Barclays set aside £1.3bn for staff bonuses in the first half of 2026, up nearly 30% from the £1bn it allocated a year earlier. The bank shared the figure in corporate filings on Tuesday 28 July.

The bonus news came with a strong set of financial results. Barclays made £3.3bn in pre-tax profit in the second quarter alone, up 31% from the same period last year. For the first six months of the year, profits reached £6.1bn, a 17% rise. The Guardian

Barclays also announced plans to spend £1bn buying back its own shares from investors and to pay out £800m in dividends. A dividend is a portion of a company's profits paid directly to its shareholders. When a bank buys back its own shares, fewer shares remain on the market, which tends to make each one more valuable.

The Trades Union Congress, or TUC, is a group that represents workers across many industries. It responded to Barclays' results by calling for a higher tax on bank profits. The TUC argues that if banks can afford to pay out more in bonuses and shareholder returns, they can also afford to pay more in tax.

There is already an extra tax on bank profits in the UK, called the bank surcharge, which sits on top of the normal corporation tax that all companies pay. The surcharge has long been a source of disagreement between the government and the banking industry. The TUC's call is unlikely to become law right away, but it sets the stage for a political fight around the Autumn Budget, where government spending and taxation are decided.

The broader context here is that two different stories are unfolding at once. Investors see Barclays' profits and shareholder payouts as evidence the bank is running more efficiently and growing. Critics see the same numbers and argue that the gains are not being shared fairly, particularly when many households are still struggling financially.

For the TUC, the £1.3bn bonus pool and the £1.8bn in buy-backs and dividends tell one story: banks are making enough money to reward staff and shareholders generously, so the government should take a larger share through tax. The banking industry's response, which it has made many times before, is that higher taxes on bank profits would reduce lending and make UK banks less competitive against banks in other countries.

The size of these jumps matters. A 31% rise in quarterly profits and a 30% rise in the bonus pool are not small changes. They suggest Barclays is either running its business better than before, benefiting from favourable economic conditions, or both. Investors and government officials will be looking at the full report to understand exactly where the money is coming from.

All of this means that the three groups with a claim on bank earnings — staff, shareholders, and the government — are watching the pie get bigger. The question the TUC is raising is whether the government's slice should grow faster than it currently does.