May faces Parliament backlash as Brexit deal 'draws near'
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Monday 12 Nov 2018
(Sharecast News) - Terms of a Brexit deal has been agreed with Brussels, according to reports, but the pound whipsawed down and up on Monday as markets reacted to government splits and Labour's insistence that the decision to quit the European Union could yet be reversed.
Sterling was down 1% against the dollar at 1.2848, just before 1100 GMT and 0.3% lower versus the euro at 1.1406, before mounting a rally against the euro in the afternoon, to climb up 0.3% to 1.1477 but still down against a strong greenback.
After UK and EU negotiators convened in Brussels late into Sunday night, according to Financial Times, eventually a draft withdrawal deal was sketched out. Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier told ministers from the bloc's other 27 member states that "the parameters of a possible agreement are very largely defined" but still need to be signed off by Theresa May's cabinet before leaders on both sides of the Channel meet at a crucial summit later this month.
May still has a battle ahead of her to convince her cabinet and Parliament to back her and the deal.
The cabinet, which is meeting on Tuesday, initially backed May's proposals when she laid them out at her Chequers retreat in July. But there were widespread reports on Monday that several senior ministers still have serious doubts.
Few in Cabinet also believe the deal as it stands will get the backing of Parliament, the BBC said, citing Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson - both of whom backed the Remain campaign in 2016 - as among the naysayers. May's plans were "under siege from across the Tory party", according to the Guardian, while the Times said potential further cabinet resignations were possible due to fierce objections over two major issues: fishing rights and a review mechanism for leaving the Irish backstop arrangement.
On Friday rail minister Jo Johnson quit the government, saying he could not support the Prime Minister's Brexit deal.
Meanwhile, Labour's Sir Keir Starmer contradicted Jeremy Corbyn by insisting Brexit could still be stopped. The Labour leader had told a German newspaper last week that Brexit could not be halted and that he did not back a second referendum. "The referendum took place," he told Der Spiegel.
But on Monday, Starmer told Sky News: "Brexit can be stopped - but the real question is what are the decisions we are going to face over the next few weeks and months."
When later asked if Labour would vote down May's deal he said: "At the moment the prime minister is a long way from home.
"If the deal goes down then we'll call for a general election," he said. "If that doesn't happen then all options must remain on the table and that includes the option of a public vote."
On the new slump in the pound, analysts at Monex Europe said: "If this morning's reports of possible further minister resignations are to be believed, sterling will likely remain on the back foot into the beginning of this week."
Market analyst Joshua Mahony at IG added: "The difficulty for sterling traders is that for every rumour of an impending breakthrough in negotiations, there are opposing reports of an inability to even decide what type of Brexit the conservatives want to push through."
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN