Shropshire Star comment: Everyone is playing a game of wait and see

Continuing uncertainty is just what a weary electorate could do without, after all the arguments and the sense of paralysis which gripped the House of Commons in its last session.

There is an impact on people who are having to make decisions. Nobody knows what the future holds but in normal times it is possible to make a reasonably informed decision based on a relatively stable political and economic landscape. It would take a brave person to think they could predict the course of the next few months and in business bravery is not always rewarded, so caution is adopted as the wisest course.

And so it is in the housing market. Everyone is playing a game of wait and see. According to one report, house prices are expected to surge once we are over the “Brexit and election-related angst”, with the Midlands outperforming the south.

Of course, this is all double edged, depending on whether you are seeking to buy or seeking to sell. A depressed and uncertain housing market could be an opportunity for buyers to get a good price before they climb again.

Brexit is giving the general election a bumper crop of candidates who are not united by party allegiance, but by their attitude to Brexit.

There are all sorts of agreements being struck, which cut across party political considerations about who will and will not stand in particular seats, in order to give the best chance for their particular Brexit standpoint to triumph. Voters are being invited to embark on a feast of tactical voting.

Depending on the result, the upshot may be a Parliament in which the Brexit deadlock is broken, one way or the other.

And yet... the snag about a Commons majority united by one single common cause is these MPs may not see eye-to-eye on anything else. Agreeing on Brexit, but fundamentally disagreeing on how to run the country, is hardly a recipe to end the uncertainty.