Brexit is more likely to be a horror show than a happy ending, especially with a Bank of England rate hike

David Brown says amid political squabbling and companies threatening to move jobs out of the UK, an interest rate hike would be totally inappropriate

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An anti-Brexit campaigner from global activism group Avaaz sets up cardboard cut-outs of Conservative Party MPs, who are known to support remaining in the European Union, outside Parliament in Westminster, London, on June 20. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:00pm, 25 Jun 2018Updated: 10:26pm, 25 Jun 2018

Let’s be quite clear about this. Brexit is no magical mystery tour for Britain heading into a brand new, bright and breezy future outside Europe. As the Brexit row deepens, Britain seems hell-bent on heading into a national political, economic and social disaster. All the signs are pointing to Britain being stripped of its prestige hallmarks as a successful, modern industrial state. It is fast becoming a backwater of political failure, economic ruination and social decay.

Who would want to be in UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s shoes? She has an unenviable task on her hands, negotiating the impossible and meeting the baffling challenge of leading Britain into an easy way out of Europe. She is not so much walking a tightrope between intractable “remain” and “leave” rebels in her own government, but walking the plank into political oblivion. By all accounts, Brussels is already preparing for a hard Brexit. The outlook could hardly be bleaker.

The main worry is that nobody has any real clue what Brexit means for the future. Britain is simply heading into dark uncertainty, where all cosy notions about growth, trade, government finances and international relations have been blown out of the water. There are no economic models that can safely tell us what happens next.

Brexit might have a happy ending, but chances are it will be a horror show, given the present political squabbling. Britain’s three main Brexit progenitors – trade secretary Liam Fox, foreign secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davies – seem all at sea over the best way to exit Europe while inflicting the least damage on the nation’s future prosperity. Instead of a consensus, there is massive infighting and rampant speculation about Davies’ threats to resign.