The Daily Mail headline that followed Carney’s press conference read, “Foreign workers drag down UK wages, says bank chief: Carney’s explosive intervention as number of EU migrants working here hits 2 million.” The Express ran the following emphatic headline: “Foreign workers ARE dragging down UK wages: Bank of England’s shock warning to Britain.”
But it wasn’t just the predictable Daily Mail and Express that ran the immigrant scare story: The Times headline stated, “Migrants ‘threaten economic recovery’.”
So how did the apolitical Central Bank suddenly make headlines usually attributed to Nigel Farage?
It seems the Canadian banker fell victim to the UK media’s drive for sensational headlines. What he actually said was: “In recent years, labour supply has expanded significantly owing to higher participation rates among older workers, a greater willingness to work longer hours and strong population growth, partly driven by higher net migration. These positive labour supply shocks have contained wage growth in the face of robust employment growth.”
Yes, Carney mentions net migration. But his first two points focus on British workers, which the Daily Mail and others conveniently chose to ignore. However, Carney clarified his comments on BBC Radio 4 the next morning by pointing out that the increase in labour supply is down to British workers taking more hours, and older workers staying in employment, and that over the last two years, increases in those two factors have been 10 times more important than migrants. In other words, you can blame your colleagues that stay late every day and refuse to retire for your stagnating wage.
Shortly after that clarification, the headlines began to look much more sensible: The Independent ran a story titled, “Bank of England governor Mark Carney says UK productivity not harmed by migrant workers.” Business Insider bluntly headlined its story, “No, Mark Carney is not anti-immigration.”
Of course it’s almost absurd that Carney, a foreigner who came to work in the UK, even has to defend himself against anti-immigration allegations. Still, what happened to him can happen to any business or prominent individual. The media can, and will, twist the truth. So that’s why it’s important to note that the Bank of England responded almost perfectly by having Carney quickly dispel any misunderstandings. In short, Carney and the Bank of England won this battle against bad press because they fought back in a timely fashion with the best weapon possible: The Truth.
This week Abchaps took some special guests to mingle with old friends at City institution Gulls Egg Luncheon at Merchant Taylors Hall; and attended Rushlight’s Cleantech event ‘Getting CCS in the UK to happen’, hosted by Smith and Williamson. Abchaps also headed to the Gorkana Media breakfast briefing with Bloomberg, to hear the Company’s new direction, including the newly launched Bloomberg Europe website and how PRs can use Bloomberg’s services to benefit their clients.
Two of our graduates also attended the next stage of their FinanceTalking training, “Finance Essentials for Communicators” focusing on understanding corporate finance and accounting concepts, as well as learning how to use numbers and KPIs in order to tell a positive financial story. Back at home, we hosted another successful Oil and Gas focused Market Lunch, where it was reassuring to see deals are still being for near term projects with good management teams.
Charles Russell Speechlys promoted Suzi Gatward to real estate Partner, whilst WH Ireland has appointed Roland Kitson Head of Business Development for wealth management. Paul Stevens, who has headed up Olswang’s international intellectual property practice group since 2013, was appointed Chief Executive of the law firm.
“Quarterly inflation report”: It’s normally about as exciting as the title implies, but this week the Bank of England’s forecast of economic conditions in the UK made headlines for Mark Carney’s supposed anti-immigration rhetoric.
This weekend, the international rugby 7s is coming to Twickenham, so celebrate in a carnival of fancy dress. For this year, the theme is ‘out of this world’. Go big or go home!
If beer, rugby, and aliens aren’t necessarily your thing, the Natural History Museum is holding an afterhours ‘Night Safari’. Seen as time travelling across three centuries, visitors will be able to see this cathedral of knowledge devoid of its usual madding crowds.
Finally, with spring finally showing its face, London’s rooftops are becoming pleasant places to be again. The Rooftop Film Club is one of the best ways of seeing a film, out in the open air, with cocktails and deckchairs.
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