The Banker reposted this
Journalist, editor, writer l Author of the Virgin Money Maker by Virgin Books l Former editor and journalist at The Financial Times l Ex business and money editor at The i Newspaper
Exclusive: When The Labour Party came to power in July last year, banks and the rest of the financial services community had deep concerns about what the left-wing party’s arrival might mean for their profit margins. Indeed, in the run-up to the election, Keir Starmer was busy describing himself to journalists as a socialist, while Labour’s political manifesto spoke of fiercely protecting consumers and rebuilding the country’s public services as a result of the “mess made by banks”. The mood music was not great for lenders. But now, 16 months into Starmer’s spell as prime minister, it is clear the PM’s bark was much worse than his bite, with the government pushing through a dizzying number of financial reforms in order to cut red tape for the industry. And now figures compiled by The Banker show HM Treasury ministers have held many more meetings with banks in the 12 months to June this year during Labour’s time in office than the previous 12 months under the Conservative party, with some banks seeing an eightfold surge in contact. Banks and the industry bodies that represent them say there is nothing sinister about the rise but campaigners are deeply concerned that banks are now wielding too much power. Read more in the story by Aliya Shibli and I, which is free to read, featuring Mick McAteer, James Daley, Giles French, Andy Donald, Richard Davies, Mark Fairless, Jesse Griffiths, Cleo Rank, Chloe Musto, Positive Money UK, UK Finance, Monzo Bank, HSBC, Allica Bank and ClearBank https://lnkd.in/ekbTFKiS