Microsoft is furious.

Despite months of lobbying and negotiating, the UK’s competition authority determined yesterday that the internet firm’s proposed multibillion-dollar acquisition of game creator Activision Blizzard should be scrapped. It would have reinforced Microsoft’s position as a video game behemoth.

If the deal is not approved by the UK, US, and EU, it is very unlikely to be implemented.

Microsoft and Activision have both issued strong statements in reaction, with the former calling the move “bad for Britain” and the latter declaring that “the UK is clearly closed for business.”

Are they correct?

The CMA disagrees, claiming that defending the interests of British businesses is inherent in their decision.

The government would also say no way.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently discussed the “Unicorn Kingdom” – a unicorn is a company worth more than $1 billion that is not publicly traded – and an ad campaign aimed at Silicon Valley investors.

Various connections raised their virtual eyebrows at that, but Sunak’s vision of a wealthy UK is primarily based on technology.

IT Nation, which paradoxically lost government financing in January after ten years as a booster of the UK IT sector, valued UK tech enterprises at $1 trillion at the start of the year. Only the United States and China have surpassed this mark, according to the report.

Britain has a long history of technological invention. Radio, telephone, the Enigma World War II code-breaking machine, Dolby surround sound, and the World Wide Web were all invented in the United Kingdom.

So, where is our Apple, Google, and OpenAI?

I’ve visited the unflatteringly dubbed Silicon Roundabout tech district in east London and the elegantly named Silicon Glen in Scotland.