After a weak day yesterday, the pound is looking strong against both the euro and the dollar this morning. This comes as the Commons voted 328 to 301 to take control of Parliament’s agenda, allowing them to put forward a bill to stop a no-deal Brexit later today. The Prime Minister made it clear that he will now attempt to call a general election if the bill passes.
Responding to the outcome of the vote, Johnson said that the bill would “hand control” to the EU and bring “more delay, more confusion.” Labour has said that the bill, which would legally take no-deal off of the table, needs to be passed before they would back a general election
The 21 Tory rebels who voted to take control of Parliament’s agenda were told, after the vote, that their whip had been withdrawn. Among them were former Chancellor Philip Hammond and Winston Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames.
Today, we’ll see Boris Johnson’s first PMQ’s at midday. The debate on the Brexit delay bill will start at 3pm, and the first vote will occur at 5pm. This will be followed by a second round of votes later in the evening. Depending on how these play out, we could see further volatility for sterling.
