Time for a deal

AS talks in Brussels grind on, and bickering ministers prepare for the coming Cabinet showdown over a Brexit deal, the economy is showing unmistakeable signs of distress.

Activity in the services sector – which accounts for fully four-fifths of the overall economy – has fallen to a seven-month low. Expectations of growth are the lowest since July 2016. New car registrations were down almost three per cent last month.

It’s no longer sustainable to argue that this fall in confidence is unrelated to Brexit uncertainties. How can businesses be expected to make decisions about future investment without knowing if they will be able to export their goods and services, and whether they will be allowed to hire essential skilled labour from the EU?

Meanwhile, an opinion poll suggests a modest softening in support for leaving the EU, largely because of economic concerns in Labour-held northern constituencies.

But what the data reveals most clearly is a strong desire for the Government to seal an orderly and speedy Brexit deal. Opinion is split evenly between those who wish to leave at the end of next March without a deal, and those who do not wish to leave at all. Less than a fifth think exit should be delayed, and there is certainly no majority for a second referendum. The message to Theresa May and the Cabinet is clear. Self-indulgent squabbling is causing deep unease, and the only rational way ahead is to secure a speedy settlement with Brussels and allow business to restore its vigour.

With the hideous prospect of a Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government no longer fanciful, the current dithering and infighting is unconscionable for what was once the natural party of business.