Brexit isn’t a new Black Wednesday. It’s far darker than that

This autumn marks the anniversaries of two notable economic humiliations. But they are as nothing to what might happen if we leave the EU

This is quite an anniversary year for great British economic disasters. Last weekend saw the 25th anniversary of the ignominious exit of the pound from the European exchange rate mechanism - "the first Brexit", and, I still hope, the only one.

Then this November will see the 50th anniversary of the dramatic 14% devaluation of the pound - an episode from which the Labour government of Harold Wilson never quite recovered, not least because Wilson made the mistake of proclaiming that "the pound in your pocket has not been devalued" - based on a brief by Treasury officials which was aimed at explaining that, from the point of view of the pocket or purse, it was only the price of imports that were going up, and spending on imports was only a small fraction of total household spending.

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