Apparently the Economic News is bright….

Post-Brexit sterling slump costs Easyjet £40m, says boss.

The boss of Easyjet says the airline has seen its costs increase by £40m ($53m; €48m) in just four weeks, as a result of the pound's drop in the wake of Britain's vote to leave the EU. Carolyn McCall told the BBC the drop had made fuel - which the firm pays for in US dollars - more expensive. She added that the increased cost of travelling abroad is deterring some British holidaymakers. Sterling has lost more than 10% of its value against the dollar since Brexit. Ms McCall's comments came as Easyjet released its quarterly results, which warned that the company is earning less from each passenger. Although passenger numbers have been rising - up to 20.2 million - extreme weather, air traffic control strikes and terrorist attacks have all contributed to the drop of almost 8% in "revenue per seat", a key measure watched closely by investors.

Opel head says 'Brexit decision not a good omen'.

The head of Opel has described the UK's decision to leave the European Union as "not a good omen" for General Motors in Europe. Karl-Thomas Neumann said in a video message that the outlook for the second half of 2016 was going to be "anything but easy". Despite reporting a global second quarter profit of $2.9bn (£2.1bn) in the period between April and June, a 157% rise from last year, Opel's parent company GM said it would cut costs across Europe. It said it was concerned about currency depreciation and market disruption. "We are facing strong headwinds at the moment, particularly in our largest market - the United Kingdom," Mr Neumann also said in the video, which was posted on his twitter account. The European division, which includes the Vauxhall brand in the UK, reported a second quarter profit of $0.1bn, its first profit in five years. Nevertheless GM indicated cost cutting was on the cards as the effect of Brexit could cost it up to $400m. GM did not give out specifics about where those cuts would come from. The company's chief financial officer Chuck Stevens said "everything is on the table".

Financial markets have 'weathered' Brexit uncertainty.

Europe's financial markets have "weathered" the uncertainty caused by Britain's vote to leave the EU, according to the president of the European Central Bank (ECB). Mario Draghi said markets had displayed "courage and resilience". In its first rate meeting since Brexit, the ECB voted to leave key interest rates unchanged. But Mr Draghi signalled the ECB was ready, willing and able to act to boost Europe's economy if needed. The main interest rate has been held at 0% and the ECB said it expected rates to remain at record lows or fall to lower levels for an extended period of time. The bank deposit rate was also maintained at minus 0.4%. A negative rate means banks must pay the ECB to park their cash and is designed to encourage them to lend. The ECB's stimulus programme, where it buys €80bn of bonds a month, has also been left unchanged and will run until March 2017 and beyond "if necessary".

Brexit plunges UK economy to worst level since 2009, data suggests.

Britain's decision to leave the EU has led to a "dramatic deterioration" in economic activity, not seen since the aftermath of the financial crisis. Data from Markit's Purchasing Manager's Index, or PMI, shows a fall to 47.7 in July, the lowest level since April in 2009. A reading below 50 indicates contraction. Both manufacturing and service sectors saw a decline in output and orders. However, exports picked up, driven by the weakening of the pound. The report surveyed more than 650 services companies, from sectors including transport, business services, computing and restaurants.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said the downturn has been "most commonly attributed in one way or another to 'Brexit'." "Given the record slump in service sector business expectations, the suggestion is that there is further pain to come in the short-term at least." Mr Williamson added that the economy could contract by 0.4% in the third quarter of this year, but that would depend on whether the current slump continued. Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the figures provided the "first major evidence that the UK is entering a sharp downturn". Although he added that the "confidence shock from the Leave vote might wear off over the coming months".

McGuinness 'cannot see how Common Travel Area can survive'.

Martin McGuinness has said he cannot see how the Common Travel Area between Northern Ireland and the Republic could survive in Brexit negotiations. The arrangement allows the free movement of people between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. But the deputy first minister said that is now at risk, adding that he viewed that prospect "with great alarm". First Minister Arlene Foster said there was a need to be "innovative" on how to "police" the Irish border. They were speaking ahead of a specially convened meeting of the British-Irish Council (BIC) to discuss the implications of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

'No hard Irish border', says Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

There "will not be a hard border" on the island of Ireland in the wake of the UK's withdrawal from the EU, the taoiseach (prime minister) has said. Enda Kenny was speaking at a specially convened meeting of the British-Irish Council (BIC) to discuss the implications of Brexit on Friday. He said: "We do not want to see a European border internally on the island of Ireland.  "There will not be a hard border from Dundalk to Derry." The Common Travel Area allows people to move between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland without passport checks. But Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister said on Friday that he could not see how that arrangement could continue after a Brexit. "The economic implications for us in a withdrawal from the European Union are very profound, costing us over a period of ten years anything in the region of £7-8bn and possibly even more," Mr McGuinness told a press conference.

[Of course it’s pretty much all about the economy – although the issues with the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was an interesting complication I hadn’t considered. The last few days it’s been quiet all round. The newspaper headlines are back in summer silliness mode and a whole range of things have pushed Brexit off the front pages. I guess what everyone’s waiting for is hard data to see exactly what the economy is doing presently. Personally I haven’t seen any obvious signs that things have made a turn for the worse. Maybe I was wrong about the whole thing? Maybe…..]

All details above from BBC News website.