Boris Johnson: "Bankers are scum but they generate nine per cent of GDP"
London Mayor Boris Johnson is today arguing the case against legislation proposed for finance businesses. "I don't want to be hostile to Brussels but this is a naked attempt by Paris and Berlin to attack the competitiveness of the City," he says.
Boris Johnson is concerned that many of the financial companies to be targeted by proposed legislation from the European Commission were not involved in the financial meltdown and should not be subject to such stringent regulation.
"Lord Turner has gone slighty off the rails in undermining the competitiveness of the City of London," he told the BBC yesterday.
"People, in drawing up these directives, are paying attention to home governments that want to erode the competitiveness off the City of London."
"Bankers are the scum of the earth at the moment but they contribute huge sums of revenue to the Exchequer," continues the Mayor. "They are a vital part of our economy. I do think that for people who are suspicious of the motives of some of the other European governments, those suspicions are not wholly unfounded."
Watch the whole interview with Boris Johnson on the BBC News website.
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