G-20 IN SCOTLAND

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told finance ministers from the Group of 20 rich and developing countries it was time to consider a global financial levy such as a tax on transactions or an insurance fee.

In its last meeting as chair of the Group of 20 before South Korea takes over next year, Britain is attempting to push through discussion of issues it views as critical to future world economic growth.

Reflecting its last-chance position, Brown superseded his Treasury chief Alistair Darling to address officials directly, saying it was time “to discuss whether we need a better economic and social contract to reflect the global responsibilities of financial institutions to society.”

But he said Britain would not act alone, and that any measures must be implemented by all major financial centers and should reinforce existing measures to enhance the stability of the international financial system.

Brown's comments bolster earlier calls from former German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruck for a global tax on all cross-border financial transactions.

Critics argue that measures such as the so-called Tobin tax — a flat tax on currency transactions named after the Nobel Prize laureate James Tobin — would just dry up world financial flows.

Supporters suggest the money could be used to protect countries from spillovers of financial crises.

The money could also be used to assist poorer countries in the battle against climate change — another issue being pushed by Britain at the gathering in the university and golfing town of St. Andrews in northeast Scotland.

Darling urged the officials to reach an agreement on bearing the cost of fighting climate change before a UN summit on global warming next month.

Darling said officials need to agree on a finance package to help poorer nations develop green industries and adapt to climate change.

“I think that it really is imperative that when we reach the end of the day, that we have shown that we have made some real progress in dealing with what is a very real and urgent problem now,” Darling said. “We will do everything that we can to reach that agreement in advance of the Copenhagen meeting.”

There have been disagreements about which forum was the most appropriate place to discuss funding to fight climate change.

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