Bradford West MP George Galloway said the country would be more than £30 billion a year better off and the swingeing welfare cuts reversed if the Government introduced two simple tax measures.

Respect MP Mr Galloway has put down two motions in Parliament which he claims, if implemented, would transform the British economy.

“The first is proper taxation of the oil and gas companies operating in the North Sea,” he said.

“The UK levies considerably less on the likes of BP and other operators than Denmark and Norway, and these are hardly radical countries. The second is the introduction of the Financial Transaction Tax – the so-called Tobin tax – which other European countries are happy to implement. A tiny tax on each transaction, as little as 0.1per cent, would raise about £20 billion a year.”