Calls for UK bank tax to fund cost of living help as HSBC profits hit £7.5bn
Levy could raise £19bn to help pay for Andy Burnham’s support for those struggling with bills, say campaigners Campaigners have renewed calls for a windfall tax on UK banks that could raise £19bn towards Andy Burnham’s cost of living agenda, after HSBC raked in $10.1bn (£7.5bn) worth of profits in the second quarter of the year. Bosses at HSBC reported on Tuesday that profits rose 60% year on year in the three months to the end of June, helped by fees from wealth management and insurance business, as well as higher interest rates, which allow the bank to charge more for loans and mortgages. The HSBC chief executive, Georges Elhedery, said he would consider increasing banker bonuses on the back of the strong results and planned to restart a share buy-back programme that had been on pause since last year. Positive Money said the government could replicate Spain’s levy, targeting any UK revenues above £800m with a 38% tax, in line with the energy profits levy introduced for oil and gas companies announced by the Tory government in 2022.
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And since then it has watered down its climate commitments, further shirking its responsibility to help bring about the just transition we need,” O’Neill said, adding that banks should face a “polluters pay tax” that fairly reflected their responsibility for financing and causing climate harm.
