United Kingdom

Kate Wilson won a legal battle against the Metropolitan Police after discovering her long-term boyfriend was an undercover officer

One of the world’s largest banks threatened to leave the UK if the government increased tax on banks at last year’s autumn budget, openDemocracy can reveal.

The head of US banking giant JP Morgan Chase (JPMC) was among several industry leaders to personally meet with Rachel Reeves last autumn, amid speculation that the chancellor planned to raise tax on banking profits to help fill a £22bn “blackhole” in public finances.

In the end, the tax hike did not materialise. The government has since announced a range of cuts to tackle the funding shortfall, including slashing departmental budgets, disability benefits and the winter fuel allowance for pensioners.

Now, documents obtained by openDemocracy show that a representative of Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMC, wrote to Reeves after the meeting to say the bank would consider moving parts of its business abroad if taxes increased.

The paper, due to be voted on tomorrow (20 May), means Labour will ban trans women from:

❌ All-women shortlists ❌ Women's Conference ❌ Being Women's Officers

The deal – which will grant EU fishers access to British waters for an additional 12 years – will remove checks on a significant number of food products as well as a deeper defence partnership and agreements on carbon taxes.

The UK said the deal would make “food cheaper, slash red tape, open up access to the EU market”. But the trade-off for the deal was fishing access and rights for an additional 12 years – more than the UK had offered – which is likely to lead to cries of betrayal from the industry.

The two sides will also begin talks for a “youth experience scheme”, first reported in the Guardian, which could allow young people to work and travel freely in Europe again and mirror existing schemes the UK has with countries such as Australia and New Zealand.

The government said it would put £360m of modernisation support back into coastal communities as part of the deal, a tacit acknowledgment of the concession.