The increase in the bonus pool follows a rise in pre-tax profits for the second quarter to \u00a33.3bn, up 31% on the year and bringing Barclays\u2019 half-year profits to \u00a36.1bn, up 17%.<\/p>\n
That also allowed the bank to announce new payouts for shareholders, including a \u00a31bn share buy-back and \u00a3800m in dividends.<\/p>\n
The strong results further emboldened calls for a tax raid on UK lenders, with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) saying that Burham\u2019s plans to tackle the cost of living crisis required \u201cmore support in the months ahead\u201d, particularly from big banks.<\/p>\n
The TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, said: \u201cBig banks like Barclays are raking it in while working people and local businesses are struggling. High interest rates have been a boon for banks but have meant mortgage misery and higher bills for the rest of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a \u2018hard choice\u2019. Barclays\u2019 bonanza profits show that banks can easily afford to pay more tax. This is a chance for the new prime minister and chancellor to show whose side they\u2019re on. It\u2019s time to increase the bank surcharge and tax banks to bring down energy bills.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barclays executives used a conference call with journalists on Tuesday to stress that they were taxed much higher than their foreign peers, pointing to statistics from the lobby group UK Finance showing that UK banks were taxed 46.4% when employment taxes and VAT were taken into account. That compares with a 38.9% rate in Frankfurt and 27.9% in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think that the track record that we and the other banks have, in terms of supporting UK growth and indeed leaning into UK lending in the way we have \u2026 is really important for the health of the economy,\u201d the chief financial officer, Anna Cross, said. \u201cWe hope that that that will be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also defended the growing banker bonus pool, saying that the increase was \u201cpurely mechanistic\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n