BBC seized on the figures ... but got its facts wrong

WARNINGS that Brexit could trigger 75,000 finance job losses led BBC news bulletins yesterday morning – and were also seized on by City lobbyists.

BBC Radio 4 newsreaders said the Bank of England had told lenders to ‘prepare for a no-deal’ Brexit.

They added that the 75,000 figure was ‘predicted’ by the Bank itself.

However, insiders at Threadneedle Street insist it was not a number they came up with themselves.

It is understood that BBC reporters took the figure from a report published a year ago and then asked senior figures at the Bank of England to say if they thought it was reasonable. That conversation is believed to have taken place at the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington DC three weeks ago.

The Bank has asked lenders to ensure they are ready for all eventualities, including the possibil- ity Britain leaves without a deal. But it has not put a figure on how many long-term jobs might eventually disappear. The 75,000 figure came in a report published last October by consultant Oliver Wyman for TheCityUK lobby group.

But spinners went into overdrive after the BBC reports, using the suggestion that the Bank itself was predicting 75,000 job losses to bolster their argument that highly-paid financiers must get special support.

Ironically, TheCityUK was particularly keen to piggyback on the institution’s authority, saying the figure was ‘consistent’ with its analysis.

Chief executive Miles Celic said: ‘This is another reminder that a “no-deal” Brexit will be no good for the industry, for customers or the economies of the UK and the European Union.’