Why does Labour need to suck up to the City? Britain’s economy is stifled by too much finance | Nicholas Shaxson

In power, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves will regret falling for propaganda about ‘competitiveness’ and ‘engines of growth’

Before the 1992 general election, Labour leaders facing a tight race embarked on a self-abasing tour of the City of London, mocked as the prawn cocktail offensive. “Lunch after lunch, dinner after dinner, the assurances flow,” trolled Michael Heseltine. “All those prawn cocktails for nothing. Never have so many crustaceans died in vain.”

He was right: the Conservatives won a fourth consecutive victory.

Nicholas Shaxson is co-founder of the Balanced Economy Project

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