“What on earth is going on in the UK? Have your politicians completely lost the plot?” These are questions I have been asked by many of my Irish friends who do not understand why we are in the process of committing economic suicide. Our standard of living is already beginning to fall as a direct result of Brexit caused by the devaluation of the pound. Inflation is on the rise and international business is gradually preparing for a move to other European jurisdictions.

A tell-tale example of this is the number of England and Wales lawyers who are re-registering as Republic of Ireland Lawyers. It is relatively easy for lawyers to shift between the two jurisdictions. Can you believe that more English Lawyers re-registered as Irish Lawyers than qualified from Ireland itself into their legal profession? Our brightest and best are beginning to vote with their feet. As more global businesses flee the UK, Dublin is a great alternative location, nearby and employing the English language and a legal system akin to our own and there will be jobs for lawyers as multinationals relocate to Ireland.

No wonder that our Chancellor Philip Hammond is having fifty fits as his doctrinaire colleagues press for our departure from the EU whatever the economic cost. As he said to Andrew Marr, you should expect your Chancellor of the Exchequer to make the interests of our economy a first priority. Sadly his colleagues, who should as our Government be working to defend, protect and secure our interests, are prepared to pay any price to attain their truly independent island state, free from damn foreigners telling us what to do. The recent statement by our Foreign Secretary that the Europeans can go whistle, reflects a dangerous arrogance shared by many of the right wing of the Tory party.

In the meantime, what about the Citizens whom the government should be protecting? It may be OK for City of London lawyers who have the means and ability to up sticks and make their way to Dublin but what about the rest of us? It seems that our masters, even those on the left wing have lost their sense of reality. Jeremy Corbyn seems to weigh fears about immigration above the economic interests of thousands of UK workers who are going to lose out big style when we leave the single market and the customs union. The Labour party used to stand for international co-operation above narrow national interest but in the present climate, that heritage looks to be in jeopardy.

So what can we ordinary citizens do? For my part, I will continue to argue the logic of the economic case for staying in the most comprehensive single market the world has ever seen. That market is now developing relationships with many other parts of the world not least Canada, Singapore and Japan. We could not replicate such arrangements for many years.

For our part as a law firm, we are well down the food chain. All we can do is to defend, protect and secure the interests of our own clients, many of whom struggle to make a living running their own businesses. It is not easy to decide about investment plans with such uncertainty for the future. We cannot cure the underlying problems; however our clients know we will always do the best we can for them whatever problems we all face. We are in it together for the long haul.