Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones releases a new report called The Bankers’ Mayor revealing the Mayor’s defence and close work with the bankers.
The Canary Wharf skyline as viewed from Wapping in East London, photograph courtesy of David Iliff.
2,500 UK bankers who received bonuses of over a million euros received enough in bonuses to pay three quarters of a million low paid Londoners the London Living Wage, ending poverty pay in the capital. Jenny Jones AM has published this and other findings in a new report, The Bankers’ Mayor, which documents the Mayor’s one-sided lobbying for the sector.
She shows that:
· Of the three occasions when the Mayor has lobbied the European Commission, two were on behalf of hedge funds and other financial markets companies
· Documents reveal the Mayor works closely with City figures, including his own advisors, and uses their facts and arguments in his own letters and press releases
· The negative impacts of the banks, such as misselling, tax avoidance, not lending to small businesses and economic instability are ignored
· There are many contrary views on the sector and how it could benefit London from academics, think tanks and campaigners that the Mayor seems to have ignored
Jenny commented, “My report shows that Boris really is the bankers’ Mayor, lobbying on their behalf in Westminster and Brussels while using their facts and arguments. He wants banks to be left to make obscene profits from all of us, and to pay whatever bonuses they like, so long as they locate in London and donate a little to charity.”
“London should be the global hub of high quality financial deals, not an anything-goes casino. We need banks and credit unions that spread prosperity around the city, instead of driving up appalling levels of inequality.”
“I hope the Mayor will examine the many ideas for radical reform in my report, and start to champion the interests of all London’s residents and businesses.”