Getting MPs on board to #TaxTheBanks

Seven weeks out, momentum is building for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to #TaxTheBanks in the Autumn Budget. Hitting the front page of the i newspaper on Monday, after months of pressure from think tanks, unions, and politicians, a windfall tax on bank profits has never felt closer - the next step is getting MPs on board. If you haven’t yet, write to your MP now. 

Following the release of Q2 bank profits at the end of July, we secured a full-page spread in The Mirror to highlight the £11.3 billion this tax could bring, followed by an action outside the Bank of England in August showing Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer cosying up in bed with the big banks, which got covered in the i. 

As the summer continued, the think tank IPPR published a supportive report and the TUC released new polling showing 66% of people support a windfall tax on bank profits, before passing a successful motion endorsing the policy at their annual conference. The policy was also front and centre at the Liberal Democrat’s Party conference, and we joined several thousands protestors in central London at the Make Them Pay rally to call for a tax on banks too. 

Bank CEOs are running scared. They’ve continued to dial up their protestations in the press and just a few weeks ago, Barclays boss, CS Venkatakrishnan, urged the government to stop public sector pay rises rather than come after his (despite his pay and perks more than doubling to £10.5million since last year). In response we launched a reactive video with 22,000 views and counting on Tiktok, taking the side of nurses over bankers, to keep raising awareness. 

With support building from the public and the press, now we need to reach MPs. Our Co-Executive Director Sara took to the pages of LabourList to make the case that taxing banks is a political no-brainer to Labour MPs. But the best route to MPs is you - because more than anything, they respond to their constituents.

So together, let’s turn these rumours into reality in this year’s Autumn Budget, write to your MP now to #TaxTheBanks.