit on Monday 14th November 2011,
countries including Germany, France, Brazil and South Africa stood
up and said: we want a Robin Hood Tax. But then George Osborne
announced the UK plans to block progress. And yesterday Nick Clegg
joined in telling Europe to “forget” the Robin Hood Tax.
We've got just a few weeks to change our government's tune. On 9th
December, David Cameron will attend a European summit. [4] The
Robin Hood Tax should be on the table. We need to make sure he's
under overwhelming pressure from us to back the tax.Can you
send your MP a letter now urging them to tell Cameron to back the
Robin Hood Tax? A steady stream of MPs warning Cameron that voters
aren’t happy could persuade him to change his tune.
So together, let's flood our MPs with messages demanding that the
UK stops blocking a Robin Hood Tax. Email
your MP.
If the UK blocks global progress on a Robin Hood Tax, it will be
another victory for big banks and their lobbyists. But we know
people power can challenge these kinds of sinister interests.
Whether it's tax dodgers, lobbyists, or Rupert Murdoch, when we
come together in numbers we can win.
The Robin Hood Tax is a brilliant idea. More and more countries
across the globe agree its time has come. It would be a tragedy if
UK banking lobbyists blocked progress. So let’s work together now
to make sure David Cameron stops backing bankers and starts backing
the rest of us.
Find
your MP and send them a quick message – it takes just two
minutes.
Join the EU consultation on taxing the
banks
The European Commission has
launched a consultation on the
taxation of the financial sector, which closes on 19 April.
A key part of this is asking for opinions on
the introduction of a financial transaction
tax (FTT), or Robin Hood Tax as we call it for short, a
financial activity tax (FAT) and a bank levy.
The idea of a Robin Hood Tax has been making great progress in
Europe, with the Eurozone Heads of Government voting to back the
idea last month. There’s one important stumbling block though,
which is that the European Commissioner for Taxation,
Algirdas
Šemeta, is currently a member of the “no” camp, saying recently
that he thought introducing an FTT would be “premature” and
“irresponsible”.
The international campaign for Financial Transaction
Tax, supported by the TUC, has set up a
special web petition tool to kill two birds with one
stone. You can use it to send a message
directly to Algirdas Šemeta, and also to
register your message as a personal contribution to
the consultation.
LATEST NEWS
G20: International Union
Delegation to Meet French President Sarkozy
Brussels, 10
December 2010 - ITUC OnLine
GLOBAL PETITION
Take part in this urgent petition to the European Parliament. Sign
this global petition
now. The European Parliament will be voting on March 8th on the
Financial Transaction Tax.
SHOULD WE BANK ON THE ROBIN HOOD TAX?
Debate at St Paul's Cathedral, Tuesday 29 March at 7pm: Please
see
flyer for further details.