The weakness of sterling that coincided with the speech underscores the deep-seated problems of the uncompetitive nature of the UK economy. These risks may be highlighted brutally by industrial and financial investors as they review the potential impact of a major disengagement from the EU’s Single Market. The legacy of the massive foreign debts that financed Britain’s consumption in recent years remains the Achilles’ heel – as it has been for decades.

The UK budget deficit (as a % of GDP) in 2014 is set to be three times that of the euro area – bigger than Spain, Ireland or Greece; three times Italy or Portugal.

The UK economy is not as 'open' as many in the EU and has failed to benefit as much from the Single Market as they have in the two decades of its existence.

The euro area states are taking strong steps to improve their competiveness - already showing up as a greater re-balancing of their trade with the 'non-EU' at a significantly faster pace than the UK’s. This may be an early foretaste of the impact of their 'Thatcher'-style reforms on UK trade in Europe, and as global competitors.

Remarkably, the UK’s current account deficit (as a % of GDP) in 2014 may exceed the level before the massive devaluation of 2007/8 (the third largest devaluation in a century).

Capital investment rates in the UK have lagged behind those of the EU for two decades, and UK companies are stepping up their outward investment.

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