The budget is a political mess but with an economic silver lining

After a dire start to the year for new listings in London, there have been indications of momentum in the past few months, with the initial public offerings of small business lender Shawbrook, the food company Princes and a smaller debut from the LED light-mask maker the Beauty Tech Group. But the first half was spectacularly bad: IPO fundraising in London dropped to £160m, the lowest level since 1995, according to data gathered by Dealogic. A shift by investors away from tech has flattered the FTSE, which is dominated by banks and consumer goods companies. Lloyds Banking Group’s stock is up more than 75% this year, while NatWest is up 57%.