On the business desk, we watched with unease as sterling fell after May cancelled the Brexit vote

The movement in the pound on Monday provided a pretty good visual guide to how the Brexit process is going.

Early in the day, the first whispers that the parliamentary vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal might be postponed weighed on the currency, which hovered just over the $1.27 mark.

As the rumours ramped up into reports citing unnamed sources, sterling started sliding against the euro and the dollar. By the time it was confirmed that the vote would not be going ahead on Tuesday, the pound had fallen to 18-month lows. As the PM tried to explain her position to the House of Commons, it dropped even further.

The currency’s downward trajectory shows that traders are pricing in a higher possibility of a no deal, and the fact that the prime minister’s position gets more precarious by the day means sterling is unlikely to recover any time soon.

Some have welcomed the weaker pound: last week, former Brexit secretary David Davis said it would make the UK more competitive against Europe and benefit British industry – and he’s not alone in holding those views.

But it would be difficult to find a company that shares his opinion, and this is borne out by the GDP figures released by the Office for National Statistics, which showed the pace of UK economic growth slowed to 0.4 per cent in the three months to October.

The British Chambers of Commerce said uncertainty around Brexit was to blame for the slowdown. It also stated that businesses are reporting that the “persistent weakness” in sterling is “hurting as much as it is helping” – mainly because it’s leading to higher costs for companies, despite making British goods cheaper for overseas buyers.

At this point, it’s as unclear as ever what the UK’s departure from the EU will look like, so maybe it’s time politicians take a look at the cold hard facts. The sterling charts from Monday illustrate just how much of a mess the Brexit process is in, which is also reflected in the economic data.

Anyone who thinks a no-deal Brexit would be acceptable must surely see how disastrous it would be for the economy. Just the possibility of a cliff-edge departure is playing havoc with the markets.

It’s time for MPs to stop the political games and put personal ambition aside – or take advantage of the ECJ’s ruling and revoke Article 50 so this chaos can stop.

Yours,

Caitlin Morrison

Business editor