Yahoo Finance Is Labour really about to turn the Bank of England into the Bank of Brum?
The Bank of Brum or the Brum of England? Jokes like that about Labour considering shifting much of the Bank of England to Birmingham probably go down about as well as corked champagne at its Threadneedle Street HQ.
I’d imagine some of the more opportunistic headhunters are already getting ready to field calls from highly qualified staff crying, “I’m a banker, get me out of here!”
Not from those at the top of the tree, you understand. We aren’t talking about all its functions and you can bet that the Governor’s office won’t be among them.
Senior staff would, anyway, probably find a way of splitting time between the two cities if it came to that, eventually becoming the first HS2 commuters when the high speed link between London and Birmingham finally opens. Most likely sometime after 2050 given the way these projects traditionally work in Britain.
At the risk of having pins stuck in voodoo dolls made up to resemble me by furious staff, however, this is far from the worst idea Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has had.
The suggestion is that a relocated Bank could sit next-door to the National Investment Bank and the Strategic Investment Board, both of which Labour plans to create.
It would be a visible symbol of its attempt to rebalance the economy and wean it off its over-dependence on the City of London’s financial centre, which is anyway set to shrink as a consequence of Brexit.
While the Bank’s people regularly get out and about, a central location might better serve to put their fingers on the regions’ pulse, guiding policymaking in their interests.
It’s not as if the Bank would be alone up there. Office space in Birmingham is a lot cheaper than it is in London, and that’s attracted the attention of a number of financial firms, most notably HSBC, which is headquartering its UK bank in the city.
Channel Four is resisting plans for a similar move, just as the BBC resisted the creation of Media City in Manchester. The excuses are different (Channel Four says it’ll take the broadcaster away from where most of its advertisers are to be found) the latter seems to have worked out well enough.
But, but, but Birmingham?
Sit down to a balti curry and the idea could grow on you. If that fails there’s always the fact that you can buy a decent sized house for less than the price of a garage in Kensington & Chelsea.
The place has a cultural life, and it’s less than an hour from Shakespeare central at Stratford-upon-Avon. Cheltenham is only a bit further if the sport of kings is your thing.
And, of course, it might not happen.
It’s just possible to see a subtext at work in what Mr McDonnell is up to here.
Could it be that, with Labour contemplating a dose of economic radicalism such as this country hasn’t seen since Margaret Thatcher left office, it is seeking to send a message: Play nice. Or else.
