Lady Mayor of London: We MUST communicate up for the City or the entire of the UK will endure

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been asked, often in all seriousness, whether London is still safe. 

Senior business leaders from the US and the Middle East have called ahead of visits to ask if they can wear expensive jewellery, or whether their teams will be safe walking between meetings. I was flabbergasted. 

The picture they were painting simply doesn’t match reality. You won’t step out of your office and be swept away in a tsunami of crime. Some of this is being fuelled by videos circulating on TikTok, X and goodness knows where else – in some cases misleading, in others using AI – but all of it shaping perception.

Thankfully, international investors aren’t yet pulling back because of this. But these conversations are becoming more frequent, creeping into boardrooms and growing too loud to ignore. We need to push back and take ownership of our narrative before it starts to stick.

I would never claim there’s no crime in London, but perceptions of a ‘Lawless London’ are way wide of the mark. London remains one of the safest major cities in the world. Homicide rates are at their lowest levels on record and lower than those across US states and in cities such as New York, Toronto, Paris, Brussels, Berlin and Madrid. 

Personal theft is down 15 per cent in London compared to last year and just like other European capitals. The UK is also an incredibly stable place to do business: we have deep respect for the rule of law, an independent judiciary and world-leading regulatory systems.

The situation isn’t helped by our natural British reticence. While others are spreading false narratives about the UK, rather than sticking up for ourselves, we’re remaining tight-lipped and overly modest about our strengths. We are home to the most fintech unicorns in Europe, and the London Stock Exchange attracts over twice as much capital than any other European exchange. 

Our specialty insurance market, worth more than $187billion, underpins global trade and innovation. Without London’s brokers and underwriters managing complex risks, planes wouldn’t take off, ships wouldn’t sail and major infrastructure projects simply wouldn’t happen. But you wouldn’t think it when you hear people talk about the UK.

I fear we’ve become too hesitant to speak up and stand up for London and the UK when the heat is on. We’re operating in a new world order where competition is fiercer than ever. Rival financial centres would happily eat our lunch if we’re not at the table.

My mayoralty has, in many ways, become a positivity campaign for the City and the UK’s financial services sector. And for good reason. The UK’s financial services sector contributes 12 per cent of total tax receipts – roughly half the NHS budget. When the City is healthy, the country benefits. When the City is unfairly undermined, the whole UK feels it.

That’s why I’m asking the City’s trade associations to come together to champion a more confident, positive narrative – one they can share with their members and take with them on overseas delegations to help set the record straight about the UK’s strengths and successes in financial services.

This isn’t about saving face. It’s about protecting our position on the world stage, reinforcing trust in our institutions and ensuring that one of the UK’s greatest assets continues to support our country and its companies.

It’s time to push back on the naysayers and the doom-mongers. London is safe, stable, and remains one of the world’s great global cities. It is a fantastic place to live, work and invest, and that’s the London people know and believe in.