Davis: London will remain a financial hub

DAVID Davis yesterday insisted the City of London will remain a financial powerhouse after Brexit.

The Brexit Secretary dismissed scaremongering by Remainers, who have relentlessly attempted to talk down British economic prospects in a bid to overturn the EU referendum result.

Mr Davis told a Wall Street Journal function in London: “There is not going to be a mass migration, the critical mass is still going to be here. The reason that the City is the biggest and most successful financial centre in the world... is not just Europe, it’s about the mass of skills, the business environment here, it’s about the reliability of tax law.”

Mr Davis has previously suggested 90 per cent of the Brexit deal is now agreed, but that Northern Ireland remains a sticking point, with Remainers and the European Commission reportedly trying to use the Irish border question as a means to tie Britain’s regulation system to the EU.

But he suggested that imaginative solutions can be found.

He said “quite large exemptions” could be granted to businesses that are not given authorised economic operator status to enable trade to continue between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Mr Davis also warned that MPs will insist on “a lot of detail” before signing off any deal because Britain will have to make a payment of about £39billion to the EU to honour its financial obligations to the trade bloc.

He added: “It’s a lot of money, and Parliament is unlikely to sign unless we can be substantive about what is going to be there.”