London Assembly Member Jenny Jones has criticised the Mayor of London for appointing the former Chief Economist of Standard Chartered Gerard Lyons, an expert in the financial services and international forecasting, as his new Chief Economic Adviser.
She believes the Mayor needs to focus his energy on helping small businesses and other sectors of the economy that are struggling.
Gerard Lyons – former Cheif Economist of Standard Charter
The Mayor of London already has access to advice from:
- his Deputy Mayor for Business and Enterprise, Kit Malthouse
- staff in the Business & Enterprise unit at the Greater London Authority
- the GLA Economics team
- the International Business Advisory Council for London, which forty seven distinguished business leaders from multinational giants to advise the Mayor on securing the capital’s position as a top global city
- the London Enterprise Panel, the local enterprise partnership for London co-chaired by Kit Malthouse and Harvey McGrath
- London & Partners, who promote London overseas as a global business capital
Mr. Lyons is expected to provide the Mayor with strategic advice on the global economy and on how London can boost its competitiveness in becoming a leading financial centre. The appointment demonstrates yet again the concern of the Mayor to boost the interests of the big financial institutions in London. Given that the UK is continuing to struggle its way out of a recession brought about the profligacy of many of the large financial institutions, this focus seems to fly in the face of the lessons learned in recent years and is completely out of touch with the current needs and concerns of ordinary Londoners.
“The Mayor needs to spend less time rewarding his friends in the banks, and more time helping struggling small businesses” Jenny Jones said. “He already has several groups of economics and business advisors, there is no need to hire yet another part-time adviser on a six figure salary.”