The funny thing is that unlike the US where the GOP can't get any closer to the bankers and try to protect them from their responsibilities, both sides in the UK are supporting taxes on the banks. The details may be a bit different but so far there has yet to be such love and support for bankers as we've witnessed in the US. It still looks like an area that the Democrats need to exploit in the US because what voter really likes bankers in this economy? The UK plans have been borrowed from Obama's plan to tax Wall Street.
Leading City figures hit out this weekend at plans to slap a global tax on investment banks and institutions, set to be detailed by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, in this week's Budget."Naked revenue-raising measures" huh. And? So what?
Mr Darling is expected to back a new levy on large banks, funds and companies that pose a systemic risk. Controversially, he will also call for the levied cash to go straight to the Exchequer rather than to a global banks' insurance fund. He will say that Britain's support for a banks' tax would be predicated on international agreement for implementation.
The Tory leader, David Cameron, said that he would go further than Labour, promising to introduce a tax without international support. Mr Cameron said a tax, along the lines of that introduced in the US by President Barack Obama, would raise billions of pounds for taxpayers.
Bankers and trade associations described both plans as naked revenue-raising measures intended to boost Britain's ailing finances rather than addressing issues of bank risk-taking. They added that further taxation was likely to drive more firms away from London and damage the Square Mile's already battered reputation.
