Soros calls for May to keep Britain in single market

George Soros warned Britain was approaching a tipping point, with the economy set to slow so much that Brexit might even be reversed.

In an article emailed to reporters, Soros said: "The moment of truth is fast approaching".

"The fact is that Brexit is a lose-lose proposition, harmful both to Britain and the European Union. It cannot be undone, but people can change their minds."

For Soros, the Bank of England was only now becoming aware of just how much fast rising inflation would impact on the pace of growth.

The Hungarian-born billionaire was best known for his speculative attacks against sterling in 1992, which forced Britain to drop out of the precursor of the euro, the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, alongside costly interventions in foreign exchange markets by the BoE.

Now, Soros said the hit to consumer spending from price increases as the pound weakened had seen the UK go from being one of the fastest growing economies in the advanced world in 2016 to the slowest at the start of the current year.

Soros was also adamant that Prime Minister Theresa May should seek to keep Britain in the EU's single market.

She should also listen to young people, who had shown in the last general election that they wanted good jobs, he said.

"The divorce process would take at least five years to complete," he said and during that time new elections would take place. "If all went well, the two parties may want to remarry even before they have divorced."