Who is behind the financial transaction tax and what would the revenue generated go towards?
Tim Montgomery, Conservative Home website I recently wrote on my blog Osborne said his readers voted for “David Cameron's veto of the EU treaty” as the political event of 2011. “The proposal for a Europe-only financial transaction tax is a bullet aimed at the heart of London,” he wrote in the Evening Standard ahead of the EU Council meeting in December last year.
Two questions raised by this announcement, which the UK media did not answer, are who is pushing for the introduction of a financial transaction tax and what purposes the revenue collected would be used for.
Reuters December 2009 “The European Union has stepped up pressure on the International Monetary Fund to consider a global tax on financial transactions to reduce the risk of a new economic crisis, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for consideration of such a tax, with revenues from it potentially being used to fund future financial bailouts.”
Three months later Reuters reported. “French President Sarkozy reiterated his support for a tax on financial transactions to support sustainable development (Agenda 21), saying the $100 billion pledged at the Copenhagen climate change conference would require new sources of funding.”
World Health Assembly, May 2011.
It has emerged that the United Nations public health agency, the World Health Organization (WHO), is moving full speed ahead with controversial plans to impose a global consumer tax. The global tax under consideration would include:
- A “digital” or “bit” tax on internet activity
- Financial transaction taxes (including currency transaction taxes and taxes on debits and credits of current accounts)
- Aviation taxes already in place in 13 countries
- Crime taxes on tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods
these suggestion The proposal, made by a 25-member committee of medical experts, academics and health officials, was presented to the WHO's 34-member Executive Board in Geneva.
These proposals were considered at a meeting of the World Health Assembly, the WHO's highest unelected legislative body, in May 2011. The aim of these proposals would be to restructure the global medical research, development, production and distribution systems at a cost that would run into the billions of pounds, most of which would be borne by global consumers and taxpayers. Background Paper 13, World Health Report 2010 “Richer countries must devote more resources to developing health systems in poorer countries,” it stresses.
The then UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown was the chair of the Innovative Financing for Health Systems Taskforce, which was established in September 2008. The taskforce also focused on North-South resource transfers.
In effect, this is a health version of the UN-led climate change agreement that failed to win global approval in Copenhagen in December 2010.
G20 Cannes Summit in November 2011.
On Thursday, November 3, 2011, at the Cannes Summit, a bilateral meeting took place between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The meeting was commissioned by France, the G20 Presidency, to deliver a report on development financing. Gates' report states: Impactful Innovation: Financing Development in the 21st Century, The report outlines proposals for a tobacco tax promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and also suggested taxes on aviation and bunker fuels that would serve the dual purpose of generating significant revenue while addressing environmental concerns about air pollution and over-exploitation of natural resources. Finally, the report urges G20 governments to commit to introducing a financial transaction tax. Even a minimal tax of 0.001% on financial transactions could mobilize billions of dollars for developing countries, according to the report.
Bilderberg Conference, 2010 and 2011.
Gates attended the Bilderberg Conference. Stiges, Spain (June 3-6, 2010) Among the participants at the Bilderberg meeting: St. Moritz, Switzerland (June 9-12, 2011), we discovered Thierry de Montbrial, director of the French Institute of International Relations and president and founder of the World Policy Council.
World Policy Conference, Vienna, 9, 10 and 11 December 2011.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul
The event took place shortly after the EU Council of Ministers meeting, but was not covered by the British media.
According to the company's website: World Policy Conference is “the only major international conference focused entirely on the issue of global governance in all its dimensions,” and also states that “globalization has led to an increase in the number of non-state international stakeholders (businesses, NGOs, think tanks, etc.). Good governance must encourage bottom-up efforts for the common good and enable deeper cooperation between these stakeholders, states and international organizations… The European Union deserves special attention as a laboratory for the creation of a new type of structured political entity based on shared sovereignty through contracts between member states.”
Participants of the December 2011 meeting Participants included current and former Heads of State (such as President Abdullah Gul of Turkey, President Heinz Fischer of the Republic of Austria and Ms. Mary Robinson of Ireland), former Foreign Ministers (such as Joschka Fischer of Germany, Igor Ivanov of Russia and Hubert Vedrine of France) and leading business figures such as Bruno Laffont, Chairman and CEO of Lafarge Group and Jacob A. Fenkel, Chairman of JP Morgan Chase International and former Governor of the Bank of Israel. Plenary sessions covered a variety of topics including Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Governance, Global Governance and its current state, Europe as a laboratory of global governance and the future of the G20.
It has already been reported in the UK media that “Air passenger duty will be significantly increased from 1 January 2012, and a new airline tax will be imposed under the Emissions Trading Scheme.” Furthermore, despite Cameron's veto, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are reportedly moving towards the introduction of an EU-wide financial transaction tax. As usual, the EU is being roundly blamed for imposing the additional tax burden, but it now turns out that the real culprits have been meeting behind closed doors elsewhere.
Where does the authority for unelected and unaccountable bodies such as the Council of Ministers, Bilderberger, the G20, the World Health Assembly etc. to formulate and implement global taxation without a clear mandate from the world public come from?
The press serves as a vital check on all aspects of public life, which is why any failures in the media affect us all. So at the heart of this inquiry is one simple question: “Who will protect the guardians?” – Justice Leveson.
This article clearly shows that the media is failing to adequately report on “matters of significant public concern” and is resorting to the questionable tactic of filling its pages with celebrity misconduct and other “gossip”. One key element that is lacking in the UK media is the honest reporting of facts. Will the Leveson Inquiry miss this key point entirely?
