When the UK legally leaves the European Union on 31 January, the City of London will no longer be able to escape the hard truth that it has been abandoned by the British government.

The free-trade agreement London and Brussels will soon start negotiating will be all about goods. It will not cover services, let alone financial services, because throughout the course of last year, UK governments under both Theresa May and Boris Johnson showed less interest in concluding a comprehensive agreement than in hurrying towards the EU exit.