Brexit madness (1)

We should by now be well accustomed to the capacity of our politicians to spout endless bullshit, and of our news services to take such bullshit seriously. However seldom has that bullshit seemed more endless and pointless than in the current Brexit ‘debate’.

For example, as I write, so-called Brexiteers are crowing over the fact that the British economy seems to be booming, despite the woeful predictions of the Remoaners. This is to ignore the fact that we have a least two years to go before we do actually Brexit, and no idea of what that will actually involve, rendering any judgement at this stage utterly meaningless. Instead, what our economy is currently experiencing is the reaction of the world to the inevitable uncertainty that surrounds our decision to do so.

Very predictably, the most immediate effect of that uncertainty has been a drop in the value of the pound, by about 15% in comparison to the dollar, with the result that our exports have become rather cheaper. With that in mind it is hardly surprising that we’re selling more cars, or attracting more tourists.

On the other hand, our imports have become correspondingly more expensive. Given that most industries buy ahead, it takes longer for such increases to filter through to the consumer, but already we are seeing signs of inflation, and it seems unlikely that government or industry will raise wages accordingly, despite Theresa May’s hand-wringing over those who are “just about managing”. In times gone by, increased inflation was frequently dealt with by an increase in interest rates, but any attempt to do that will elicit screams of pain from those who are already only “just about managing” to pay their mortgages, so that lever seems unlikely to be used any time soon.

Maybe we are all sailing towards a better, brighter Brexited future, who knows? But at this stage, all we can really say is that we have entered uncharted waters, and the last thing we need is yet more bullshit.