What is wrong with the government? The fact that it has been destroyed by the referendum doesn’t mean that it should no longer govern. It has a duty to keep the show on the road, and that includes demonstrating that Britain remains open for business. It needs to reassure, not simply shrug.

The campaign is over. The government may not like the way the vote went, but its duty is to urgently reprogramme itself and to make the most of the situation. Project Fear should not turn into a self-fulfilling Project I told You So. Sadly, it has, at times, felt as if the Prime Minister no longer really cares, and is refusing to take simple steps to stabilise the situation. All political careers end in failure, but sulking is never right.

The Chancellor has been little better, but at least he has unveiled a proposal to slash corporation tax to 15pc, a move which may well be enough to (for profitable firms) cancel out any freshly-imposed tariffs, were we ever to get to that. We need far more of this kind of thinking to cancel out the broken animal spirits in the City, and to paint a picture of a pro-growth economy.

The most outrageous, unacceptable and economically damaging failure of the past 12 days is the way EU residents who reside and work in Britain have been left in the lurch. The Leave campaign explicitly stated that all such people would be allowed to live here when we leave the EU; the only people making an issue and claiming that this wouldn’t be true were certain elements of the Remain side. The issue was put to rest when Leave firmly pointed out that this wasn’t its policy, and it cited - convincingly, in my view, the fact that international agreements such as the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties mean that acquired rights (to reside, in this case) don’t suddenly vanish if the underlying treaty is repealed. Under the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which would still bind the rest of the EU post-Brexit, “collective expulsions are prohibited”.

David Fuller's view

Here is a PDF of Allister Heath’s article.

A degree of confusion and paralysis among failed politicians following a momentous and at the last minute, unexpected result such as the vote in favour of Brexit is a concern.  It certainly adds to uncertainty at a time when people are looking for leadership, and this has a negative economic impact over the medium term. 

Politicians expecting or hoping to be part of the next government may feel inhibited before actually taking on the power of office.  Fortunately, Governor of the BoE Mark Carney and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne have been sensible since the referendum outcome. 

Theresa May remains the clear favourite to be UK Prime Minister following a strong first round performance.  Moreover, the two lagging candidates dropped out and pledged their support to Mrs May.  Two other candidates remain but only Andrea Leadsom has a slim chance of overhauling May in Thursday’s second round election.  Michael Gove will be out of the running following that vote and most likely throw his support to Andrea Leadsom.  The two candidate race will be opened to paid-up members of the Conservative Party who will elect the first woman Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher.  I wish that vote could take place before September but at least the candidates will be free to focus on the UK’s exciting medium to longer term potential.