The business world has already written off Boris Johnson

It is not that they particularly dislike him or want him replaced – but worse than that, writes Hamish McRae

The interesting question is not how long Boris survives, but why from an economic perspective people don’t seem to care (Getty)

Business has written off Boris. It is not that it particularly dislikes him or wants him to be replaced, though many in the business and financial communities for various reasons do. It is worse than that. People don’t care any more whether he survives or not.

If that sounds harsh, consider this. The FTSE100 share index barely moved, actually opening up a few points on the Monday close. Sterling fell a tiny bit in the morning but came back up and was trading within a few cents of the rate against the dollar the night before. So nothing much there. The big issues of the day were what is happening to the Japanese yen (very weak), what will the European Central Bank signal about interest rates at its meeting this week, and the World Bank cutting its growth forecasts and warning of stagflation.

The interesting question surely is not how long Boris Johnson survives, but why from an economic perspective people don’t seem to care. That is not to make any judgement about his future. I was chatting with the former head of one of our largest banks the other day, who was not a fan but reckoned he would still win the next election with a majority of 20. It is a demonstration that the business world has moved on. I can think of five reasons why this should be so.