Andrew Dismore

At the London Assembly plenary today concerning the work of London and Partners, Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden challenged Gordon Innes, Chief Executive of London and Partners and Sir Edward Lister, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Chair of London and Partners, over the risks of Britain leaving the EU.

Andrew Dismore Questions London & Partners about Brexit from Andrew Dismore on Vimeo.

Mr Dismore asked:

‘In your Business Plan you state that you are focused on “Proactively targeting international and European headquarters functions”. What modelling have you done, about the implications of a British exit from the European Union for this objective?

On being informed that there was no such modelling, Mr Dismore said:

‘Some multinationals have already expressed concerns about the risk of Brexit and suggested they may be scaling back what we have here already if it happens, such as Nestlé, car companies Hyundai and Ford, and US investment bank Goldman Sachs.’

Mr Innes agreed with Mr Dismore, that if Britain ceased to be a member of the EU it was going to be a lot harder to persuade global firms to base their HQs in London.

However, Sir Edward said that London and Partners would not take a position on the EU membership referendum, even when reminded of the views of the CBI.

After the plenary, Mr Dismore said:

‘The response from the Mayor’s chief of staff was deeply disappointing. It must be self evident to most impartial observers that it will be much harder to attract major companies to set up their European HQ operations and to invest in London, if we are outside the EU. Our continental partner and competitor cities will be laughing all the way to the bank. Instead of playing Conservative Party games on the EU to advance his own personal position, the Mayor should say clearly that he supports the UK’s continued membership of the EU as being good for London and the rest of the country and should allow London and Partners to do the same’.

Notes for editors:

1 London and Partners Business Plan:

“We will attract foreign direct investment and help London businesses to win export contracts. In addition, we will help to strengthen London’s economic reputation by communicating the Capital’s business propositions to investors and influencers. Working closely with UK Trade & Investment and our London network of commercial partners, we will focus our resources on attracting higher profile and value investments. We will proactively target international and European headquarters functions”.

2 The CBI’s response to the Mayor of London’s Europe report stated:

“We should not underestimate the potential pitfalls of alternatives to full EU membership. Being outside with limited influence could leave us at the back of the queue for signing good quality trade deals with major economies and also hamper our access to the EU market itself”