This morning Theresa May’s Brexit ‘war committee’ sits down for the second meeting in as many days – turning from yesterday’s theme of the Northern Ireland border to discussing a future trade relationship with the EU.

For the finance directors of UK companies attempting to second guess what’s being discussed behind closed doors, there continues an everyday struggle to undertake any forward planning.

With so much uncertainty at the moment- even putting to one side the leaked government documents suggesting an £80bn hole in the UK economy from a no-deal Brexit- a lot is at stake.

The finance chiefs of Britain’s wealth creating companies need guidance from those at the table- especially the chancellor- on at least some aspects of the plan.

In the meantime, Liberal Democrats’ leader Sir Vince Cable outlines in today’s Financial Director his concerns about Brexit and what FDs should be hearing from key members of the government.

Cable, a former chief economist of Shell, knows exactly why scenario planning is critical to FDs, which is why we need to hear from Philip Hammond- sooner rather than later.