TUC: Europe backs Robin Hood tax

The Trades Union Council (TUC) has announced its support for a vote by the European Parliament into the issue of financial transaction taxes.

Its general secretary Brendan Barber noted that MEPs are backing the Robin Hood tax, which is a fairly major development.

He added that this move will garner appreciation from various bodies who have come together to promote the proposal.

Mr Barber believes that "spending cuts are not the only answer to the deficit" and he has called on banks and hedge funds that benefited from the good times to contribute to helping out with the problems they helped create.

By introducing such a policy, the right people would end up paying for the crisis, in his opinion.

Those who are encouraging the adoption of it have said that the move could generate hundreds of billions of pounds - even if it was only introduced as a 0.05% charge.