Labour’s first act on coming to power in 1997 was to denationalise the Bank of England. Central bank independence is part of the neo-liberal project, designed to advance the interests of capital at the expense of labour. Capital favours this policy because it helps to prevent democracy choosing economic policies that capital opposes.

Without control of the Bank, all Labour’s grand plans will inevitably fail. An independent Bank will behave as its Governor Mark Carney did when Prime Minister May criticised his policies. He said: “We are not going to take instruction on our policies from the political side.”

History also shows that if you don’t own the keys to all the banks but try to nationalise certain other industries and talk of an investment bank in a ‘mixed economy’ you will fail,

Will Podmore

Clavering Road, Wanstead