Every part of Britain is suffering from this catastrophe but many hardest hit sectors – aviation, hospitality, music, retail, theatre, tourism – have huge importance in London. The arts, another key part of London’s vibrant resurgence accounting for one in six of its jobs, were also simply abandoned despite their soft power strength in so-called Global Britain. Then Boris Johnson – a former London mayor – ignored the capital in his desperation to secure a deal so the City lost unfettered access to European markets and must find a path through the blizzard of rules from 27 individual nations. Philip Hammond, after being appointed chancellor, met with Theresa May to say he presumed they needed to focus on protecting the City in talks with Brussels – only to be told not to bother since this offered the chance to tilt towards other parts of the country. Incredibly, the Government pushed ahead with Brexit despite the lack of a deal on financial services, although they contribute 10 per cent of taxes. Data already shows Amsterdam overtook London as Europe’s biggest share trading centre last month while New York is scooping up more of the derivatives market. It is too soon to see the full impact but we know law firms registered staff in Ireland, stockbrokers moved trading to Holland and funds shifted to Luxembourg. Its turnaround was built on back of the City becoming Europe’s financial hub. There was good reason why London voted strongly to Remain. They looked like ghosts from a different era, a time when my home town was filled with bustle and hope.
This question struck me on a lockdown walk when I saw a row of half-built tower blocks with cranes looming over them silhouetted against the sky. Tax rises and handouts threaten to dent Rishi Sunak’s status as darling of the Tory party
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