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| County Councillor Gina Dowding |
Lancashire County Council has become the 50th British local authority to agree to lobby Government to sign up to the Financial Transaction Tax. The motion was proposed at the County’s Full Council meeting last week (15th May) by Gina Dowding, Lancashire’s Green County Councillor representing Lancaster Central and also a European candidate.
Lancaster City Council was one of the first to pass such a motion in 2012, and Preston Council recently followed suit.
The Robin Hood Tax – or Financial Transaction Tax (1) is a tax on all financial exchanges, including shares, bonds and derivatives. Even at the rate of 0.05%, the tax could raise up to £250bn per year globally and up to £20bn per year nationally.
“The money raised could be used to provide the vital council funding for services that are being decimated by government cuts,” says County Councillor Gina Dowding.
“A Robin Hood Tax would ensure that the number of high risk financial transactions, the gambling which helped to trigger the financial crisis, would be curtailed. By curbing some of the worst financial sector excesses, a Robin Hood tax would help to rebalance the economy.
“ We are sending a clear message to the government that we want a finance system that works for the common good, not the vested interests of the few”
“The Green group in the European Parliament has been instrumental in pushing for a Financial Transaction Tax,” added Peter Cranie who is the Green Party’s finance spokesperson and lead North West European candidate added.
“Eleven Member States including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have decided it is crucial to put people before the profits of their big banks and financial speculators and introduce an FTT.
“The UK government on the other hand has continued to block the tax in order to promote business as usual in the City of London.”