Gareth Thomas, a former business minister, has tabled a 10-minute rule bill that would require banks to measure, disclose and improve how they serve underserved communities and smaller firms. The proposal mirrors the US Community Reinvestment Act, which obliges American banks to demonstrate how they support poorer areas and small enterprises. Thomas said the cost of living crisis had exposed deep weaknesses in access to affordable credit across the UK economy.
Partners in life and in art, the couple build much of their practice around their community in Walthamstow, east London. Their previous project involved setting up an artist-run bank, selling their own currency notes and using the proceeds to buy back 1.2m of debt owned by ordinary local people. This latest film charts an even more ambitious undertaking: to equip the houses on their street with solar panels, transforming the neighbourhood into a power station.