For the Chancellor, cake isn’t on the menu

Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, gazed levelly at his audience. “Before long,” he said, “we will all begin to find out the extent to which Brexit is a gentle stroll along a smooth path to a land of cake and consumption.”

Mr Carney is, of course, a figure of scrupulous political neutrality. So we can be sure his reference to “cake and consumption” was intended wholly in innocence, and not as a mocking allusion to Boris Johnson, the Brexit figurehead who assured the public that after leaving the European Union we would be “having our cake and eating it”.

Similarly, when Mr Carney spoke of “a gentle stroll along a smooth path”, we can be sure that he did not mean it satirically.

No doubt he would be aghast were anyone to infer that he thinks Brexit will be a screaming nightmare, and that in pursuing it the Government has taken leave of its senses.

He is, after all, politically neutral. This point cannot be emphasised enough.

The Governor was speaking at Mansion House in London, alongside Philip Hammond, the Chancellor. Originally the two men had been scheduled to speak at a lavish dinner last Thursday, but they cancelled the event out of respect for the victims at Grenfell Tower.

In the circumstances, the public might not have responded favourably to images of the capital’s wealthiest and most powerful people enjoying a banquet in white tie.

The speeches were therefore rescheduled for yesterday morning, without a tailcoat in sight.

Like Mr Carney, Mr Hammond spoke about Brexit.

His speech lasted more than 20 minutes. In that time, notably, he did not cite a single possible benefit of Brexit. Instead, he seemed to be speaking purely in terms of damage limitation.

The Government’s job, he said, was to “reassure employers that they will

‘Philip Hammond spoke about Brexit for more than 20 minutes. In that time, he didn’t mention a single benefit’

still be able to access the talent they need”, to ensure “trade can carry on flowing smoothly”, and to encourage businesses to make investments “that have been on hold since the referendum”.

It would “require every ounce of skill and diplomacy we can muster”. But if the Government could achieve all that, he concluded, “the collective sigh of relief will be audible”.

Yes, a “sigh of relief ”. Listening to him, you could easily run away with the impression that the best the country could hope for post-brexit would be to keep life as close as possible to the way it was pre-brexit.

Above all, said Mr Hammond, the Government must aim for a Brexit that “prioritises British jobs and underpins Britain’s prosperity”, because the public had not voted “to become poorer”. And to protect our economy, we must remember “how important it is for business to be able to access global talent”.

Rough translation: stop focusing on slashing immigration, Prime Minister. You can’t do that without weakening the economy.

Or, to put it another way: you can’t have your cake and eat it.