Mark Field, MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, answers your questions.
Malcolm: Do you still think your public attack on our campaign in Ealing Southall the day after polling was a good idea?
I must confess that my regret was failing to give due credit to all of those Conservative activists who worked tirelessly in Ealing Southall during the course of the campaign. The disappointment they must have felt at the result can only have been exacerbated by my intervention. For that and to them, I apologise.
I gave some thought to setting out, in letter form, the essence of my ConservativeHome article and sending it privately to the Party Chairman. However, I became increasingly dismayed in the hours after the declaration of the result at the sense of denial from senior figures in CCHQ. In short, I felt it was important that a more accurate analysis of the by-election and its implications was given a full airing.
From my experience on the ground as the Shadow London Minister in the eighteen months leading up to the last general election, I saw just how hard Conservatives in Ealing Southall have been working to embrace the local Sikh, Hindu and Muslim communities. Frankly the Party needs to learn from the very serious mistakes we made (especially the manner in which we were manipulated by the defecting Labour councillors during the campaign). Since 19 July I have received a number of letters from activists, councillors and Association officers in Ealing Southall, all of whom have expressed gratitude for my publicly taking a stand on this matter. I have also been sent several messages from members of the British Asian community in Southall agreeing with my analysis. I only hope that the Party will learn from this bruising experience for the future.
michael mcgough: As MP for the City of Londondo you detect a lack of enthusiasm or even hostility towards the EU by City firms, especially in respect of Mifid?
The City of London is now arguably the leading global financial capital. Whilst the EU is an important part of the mix, many financial services and related industries now have a keen eye on the growth of India and China, as well as the United States, as key trading partners.
One of the main reasons for the re-emergence of London as a truly international financial centre in recent decades has been the burden of regulation in New York. The emergence of the Eurobond and Eurodollar market came about as a result of the US withholding tax in the 1960s and 1970s. Similarly the effects of the Sarbanes Oxley Act in the aftermath of the Enron and Worldcom collapse have diminished the significance of Wall Street compared to London . The lesson is plain – we need to keep a constant eye on regulation and taxation and ensure that the regime in the City of London is not undercut by any of our global rivals.
That said, I detect a level of complacency amongst some City firms about MIFID. It is clear that some politicians on mainland Europe regard this all-embracing Directive as a way of reining in London’s predominance as Europe ’s financial centre. Nevertheless there are increasingly influential voices in Europe who recognise that the EU as a whole with lighter-touch regulation is well-placed, particularly in comparison to the United States , to attract work from South East Asia and fast-emerging former Soviet states as well as the oil and gas rich powerhouses in the Middle East
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