*Gulp* Brexit projected to cost £43bn over the next three years

We came, we voted, we made up a silly abbreviation.

And yet despite the majority of the UK voting in favour of Brexit, we find ourselves still awkwardly lingering inside the EU, one foot in, one foot out, like your mate who says he’s leaving the house party only to be seen pilfering cans of Red Stripe from the fridge an hour later.

Plenty has happened since the vote of course - David Cameron stepping down as Prime Minister, Teresa May taking over, Nigel Farage leaving UKIP and making even more of a boob of himself than usual - but in the main we have no real idea of what is going on between Brussels and Parliament, nor what affect the eventual departure will have on those of us who want to travel and work abroad.

The picture has taken on a new grim tone, with the British Chamber of Commerce making a gloomy forecast for the years ahead, predicting the UK is set to lose a £43.8bn - the sort of major loss some countries would go bankrupt with.

Making its first update since the vote to leave, the BCC cut its GDP growth forecast from 2.2 per cent this year, from 2.3 per cent to 1 per cent in 2017, and 2.4 per cent to 1.8 in 2018. A damning outline, as echoed by Suren Thiru, BCC's head of economics:

"Mounting uncertainty is likely to put a brake on investment, while rising inflation and moderately weaker labour market conditions are expected to stifle consumer spending. On the upside, the UK’s net trade position is expected to be boosted by the post-referendum slide in the value of sterling.

"Despite the likely improvement in the UK’s trade position, the significant imbalances currently facing the UK economy are expected to persist through the forecast period, with a continued over-reliance on services and consumer spending as key determinants of UK economic growth."

"While the longer-term outlook for the UK economy is highly uncertain the risks are on balance tilted to the downside, with the deep-rooted structural issues, such the size of the UK’s current account deficit, leaving the UK increasingly exposed to economic shocks."

To put it into layman's terms: we're royally f*cked.