A senior economist at a major London hedge fund has branded the meetings held between Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell and some of the City's most influential companies as "comical".

The comments from Savvas Savouri, the chief economist at Toscafund, the $3bn hedge fund, come after BlueBay Asset Management said last month it had slashed its bet against the pound following a meeting with McDonnell that left the $57bn hedge fund firm "reassured" the opposition party could deliver a softer Brexit.