This was one party Boris Johnson probably should have attended

It is reassuring to know that with the Cabinet in meltdown, there are people in Government who remain committed to partying. 

While the Prime Minister was facing a blizzard of questions in parliament about Sue Gray’s half-cooked report, Number 10 was doing what it does best, and hosting another gathering. 

Still, at least this one is unlikely to prompt a police investigation – not least because it was online. But for once this was a party that Boris probably should have attended. If you’re going to roll out the red carpet then it helps if the person meant to be standing at the end of it to warmly greet guests, actually bothers to show up, even if it is in a Covid-safe virtual-setting. 

Instead, with the Prime Minister summoned to the House of Commons, it was left to Chris Philp, the digital minister, and John Glen, the economic secretary to the Treasury, to attempt to woo the brightest and best of the UK and European tech scene, including Swedish “buy now, pay later” pioneer Klarna.

It’s a bit like being told you’ll get an audience with the Queen and walking in to find Fergie sitting there open-armed.

A cynic might question whether the charm offensive was little more than a desperate ploy to distract attention from Boris’s dying premiership.

However, there is genuine disquiet over the decision of some high-growth companies to snub London for the more entrepreneurial culture of New York.

Technology companies raised £6.6bn in Britain last year, compared to $92bn (£68bn) worldwide, with New York the clear winner.

The whole desperate charade exposes both a serious naivety and a fundamental misunderstanding at the heart of government when it comes to how financial markets work.

Ministers are blaming New York’s relative attractiveness compared to London on over-discerning, risk-averse fund managers in the Square Mile. But surely that’s something to celebrate, not mourn.

Comments from Philp are particularly worrying. The digital minister claimed that the City had a “cultural” issue that needed to be addressed and investors were “letting down” clients by “not investing”. What abject nonsense.

On the contrary, those that have shunned the steady procession of float flops should be applauded as it means they are being careful with the pension savings of ordinary people. 

The share prices of many recent London debutants are deep underwater. So is Philp’s ire directed at those that didn’t buy in from the outset, or those that subsequently sold out when it emerged that the reality didn’t match the hype? It doesn’t make any sense.