I don't think the majority of 'Out' voters would change their mind based on anything to do with the slump of the £ or if the economic performance worsens as the economy was not really what they were voting about.  In the same way that most people who voted In weren't doing so out of love for the EU, which is a wholly unloveable body, but were doing so on the balance of risk.

 

There won't be another referendum, in spite of what some of my fellow 'Remain' voters such as the Lib Dems and Tony Blair may say.  We will all have to respect the decision that was reached, just as all those who voted to not stay in the EU in 1975 (and lost) have done for the past 41 years - their respectful silence on the matter ever since has been an example to us all Smiley Wink 

 

If however, there was a referendum today based on knowing what had happened and been said since 23/6, I think the result would change to a slight majority to Remain, for a number of reasons.  I think there would be a chunk more young voters who would turn out, Scottish voters would turn out in greater force (33% didn't vote at all) and some voters would switch sides based on apparently believing originally a promise based on a mythical figure written on a bus !

 

From a personal perspective on sales, the crash in the level of the £ has meant that sales to the US have returned which is welcome, they had all but disappeared in the 3m before the referendum.

 

I'm not sure where all the paranoia from 'Outers' as to biased media comes from.  More of the media was 'Out' than 'In' given that vast swathes of what is presented to us is controlled by Murdoch who wanted Out thus setting the stance for his outlets, and the Mail, Telegraph and Express were also all 'Out'.  With a couple of newspapers staying neutral, there were very few press outlets that were actively campaigning to stay in.

 

The BBC will always get a bashing from the rabid extremes on either side of the argument.  It is by nature a liberal centre to centre left structure but is by a country mile the fairest and most balanced news organisation we have both here and arguably worldwide.  Being challenged on things you have said, done or promised is part of life, you can't just throw your toys out of the pram and claim the questioner is biased.

 

As to what happens next, we will have to wait and see.  The 'Out' campaign was very much an 'It'll be alright on the night' strategy, with everyone involved now either backtracking on what they apparently said or have resigned and left the stage.  We will have to spend a huge amount of time & cash to prepare for actually trying to leave, never mind what leaving will actually cost, and have no idea what 'out' will look like.  What we will never know, and will never be able to measure, is how would our country and economy look like in 5/10/20 years time had we stayed in, as measured against what it has turned out like having left.

 

In the meantime, the press will still be full of their own agendas and misinformation, depending on who you listen to or read.  Anything that goes well will be seized on as evidence that Brexit will be marvellous, anything that goes wrong will be the fault of Brexit.  Suffice to say that many of those who wanted 'out' will take all of the credit and none of the blame.  We see that already with the likes of the Express describing our Q3 GDP growth of around 0.5% as a surge, which is somewhat questionable given Q2 growth was higher at 0.7% and all sectors save for services declined. 

 

An earlier poster mentioned interest rates needing to rise for savers, but I think that is a pipe dream.  The BoE has already had to cut rates down to 0.25% as a result of the stimulus needed to deal with the Brexit vote fallout.  Huge amounts of today's mortgage borrowers would be really struggling if the interest rates went up to 1.5% or  2%, never mind a more normal level of 6-8% over the life of a mortgage.  Savers as a result will have no chance of getting a return of anywhere close to what they were used to before.

 

 

Mark

(Mark R's Books)