MAY I appeal to your readers to join the thousands of other folk throughout the rest of Britain (and including 70 UK local councils, some from Wales) and thousands more from 35 other countries who have sent messages to EU ministers demanding they implement a promised EU-wide Financial Transaction Tax of just 0.05% on the trillions of pounds of financial products that are traded daily.
Since the 2007-08 banking crash we’ve all heard of ‘derivatives’ and some other obscure financial entities traded electronically by the millions as products (like other actual physical products or commodities).
The recent Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling movie ‘The Big Short’ is very instructive about this type of dealing.
A tiny tax would raise tens of billions of pounds in revenue for much-needed ‘austerity’- hit things like NHS nurse and doctor shortages and hospital downgrades, our potholed road infrastructure and the closing of public toilets and libraries, as well as more social and affordable housing, Arts Council funding, etc, not to mention generally helping funding Wales’ and the rest of the UK’s struggling local councils to prevent more cuts in local services.
A miniscule tax on the banks and traders dealing in these above-mentioned products would not even be noticed in denting their profits. It is long overdue.
‘The Time Is Now’ for this extra revenue, as campaigners insist.
In or out of the EU, see http://www.robinhoodtax.org.uk and make your voices heard.
R GOODFELLOW
Pembroke Dock
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