Post-EU, the City should become an attractive venue for parallel markets

At a crucial moment when government and City should be working together, there is a gaping void, writes Chris Blackhurst

Use the City to deliver UK economic growth, a new report suggests (Getty)

Let us face it: no one likes bankers. Through their own greed and hubris, they blew what little PR capital they had, with the 2008 crisis and their lamentable failure to accept responsibility.

For too many in the City afterwards, it was business as usual and that included still awarding themselves large bonuses. Claims their remuneration had actually reduced fell on deaf ears, as their pay, even when it dropped, was so far out of step with ordinary people.

The fact that none of them were prepared to front the criticism, to explain their role, added to the sense of arrogance and disdain. I well recall the puzzlement at Goldman Sachs that the words of their then chief, “We do God’s work”, subjected them to ridicule. They just didn’t get it.