TAX ON BANKS

That this House is aware that in the last Budget discussions the Chancellor announced changes to the bank levy which will mean in the long term such institutions will pay less, contrary to promises he made before the last election that in future they would be required to pay higher, fairer levels of taxation; notes the financial sector already receives a generous Too big to fail subsidy and VAT exemption which has already allowed them to absorb recent record-breaking fines for their misbehaviour, alongside obscene increased levels of bonus payments; and believes that the Government should seriously consider adopting the following European tax on banks currently being negotiated by Germany, France, Spain and eight other countries, known as the Robin Hood tax, and reminds the Chancellor that the UK already has a similar tax, stamp duty on share purchases, which currently raises around £3 billion a year despite being restricted in scope.