Still a way to go before we (actually) leave………..

House of Lords could delay Brexit, peer claims.

Conservative peer Baroness Wheatcroft has said the Lords could withhold approval of Article 50, the mechanism for leaving the European Union. There is currently some disagreement over whether Article 50 would need to come before Parliament. But former journalist Baroness Wheatcroft said if it did, "the Lords might actually delay things". The government has previously stated that Article 50 could be triggered through use of the royal prerogative. Speaking to The Times, the former editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal Europe and the Sunday Telegraph said that she hoped delays in the Lords of any potential Brexit legislation would lead to a second referendum. A legal challenge on whether the government can trigger Article 50 without the authorisation of Parliament will be heard in the High Court in the autumn.

Construction industry sees loss of momentum, PMI survey says.

Activity in the construction industry fell again in July, confirming "a clear loss of momentum since the second quarter of 2016", a survey has said. The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the sector fell to 45.9 last month, down slightly from June and below 50, which indicates contraction. The latest number suggests output in the construction industry shrank at the fastest pace since June 2009. The Brexit vote was the main factor weighing on activity, the report said. It follows Monday's survey indicating a sharp downturn in factory activity. On Wednesday, the PMI survey for the services industry will be released. The surveys are based on replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives and they are seen as one of the earliest indicators of the economy's performance. "Anecdotal evidence suggested that economic uncertainty following the EU referendum was the main factor weighing on business activity in July, especially in the commercial building sector," the report said.

Brexit 'means economy faces 50/50 recession chance'.

The UK has a 50/50 chance of falling into recession within the next 18 months following the Brexit vote, says a leading economic forecaster. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) says the country will go through a "marked economic slowdown" this year and next. It says inflation will also pick up, rising to 3% by the end of next year. "This is the short-term economic consequence of the vote to leave the EU", said Simon Kirby of the NIESR. Overall the institute forecasts that the UK economy will probably grow by 1.7% this year but will expand by just 1% in 2017. This would see the UK avoid a technical recession, typically defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.

Mr Kirby argued that the June referendum vote had led to such financial and political uncertainty that this would bear directly on the spending and investment decisions of both businesses and households. "We expect the UK to experience a marked economic slowdown in the second half of this year and throughout 2017," he said. "There is an evens chance of a 'technical' recession in the next 18 months, while there is an elevated risk of further deterioration in the near term." The pick-up in inflation to 3% will mainly be due to the recent fall in the value of the pound, but that should be ignored by the Bank of England the Institute said. "The Monetary Policy Committee should 'look through' this temporary rise in inflation and ease monetary policy substantially in the coming months," Mr Kirby said. The institute forecasts that the Bank will reduce interest rates to just 0.1% eventually, after cutting them to 0.25% later this week.

Rate cut 'foregone conclusion' as economy slows sharply.

The UK economy is contracting at its fastest rate since the financial crisis, making an interest rate cut "a foregone conclusion", according to financial data company Markit. The Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index that showed activity in the UK's dominant services sector saw its sharpest fall in seven years. It follows falls in both construction and manufacturing in July. The index fell from 52.3 in June to 47.4 in July, indicating contraction. The figure confirmed an earlier initial estimate of service sector output. Taken together with the manufacturing and construction data, Markit said a cut in interest rates by the Bank of England - expected following Thursday's meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee - was a foregone conclusion. Policymakers are widely expected to reduce rates from the current 0.5% to a new low of 0.25%. Earlier, economic think-tank the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the country would go through a "marked economic slowdown" this year and next. But it stopped short of forecasting a recession, saying the chances of the UK economy suffering a downturn in the next 18 months were 50/50. It says inflation will also pick up, rising to 3% by the end of next year.

UK interest rates cut to 0.25%.

UK interest rates have been cut from 0.5% to 0.25% - a record low and the first cut since 2009. The Bank of England has also signalled that rates could go lower if the economy worsens. The Bank announced additional measures to stimulate the UK economy, including a £100bn scheme to force banks to pass on the low interest rate to households and businesses. It will also buy £60bn of UK government bonds and £10bn of corporate bonds. Governor Mark Carney said there was scope to cut the interest rate further. The Bank also announced the biggest cut to its growth forecasts since it started making them in 1993. It has reduced its growth prediction for 2017 from the 2.3% it was expecting in May to 0.8%. Mr Carney that the decision to leave the EU marked a "regime change" in which the UK would "redefine its openness to the movements of goods, services, people and capital".

The £60bn bond-buying programme, which increases quantitative easing to £435bn, was approved by a vote of 6-3, with Kristin Forbes, Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale preferring to wait until more concrete data is available rather than relying on surveys. The extensive series of measures was revealed with the central bank predicting that inflation would rise above its 2% target as a result of the falling value of the pound. A weaker pound makes imported goods more expensive, which boosts inflation. The pound fell by 1% against the dollar following the Bank's announcement. Daniel Mahoney, head of economic research at Centre for Policy Studies, said: "The Bank's further loosening of monetary policy could prove problematic for the UK economy. The falling pound means that inflationary pressures are already building up, and today's decision will exacerbate them." The Bank has warned that there will be "little growth in GDP in the second half of the year", although the forecast for 2016 growth has been left unchanged at 2% as a result of stronger-than-expected growth in the first half.

[Of course it’s really all about the Economy. Everything else is garnish, smoke and mirrors. The idea of ‘taking back control’, although seemingly a powerful one, is nothing of the sort. In future we may indeed have more control over certain things but at what cost? That’s the real question. Really how much pain is it worth, for years if not decades to come, to essentially feel better about ourselves – possibly? I can’t help wondering how we got into this mess in the first place.]

All details above from BBC News website.