Time for the piper to call tune on mortgages

At moments of frightening flux, certainty is the most precious gold.

It allows us, or at least convinces us, that we can see beyond the maelstrom and take some control over our lives and maybe, just maybe, design what seems an attractive future.

Today we expect certainty from our Government and EU power brokers, though it is impossible to predict with any precision how the EU or the euro will stand in May 2013. Of course, it would be reassuring if it were otherwise, but it is not. In these fraught days, next week’s referendum is as much about creating an environment to help renew confidence as it is about anything else. It is about agreeing disciplines to correct the faults inherent in the euro and, hopefully, allow all Europeans enjoy the prosperity that has always been a core ambition of the EU. If this does not happen then there will be a Greek EU and a German EU. Though it is not a certainty, just a very strong probability, we will be in the one that produces ouzo, not the one that produces Riesling.