Commenting on the launch of the London Finance Commission’s report, Devolution: a capital idea, Ben Rogers, Director of Centre for London, said:
“As laid out in today’s report, Brexit has strengthened the case for giving London the sort of tax powers that other large global cities – most obviously New York – take for granted.
“The economy is likely to hit difficult waters as we leave the the EU and London needs to be firing on all cylinders. Yet London’s present tax regime, designed and managed by the Treasury, is in many respects regressive and counter-productive. And Whitehall is now just too overburdened with the daunting task of making a success of Brexit, to run a world city and the engine of the UK economy”.
Ben Rogers was a member of the London Finance Commission. The commission was reconvened in 2016 by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan to review the fiscal powers London should have to invest in its infrastructure, deliver public services and to stay internationally competitive.