George Osborne is under fire for an “outrageous misuse” of public money after spending nearly £200,000 trying to protect bankers from a raft of European Union measures.

Following a Freedom of Information Request by the Huffington Post UK, the Treasury revealed that it spent £67,808 on legal fees in a failed bid to fight the implementation of the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), better known as the “Robin Hood Tax”, through the courts.

The UK argued that the tax, which has been agreed by 11 eurozone member states, would put the competitiveness of the City of London at risk. However, the bid was thrown out by the European Court of Justice in April.

Reported by the Huffington Post UK. You can read the full story here. 

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.