Healey urges big banks to pay their fair share in Budget
Scottish Labour leader John Healey has called on the Chancellor to ask the largest banks to contribute more at this week's Budget, a move Conservatives warn would raise mortgage costs.
Chancellor John Healey is being urged to use this week's Budget to ask the biggest banks to pay more tax, with the Scottish Labour leader arguing that the largest businesses should do their bit. In his regular column for the Record, Healey sets out the case as a matter of fairness at a time when public finances are under pressure, and says the biggest companies should be asked to contribute at Wednesday's Budget statement.
The proposal has quickly drawn political fire. Conservatives have warned that a tax raid on the banking sector would feed through to households, arguing that the cost would be passed on to borrowers and would push up the price of mortgages. Those warnings were reported ahead of Wednesday's Budget, which is expected to set out the government's fiscal plans and is the first Budget delivered by Healey as Chancellor.
Not all of the criticism comes from the opposition benches. Some Labour backers have also cautioned the Chancellor against treating business as an endless source of revenue, with one commentary describing the approach as using companies as an «endless piggy bank». The debate reflects a wider tension over how to balance the books without undermining investment and lending, and it has put the banking sector at the centre of the Budget discussion.
London, where much of the banking industry is concentrated, would be particularly exposed to any move against the financial sector. Commentary on the Budget has noted that the scale of the tax hit on the capital will only be known once the fine details of the statement emerge in the hours and days after its publication, meaning the full consequences remain unclear until then.
The debate is taking place against a crowded news backdrop. Coverage of the Budget has been overshadowed in some reporting by the ongoing conflict involving Iran, which has been described as a never-ending war started by Trump, and by landmark welfare reviews due to be published around the same time. Whether the banking question dominates the Budget conversation, or is overtaken by those wider issues, will depend on what the Chancellor ultimately announces on Wednesday.
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