Could UK consumers hit the shops once more?

We are all tired of talking about backstops and customs unions and voting blocs, but Brexit chat still manages to get centre stage to the exclusion of all else.

And yet, in the background, many of the ingredients for an economic upswing have accumulated in the wings. Retailers had a miserable time of it in 2018 and consumer confidence surveys remained firmly in the basement.  Is the death of the High Street greatly exaggerated? However, retail sales growth has actually been ticking along - boosted by more substantial purchases, such as homes, and small luxuries, like eating out and buying jewellery and new clothes.  In the past, this tends to happen when unemployment is rising and wages are stagnating or inflation is sending pay packets...