Panic is not a good basis for rational, long-term decision-making. But Britain's main rightwing party, or much of it, seems to have decided that the best response to an insurgent competitor is jumping off a cliff, leading the country into a void of uncertainty.
Retired ex-chancellors can perhaps be forgiven a bout of self-indulgence, but my cabinet colleagues should know better. Their behaviour has consequences, not least in shaping economic expectations. Global companies will ponder the wisdom of staying or investing in a country where business risk has suddenly been increased. Companies trading with the EU are barely recovering their confidence after the worst financial crisis for a century, and are now being told to expect years of debate over whether a network of trade and investment relationships should be torn up. At a time when jobs matter acutely, 3.5 million workers have been given an additional injection of job insecurity.
