Bernard Ginns

The Bank of England needs to pay more mind to the hard-pressed

When the Bank of England is not indulging employees with the kind of taxpayer-funded hospitality that would make a bailed-out banker blush, its lofty and unelected officials might like to consider how they could help us ordinary mortals in the new year. 

It has emerged that the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street spent nearly £100,000 of our money on its annual summer party, just weeks after the Brexit vote tossed the country into economic and political turmoil. 

Following a Freedom of Information request, the central bank admitted that it lavished more than £94,500 (excluding VAT) on food, entertainment and the venue for the Governors’ Day event, with nearly another £4,500 on ‘other’ costs. 

It hosted the bash at its very own sports club in Roehampton, south west London, which sounds exactly like the sort of establishment that exemplifies the depressingly deep divisions in modern Britain. 

With its sports hall for indoor tennis, badminton and cricket as well as a relaxation suite offering a steam room, sauna and jacuzzi, a 20m indoor swimming pool which opens onto a sun terrace, lawn and ‘some of the finest outdoor facilities in the country’, this is a world away from the disrepair and disregard of what passes for recreational facilities in the austerity-hit parts of the country that voted most resoundingly against the status quo in the EU referendum. 

As if to underline this gaping chasm, anyone aged over 10 must carry an identity card at all times, and while families may add their nanny or au pair to the family membership, these interlopers must not use the facilities independently. 

The Bank of England defended the expense of Governors’ Day, saying it is ‘a long-held tradition that is open to all employees – including members of the...

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