First Minister of Wales Comes Out In Support

On the eve of the latest set of bankers bonuses to be released, Wales’ First Minister, Carwyn Jones AM, has announced his support for the Robin Hood Tax. 

He is the first government leader in the UK to come out in support of the tax, which puts him in stark contrast to the hostility that the UK Government has shown towards the proposed tax to date. Carwyn Jones now joins the growing ranks of business, political and civil society leaders across the world – from Bill Gates to the Archbishop of Canterbury - who are backing this tiny tax on financial transactions to generate money to tackle poverty at home and abroad and climate change.

Expressing his support for the tax, Jones said, "Some parts of the financial services industry bear a share of responsibility for our current economic difficulties. I am not anti-banking and I am not negative towards the responsible financial services industry. On the contrary, finance is an important sector of our economy and I want to work with the sector to bring more finance jobs to Wales. But I think a Robin Hood Tax - a tax on financial transactions - set at the right level, is perfectly reasonable and offers an important practical way for the finance industry to demonstrate its contribution to society.

“Social responsibility is well understood in Wales and I am confident that people across the country, and across the political spectrum, will endorse this tax. I stand beside Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, and a host of other key figures in business, as well as 1000 of the world's leading economists, in believing this tax is the right choice for adding value to our economy."

Other senior Welsh political figures from across the political spectrum are expected to announce their support for the Robin Hood Tax at an Oxfam Cymru event held at the Senedd on Wednesday 22 February. 

The tax is being championed by a growing number of European countries, led by France and Germany. Jill Evans, Plaid Cymru MEP will also be at the Senedd to make clear her commitment to getting European wide agreement on the tax. 

Algirdas Semeta – the European commissioner in charge of implementing the proposal – is in the UK this week for a hearing at the House of Lords to debunk myths being propagated by opponents from the financial sector. 

Echoing the First Minister’s comments and in recognition of the ground swell of public support, Commissioner Semeta said earlier this week "I think it's a legitimate expectation of many of our citizens that the financial sector hands back at least part of what it was paid during this crisis."

With RBS, Lloyds and HSBC still to release results (expected on Thursday), this year's bank bonus season is proving once again that banks live in a parallel universe to the rest of us. Banks would be in no position to hand out such generous sums were in not for receiving a £5.5 billion tax break and multi-billion pound direct and indirect subsidies, ultimately paid for by the UK taxpayer.