A Crisis for the Banks or an Opportunity for the World?
Robin Hood Tax debate, TONIGHT at Bristol’s Watershed
The NUJ is backing this campaign
The Robin Hood Tax is a tiny tax on speculative financial transactions, an average of 0.05%, that could raise as much as £20 BILLION per year in Britain alone.
That’s enough to protect schools and hospitals. Enough to stop massive cuts across the public sector. Enough to build new lives around the world – and to deal with the new climate challenges our world is facing.
So far, the UK banking bailout has cost £1.5 trillion. Or £31,250 for each and every taxpayer in the country. But the banks have already started to report record profits once again.
So it’s time for justice. It’s the least our financial institutions owe for the mess they’ve made without affecting taxpayers who’ve paid the bankers’ bills.
Although the campaign is being seriously considered in some European countries, The UK government has yet to commit itself to a tax which would go to good causes (rather than an insurance fund for future bank bailouts), despite the Lib Dems having signed up to this campaign in the run-up to the election.
As the nation staggers under the blows of the worst cuts seen in decades, could this tax on the financial sector be the answer – or does it risk destabilising and driving away financial activity?
Join a panel of distinguished experts tonight, to tackle the questions.
Chair: Dr Jane Harrington, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Bristol University and Executive Dean, Faculty of Business and Law
Speakers
- David Hillman, Coordinator Stamp Out Poverty
- Professor David Gordon, Director, Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol
- Stephen Williams, Lib Dem MP, Bristol West
- Professor Laurence Copeland, Professor of Finance, Cardiff Business School
Tickets £4/£3 concessions, online at http://www.watershed.co.uk/exhibits/2534
Thursday 21st October, 7.30-9.30 pm at Watershed Media Centre, Bristol
More info on the campaign
