Sir, Alistair Darling is too complacent. Strip out his spin and the facts support President Sarkozy’s boast, namely that the City in future will be regulated by Brussels, not London (“We are in charge now, Sarkozy tells the City", Dec 2). Indeed, the commissioner in charge will be French.

The Chancellor confirms that the UK will merely supervise the EU regulations. Undoubtedly, this supervision will itself be subject to EU oversight, and to the European Court of Justice, whenever Brussels is displeased with the way that London does things.

Tim Ambler
Fellow, Adam Smith Institute
London SW1