Rachel Reeves to pledge Thatcher-style ‘Big Bang’ for City in Mansion House speech
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is to pledge a Thatcher-esque “Big Bang” in the City next week as part of her much-awaited Mansion House speech.
Reeves is expected to tell senior banking figures to ditch New York and Paris in favour of London or Leeds amid a commitment to slash burdensome regulation.
A Treasury source told the Sun: “Millions of Brits work in financial services, but for too long red tape and excessive regulation has choked off innovation and grown in the economy.
“Well, no more. Britain is entering a new era. We will slash regulation and make the UK the best place in the world to do business.
The person added: “Forget Paris, New York and Frankfurt – come to London, Leeds and Edinburgh. Rachel is determined to create a new Big Bang which will turbocharge growth in the economy for a new generation to put more pounds in people’s pockets.”
Ministers have sought to kickstart the City by slashing regulation, echoing Margaret Thatcher’s “Big Bang” of the 1980s. In February, the government ousted former CMA chair Marcus Bokkerink, prompting warnings over political inteference in regulation.
The Treasury is planning to reduce red tape and ramp-up growth by axing parts of the senior managers and certification regime, which covers nearly 140,000 finance professionals. Complaints have centered around delays in processing applicants to the scheme.
Reeves is also expected to outline plans to make the appointment of senior managers easier, by shortening the regulatory review period to two months, according to a report in the Sunday Times.
Ministers did not ‘directly’ discuss wealth tax
The Chancellor is under intense scrutiny over her handling of the UK economy in Labour’s first year in power, and has not ruled out further tax rises in the Autumn Budget. Many are also concerned over an alleged exodus of wealthy elite angered by changes to non-dom tax rules.
Speaking to Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the government would be guided by “fairness” on tax.
“I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that, at the budget, the Chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her, and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out,” Alexander told the programme.
“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that.”
Alexander also said cabinet ministers did not “directly” discuss a wealth tax this week at Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Chequers Court country house in Buckinghamshire.
Responding to Alexander’s comments, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Sky News: “That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn.”
“It’s nothing to do with fairness, it’s a symptom of Labour failure.”