We’re marking 10 years since the global financial crisis. It’s time to finish the job of fixing our financial system so it works for society, and not against it.
The campaign
During the financial crisis, banks were bailed out with more than £130bn of our money, while we we’ve been sold out with years of austerity.
Ordinary people didn’t cause the crash; it happened because of banks’ reckless lending and governments’ failure to regulate the system. But we’ve been made to pay the price, with a decade of cuts to vital services, desolated high streets, flatlining wages and growing lines outside food banks. Families have been forced to borrow to make ends meet, and now face their highest debt burden in history.
10 years on from the crash, we’re holding the government to account for its failure to reform finance. We believe the financial system should serve society, the other way around.
What we’re calling for
We demand the government:
Gets the finance sector to pay its fair share by extending stamp duty to all financial assets, and using the money to reverse cuts to public services.
Fulfils its promise to end ‘too big to fail’ banking. Rather than a handful of mega-banks which serve global financial markets, we need smaller, regional banks rooted in local communities. The government should break up the banks, starting with publicly-owned RBS
Writes off problem debt for households which have already paid 100% of their principal in interest. As wages have stagnated, families have been forced to borrow to make ends meet, pushing household debt levels dangerously high.
Introduces new measures to stop branch closures and protect access to cash, including by writing a requirement to provide branches into banking licences.
Manages the financial system to transition from fossil fuels without sparking a financial collapse. The economy will only have a sustainable future if we move trillions of investments away from dirty energy into clean technology and green infrastructure.
Supporting organisations
Press contacts
Simon Youel | 07908 037569 | simon.youel@positivemoney.org.uk
Asha Tharoor | 07813 688680 | asha@ashatharoor.com