Brexit’s ‘Project Fear’ Has Just Become Reality
Britain’s politicians have had the luxury of a relatively benign economy while they dithered and squabbled over the departure. Not any more.
Britain's political classes need something to sharpen their minds on Brexit. The country's economy has just provided it.
Photographer: WPA Pool/Getty Images EuropeWhen Britain voted to leave the EU in June 2016, most economists expected the country’s economy to decelerate sharply. The slowdown has finally arrived.
The sudden drop in economic activity at the end of 2018 raises the stakes for the British political class, which has been dithering over the future relationship with the EU as the U.K. enjoyed a relatively benign economic outlook. It also raises questions for the Bank of England, which has been pretty sanguine about the country’s future, before making a screeching U-turn last week.