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The Green Party in the South West is supporting a campaign to get councils to pass a motion of support for the Robin Hood Tax.
The Robin Hood Tax – or Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) [1] – is a tiny tax of about 0.05% on transactions made by banks, hedge funds and the financial sector. The tax could raise £250 billion a year globally, with some of the money being used to support council services that have been decimated by government cuts. Another advantage of an FTT is that it helps reduce the number of risky financial transactions, the gambling which helped to trigger the financial crisis.
The Green Party is urging people to take an easy action by writing to their local councillors asking them to pass a motion supporting the FTT [2]. Almost 40 councils have passed such a motion with Plymouth being the first in the South West. Greens want to see other councils follow suit.
In Bristol, Green Party councillor Rob Telford, asked Mayor George Ferguson at a recent Bristol City Council Cabinet meeting to support the FTT. The Mayor responded by saying he did not regard this as a high priority [3]. The Green Party in Bristol is urging people to contact the Mayor asking him to reconsider [4].
Professor Molly Scott Cato, who is the Green Party’s finance spokesperson and lead South West European candidate said:
“The Green group in the European Parliament has been instrumental in pushing for a FTT. Eleven Member States including Germany, France, Italy and Spain have decided to put people before the profits of their big banks and financial speculators and introduce an FTT [5]. The UK government on the other hand has continued to block the tax in order to protect their friends in the City.”
Dr Scott Cato is also lead councillor of the Green Party Group on Stroud District Council. She concluded:
“I will be proposing a motion of support for an FTT in February. I want our council and other councils across the South West and beyond to send a clear message to the government that Robin Hood wants finance to work for the common good, not the vested interests of the few!”
Notes
[1] Further information on the Financial Transaction Tax from the Robin Hood campaign: http://bit.ly/JRWsfB
[2] Use this link: http://bit.ly/13HBown to ask local councillors to back a Robin Hood Tax. This is a simple action and involves entering a postcode which will identify local councillors. An automated letter will then appear that can be sent to local councillors
[3] Question posed by Cllr Rob Telford to Mayor Ferguson and his response. http://bit.ly/BrisRobHood
[4] To email George Ferguson to ask him to reconsider use mayor@bristol.gov.uk
[5] European Commission information on the FTT in Europe http://bit.ly/1mpfmcq