The Bank of England holds rates as storm clouds brew

Inside Business: The Monetary Policy Committee sat on its hands because it has no better idea of how the Brexit mess will be resolved than you or I

Carney talking about the economy following ‘a wide range of paths’ is hardly reassuring (Reuters)

Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially in the middle of what’s colloquially referred to as a s***storm.

Of course, the Bank of England couldn’t put it like that.

But it’s the clear implication of what governor Mark Carney said after he announced that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously voted to keep interest rates on hold amidst a developing economic squall.

His assessment of that was couched in terms of “uncertainty becoming more entrenched”, “business investment falling”, the Bank’s surveys showing people are worried.

Central bankers have to be careful with their words given the way they are picked over with a fine-tooth comb by batteries of analysts and commentators looking for clues about future policy with which to inform their bosses’ decisions.

The clear implication of Carney talking about the economy following “a wide range of paths” depending on “what form Brexit takes”, however, is that he and his pointy heads have no more idea about how this is going to end than you or I do. What they do know is that the road ahead is looking rockier by the day.

Carney reiterated that the Bank’s forecasts and projections are still predicated on a deal getting done, which is still more or less official government policy. But they’ve been downgraded, in part reflective of the fact that the UK economy has started to seize up as a result of all the uncertainty.

In the meantime, he and his people have done their best to ensure that, for example, the banking system will be able to cope with the hard shock of a no-deal outcome. The big ones are pretty well capitalised. Hopefully we’ll avoid an RBS or HBOS 2.0 if the yucky stuff hits the fan courtesy of the Conservative Party’s descent into a nationalist pit and its determination to break the country on the back of its fevered fantasies.

You do have to worry a bit about the smaller challengers. Some of them are showing real signs of strain and, as Northern Rock graphically demonstrated, it only takes a small bank tipping up to create a very big mess.

At least consumers are behaving in a “prudent manner”. In other words, they’re being careful not to borrow too much to fund their spending, offering some crumbs to Carney and his colleagues.

But that comfort is slim. Really, they’ve been left in the position of crossing their fingers in the hope that something turns up to divert the good ship Britannia from the iceberg its steaming into, because if it hits they’ll be left on the horns of a nasty dilemma.

The pound is already plumbing new depths daily. No deal will cause it to fall further. Traders will soon be using it as cheap substitute for toilet paper.

The MPC doesn’t have much firepower to “support the economy” with rates at 0.75 per cent. But what it has will be sufficient to exacerbate the effect. The pay rise Britain has recently enjoyed will be obliterated by the inflation that follows an emergency rate cut or two in that sort of environment

Carney will soon be off to pastures new but while his colleagues in the Bank’s hallowed halls might not have any much of a clue about how this mess is going to be resolved, they know full well they’re going to be asked to help clean it up. You can’t help but feel a certain sympathy for them. That’s going to be tough, if not impossible.