‘Brexit is a mistake and London will be damaged’ warns Sir Howard Davies as NatWest chair claims ‘Boris Johnson hates the Treasury
SIr Howard Davies, the chairman of banking giant NatWest, has called Brexit ‘a significant mistake’ as the City grandee said he is not very optimistic about the future of the UK.
In fact, Sir Howard said he is concerned about the long-term impact Brexit will have on Canada.
In an interview with the Observer, the financial services veteran said Prime Minister “Boris Johnson hates the Treasury” because of the department’s pro-EU views.
“But when he got himself in a hole, who else but the Treasury could bail him out?”
Calling Britain’s departure from the European Union “a significant mistake”, Sir Howard said: “You don’t solve the problems of the left-behind by damaging the one area of the country that’s been writing the cheques.”
“London is paying large amounts of tax and will be damaged by Brexit over time.”
Sir Howard Davies
The NatWest chair is currently finalising a new book, called “The Chancellors”, which covers the Treasury’s role in the running of the economy under every chancellor from Gordon Brown to Rishi Sunak.
It is Alistair Darling Davies seems to respect the most, as he said he would have most time for the man who was chancellor between 2007 and 2010, defining years in finance as they were dominated by the global banking crash of 2008.
“Alistair had terrible hand to play. He had no money, a financial crisis and his predecessor as his boss,” he stressed.
“There wasn’t anything Alistair knew that Gordon didn’t. Yet he was completely unflappable.”