.
BACK in April, when the United Kingdom was granted an extension of its deadline to leave the EU, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, pleaded with British politicians: “Please do not waste this time.”
Last week Mr Tusk was reflecting on how things had gone in the last three months. Pressed by a British reporter, he conceded ruefully: “Yes, I am afraid that you wasted time.”
It is hard to argue with that. Extra time is nearly up, and Brexit is heading for a penalty shoot-out. They rarely go well for England.
Teresa May’s first response to the new Brexit deadline of October 31 was to make another, totally futile, attempt to get her deal through parliament. When that failed, she announced she would resign as Conservative Party leader and prime minister.
Since then the party has been trying to find a successor. If the election had been conducted by proportional representation it could have been wrapped up in 10 days – nine for campaigning and one to count the votes.
But PR was a bit too European for the Tories who instead commenced a tortuous series of votes by MPs, eliminating a contender each time.
When the field had been reduced to two, the men in question – Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt – went on the campaign trail, canvassing party members around the country.
These ‘hustings’ are still going on although ballot papers were issued at the weekend. They will continue this week although a lot of members will already have voted – indeed, since many were mistakenly issued with two ballot papers, some may have voted twice.
None of this suggests a great sense of urgency or inspires confidence in the ability of the next prime minister to bring Brexit to a successful conclusion.
The latest polls suggest Mr Johnson will be a comfortable winner. He says he can negotiate a better deal than Mrs May. He will have about 100 days to do it and, even if he succeeds, it seems unlikely that he can keep his promise to take Britain out by October 31 “do or die”.
Mr Johnson seems to be banking on a new EU leadership offering him a different deal. But nothing about the people chosen last week for the senior roles suggests a radical change of policy.
In any case, if he wants out by October 31, it will be the old guard Mr Johnson has to deal with, and both Mr Tusk and European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, are adamant there will be no renegotiation of the Withdraw Agreement.
So, a no-deal Brexit is back on the table.
It has been a bewildering time for British expats living in Cyprus.
The May deal guaranteed their status but the possibility of Britain leaving without a deal means they are once again in limbo with uncertainty surrounding a whole host of issues, including residency status and access to healthcare and benefits.
They are hoping for the best, but they need to prepare for the worst.
If you are in business, and have any dealings at all with the UK, preparing for the worst means, first and foremost, auditing your UK contracts.
Do they allow for a new customs border between the EU and the UK? Check the ‘incoterms’, the legal provisions for importing and exporting that define who is responsible for shipping goods across borders. This is especially important for VAT.
It may be necessary to file customs declarations for all goods, both exported to, and imported from, the UK. This will require updates to business operations software.
You will need to ensure your internal systems can communicate with both the EU’s customs technology and a new UK system.
Hard or soft, Brexit will pose a cash-flow problem for trading companies because VAT will be charged at the border when selling goods and services to the UK.
Make sure you have a steady cash flow. If you are dealing with customers who have failed to pay their accounts for some time, look into contracting outside assistance to help bring in those payments.
On personal finance, I would caution against making any assumptions. If you have pensions or investments which you fear might in any way be impacted by Brexit, get them checked out.
The Woodbrook Group is an international firm of financial advisers. Our team of experienced financial consultants can help you with solutions and services tailored to your unique situation.
Whether your Brexit fears concern business, investment, savings or pensions, we will be happy to help.
