Bank of England Governor Mark Carney backs The Big Issue

In times like these of technological revolution and financial insecurity, bankers offer comforting reassurance or menacing uncertainty.

For one of these bankers – Britain’s biggest, in fact – the way forward through this quagmire of change and ambiguity lies in The Big Issue’s ongoing mission to dismantle poverty against all odds – by learning from past mistakes.

Speaking at Canadian think tank Public Policy Forum’s annual awards dinner, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said: “I was walking in Edinburgh and there was a guy selling The Big Issue. It’s a magazine that’s sold by the homeless for the homeless.”

When your knees are about to buckle, crawl

You might be surprised that one of Britain’s top earners is taking inspiration from The Big Issue. We’re not, we’re confident in the way forward.

“My favourite feature in The Big Issue is a ‘Letter To My Younger Self’. These letters tend to have a wistfulness to them; a sense of lost opportunity or good fortune that wasn’t appreciated at the time.”

Carney described how he was inspired by our recent Letter To My Younger Self with megastar will.i.am, who told us: “When your knees are about to buckle, crawl. Do not give up.”

Carney explained: “The issue with these letters is because time doesn’t move backwards it’s too late for those authors to take their own advice,” he said. “These letters can still be useful, they’re useful for the young.”

Carney is a vital figurehead in financially securing Britain post-Brexit, and if he’s looking to us for answers, we’re assured he can steer us through rough waters ahead.

As Big Issue editor Paul McNamee says: “We will not give up.”

Main image: Bank of England