11:01

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, has been at the heart of the City this morning pledging a “new start” for Labour’s relationship with the finance industry, though he warned that bankers may not like Labour’s policies on income tax, corporation tax or a financial taxation tax.

McDonnell said that Brexit was one issue where Labour and the financial services industry had aligned interests, saying the party was disappointed that economic factors had fuelled the leave vote. He said:

I think few people now dispute that these economic failures also contributed to the vote for Brexit in 2016, which we deeply regret.

His speech, which launched a Labour conference at the finance giant, is the latest in his efforts to court the City, having spoken earlier this year in at Davos and held regularly private meetings with investors and asset managers.

Opening in the speech, he joked that he was not “a raving extremist who is about to nationalise their company and send them on a re-education course somewhere up north.” Labour, he said, would be “open and transparent about our plans ... There are some policies that you will like and some of which you will be less enthusiastic about.”

However, he said, Labour would be “a radical, progressive, intervening government” and said the “hands off” approach would not deliver the growth the UK needed. He said:

We made it clear that Labour in government will intervene to shape the economy, and that willingness to intervene naturally includes the financial sector.

McDonnell said he wanted to get the City onboard with Labour’s plans. “There are no tricks up my sleeve,” he said.

When we go into government, we want you to come with us, alongside representatives from our manufacturers, our trade unions and wider civil society. There will be a seat at the policy making and policy delivery table for you. That’s the tone I have tried to engender at the many meetings I have had in the City.