Wild predictions suggested the Square Mile would be devastated by the decision to quit the bloc, with Xavier Rolet, former chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, claiming more than 230,000 jobs could be lost. However, the reality has been rather different, according to a straw poll undertaken by The Economist, which asked ten City firms how many jobs had actually been moved abroad.
JP Morgan, for example, whose parent company’s chief executive previously claimed Brexit to cut 4,000 British jobs, will have moved fewer than 400 by the end of this year, while Morgan Stanley has relocated just 150 roles.
Professional services firm Ernst & Young, known as ey, said just 7,600 roles have moved from Britain to the EU since 2016,.
The New Financial think tank put the number even lower, at 7,400.
Robert Oulds, director of the pro-Brexit Bruges Group, told Express.co.uk: “It is shocking how the corporate establishment could be so very wrong about Brexit.
“In an attempt to undermine the referendum result and subvert democracy, the fear mongers contributed to a great deal of national pain and delayed our exit from the EU, preventing us from enjoying the benefits of Brexit until now.”
He added: “Either the prophets of doom made up scare stories to please political masters or they are incapable of doing their jobs properly.
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“The evidence was always clear that leaving the EU would be a benefit, it is disappointing that many self-appointed experts could not see that.
“If economists cannot dispassionately look at facts then that creates real long-term problems for the British economy.
“Until businesses begin to be able to look at evidence and form unbiased opinions they will not be able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
“The Bruges Group and other eurosceptics are happy to take them back to school.”
Like the Capital as a whole, The City has been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has predicted it will come roaring back to life once the economy is fully reopened.
Speaking earlier this month, he said: “I happen to think the London economy is capable of bouncing back very strongly and the way to do that is to get people back into the centre, get people moving again, get the agglomeration effects of a gigantic metropolis like London working again.
“I think that will all come back, I think it may take a while to all come back.
“But I’ve absolutely no doubt London will bounce back very strongly, particularly when we get life going again in the artistic, the cultural sector, the theatres all the rest.”
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