Did David Cameron get it all wrong? Did everyone in the political establishment think they could do a “do nothing” deal with the European Union and bamboozle the British public into voting to stay in Europe? Judging by the headlines from today’s The Times and Daily Express, a miscalculation has been made.
I rarely read the papers anymore. But I do scan the headlines. And it was hard to miss these two this morning. According to the polls, Westminster may have one idea while the man on the Clapham omnibus has another.
Of course, polls mean nothing. And political pollsters have had a pretty awful year reading the tea leaves. Are they onto something now? Are British political elites living in a political bubble and unaware of how real people feel about leaving Europe?
It’s too soon to say
Most of the people I’ve spoken with don’t care about Brexit. They like Europe, and they’ve been convinced that “Europe” and the “European Union” are one in the same. Those that do care tend to want to leave. But how many of them are there really?
And do ordinary Britons see the EU vote as both a pocketbook and portfolio issue? The feelings are strong. But mostly political. I’m worried that investors are missing the early warning signs that the EU’s political weakness is being matched by financial weakness in big banks on the Continent, especially Italy and Germany.
The time to think through the investment consequences of the vote is now. Charlie’s been working on it for months. He wrote about it in the magazine again this week. And while he’s put together an investment strategy to deal with Brexit (and the “momentum crash”), I’ve been trying to get the word out.
Category: Brexit