Opinion: stop talking as though Brexit has already happened

There are so many people outlining how Brexit has affected us. But, as Rob Griffin points out, nothing’s actually happened yet. So let’s stop talking rubbish, OK?

It’s time to rejoice! All those dire warnings about the economic fall-out of Britain voting to leave the European Union have come to nothing.

It was all just silly scaremongering and everything is exactly the same.

In fact, we’re actually better off because the stock market is higher now than it was before the referendum.

Property values, which were expected to fall, continued to rise in the month after the Brexit vote, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The data shows that average UK house prices grew 8.3% in the year to July 2016, although this is slightly less than the 9.7% increase for the year to June 2016.

The FTSE 100 index of blue-chip companies enjoyed a 10% increase from the 6,261 points level the day before the vote to 6,941 points by early August.

Shoppers also defied expectations with official statistics revealing sales volumes in July ere 1.4% higher than the previous month.

Even the humble British Pound, which suffered a battering in the days following the outcome of the vote, has stabilised, albeit at a lower level*.

Surely all this positivity means it’s time to relax? Happy days, eh?

Pictured: a selection of news headlines published since the referendum

A selection of news headlines about Brexit

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No one knows

If only it was that simple. The reality is that we are yet to scratch the surface of how Brexit may affect our lives.

Forget the crowing of pro-Leave campaigners or the constant griping of ‘Remainers’ on social media: the outlook remains desperately unclear.

The eventual impact could be positive or negative.

No one is sure.

In fact, we’re no closer to knowing what lies ahead than when the debate was at its peak earlier this year because hardly anything has happened!

A political reshuffle

True, we’ve got a new Prime Minister at the helm, with Theresa May taking over after David Cameron fell on his sword in the referendum’s aftermath.

We also have a newly-appointed Brexit Minister, David Davis.

But as far as the nuts and bolts are concerned, all we’ve been told so far is that Brexit will happen…at some stage.

Despite May having been in the Remain camp, she has pledged to honour the decision of the electorate rather than take the undemocratic option of scrapping the idea.

The process of untangling ourselves from the EU will only start once the UK Government triggers Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty.

May hasn’t said when Article 50 will be triggered, although she has made it clear that it won’t happen before the end of 2016.

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Everyone has a view

Once that happens we will have two years in which to hammer out the terms of our split.

David Davis believes it will be an opportunity for us to seize ‘huge and exciting opportunities’ flowing from a new place for Britain in the world.

In a speech at the beginning of September he insisted there would be new freedoms, new opportunities and new horizons for our country.

“We can get the right trade policy for the UK,” he said. “We can create a more dynamic economy, a beacon for free trade across the world.”

However, others are not so confident. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, has warned that Britain could be facing a ‘lost decade’ after leaving the EU.

She told a meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s European Committee that the lack of clarity on what the UK Government is seeking to achieve was unacceptable.

“This idea that there can be a cloak of secrecy over the position of the UK government as it develops, I just think is untenable.”

It’s a fair point. Until we have a clear idea of the terms of agreements with the EU – especially how trade will be affected – any discussion is irrelevant.

We need to hold fire on the premature celebrations – or doom mongering, depending on your outlook – and wait for those in charge to provide us with a clear road map of how Brexit will work.

Only then will we know whether the brave new world we’re entering will see us prosper, suffer or simply stagnate.

What do you think? Have you found many people talking as though Brexit has already happened? Let us know what you think of Rob’s opinion piece in the comments section below.

*This line was amended at the request of the author. In the original version, it stated that the pound had "partly recovered" rather than "stabilised, albeit at a lower level", as it states now.