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Wednesday, 3 April 2019

Brexit: It's all in the mind.

You are excused if you do not know that there is a legal challenge to Teresa May's attempted delay of Brexit, when she requested an extension to Article 50 date for leaving EU, because none of the regular media outlets seem to know anything about it either, if their lack of coverage is any indicator.

Even following Gina Miller's successful challenge, I, among many, will be surprised if our judiciary are sufficiently independent to overturn the assumed position now, and declare that Britain did, in fact, leave EU on 29th March, but hey, stranger things have happened (or so I am reliably informed).

Whatever the outcome, this situation does raise an interesting point.

If the extension was illegal, and we are no longer members of EU, then all trade carried out since 29th. was conducted over the Brexit cliff edge that we've heard so much about. Indeed, we are all now tumbling, or have already tumbled, over said precipice.

Now, this really is interesting, because all those medicines that were to be in such short supply, and flights that were to be cancelled and every other disaster that was to befall us, never happened of course.

The Irish 'backstop' and border, didn't interfere with anyone or anything, and all those illegal transactions that took place and tariffs that weren't collected, will just have to be adjusted over the next weeks and months, prices changed, books accounted and forms filled, just as businesses always do. In truth, that's exactly what they always do.

Every time that production costs, regulations, the price of fuel, VAT or any other tax, changes, then businesses adjust and prices reflect those variations. It's what happens.

If prices rise too high, less is sold, or different suppliers are sought, that's also what happens.

The point is, that these are all man-made or market obstacles, with man-made or market solutions, and there is no cliff-edge outside the fevered imaginings and machinations of the EU and it's complicit comrades.