While “CEOs party” outside Parliament, it’s time to #TaxTheBanks

The masked CEOs of Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, and HSBC were caught partying outside the Houses of Parliament this morning decked out in party hats and armed with inflatable champagne bottles to celebrate another profitable quarter*. Thankfully a group of demonstrators were there to call on Rachel Reeves to tax their windfall profits instead, grabbing coverage in The Banker and Politico's paid newsletter.

Today, HSBC announced Q3 profits of £17.3 billion, bringing the total for Britain’s big 4 banks up to £35.1 billion for 2025 so far - following years of higher interest rates which have pushed up profits without bankers having to lift a finger. Introducing a 38% levy, in line with the Energy Profits Levy on oil and gas companies who also profited from the cost of living crisis, could bring in over £14 billion - enough to scrap the two child benefit cap, to lift 350,000 children out of poverty, and help fill the black hole in local council budgets to keep libraries running and stop care homes from closing. #

We stood alongside other organisations from the growing UK movement to tax wealth; including Tax Justice UK, War on Want, The Equality Trust, and The Fairness Foundation, and were joined by supportive members of the public and Green MP Adrian Ramsay. But with less than a month to go until the Autumn Budget we need to reach every single member in the House of Commons. Nearly 1,500 people have written to their MP so far, if you haven’t yet, please contact your MP now, to do all they can to help #TaxTheBanks in next month’s Budget.   

Banks are (unsurprisingly) against this. The CEOs of Lloyds and HSBC have publicly begged Rachel Reeves not to, and, in September, Barclays CEO, C. S. Venkatakrishnan, called on the government to cut pay rises for public sector workers, like teachers and nurses, rather than hit the banks with tax increases. But it’s clear the rest of us do not agree. Polling from the Trades Union Congress found 66% of people support a tax on banks, alongside a new report from think tank IPPR and growing media coverage is proof this sort of tax rise is looking more and more likely. 

The Chancellor recently said "those with the broadest shoulders should pay their fair share", and there is no better place to start than Britain’s biggest banks, who have raked in record profits while failing to pass higher rates onto their savings customers, and simultaneously shut over 6,000 local branches since 2015. November’s Budget is the perfect opportunity for Reeves to put her money where her mouth is. If you haven’t yet, join nearly 38,000 people and add your name to the petition. 

As food and energy bills keep on rising, introducing a windfall tax on banks would clearly signal the kind of change Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer promised to deliver and that millions of us desperately want to see, and help to prove that Labour aren’t in the pocket of big donors or beholden to corporate lobbyists from the City. We’ll be keeping a close eye on next month’s Budget to see if they can live up to this promise. 

And many thanks to photographer Jess Hurd for the amazing shots! 

*Please note no actual bank CEOs were involved with (or harmed) in the making of this action.

Sign-up to our mailing list for regular updates, or donate to support our work to redesign our economic system for social justice and a liveable planet.