Was the Robin Hood tax vote rigged?
Earlier this week we saw a number of prominent politicians and showbiz celebrities step forward in support of a so called "Robin Hood tax" which would see a levy introduced on every financial transaction in the world to create a fund of around £250 billion a year. Richard Curtis, perhaps best known as the creator of the movie Love Actually, launched an online campaign to see what the public thought of such a move.
While initially there was growing support for a "yes vote" in favour of the Robin Hood tax this suddenly changed when at 3:41 PM on Wednesday the number of "no votes" went from 1,400 to 6,000 in literally five minutes. At this point the vote was suspended as the coordinators attempted to find out exactly what happened amid accusations that the vote was being rigged.
Organisers of the vote are rumoured to have identified two specific IP addresses which supplied a flurry of "no votes" with the identity of one of these untraceable and the other alleged to be part of a well-known UK financial institution. In many ways the alleged attempt to rig the vote may well have backfired because the situation is now receiving more press comment than ever before.
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