Brexit weekly news digest 8 January
8 January 2019
With the UK Parliament taking their Christmas break, there was a raft of information that was released in the run up to the holidays, including updates to the .gov Brexit website and technical notices. But the political discussions have been reignited as parliament reconvenes for the New Year.
The Prime Minister made a statement to say that the Meaningful Vote will go ahead , despite the last date being postponed. The date for the vote has been set as the 15th January 2019, just 73 days before the UK leaves the EU.
With less than three months now until the exit deadline, businesses are in frantic race to deal with no deal Brexit , without a transition period. But the Standard reports that the initial hysterics of businesses making wholesale moves out of the UK are now settling into the reality of making decisions to remain in the UK market but put in place plans to operate efficiently.
Despite exercises around preparedness, like the Kent truck holding test the reports shows that the port at Ramsgate will not be ready in time for Brexit despite £103m investment to help increase capacity.
And more discouraging news has come from the car marker showing that Brexit and the resulting consumer confidence is having a detrimental effect on the car sales market in the UK.
The UK stock markets are expected to remain ‘subdued’ with the uncertainty of Brexit, with the analysts showing that 2018 saw a 23% drop in capital raised through IPOs in 2018 versus the previous year.
And reports on Sterling (£) prices are still being dictated by the Brexit agenda, with analysts showing a 5% value loss during 2018.