Angela Merkel in 'Tobin tax' jibe at Britain In a thinly-disguised attack on David Cameron and the British opposition to the controversial tax, the German Chancellor said "lessons needed to be learned" from the failure. Ms Merkel used her speech at the World Economic Forum to tell political and business leaders that it was "not promising" to have to explain to European citizens that, despite the ravages of the banking crisis, they must still "pay taxes on all products but not on financial products." Germany, strongly backed on the issue by France, has made the introduction of the tax, which would impose a small charge on all financial transactions, one of its immediate goals. Britain has strongly opposed the tax, claiming that it would unfairly and adversely affect the City of London, which is home to the biggest financial services centre in Europe. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president who faces an election in April, has said he will introduce a tax in France, with or without the rest of the European Union. In her speech in Davos, Ms Merkel also took a swipe at the US, claiming that the "financial and economic crisis which started in America has left a deep imprint in Europe."