Quiet always descends on the City of London in August, as bankers and brokers head for the Med. But the hush this year is more ominous than restful. London, for so long a robust, swaggering centre of global finance, finds itself in a defensive crouch. Mergers and acquisitions departments are all but dead. When they happen at all, stock market floats are more often than not heading to New York. It appears London is falling, and the consequences for the rest of us could be momentous.
Take Flutter Entertainment, the British gambling giant. The seeds of its plan to emigrate were sown last November, when the company behind Betfair and PaddyPower held an open day for investors in New York. A hip-hop soundtrack greeted shareholders
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