All Plain Sailing from Here……..

Wetherspoon's boss decries Brexit 'doom-mongering'.

JD Wetherspoon's chairman has said pre-Brexit "doom-mongering" by George Osborne, the Bank of England and other economic institutions could cause a future economic slowdown. Tim Martin, who was a vocal supporter of Brexit, called into question their "honesty" and economic judgement. His comments are in the firm's latest trading update, which saw like-for-like sales rise by 4% in the final quarter. Total like-for-like sales for the year to 10 July increased by 3.4%. He singled out comments made before the referendum vote by the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, as well those from Bank of England governor Mark Carney and outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron. In May, Mr Martin printed 200,000 beer mats criticising Ms Lagarde for saying that a vote to leave the EU would be "pretty bad to very, very bad". In Wednesday's trading statement, he also said that the CBI, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, PWC and many FTSE 100 chief executives supported a "negative view" of Brexit. Mr Martin said: "In my opinion, the above individuals and organisations are either dishonest or they have a poor understanding of economics, since democracy and prosperity are closely linked and the EU is clearly undemocratic."

Merkel says negotiations with UK will be difficult.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said negotiations between the UK and the rest of the EU on leaving the bloc will not be easy. She said it was important that the 27 other member states asked themselves what kind of EU they wanted. Mrs Merkel was speaking before it was confirmed that Theresa May is to become the UK's new prime minister. Meanwhile Austria's finance minister, Hans Schelling, warned that "Great Britain will become Little Britain". Speaking as he arrived in Brussels for talks, Mr Schelling predicted that Scotland and Northern Ireland would not leave the EU following the referendum. Both voted against so-called Brexit.

Philip Hammond: Financial markets 'rattled' by Leave vote.

The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has said the UK's vote to leave the European Union has "rattled" financial markets. He added the UK would face "challenges" in managing the economy, because it had suffered a "shock" as a result of the Brexit vote. He said the decision had caused companies to put plans on hold. The challenge was to send "signals of reassurance" to kick-start investment and spending decisions, he said. He added he did not anticipate the need for an emergency Budget as a result of the Brexit vote. Mr Hammond said the outcome of the referendum had surprised the markets and business. However, he said the fact that the Conservatives had "moved quickly" to elect a new leader would help to restore confidence. He said he would be holding meetings today to assess "where the economy is". Mr Hammond also said he thought Bank of England governor Mark Carney was doing an "excellent job".

Housing market 'falters amid Brexit campaign and vote'.

The supply of homes on the UK market fell at its sharpest rate to date and buyer demand hit an eight-year low as Brexit was confirmed, surveyors say. House prices are expected to fall across the UK in the next three months, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) survey suggested. The dip in prices is only expected to persist over the next year in London and East Anglia, surveyors predicted. This is the first significant housing survey judging the impact of Brexit. The Rics survey reflects housing market sentiment among the institution's members. In its June survey, it said surveyors across the whole of the UK were generally expecting prices to fall in the coming three months, with 27% more surveyors expecting to see prices decrease rather than rise in the near term. That will be welcomed by potential first-time buyers but met with disappointment by property investors and many homeowners.

Brexiteer Lord Wolfson warns over cuts to immigration.

One of the business world's most prominent campaigners for Brexit has told the BBC that a big reduction in immigration will damage the UK economy. Lord Wolfson, chief executive of Next, said: "Any move to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands would be very dangerous for the economy." It sounds, at first, like a curious thing for a Leave voter to say. But Lord Wolfson insists that immigration was NOT the key issue for many who wanted out of the EU. Now the result is in, he hopes new alliances can be struck between members of both sides which will be good for business. Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Lord Wolfson said: "I believe we should gain some control but we can either try and trade our way out of this mess or we can try and protect ourselves by erecting barriers to trade and movement of people. If we try and protect our way out of this, we are doomed." That may be good for business, but many voters will feel that is not the prospectus they were offered by a Leave campaign that he sided with. I put it to him that if immigration is not reduced below 100,000 in a few years’ time, many voters will feel betrayed. "I voted Leave and I certainly won't feel betrayed - you only have to go into our hospitals and other services to see the vital role immigrants play in our country."

PM is 'willing to listen to options' on Scotland.

Prime Minister Theresa May has told First Minister Nicola Sturgeon she is "willing to listen to options" on Scotland's future relationship with the European Union. But after talks in Edinburgh, Mrs May appeared unwilling to consider a second referendum on Scottish independence. She said people in Scotland sent a "very clear message" in 2014. Ms Sturgeon said blocking a referendum, if it was wanted by the Scottish people, would be "completely wrong". The first minister believes Scottish interests have been put "at risk" by the result of the EU referendum. She has said she wants to explore all options - including independence - to maintain Scotland's relationship with the EU.

[Has it been only four weeks since the Vote? It’s hard to believe really. It’s even harder to believe that it’s still newsworthy, still being talked about all over Europe, still being argued about all over the country…. Of course one thing people over here still fail to understand is that the British people have only expressed an opinion. We haven’t left yet. There’s a legal challenge (so I understand) working its way through the system and, of course Parliament gets the final say. Then it’s Article 50 of the Treaty of Rome and then it’s up to 2 years to work that through. As Article 50 won’t be activated this year (so we’re told) we’re looking at leaving the EU in 2018/19. After that we can START renegotiating the terms of our new arrangement with the Continent. Fun, isn’t it!]

All details above from BBC News website.