After strengthening slightly yesterday, sterling has weakened this morning. This seems to have happened in anticipation of the indicative votes, which are due to take place this evening.
Yesterday, the DUP said that they view a long Brexit extension preferable to Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement, likening her deal to a ‘prison’. This was revealed along with reports that the Prime Minister could face up to 20 ministerial resignations if MPs aren’t allowed a free vote later today. These two huge blows for the PM fared well with sterling, which strengthened slightly yesterday afternoon.
Sterling also saw a rise in the evening due to Jacob Rees-Mogg stating that he was open to another vote on the deal. This sudden U-turn comes after he previously strongly rejected the Prime Minister’s withdrawal agreement. Rees-Mogg said that May’s deal would be better than no Brexit at all. It will be interesting to see if other Brexiteers follow suit with this stance, or follow Boris Johnson’s view that there’s ‘no point’ in supporting the deal without a changing the approach to negotiations.
