Big win in Budget 2026

We won big today as Chancellor John Healey decided to use his very first Budget to #TaxTheBanks.

A huge thanks to every single one of the 100,042 people who signed - not just this petition to #TaxTheBanks to John Healey - but previous ones to ex-Chancellors Rachel Reeves and Jeremy Hunt as well, because we’ve been fighting to #TaxTheBanks since 2022, after the Bank of England started raising interest rates, because we could foresee the damage this would do.

Higher rates pushed up our debt, rent, and mortgage payments (and public losses from interest paid on central bank reserves which the Treasury are forced to bear) all while letting the big banks rake in years of record-breaking profits without having to lift a finger. 

In choosing to tax the banks today, John Healey has broken the pattern of previous Chancellors, by ignoring big bank and City lobbyists, and taken the side of ordinary people to help with energy bills, and this is worth celebrating. But, as the cost of living crisis rages on, the Chancellor has left billions sitting on the table. 

By announcing an extra 3% on the Bank Surcharge, John Healey hasn’t even fully reversed the cut that Conservative Chancellor Rishi Sunak made, and that came into effect in 2023. It’s a good first step, but it falls far short of the mark - given the £29 billion in profit the big four banks have made in the first six months of this year alone - and of our proposal (a levy on UK banks’ domestic net income over £800 million of 38% in line with the one on oil and gas companies) which would’ve raised £19 billion a year - almost half a million nurses salaries. 

The Chancellor’s decision to make this extra 3% temporary is also disappointing. 15 months does not reflect the years and years of record-breaking profits banks have made - and which they’ve decided to blow on bonuses and payouts to shareholders. Today’s bank tax hike should hopefully just be the start, and take inspiration from Spain’s. 

Because there are lots of bigger, structural changes we need to redesign our economy, reduce the fiscal costs of monetary policy, and kickstart better coordination between the government and the Bank of England, as we outlined in a recent paper with the New Economics Foundation, and our report ‘Taking all the credit’ published earlier this year. 

People are tired of feeling that politicians work for big corporations - like banks - and not to make life better for the rest of us. It’s time to set the stage for a different way of governing. Today’s bank tax hike is a great first step but we’re not stopping here.

There’s still a lot left to win, but as we’ve learned over the last 16 years, victories over big finance are few and far between, which means today’s announcement really is notable, and it’s not just higher bank taxes that are worth celebrating. 

In today’s Budget, the Chancellor also boosted capital for the National Wealth Fund (NWF) and British Business Bank - whilst a step forward in addressing the UK’s low investment problem, as we argued ahead of the budget, the NWF should remain focused on the green transition. We also welcome John Healey’s decision today to hit pause on previous Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ move to slash the cap on Cash ISAs from £20,000 to £12,000, which we campaigned against last year. His promise of a new ‘Starter ISA’ is one we’ll have to wait to see the details of but, here’s hoping the Treasury team will have taken some inspiration from our proposal for an ISA for public purpose.

After years of campaigning, dozens of stunts, hundreds of press articles, and most of all - thanks to our incredible supporters - today we won the tug of war between big banks and ordinary people. But the fight is far from over.  

If you haven’t yet, sign-up to our mailing list to receive regular update like this, or make a donation to support our work to help us keep on winning, and give us even bigger things to celebrate in next year’s Budget.