As the Conservative party conference appears to be ratcheting up the anti-EU sentiment within the party, a ‘hard Brexit’ seems more likely, even though, ironically, some of the conference centre was actually funded via EU cash.
The anti European hyperbole and Theresa May’s fears of being attacked by the right of her party, led her to reveal that article 50 will be invoked by March 2017, this means the UK will be out of Europe by 2019. However, there may be a lot of turbulence in the UK economy during this period.
This deadline has meant that the pound fell 0.5% to only $1.276, the worst performance since 1985.
On the eve of the EU vote the pound was at a robust $1.50 and it slid to $1.32 as the result came in and the UK decided that being part of the EU wasn’t for them.
PM May said: “We have voted to leave the European Union and become a fully independent, sovereign country. We will do what independent, sovereign countries do – decide for ourselves how we control immigration.”
Now the new Chancellor, Philip Hammond, admitted the UK economy will be on a “rollercoster” in the coming years, and will try and inject funds into the economy to weather the expected storm.
Hammond said: “We have to expect a period when confidence will go up and down – perhaps on a bit of a rollercoaster – until we get to a final agreement, where businesses and consumers can understand what the future relationship between Britain and the European Union will be.”
The FTSE 100 share index has risen above 7,100 for the first time since April 2015.