Windfall tax on banks could raise £8bn a year, Rachel Reeves told as she seeks to plug Budget black hole

Rachel Reeves should tax bank profits to recover taxpayer money spent on compensating losses from the Bank of England’s cash-printing drive, a think tank has said.

Hiking a levy on the windfalls from major firms such as Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC and NatWest could raise up to £8 billion a year for public services, according to a report by the Institute for Public Policy Research.