All 3 UK parties have issued their election pledges now - the question is, who should get the banker vote?
'The Liberal Democrats' five-point plan to reform the banking system would:
1) Limit cash bonuses to £2,500 annually, with any bonuses in excess of this figure to be paid in shares which could not be sold for five years
2) Ban board directors from receiving bonus payouts
3) Extend the Financial Services Act so loss-making banks were not allowed to pay bonuses
4) Ensure the names of all banking employees earning more than the prime minister (£197,689 per year) were published
5)Lead to directors of banks being fined if their institution broke the industry's code of practice'
NO THANK YOU
Thus it's Labour vs. Tories; who do you think serves us best?
The only idiots who vote for the Lib Dems are idiot students. Forget the Lib Dems. They are a joke and will never win.
Vote Tory! Voting Tory would stick it to the populace who seem to hate success.
Not thrilled about the Tory immigration cap, especially as it relates to London as a financial capital:
"The Tories were today attacked by business leaders for the first time during the election campaign over its plans to bring down immigration.
A City lobby group representing many of London's biggest companies and banks savaged David Cameron's proposal to curb the number of migrants.
London First claims the move would threaten British competitiveness at a time when the economy is still in the early stages of recovery."
So they should just change the name of the city to Londonistan and be done with it already?
That's hilarious.
One of the reasons I detest the decrepit two-party system in America is that it ends up being two sides of the same coin, and prevents third parties from publishing truly amusing party platforms like the one above. Some of the off-the-wall shit we see proposed here in France really makes voting interesting.
Nobody votes in the U.S. anymore because it's fucking boring.
How does that plan fit in with the Liberal part of the Lib-Dems? I was under the impression that they were a solid 3rd party so this is pretty disappointing.
None of the candidates are really favorable for finance given the political climate, but David Cameron and his Tories are the lessor of 3 evils. Gordon Brown will be more harsh on bankers simply because he has to atone for his previous sins, namely the fact that he was riding our dicks through the boom.
All the hard talk is chat. Britain is dependent on the city for so much of its jobs and tax revenue; and that's not just the direct employment but all the ancillary employment - the reason so many large law firms, consultants and businesses are located in london is because of the effect of the city. The lib dems would try and implement this policy and rapidly see bankers work around it rapidly and if not see the economy collapse underneath their feet. It's blatant electioneering.
To respond to braverman, who clearly hasn't work in finance, around half of the workforce at most UK BBs have immigrated from other places. They are as responsible for London's place as a financial capital of the world, and will be needed if we want to stay there.
I think it's summarised like this;
The liberal democrats have been getting high off their own supply - they'd kill banking, and all the other city work that depends on it - all the businesses that use ibanks, their advertisers, lawyers, accountants, shoe shinners, saville row suit shops etc.
Labour wants to give more for more - that's taking money out of the economy and putting it in government's pocket - don't think that's the smartest move, and if they were going to do it, probably best to increase capital gains rather than income tax.
Tories wants to give less for less - how much less, who knows? Also, think they have a very hazy plan for how they intend to repay all this debt, and I have the feeling they'd just let inflation soar for a couple of years to clear a chunk, which wouldn't be smart.
It's classic minimalist state vs active state political economics. Gordon Brown makes economics too political, with notions of social justice and fairness, which have no place in economics.
I'm actually stuck. I think Nick Clegg(Lib Dem) would be a good leader but his financial reform policies are nuts.
Tories ... not a fan of the immigration policy as mentioned above and I also think it's too early for rapid cuts in government spending.
Labour's slogan ... "'a future fair for all". I'm afraid of what the fair part might mean and am not keen on the tax increases.
I'm leaning towards a vote for the Lib Dems (essentially, a vote for a hung parliament). All three parties are adamant on the need to reduce the fiscal deficit but their differences occur in the timing of this. I think the fact that all 3 parties agree something needs to be done though will be good enough to appease the markets and not lead to a blowout in government debt yields if the elections result in a hung parliament.
Don't be a bender Bateman. I know you want to vote Tory.
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