UK LABOUR WARNS BIG BANKS

LONDON'S vast financial services industry must never again be the ''masters of the economy,'' the opposition Labour finance spokesman said one last Saturday in a speech accusing bankers of profiling from speculation at the expense of ordinary people.

John McDonnell, a veteran socialist who is now seeking to reassure business, promised higher taxes and tougher regulations on banks on the 10th anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers - the pivotal moment in the global financial crisis.

In a speech outside the Bank of England, McDonnell said ordinary people are still paying the price for the crisis through falling living standards and cuts to public services.

''One of the key lessons to be learnt from the crash is that never again must we allow finance to become the  master of the economy, rather than its servant,'' McDonell said, according to the excerpts of his speech.

''Labour in government will put to finance to work for the real economy.''

With Prime Minster's Theresa May's government weakened by her Conservative Party's  infighting over Brexit, Labour is hoping her minority government will collapse.

Most recent opinion polls show Labour level with the Conservatives, meaning they could form the next government, although the next election is not due until 2022.

Despite his previous antipathy towards bankers,  McDonnell  is trying to win the support of  financial leaders  just as  former Labour leader Tony Blair helped prepare his party for power in what was dubbed the ''prawn cocktail offensive'' in the 1990s.

For example McDonnell went for talks with the  Wall Street bank  Goldman Sachs earlier this week to discuss Britain's upcoming departure from the European Union. [Agencies]