Tory win could see HSBC leave UK

Not even the sound and fury of a general election campaign could obscure the magnitude of worry in recent days over HSBC’s future in this country.

The banking giant has indicated it is giving serious consideration to moving its headquarters away from the UK because of what it called the “uncertainty” of David Cameron’s plan for an in/out EU referendum.

In a further blow to an already floundering Tory campaign, Unite is now warning that the impact of jobs on HSBC quitting the country would be disastrous.

Backlash
Unite national officer for finance, Dominic Hook, said that even the prospect of HSBC considering moving from London “is just one of the negative backlashes that uncertainty about this country’s future in the EU is causing.
“Such a move would be a matter of serious concern for the 48,000 people that HSBC employs in the UK,” he said in a stark warning.

 
“We are asking for an urgent meeting with the management to thrash out the potential implications of such a move.

 
“We see great benefits for HSBC staying in the UK, as London remains the world’s premier financial powerhouse” Hook added.
Labour seized on the surprise announcement as evidence that the party’s pro-European stance was good for British business and warned the Tories were on the wrong side of the argument.

 
“David Cameron is playing fast and loose with Britain’s prosperity,” Labour’s shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna said.

“HSBC could not have been clearer that the big risk on the horizon is the prospect of the UK exiting the EU. Its statement is a big snub to the Prime Minister and his European policy.

“David Cameron is allowing EU policy to be taken hostage by Nigel Farage,” Umunna added.

 
The Tory leader was originally opposed an EU referendum – before being forced to backtrack by right-wingers in his own party and the looming threat of Farage’s UKIP.

 
HSBC – which is valued at £120bn according to the stock market – has been based in London since 1992.

 
However a recent meeting of investors is said to have led to questions being asked about whether to remain long-term in the UK capital in the event of a vote to leave the European Union.

 
HSBC chairman, Douglas Flint, has sought to reassure customers and workers, saying no decision on whether to move its HQ abroad had yet been made.