I also liked him because of his background. My grandfather moved to the UK around 55 years ago. Out of his children, one became a doctor, while the other two worked as postmen. My mother was a dinner lady at a primary school. Despite this, my brother and I both qualified as doctors, as did two of my cousins who, like us, were raised by fathers who were postmen.
We had the gift and curse of the immigrant mentality, where education was everything. We were pushed relentlessly. There was little room to explore or take risks the way our wealthier peers could. The difference in opportunity was stark. One of my best friends was gifted an entire house, complete with a swimming pool. Another received a flat for her Bat Mitzvah at just 13. Beyond that, their families had the means to move into the best school catchment areas, pay for private tutors, and provide the safety net of never needing part-time jobs during their studies. They had quiet, spacious homes with dedicated study spaces, while we grew up in cramped housing, with little privacy and nowhere to study in peace. When it came to work experience, they had connections to secure placements in top firms and hospitals, while the rest of us had to figure it out on our own.
The Docklands may have opened its doors to some working-class employees, but that doesn’t mean real social mobility had taken hold by the 2000s or that they had a meaningful foothold in finance. Being a trader or investment banker at Citi is an entirely different level from working in a middle-office or support role. Gary has shared his lived experiences and the biases he faced within the industry. I haven't read every single thing about him, but while he has criticized left-wing groups for not understanding financial markets, I haven't seen evidence that he claimed none of his colleagues at Citibank had progressive or leftist views.
Finance today is still dominated by people from elite educational and social backgrounds. Proximity to London doesn’t automatically grant access to powerful networks, and having two working parents doesn’t mean wealth or connections that smooth the path into finance.
When you grow up knowing there is no house deposit waiting for you, no family safety net, it changes the way you approach life, education, career choices, and financial decisions in ways that people with generational wealth often don’t have to consider.
It’s fair to question how actionable Gary’s ideas are, but he has consistently advocated for wealth redistribution through fairer taxation, higher wages, and a reformed banking system that isn’t as exploitative. He has also pushed for financial education to be made more accessible so that working class people can better navigate a system that often shuts them out. One can debate the feasibility of his ideas, whether they are truly practical solutions or just catchy slogans but dismissing them outright because they aren’t immediately implementable ignores the complexity of tackling inequality. Change doesn’t happen overnight; it starts with shifting perspectives and pushing for systemic reform.
Controversial, but I don’t believe wealth taxes are the best solution. Greater transparency and accountability could be. Taxing the super-wealthy more heavily to redistribute their wealth sounds fair on the surface, but higher taxes can discourage investment and innovation.
agreed. Same with presentation.
I’m sorry but how thick does he think his audience is? He’s about 2 or 3 decades too late with this narrative, like the docklands regeneration by virtue of where it is opened its doors to nearby working class folk to work in these new buildings (and not just building them - tho my dad did!) in the 80s & 90s? I don’t think it’s particularly progressive to completely erase their contributions so Gary can have his hero narrative?
he set my spidey senses off too!