London and the UK's regions: who is subsidising whom?

The Financial Times is running a series on London and its international role, containing many interesting things, including this:

"the independent London Finance Commission, set up by the mayor, is examining ways for London to retain more of its revenues. It will publish its conclusions before summer."

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson -- who is a de facto lobbyist for the City of London and for financial deregulation (and, by the way, for News Corp. proprietor Rupert Murdoch) -- wants to take some limited tax revenues away from the UK's poorer regions and shovel them into the (admittedly magnificent) metropolitan monster on the Thames.

Before the London Finance Commission publishes its conclusions, it absolutely must read this, containing choice quotes such as. 

"The metropolitanisation of gains, and the nationalisation of losses."

And so must Mr. Johnson read it. Does he have a response?

London's taken enough from the rest of the UK already. More on this in the coming weeks.