It does not help that the media continue to describe all versions of FTT as "a Robin Hood tax", but I am sorry that Vince Cable has dismissed FTT out of hand:
Labour's economic policy is less Robin Hood than Mickey Mouse. It has already put our Financial Services sector and advanced manufacturing industry at risk by backing Theresa May’s extreme plans to leave the single market and customs union. Jeremy Corbyn ordered his MPs to vote in favour of Article 50 despite the government making no concessions to them whatsoever. Labour has waved the white flag on Brexit, voting alongside UKIP and the Conservatives and giving Theresa May a blank cheque. Unlike Labour, we would give the British people a vote on the final deal. People should have hope and vote Liberal Democrat to change Britain's future.
After all, FTT was originally proposed by that great liberal thinker, John Maynard Keynes. It need not be set at such a level as to drive financial institutions out of the City of London, but if its net was spread to include a wide range of transactions it could make a useful contribution to the budget and, because of automation, need little manpower to maintain.
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