London's verdict after Autumn Statement ignores the capital

THERE were a lot of words in Jeremy Hunt’s 53-minute Autumn Statement yesterday, just over 7000 of them all told by my reckoning. But one was missing... London.

- Jonathan Prynn

The Chancellor did not manage a single reference to the beating heart of the British economy which makes a bigger net contribution the Treasury’s coffers than any other region but also suffered a more savage downturn during the pandemic.

The capital is still recovering from the two years of lockdown and enforced working from home that deprived it of billions of pounds of spending from the commuters and tourists who stayed away while the pandemic raged.

So what did business leaders make of the plethora of announcements from the Chancellor yesterday. Hit or miss?

It seems to be a split ticket with the big employers of the City broadly welcoming the commitment to restore financial stability but smaller firms — particularly in the challenged hospitality and retail sectors — deeply frustrated by the lack of support.

Richard Burge, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “While we appreciate that working towards financial stability means accepting that some of the burden will be on British businesses, we don’t feel that businesses, particularly those in London and SMEs, will be adequately supported through this winter.