More Economic Bad News Down to Brexit

Our local golf club is a pleasant walk away and welcoming venue for non-members.  Waiting for my sandwich, I noticed the BBC lunchtime news report on a nearby television.  UK growth rebounds strongly in first quarter was the headline but I waited for the catch.  Sure enough, the BBC dismissed the joyful figure as having been inflated by business stockpiling because of, of course, Brexit uncertainty.  Said quickly enough, the BBC explanation is almost plausible but hang on a minute.  If a business stockpiles, it is, presumably, not intending to hoard but rather to sell the goods on or make them into something else to sell for a profit?  There may be other reasons, for example, potential disruptions to supply chains and just in time contracts but, at the end of the day, the business that is stockpiling is making plans to ensure it keeps in business.  Stockpiling is, thus, a demonstration of confidence in the future, not lack of it.  There is, of course, no point in making this obvious point to the BBC whose editorial mind is already made-up.