Do you remember when Downing Street briefed the media that the defeat of the meaningful vote would produce a “TARP Moment”, and that markets crashing would push panicking MPs to vote for the PM’s deal the second time round? Just as the US congress agreed the bail-out only after markets crashed in a second vote. The theory was that the pound and equities would slide as investors priced in the likelihood of Britain leaving the European Union without a deal in March 2019. Scared of being blamed, rebel MPs would fall into line. Sterling finished the day where it started and if firm this morning, the FTSE 100 is basically flat as well. So much for Downing Street’s insight into market dynamics.

Market players clearly now expect a softer Brexit. Which suggests Downing Street has totally failed to convince observers to believe that a WTO terms Brexit is really a likely outcome…