'Flash crash' signals turbulent times for the pound

• Video report by ITV News Business Editor Joel Hills

Strong economies have strong currencies and since the referendum the pound has slumped.

Overnight it dropped abruptly before recovering. A computer glitch? Perhaps. The Bank of England investigating. It will be concerned that a series of measures designed to limit trading losses ended up magnifying risk and could have caused panic.

The chancellor has been in the United State trying to reassure everyone the future's bright post-Brexit. A flash-crash doesn't help. Philip Hammond believes the British economy is "fundamentally strong" all the data supports this view but the anxiety is about what happens next.

The government wants to leave the EU, retain free trade with the 27 other EU countries while ending their citizens right to come to the UK and live. Time and again EU politicians indicate the "cake and eat it" option isn't available.

The fear is the divorce may end up being acrimonious and one that leads all sides poorer.

Philip Hammond also chose today to announce he intention to restart the process of selling the remaining taxpayer stake in Lloyds (9.1%) back to the private sector.

We spent £20 billion rescuing Lloyds eight year ago, if the government manages to offload the shares at 52 pence a pop it will have got back every penny spent - no mean achievement.

The retail offering to the public has gone and good job too. George Osborne's plan to offer shares at a discount enriched those with a few thousand in the bank at the expense of the general taxpayer. "Fairness" is the buzzword of this new government so the idea has been ditched.

But the timing is curious. Lloyds's share price has tumbled since the referendum precisely because the bank is so exposed to the British economy. A better way to demonstrate faith in a prosperous post-Brexit future would have been to hold on to the shares not offload them.