Are we having Fun yet….?

Brexit: Japan warns firms may move European HQ out of Britain.

Japan's government has warned that Brexit could result in the country's firms moving their European head offices out of Britain. The strongly worded report from Japan's foreign ministry says the firms might want to move "if EU laws cease to be applicable in the UK". It calls on Theresa May's government to behave in a "responsible manner". Downing Street received the report earlier this week, the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg understands. Japanese firms employ an estimated 140,000 workers in the UK, with Nomura bank, manufacturing giant Hitachi and carmakers Honda, Nissan and Toyota all having major bases in the country. The letter warns: "Japanese businesses with their European headquarters in the UK may decide to transfer their head-office function to Continental Europe if EU laws cease to be applicable in the UK after its withdrawal." Specific companies are not mentioned, but the document states that it was written in response to "a variety of requests from Japanese businesses operating in the UK and the EU".

The report was published on Friday before Prime Minister Theresa May went to China for the G20 summit, where she will explain what Britain's decision to leave the European Union might entail. At the G20, Mrs May said she would use the summit to scope out trade deals so they could be signed quickly after the UK's exit from the EU. President Barack Obama, however, stressed that the US would prioritise trade talks with the Asia-Pacific region and the EU.

Brexit: Ignoring Leave vote would be outrage MPs told.

Ignoring the outcome of the EU referendum would lead to public outrage, MPs have been told as they debated the future of Brexit. Ex-Tory minister John Penrose said any attempt to bypass the Leave vote would be "corrosive" to public trust. But Labour MP David Lammy said the public had been "lied to" and a further vote on the Brexit deal was the only way out of the "constitutional crisis". A public petition urging a new EU vote has attracted four million signatures. The debate came as Brexit Secretary David Davis told MPs leaving the EU would offer "new freedoms and horizons" but the government would take time to get it right.

UK 'needs more bureaucrats for Brexit', says ex-diplomat.

The UK government will have to hire extra civil servants to cope with the "phenomenally large task" of negotiating Brexit, a former top Foreign Office diplomat has said. Sir Simon Fraser was a trade negotiator in Europe and permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office until July 2015. "I don't think we can avoid an increase in bureaucracy," he said, stressing a need for expertise in trade talks. "Serious thinking has barely begun on the substantive issues," he said. Mr Fraser told reporters in London that he expected Prime Minister Theresa May, Chancellor Philip Hammond and the new Brexit Minister, David Davis, to be the key players in negotiating the UK's exit from the EU. Besides Mr Davis, Mrs May gave top posts to two other leading figures in the Leave campaign: Boris Johnson became Foreign Secretary and Liam Fox International Trade Secretary. Mrs May has promised to deliver Brexit because the Leave camp won with 52% of the vote on 23 June. But she will not trigger Article 50 - the formal mechanism for starting Brexit - until next year.

EU nationals living in UK 'cannot be identified'.

There is no reliable data to identify EU nationals in the UK or the length of their stay in the country, immigration minister Robert Goodwill has said. He told MPs this lack of detail would not affect Brexit negotiations as he could not foresee a situation in which all EU nationals were told to leave. Ministers say they cannot guarantee EU nationals living in the UK the right to stay without reciprocal assurances. But Labour's Chuka Umunna said this stance was now just a "pretence". Prime Minister Theresa May has said she would expect to guarantee all EU citizens currently living in the UK the right to remain after the UK leaves the EU but this will depend on other EU countries offering similar assurances to British citizens living there. Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee for the first time since he was appointed in July, Mr Goodwill said EU nationals made a major contribution to the UK economy and society - in areas such as the health service and agriculture - and he could not envisage a circumstance in which they were told to go home. Pressed by Mr Umunna, he said the government did not have the means of tracking down all EU nationals were it deemed necessary to remove them. "No we are not in a position and I could not foresee a circumstance where we would want to be in that position," he said. "I can't see a situation in which we would even think of that."

UBS says 1,500 jobs may go after the UK leaves the EU.

The Swiss banking group UBS says that up to 1,500 of its jobs in London may be moved abroad once the UK leaves the European Union. The bank has previously said that a "significant percent" of its London workforce would be moved if Brexit became a reality. The bank employs around 5,000 staff at its offices in London. Earlier, the Lloyds of London insurance market said that after Brexit some of its business would move to the EU. "We currently employ more than 5,000 people in London, and probably 20% to 30% of our workforce could be affected," the UBS chief executive, Sergio Ermotti, told the Japanese business newspaper Nikkei. "We believe that London will continue to be an important financial centre, although maybe not as important as it is today," he added.

Mark Carney says Bank actions reduced impact of Brexit.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has defended his action to mitigate the impact of Brexit. He said the Bank took "timely, comprehensive and concrete" action, which acted to "support, cushion and help the economy to adjust". Last month's rate cut to an historic low of 0.25% helped support house prices and the wider economy, he added. He added he was "absolutely serene" about the Bank's preparations for the impact from the Brexit vote. Mr Carney was being questioned by MPs on the Treasury Select Committee about how the Bank handled the referendum outcome and its decision to cut interest rates to a record low. The Bank was criticised by Brexit supporters for saying the economy would be hit from a vote to leave the EU. But Mr Carney said the Bank's decisions had so far been "validated". The "extraordinary preparations" made by the Bank "cushioned" the economy and will help the UK "make a success of Brexit", he told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee. He said the Bank's actions were made in an effort "to help make the leaving of the EU a success as quickly as possible. This financial system, under the oversight of the Bank of England, sailed through what was a surprise to the vast majority of financial market participants," Mr Carney said.

All details above from BBC News website.

[Now that Teresa May has (finally) announced the provisional date for Article 50 the pound has slumped – again – to its lowest level for 3 years. Just wait until was actually enact the Article and start the clock ticking! You also may have heard the noise of various Conservative ministers’ hedges their bets and setting up scapegoats ‘just in case’ it all goes horribly wrong. Cold feet anyone?]