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International Financial Transactions (Tax)

We do not want support for this tax to come and go. Something so significant has to be set up and needs to be kept in existence; it cannot be done in a few weeks or by one Government. I strongly hope that it will be the property not only of all parties but above all—this would be one of its strengths—the property of the public. If the money that we hope to raise is to be spent in the right way, it must have public ownership in the broadest sense, so that the public can hold the Government to account. We do not want to invent a new tax only for additionality to take away money that the Government would already have spent and use the Robin Hood tax to fill the gap.