Even before Sir Richard Branson offered his opinion on the pound, I was intending to write about sterling this week. This is the time of year when many people think about the exchange rate more than at other times and encounter the reality that businesses and the markets have been dealing with for the past three years. The pound, unsurprisingly in light of the current uncertainty, has taken on a much weaker tone recently.

Branson thinks sterling will go to one-for-one parity with the dollar in the event of a no-deal Brexit this autumn, from $1.25 now, and, while that is a touch below market expectations, it is in the ballpark. With the euro worth almost 90p, equivalent to a euro-sterling rate of €1.11, the