Wake Smith chairman Nick Lambert looks at the latest Brexit news...
Another week of General Electioneering has passed and the pace of change remains undiminished, with scandal, accusations and a terrorist attack in the capital all having the potential to affect voter allegiance.
On the ground, however, very little has actually changed in regards to the UK's exit from the EU.
Our default position remains that we will leave the EU under the Article 50 deadline on 31 January 2020, unless a withdrawal agreement enabling the first real phase of discussions on any future trading agreement with the EU, is passed by Parliament.
It is worth reminding ourselves, that the possibility of this happening is not assured in any way, with one of the three main parties, the Liberal Democrats, determined to stop Brexit altogether and the Labour party pledging to seek a different deal on which it would hold a second referendum.
It is also worth remembering that the withdrawal deal would only be the start of complicated and potentially lengthy negotiations to establish our relationship and boundaries with the EU.
With only one withdrawal deal currently on the table, not favoured by either of the main opposition parties or other, smaller parties for that matter, we would need to see a Conservative landslide majority to progress with the withdrawal agreement.
At the moment, polling shows the gap between Labour and the Conservatives narrowing and speculation about another hung Parliament on the rise.
If the Conservative party can secure a working majority, the Prime Minister has made it clear that he would still opt for a no deal Brexit if his withdrawal agreement cannot pass through the House of Commons by the deadline.
On the other hand, the possibility of a Labour-led coalition will undoubtedly extend the wranglings over our EU partnership with more referenda due to follow.
Businesses are now starting to show real unrest across the UK, with billions of pounds reportedly being pulled from UK equity funds and investment slowing as commercial leaders speculate with caution on the various outcomes of the election and its resulting trading environment.
