CORBYN DECLARES WAR ON THE CITY
He boasts that he’ll be a threat to bankers if elected
‘This is really worrying’
JEREMY Corbyn yesterday declared war on Britain’s valuable banking sector – agreeing with critics that he is a threat to the industry if elected Prime Minister.
The Labour leader singled out Wall Street lender Morgan Stanley after it warned that his hard-Left policies would be catastrophic for the economy and were more dangerous than the risks from Brexit.
Mr Corbyn took aim at Morgan Stanley chief executive James Gorman, who lives in New york. He said: ‘Nurses, teachers, shop workers, builders, just about everyone is finding it harder to get by, while Morgan Stanley’s CEO paid himself £21.5 million last year and UK banks paid out £15 billion in bonuses.
‘Labour is a growing movement of well over half a million members and a government-in-waiting that will work for the many.
When system like ‘We’re Morgan they that’s a threat say Stanley rigged we’re to a a damaging for should threat, the few. they’re not and Bankers run failed right. our country, Many campaigners but they think rail they against do.’ sky-high pay in the City but it is nonetheless a global powerhouse which rakes in huge sums for the Treasury. Financial services firms paid a record £72.1 billion in taxes during the year to March 31 – 11 per cent of the total given to the exchequer.
Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley analysts said: ‘For the UK market, domestic politics may be perceived as a bigger risk than Brexit.
‘From a UK investor perspective, we believe that the domestic political situation is at least as significant as Brexit, given the fragile state of the current Government and the perceived risks of an incoming Labour administration that could potentially embark on a radical change in policy direction.’
The bank said utility companies, especially in the water and power sectors, were most at risk from a Labour government, but postal services, telecommunications and travel firms could also be affected.
Former Northern Powerhouse minister Andrew Percy said of Mr Corbyn’s comments: ‘This is really worrying given how much tax financial services provide to the UK, tax that is used to pay for our doctors, nurses and teachers. We already know Labour would raise taxes for the many, now we know they also plan to threaten the jobs of ordinary workers in the City.’ Mr Corbyn also said the banks were responsible for the 2008 recession – although opponents blame years of over-spending by Labour which meant the coffers were bare when the economy turned. He said: ‘These are the same speculators and gamblers who crashed our economy in 2008. And then we had to bail them out. ‘Their greed plunged the world into crisis and we’re still paying the price, because the Tories used the aftermath of the financial crisis to push through unnecessary and deeply damaging austerity.’ Mr Corbyn’s attack on the City comes after an election campaign in which he pledged to introduce a ‘Robin Hood tax’ on the City – an effective £26 billion tax raid.
The tax on financial transactions would see 0.5 per cent of the value of bonds and derivatives going to the Treasury, but critics warn it would hit pensioners and savers just as much as bankers.
Mr Corbyn – whose comments are likely to damage efforts by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell to improve the party’s relations with the City – also attacked Morgan Stanley for having close ties to the Tories, even though former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling has been a board member since 2015.