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Comment: Keeping our global lead
Evening Standard Comment25 Feb 2008
The latest YouGovStone poll, which we publish today, shows that leading Londoners see a range of threats to the capital's global status, including to the role of the financial sector, the biggest single factor, a majority believe, in London's position. And as the City Corporation's Michael Snyder reminds us on the page opposite, there is evidence that the City's lead over New York is slipping. This is the subject of a major debate sponsored by the Standard and featuring the Mayor, Ken Livingstone, to be held this evening, on how London can stay ahead as the great world city.
The Corporation is clear about the most recent risks to London's position: threatened changes in taxes on non-domiciled foreigners and the Northern Rock debacle. Even the trade minister, Digby Jones, warned that the Government's vacillation over the treatment of Britain's 116,000 or so non-domiciled residents has upset investors from abroad. Today, this paper reveals that nine senior US executives in major international companies are planning to leave London as a result of the changes. Meanwhile, the Northern Rock debacle has done London's reputation for effective regulation no favours.
The City's vital contributionmust be protected. At a time when the public sector is in the red, London, the South East and East Anglia are the only regions that contribute more to the Exchequer than they take out. Londoners contribute nearly a fifth of all government tax revenues. Thanks in large measure to its financial and professional business services industries, it creates nearly a fifth of the UK's GDP.
But safeguarding London's future is not only a matter of overseeing the City well. Our poll today highlights other worries, too. Many the City employs face creaking transport infrastructure and high living costs. None of London's economic sectors will thrive if education and skills are not improved, crime reduced, the Tube upgraded and Crossrail begun at last. Not all these challenges can be addressed by City Hall but we hope tonight's debate will highlight some of the priorities for London's next mayor - above all, maintaining our competitive edge.
