PLSA IC 2017: No such thing as a 'soft Brexit' - Lord Finkelstein

There is no such thing as a "soft Brexit" in Britain, Politician and Journalist Lord Daniel Finkelstein has said.

Discussing the fate of the nation at today's PLSA Investment Conference, Lord Finkelstein claimed that it is unlikely that a soft Brexit will take place as "we cannot be part of the single market while not being fully part of the European Union".

Instead Brexit is completely leaving the EU and not being part of the single market he said.

Discussing the psychology behind political thinking, Lord Finkelstein centred his discussion around the concept of "loss aversion". "We, as a nation, are very loss averse" he said, noting that people become more strongly against things that they lose, things they once had but are taken from them.

As a result, it is likely that there will be a strong sense of loss aversion once Britain officially triggers article 50 and is ripped away from all that comes with being part of the EU.

Instead, Lord Finkelstein advised that companies should "work to making Brexit as smooth as possible" so the sense of loss is not felt as strongly.

Nonetheless, the prediction was made that due to our national sense of loss aversion, it is likely that Britain will work to " take back control and gradually reimplement what we are getting rid of".

In addition to this, the speaker also stated that the government is likely to face difficulties with loss following yesterday's budget announcements, such as the changes made on self employment and National Insurance figures.

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