It has been only three weeks since Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned that the UK’s economic situation might require “more, and more frequent interest rate increases than the market currently expects”.

As the UK’s two mainstream political parties were engaged in talks they were still calling “constructive” on a possible Brexit deal, a major caveat went unnoticed: Carney’s forecast applied to a scenario where the UK’s relationship with the European Union would follow the path of a “smooth adjustment”.