The way things are looking, the City of London could be damned if the UK leaves the EU and damned a good deal sooner if it does not.
In the six weeks since David Cameron, the prime minister, promised a referendum on EU membership, we have been painfully aware an exit could inflict serious damage on financial services in the UK. Now the City, a magnet for global talent, is under fire from the EU itself with the move to cap bankers’ bonuses.
Immediate action is essential: the financial services industry drives 10 per cent of UK gross domestic product[CHKing . Yet Mr Cameron and George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer – both intellectually and politically astute – have been caught on the back foot by Brussels’ latest blatant attempt at interventionism. They have no choice but to assert – and maybe redefine – the strategic importance of the City.