Declaring the building society’s 16 million members were exhausted by Brexit, he said: “Whatever the outcome of the election, what we hear from our members is the division this debate has been causing across communities. What we’d like to see, when the dust settles, is a period of reconciliation.” He was talking as he unveiled a 40% plunge in profits for the half-year to £309 million, a sign of tough competition in banking, investment in IT and a £52 million charge, mostly for payment protection insurance claims.