In a marked break with the approach of Jeremy Corbyn as leader, Ms Dodds said Labour was ready to form a “genuine partnership” with the financial services industry if it was ready to play a “responsible” role in the UK’s recovery from coronavirus and the development of a green economy.
In return, she assured an audience of City financiers that Labour would form a responsible government that “knows the value of one of our most important sectors and seeks to maximise it”.
In a speech at Bloomberg delivered by video link, Ms Dodds attacked the record of Boris Johnson’s government for neglecting the needs of the UK finance industry in Brexit negotiations and delivering “inadequate and unfair” support packages for parts of the economy worst-hit by coronavirus.
“We’ve still had nothing from the government on what will happen to those companies who’ve taken out loans and find themselves burdened with unsustainable debt, despite the finance sector’s best efforts to draw attention to the issue,” she said.
“There’s still no word on the mysterious Project Birch plans to support our most strategic industries. Above all, there is still no proper plan to see the country through to March.
“That’s completely irresponsible, in a situation where the UK is experiencing the worst economic downturn in the G7 – and where the OECD yesterday forecast that our recovery will take longer than the rest of the G7, too.”
Ms Dodds said the Covid-19 pandemic had laid bare the weaknesses of the UK’s financial settlement, with too many families in debt or without savings, shortcomings in governance at failed companies like Carillion and BHS, exploitation in supply chains for firms like fashion retailer Boohoo and a “fire and hire” culture at businesses from British Airways to Pret A Manger.
“When we emerge from the crisis we must deal with those challenges- of financial resilience, inequality and poor corporate practice,” she said.
“We all want life to return to normal. But that cannot mean a return to business as usual. We should never again let our country, or our economy, be so vulnerable to external shocks. Because we count the cost of that in lost jobs and businesses gone to the wall.
“Financial services have an essential role to play in the recovery, and in laying the foundations for a better, more secure future. In fact, the recovery cannot happen without them.“
Offering an improved reationship between the financial sector and Labour under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, Ms Dodds said: “It doesn’t have to be like this. Politicians and financial firms should be working hand in hand to lay the groundwork for our recovery. I want us to have a genuine partnership so that together we can deliver security and opportunity for every part of the country.
“I’ve said today what a responsible financial services industry might look like.
“My promise in return is that from Labour, under new leadership, you would get responsible government.
“A government that plans for the long-term, not chopping and changing every five minutes. A government that knows the value of one of our most important sectors and seeks to maximise it. A government that, once it has set the regulatory framework and the operating environment, will do all it can to ensure stability.
“That way, businesses and finance can plan for the future and deliver the fair and sustainable growth, and much-needed jobs, that every part of our country deserves.”
