Archbishop supports Robin Hood tax

The Archbishop of Canterbury has suggested that the imposition of a so-called Robin Hood tax may be one way of restoring morality to the economy.

Writing in the Financial Times, Dr Rowan Williams said a tax – of around 0.05% - levied on share, bond and currency transactions had the potential to “stabilise currency markets in a way to boost rather than damage the real economy”.

He suggested that the tax was one way to take the moral agenda of the anti-capitalist protesters outside St Paul’s Cathedral seriously and move the debate forward.

“There is still a powerful sense around – fair or not – of a whole society paying for the errors and irresponsibility of bankers; of impatience with a return to ‘business as usual’ – represented by still-soaring bonuses and little visible change in banking practices," he said.

The Archbishop said that the cathedral’s handling of the protest camp on its doorstep had led to a dramatic “cataract of unintended consequences” but that the Church still had a role to play in critiquing the world around it.

“The Church of England is a place where the unspoken anxieties of society can often find a voice, for good and ill.

“If the Church cannot find ways through, that is not an index of its incompetence so much as the sensitivity of such matters,” he said.

Acknowledging the level of anger felt towards the cathedral and the Church of England more generally, he said there was a danger of forgetting the questions that had prompted the protest in the first place.

“The demands of the protesters have been vague. Many people are frustrated beyond measure at what they see as the disastrous effects of global capitalism but it isn’t easy to say what we should do differently. It is time we tried to be more specific.”

The Archbishop’s comments were welcomed by theology think tank Theos, which said he was in a better position than most others to start and inform national debate.

“Whether you agree with his assessment of the required action, having a key religious figure willing to speak about the most pressing social issues of our day is vital for our public conversation,” the think tank said.

“Arguments around the occupy movement reveal how moral concerns are moving to centre of political debate and the Archbishop’s most recent intervention shows that church can steer that.

“Coming hard on the heels of the dramatic events at St Paul’s, where the Church of England was accused of shirking its biblically mandated concern for economic justice, this move is welcome.

“It’s a pointer towards the ongoing speaking and acting on behalf of the poor undertaken by the churches day in and day out, whether the cameras are on them or not.”