David Cameron backed the Archbishop of Canterbury’s complaints about irresponsibility in the financial world but both he and George Osborne expressed caution about a new tax on banks.
The Daily Telegraph reported that:
The Prime Minister claimed that Dr Rowan Williams had spoken “for the whole country” when spoke of the frustration that bankers’ bonuses were still high while City operations remained unchanged.
But he told the Commons that the financial transactions tax (FTT), due to be proposed by France and Germany at the G20 summit of world leaders starting on Thursday, would only work if it is adopted internationally.
Mr Cameron’s comments at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday came after a leaked letter written by the Chancellor to bank chiefs appeared to express even deeper reservations. Mr Osborne was said to have written: “I agree there would need to be further discussions about whether any FTT model offers an efficient mechanism to raise revenue.”
However the Prime Minister’s unprompted praise for the most senior cleric in the Church of England – a self-styled “hairy leftie” who earlier this year accused the Coalition of forcing through “radical policies for which no one voted” – suggests ministers are concerned about the perception that bankers have not learned from the financial crises of recent years.
Mr Cameron said: “I think the Archbishop of Canterbury speaks, frankly, for the whole country when he says that it is unacceptable in a time of difficulty when people at the top of our society are not showing signs of responsibility.”
On the financial transactions levy, known as the Tobin tax or the Robin Hood tax, the Prime Minister agreed there was “widespread support” for the principles behind it but said Britain would only introduce it if countries around the world did the same.
He warned: “We must be careful that we don’t allow other countries, including some European countries, to use a campaign for this tax – which they know is unlikely to be adopted in the short-term – as an excuse for getting off their aid commitments.”
The Archbishop had written in the Financial Times of a “powerful sense” that the whole of society is still paying for the “errors and irresponsibility of bankers”, yet in the City it remains “business as usual” with “still-soaring bonuses and little visible change in banking practices”.
He suggested that the Occupy London encampment on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral, which triggered a crisis in the clergy, was an expression of this exasperation.
See also today’s report on this site re: St Paul’s.