Vote in our poll on whether the Prime Minister should consider action, such as cutting fishing quotas when the transition period ends in 2026 or slapping tariffs on the EU, in response to France taking the UK’s financial services crown. And let us know more about what you think by scrolling down and leaving a comment.
Our poll comes as countries across the EU including France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany are desperate to attract businesses from London.
The Bank of France’s governor said on Tuesday that Brexit had led to nearly 2,500 jobs and at least €170 billion (£150 billion) in assets moving from the UK to France by the end of last year.
And he insisted businesses would continue to abandon Britain throughout 2021.
Francois Villeroy de Galhau told a press briefing: “In spite of the pandemic, almost 2,500 jobs have already been transferred and around 50 British entities have authorised the relocation of at least €170bn (£150bn) in assets to France at the end of 2020.
“Other relocations are expected and should increase over the course of this year.”
Mr Villeroy de Galhau added that the UK’s departure has forced the EU to develop its financial autonomy.
And he urged for Brexit to be used to create a functional “union of capital markets” in the EU.
Mr Johnson admitted after he struck his post-Brexit trade deal with the EU in December that he had not got all he wanted on financial services – which is a hugely important sector for the UK.
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Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak last month hailed Brexit as giving the UK the chance to strike a new path for financial services, while pledging to make the City of London “the most attractive place” to list new companies.
He said: “Our financial services industry is something we should be enormously proud of.
“It’s something we are globally best in class at, contributes an enormous amount to our economy, employs over a million people across the country, not just in the City of London.
“I made a statement about the future of our financial services industry a little while ago, talking about our future, making sure that this remains the most competitive, dynamic place to do business anywhere in the world, that we remain open to creating new relationships with lots of different trading partners – for example, Switzerland most recently – but also that we remain the most technologically advanced place to conduct financial services.
“I think that ambitious vision was warmly welcomed by various stakeholders.
“Now that we’ve left the European Union we can do things a bit differently and we’re embarking on that journey, for example, examining how we make the City of London the most attractive place to list new companies anywhere in the world.
“But this deal also provides reassurance because there’s a stable, regulatory co-operative framework mentioned in the deal which I think will give people that reassurance that we will remain in close dialogue with our European partners.”
