The following letter has been sent to the UK Prime Minister David Cameron, ahead of the Anglo-French Summit on Tuesday 2 November 2010, by 50 civil society organisations – including Ekklesia – under the banner of the Robin Hood Tax Campaign.
Dear Mr Cameron:
We believe the Anglo-French Summit on Tuesday 2 November represents a unique opportunity to make progress towards agreement on an EU wide financial sector tax, which could raise money for tackling poverty at home and abroad as well as climate change. Building on your clear leadership on addressing global poverty by committing to reach 0.7 per cent of GNI as overseas aid, we urge you to actively work with France to ensure agreement in the first half of 2011 on an EU wide tax. Furthermore the forthcoming French presidency of the G8 and G20 provides an opportunity to influence discussions on an international tax.
As CEOs, Directors and General Secretaries of more than 50 leading UK domestic, international, faith-led, environmental agencies and trade unions, our organisations represent the voices of many millions of people and we are united as members of the Robin Hood Tax campaign. We would like to see substantial additional revenue generated from the UK financial sector, to help the poor in the UK and abroad, and to fight climate change.
There is a compelling fiscal case for additional financial sector taxes: as 350 economists, including Jeffrey Sachs and Joseph Stiglitz, have argued. The IMF and EC agree the financial sector is under-taxed and oversized. While the £2.5 billion levy is a welcome step, it will be partly offset by lower corporation tax. Our research shows that £20 billion a year could be raised from the financial sector.
The political case for additional financial sector taxes has also never been stronger. There is a genuine sense of unfairness felt by our many supporters and the public at large. They see tax rises for them together with significant and dramatic cuts to services, at the same time the banking sector is emerging relatively unscathed and is set to make extensive profits and bonus payments in the coming months.
We have been encouraged by the UK government support for a Financial Activities Tax (FAT), and the recent moves by the European Commission to recommend an EU FAT. We would be keen to support the FAT if the proceeds were substantial and explicitly linked to tackling poverty and climate change, at home and abroad. Beyond the FAT, we believe the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) has the greatest potential to raise revenue from the financial sector as it offers a robust, hard to avoid and simple to implement mechanism. As the IMF has found, 16 of the G20 countries already have some form of FTT in place, providing a clear base to extend the tax.
We urge you to work closely with France on implementing a Robin Hood Tax in 2011, a move that would be hugely popular and supported by millions across the UK and the world.
Signed by:
Action for Southern Africa
Tony Dykes, Director
Africa Europe Faith & Justice Network
Fr Terry Donnelly
Article 12 in Scotland
Lynne Tammi, National Co-ordinator
Barnardo’s
Martin Narey, Chief Executive
CAFOD
Chris Bain, Director
Centre for Alternative Technology
Paul Allen
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
Phil Gray, Chief Executive Officer
Christian Aid
Loretta Minghella, Director
Christian Socialist Movement
Andy Flannagan, Director
Communication Workers Union
Billy Hayes, General Secretary
Compass
Gavin Hayes, General Secretary
Disability Alliance
Richard Gutch, Interim Chief Executive
Economic Governance for Health
Mr Taavi Tillmann
The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility
Miles Litvinoff, Co-ordinator
Ekklesia
Jonathan Bartley & Simon Barrow, Co-directors
Faith2Share
The Rev Canon Mark Oxbrow, International
Director
Forum for Stable Currencies
Sabine K McNeill, Organiser
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
Derek McAuley, Chief Officer
Health Poverty Action
Martin Drewry, Director
Housing Justice
Alison Gelder, Director
The International HIV/AIDS Alliance
Dr Alvaro Bermejo, Chief Executive Officer
Jubilee Scotland
James Picardo
NAPO
Jonathan Ledger, General Secretary
National Justice and Peace Network
Anne Peacey, Chair
Nationwide Group Staff Union
Tim Poil, General Secretary
National Association for Voluntary and Community Action
Kevin Curley, Chief Executive Officer
National Council for Voluntary Organisations
Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive Officer
National Union of Journalists
Jeremy Dear, General Secretary
Oxfam GB
Barbara Stocking, Chief Executive
The Poverty Alliance (Scotland)
Peter Kelly, Director
Prison Officers Association
Steve Gillan, General Secretary
Results UK
Aaron Oxley, Executive Director
Salvation Army
Marion Drew, Lieutenant Colonel
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Martin Sime, Chief Executive
Share The World’s Resources
Rajesh Makwana, Director
SPEAK Network
Tom Skinner
Stamp Out Poverty
David Hillman, Coordinator
Tearfund
Matthew Frost, Chief Executive Officer
TB Alert
Mike Mandelbaum, Chief Executive
Trade Union Congress
Brendan Barber, General Secretary
TSSA
Gerry Doherty, General Secretary
UNA-UK
Phil Mulligan, Executive Director
UNICEF UK
David Bull, Executive Director
UNISON
Dave Prentis, General Secretary
United Reformed Church
Rev Roberta Rominger, General Secretary
Urban Forum
Toby Blume, Chief Executive
War on Want
John Hilary, Executive Director
WaterAid
Margaret Batty, Director of Policy & Campaigns
World Development Movement
Deborah Doane, Director
Y Care International
Chris Roles, Chief Executive
YWCA
Sarah Payne, Chief Executive Officer,
Zacchaeus 2000 Trust
Joanna Kennedy, Chief Executive
Robin Hood Tax Campaign - http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/
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