“We’re still a globally minded country.” UK minister for Europe Alan Duncan, amid the appointment of MEP Guy Verhofstadt as European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator.

Britain’s Brexit negotiator David Davis faces a tough few years with Guy Verhofstadt and Michel Barnier playing for the EU team.

MEP Verhofstadt is passionately pro-EU and was terribly disappointed in the way the UK’s Brexit campaign was run on an anti-immigrant, anti-EU platform. He also objected to MEP Nigel Farage’s abusive and extreme behaviour in the European Parliament (EP).

Who could forget Farage accusing the other MEPs of never having worked a day in their lives?

In the latest irony, Farage said that Verhofstadt’s appointment was insulting.

The EP would have to approve any final plan for the UK to exit the European Union. It has already signalled it doesn’t approve the UK’s goal of keeping the single market while dropping all other aspects of membership, like common security, EU laws and contributions to centralised funds from taxes.

Changing governance

In related news, the UK’s minister for Europe Alan Duncan visited Cyprus earlier this week and commented on the Brexit, saying: “Brexit is going to happen, we will be leaving the EU, because that is how the people voted, but we are still an outward-looking country.

We are still a globally-minded country and we are not leaving Europe, we are merely just changing the manner, in which we are governed and we will still be a full member of the trading world and a full part of the world community and that would include perhaps a deepening bilateral relationship here in Cyprus”.

Article 50 still hanging

The UK’s government is in the process of planning its negotiating positions and has not yet triggered Article 50, which is the official procedure of leaving its membership.

Economic performance in the UK is already being impacted, with the Pound Sterling falling to decades-low levels and inflation rising amid lower interest rates.

Easier borrowing and a weak Pound mean that inflation is a real threat.

Inflation leads to less value for the country’s currency and higher, more unaffordable prices domestically. While exports may rise temporarily due to the weaker Pound, this effect may not last amid inflationary pressures.

All the expert economists’ opinions were brushed off by the politicians who led the Brexit campaign. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned of a 25 percent drop in GDP, a stark opinion that was branded as fear-mongering.

It’s not. It’s simple economics. Risk losing your EU trading partners and single market conditions, and watch investor confidence and economic performance drop - at least medium-term.

It could take many years after the Brexit for the UK’s economy to re-emerge as a stable one on which international investors can rely.

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