In or out

This article was posted three days before the UK decides if it wants to stay or leave the EU.

It feels as if everything is on hold pending this result. Government departments are being unusually quiet: no press releases, no announcements, no changes in legislation.

It is a well-quoted cliché, but it really does feel like the calm before the storm.

Whichever way the result goes, will businesses, politics or our daily lives ever feel the same again?

How will we unstitch VAT and other taxation regulations from the grip of EU legislation, if Brexit wins the day? Will life carry on as usual if we vote to stay?

The huge raft of smaller businesses that depend on overseas investment will have fingers crossed that whatever the outcome, the businesses that fill their order books will not up-stick and move to Europe – and the perceived larger market inside the open market – leaving UK subcontractors with gaping holes in their order books.

Will the optimism of the Brexit campaigners bear fruit and will the rest of the world open its doors to UK goods and services; more than making up for any loss in trade to the EU?

Change can be stimulating, but on this scale will we avoid the inevitable fall-out, the slowdown in activity, as political and legal systems and alliances adjust? If our national output does fall, will this mean higher taxation or increased borrowing?

Before we post our next articles, the result will be known and we will start to assess the consequences, whichever way the vote goes.