Shadow chancellor to push for 'Robin Hood' tax on trading

Osborne has fought the tax

John McDonnell is poised to use his first Labour conference speech as shadow chancellor to push for a 'Robin Hood' tax on stockmarket trading for the UK.

The proposed tax - which has gained more than a million signatures from the public in support - would be levied on stock and foreign exchange trades. Chancellor George Osborne has previously fought moves to introduce such a tax, warning it would harm the City. But McDonnell believes it could curb the excesses of the financial sector seen in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, and help pay for improvements to the NHS and other public services. He has long campaigned for a debate in the Commons on the tax, the BBC reports. McDonnell will also set out arguments for a "new econ...