While London Rues Brexit, Paris Says ‘Merci’

When the UK left the European Union in January 2020, it marked the occasion with a commemorative 50 pence coin and a Whitehall light show. The mood today is closer to funereal than celebratory. A regretful population is mainly seeing worse inflation, declining public services and a potential recession — none of which was promoted on the side of the campaign bus. London Mayor Sadiq Khan is among the few politicians to break “the vow of silence” and say Brexit isn’t working; the Bank of England also sounds gloomy.

The rest of Europe is no economic picnic either, of course. Yet Brexit’s anniversary feels rather different from the continent, where some gains are being eked out to offset the pain of losing a big chunk of EU economic, trade and military clout. Just a few days after Khan’s warning that the City of London was being hit by a “loss of trade and talent” because of Brexit, London-based hedge fund Chenavari — founded by a French banker — cut the ribbon on its new Paris offices.