Let’s have a dose of business sense in Downing Street before it’s too late

Take no notice of the resilience of the FTSE100 index, which, having reached record pre-election highs, shed barely 100 points at its opening last Friday and recovered most of them by Monday. Dominated by multinational companies, it is being sustained by global market sentiment and the relative weakness of the pound, which makes our blue chips look good value; it is not offering a signal that investors think all is well. But do take notice of the Institute of Directors, speaking largely for mid-sized businesses, when it says that confidence among its members has crashed since polling day: from 34 per cent optimistic vs 37 per cent gloomy last month, to 20 per cent upbeat against 57 per cent ‘quite or very pessimistic’ now.

That reflects an election during which, as IoD director general Stephen Martin says: ‘The needs of business and discussion of the economy were largely absent’ — followed by an outcome that offers no encouragement at all to consumers and entrepreneurs, and no clarity about trading prospects abroad or the future status of EU workers here, without whom many UK businesses would face soaring wage rates and skills shortages.