If we all hold hands things will be fine.

[Workingman]

Suff, you and I, and many others, might write off the almost 1/3 who had no opinion, or did not vote, as being irrelevant, but Classical Democracy considers their position as relevant.

Their 'votes' might not be counted in the modern tally, but in some places and in some votes they can overwhelm the 'voters'. See the PCC elections as an example.

It is why some places set a minimum turnout as a legal minimum and that the 'winner' must get enough delivered votes plus 50% of the 'abstainers' to get 51% of the total vote. That is more democratic in the real sense.

We do not have that in the UK, but the fact remains that only 37% of the UK wanted Brexit and not the 52% the media keeps foisting upon us.

One of the really worrying things about the referendum is that voters, on both sides, either felt that their side had won or lost, locally, and so gave up. They did not understand that the referendum was nationwide and that every vote counted, no matter where they were.

I blame the media for that for going on about the Scottish or Welsh vote or NI vote, when no such vote existed.

[Suff]

I guess this is true.

But unless they can prove that they'll actually step out and vote at the next election and swing the vote, they have lost their say and it will stay that way. In fact it will be assumed that they won't vote at the next General election because they can't get exactly what they want. Something which could be a mistake or could actually be bang on.

I did notice that the £ started to bolt when both Hammond and Carney talked about QE not being refused by the government if it was asked for. I also noted that it regained pretty much all of the ground it had lost when Carney started talking about the fact that the crash in the £ would not be fully felt until the spring and that the current spike in inflation was mostly driven by other factors.

Very subtle messaging to say that they're expecting inflation to overshoot their predictions and that they will be constrained in what they can do when the economy is booming and inflation is rising. In that scenario the only way rates can go is up and QE is a total non starter.

That will feed through when the next MPC meeting happens next week although they will have priced in a "no change" result. The minutes will be a different matter and markets may start to re-value the £ when they are released.

After all, the best defence the BOE has against inflation, in the short term, is the increase in the value of the £..

[cruiser2]

Yes but, have you stocked up on whisky and shortbread?

Bought two bottles of good whisky when we visited Gibraltar recently.
It is for home consumption only.