Up next in 10
10 years on from the referendum, the capital’s financial district is thriving, with headcount rising to 700,000.
Editor-in-Chief Christian May explains why the City doesn't want to rehash the debate and why London remains Europe's financial services capital.
Check the link in our bio for more.
#London #Business #Finance #Brexit #Economy #CityOfLondon #Banking #Shorts
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Coming up to 10 years since Britain's
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vote to leave the European Union. 10
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years on from Brexit this summer and
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whisper it, but the topic is back. Not
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everybody here in the city is keen on
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that. The government Kama wants to
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reopen bits of the relationship with the
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European Union. They're looking at
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agriculture and food and some people in
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that sector would welcome that. But
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there's been a bit of a push back in the
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city. People saying, "Hang on a minute,
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leave us out of it." And why are they
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saying that? I think the bottom line is
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that 10 years on from that vote, the
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city's sort of made its peace with
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Brexit, it's got over it and more
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importantly, it's found a new way of
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doing what it does best. If you look at
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the numbers, the city of London had
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about half a million people working in
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it in 2015. It's now got about 700,000
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now. Headcounts only one measure, but
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it's quite an important one, not least
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given the [snorts] debate at the time of
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the referendum about job losses and deep
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structural change. I remember that
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debate very clearly and of course the
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stakes were high but looking back on it
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now seems a bit out of proportion. Of
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course in as far as the city speaks with
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one voice institutionally it didn't want
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Brexit to happen. It could have done
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without the headache and it has had
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consequences but over time the city of
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London particularly the banking sector
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has forged a new path. Uh the American
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banking giants in particular are very
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very comfortable with their place in
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London and London remains by a country
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mile Europe's financial services
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capital. Indeed, every single year since
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2015, the UK has been light years ahead
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of every other European country for
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foreign direct investment into financial
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services. And in fact, it's the European
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economy, the EU economy, which now
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stands to shoot itself in the foot by
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putting more restrictions on Londonbased
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banks doing business in the block.
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Reports out this week suggests that
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there's growing pressure for the EU to
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water that down because they're going to
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cut themselves off from London. And
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London, on the other hand, will continue
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to thrive, not least because of its
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connections with other places in the
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world. So, people in the city are
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saying, "We've made our peace with it.
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We've found our new way in the world.
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Please don't start trying to drag
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financial services in particular back
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into more complicated arrangements with
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the European Union. It's 10 years on. I
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remember the fury and the sound and the
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passion of that debate. I remember the
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chaos that followed in Parliament. And
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now we can look around us here in the
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city and say they've made the best of
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it. And indeed, the city continues to
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thrive.
#People & Society