IAN HYLAND on last night’s telly
Boom, Bust & Bankers, Channel 4 ★★★★
Iwouldn’t say this documentary was just a sneaky excuse for Channel 4 to have a pop at Margaret Thatcher. However, if you only saw the bookends…
It opened with 1985 footage of Mrs Thatcher breaking ground on London’s Broadgate banking development, amid promises that London would become the world’s financial capital and the wealth created would trickle down to everyone in the country.
It ended with two stark on-screen facts from 2019. “New York has overtaken London as the world’s financial capital” and “40 years after Thatcher came to power Britain is the most unequal country in Europe”. A fair few bankers and some diehard Thatcherites would still declare that a success, of course.
Away from politics, this film was fascinating. Mainly because the film crew interviewed people from all walks of life who work at the modern Broadgate, which is undergoing an “enlivenment” programme – I assume that’s PR speak for “Don’t mention the bankers”.
This approach offered a wealth of different views and highly quotable soundbites. One former investment analyst explained why bankers’ performance bonuses are a bad idea: “There’s no downside to being a reckless nutjob.” A cleaner from Ecuador, meanwhile, gave his verdict on Britain: “This country only produces money, nothing else.” My favourite exchange though was between the filmmaker and a construction worker, down from Hartlepool.
“Why don’t you just get a job in Hartlepool?”
“Have you ever been to Hartlepool?”
Ask a silly question.
‘‘ There is a downside to being a reckless nutjob