- The first problem is,
is that the government overdid the campaign of fear
and it was a disproportionate response.
We scared everyone so much
that now you can't get people back to work,
back in the city,
back to using public transportation, back into the schools.
And so what I really want,
is I want to introduce science-based decision making
back into the process.
And that's the problem, there isn't any science right now.
There's a horrible lack of leadership from our government.
There's a lack of communication,
and there's inconsistent messaging from our government.
We see it from the mayor of London.
We see it from other people as well.
We just don't see a consistent message here.
And we don't see the science
that's actually there to tell us what we can and cannot do
when it comes to our transport,
when it comes to how we communicate,
when it comes to our business practises.
And that's the biggest change that we need.
So, that's the fundamental bedrock, but more importantly,
we need the workers back in the city.
Now, I spent nine years
working in what we call the City of London.
If you're not familiar with this,
this is kind of the area that is wall street.
It's the financial district, it's the square mile of London.
And it's a major, major income engine
for not only London, but for the UK.
It probably is responsible for probably
between 5 and 10% of the entire economy.
It's very, very high.
And so, I believe that those are the workers
that we need to get back into this city.
Unfortunately, most of Canary Wharf
and the place around Bank of England,
most of those global companies
have told their workers to stay home until June.
And I think that that is a really bad idea.
And so, this is my suggestion that I have to make is this,
we get, and we speak to the top 25 global banks
and law firms.
And we asked them,
"What's it gonna take to get back to 50% capacity
by the end of the month of September,
what's it gonna take to bring your workers
back into the City of London?"
And again,
this is talking about hundreds of thousands of people
that are gonna come here,
they're gonna go out to restaurants,
they're gonna buy food during the day.
They're gonna go out to activities at night and bars
and clubs potentially open up cultural institutions.
They're gonna buy cars, they're gonna buy clothes.
I cannot emphasise how important this is
from a revenue standpoint and a growth standpoint.
Now, I realise anybody compromised because of their health,
anybody that can't come in
because of any type other conditions they have
or any parenting issues.
I know, but I'd like to have these conversations
with these institutions.
And actually this isn't unprecedented.
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday
in an article that JPMorgan in New York City,
has asked their staff to come back by September 21st.
And then here's a copy of that article.
They've asked for their entire sales and trading staff,
which is where I used to work when I was in New York City,
to come here back to work.
For two reasons.
First of all, they realise that remote work,
it's not certain that actually the most effective work.
And second of all,
they realise that it's an important engine for the economy.
And so there is a precedent for this happening
and it's happening right now in New York City
in the next ...
I think what ...
That's the next two weeks.
And so, I'd like to take the lead
of what JPMorgan is doing in New York City,
and really sit down with these companies here in London
and say, "What's it gonna take
to get your employees back to work?"
and really listen to what they have to say.
And I'm really open-minded.
Maybe it means that for anybody willing
to come into the location of London,
maybe there is income tax break.
Maybe there's a moratorium on their income tax
by 5% for the rest of the year.
Maybe it means they're getting vouchers to go out and spend,
but whatever it's gonna take,
I think we really need to get these people back in here
to kickstart this city because it is the engine.
And I wanna finish on a video of me
talking about some of these concepts,
again, with my friend, James,
both of us used to work in the city.
So, we know what these workers can do.
We know the kind of incomes they have,
and we know that them not spending here in London
is dragging this economy down.
I was in a black taxi yesterday
and we had the same conversation.
He said, "Look, I'm not even going
into the City of London anymore.
There's no one there.
And it's had a major dent on my income."
So, here's another clip of a video of me speaking with James
about this very concept.
We both used to work in the City of London
and it seems to me, the big elephant in the room
is all of these international banks and consultancy firms
that are just telling their workers, you know,
you got till March or June of next year to work from home.
It seems like a big mistake.
And it seems like if there was real leadership here
in the city, they could go speak with these firms and say,
"What's it gonna take, you know,
to safely get 50% of your workers back?
You know, what's it gonna take?
Is there a tax incentive?
Is there a way we can incentivize you as a company?
What can we do to have these conversations?
Because that's where you're talking about 20, 30, 40,
50,000 workers coming back.
That's gonna move the needle on
a lot of your businesses around here.
And it's a big chunk of GDP for the city.
- It is.
- And then these people spend money, right?
- They do.
- So, that's a potential idea.
- Yeah, that's a great idea,
but I think probably needs to go, you know,
both on the side of incentivized companies
and also making people feel safer.
And we need to stop the whole campaign of fear
and that needs to stop.
And we need to ...
As I said before, look at the risks,
look at the data and, like, evaluate that honesty.
- Yeah, no, I agree.
What we need is a real scientific study
and to compare these metrics to other metrics
in an unemotional way,
and then tell people what is the real risk.
I mean, I spoke to someone the other day
on London Real that said,
"If you look at the people under 50,
there was more deaths commuting,
than there would have been from say COVID.
And again, I'm not trying to downplay, you know,
that some people have died from this
and the severity potentially of certain people
with this disease.
But if you look at it statistically,
a lot of times it's more dangerous doing other things
like riding a bike to work.
So, but we're making massive decisions
that affect people's economic interests,
which lead to economic health,
mental health, physical health,
and just not being talked about
while the city slowly rots from the inside.
And it seems like people realise it months late.
"Oh yeah, we got to get London back to work."
It's like you and I have been talking about this
four or five months.
- Yeah.