British music icon starts anti-tax Facebook group

Billy Bragg, a British alternative folk and country music icon, is busy spending the final two weeks before taxes are due convincing his Facebook friends and fans not to file their annual self-assessment by the 31 January 2010 deadline. Bragg has turned to Facebook in order to champion one of his prized causes: namely, convincing Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government to ban corporate CEOs and top bankers from collecting bonuses that exceed £25,000. In fact, Bragg has specifically set his sights on government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, naming his new Facebook group “No Bonus for RBS.”

In a Facebook post, Bragg concedes that the government had no other choice but to pump public funds into major UK banks, so as to protect the savings of millions of Britons. But what irks the openly left-leaning folk singer is the fact that taxpayers’ money is being used to line the pockets of bankers who continue to collect handsome bonuses. Britain’s bank bailout has proven to be a massive burden on ordinary taxpayers, with the governing spending nearly £850 billion to keep some of the largest banks afloat. As Bragg notes on his Facebook group profile, what seems blood boiling is the fact that taxpayers have had to pay £1.5 billion in bonuses to investment bankers, even as there seems to be a lack of funding for public social services. All three major parties are anticipating cuts following this spring’s parliamentary elections.

While Bragg’s Facebook group still has a modest following of just over 1,600 members, the singer takes comfort from the fact that applying public pressure through social networking sites seems to be a winning strategy. For example, a major Facebook campaign launched last month ensured that someone other than Simon Cowell’s favoured X-Factor winner and contestant topped the Christmas music charts.