The Green Party has announced it would introduce a windfall tax on the profits of big banks to raise billions in support for small and medium-sized businesses.
The party said they would levy a 38% tax on domestic profits above £800m for the UK’s biggest bank, raising at least £19bn.
This money would then be used to double the Employment Allowance for SMEs, taking up to £10,500 off their National Insurance bills.
The Greens said this would provide a “lifeline to struggling small and medium-sized businesses” and was part of their “drive to end rip-off Britain.”
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Announcing the policy on Thursday, the Green Party cited the “record-breaking profits” of the UK’s biggest banks thanks to “high interest rates.”
The party mentioned the boost in profits Barclays had seen in the first half of 2026, which had boosted bonuses for executives by nearly 30%.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski said: “While we are in a cost of living crisis, and with people unable to pay bills and small businesses being directly squeezed by interest rate rises which are expanding already obscene profits by the big banks, the Greens are calling for an end to rip-off Britain.
“Small businesses lie at the heart of our communities. The large banks are cashing in on the backs of the small businesses who are the real innovators and creators, and profiteering from chaos and misery while ordinary people struggle.
“We will take back a proportion of these profits and give them to small and medium-sized businesses. Our plans would give a lifeline to more than a million SMEs who will be able to employ more people and add to their communities and our economy in a way that the obscene bonus payouts of the big banks do not.”
Earlier this month, Polanski called for a tax on fossil fuel giants to fund wildfire prevention strategies in the UK.