Once again, Brexit is the focus in the Asian open today with weekend headlines that include Liam Fox’s hardline approach to the negotiations when he told Sky News that the UK may not be able to reach a Brexit agreement with EU while stressing that they are not going to get “bounced into another referendum so that those who lost the previous one can try to apply continued membership of the European Union to the people of Britain in perpetuity.”
And as ever, the news is always conflicting with a Labour frontbencher, Emily Thornberry, telling the BBC that “all options remain on the table”, including a new referendum if MPs vote down a Brexit deal. This followed the resignation of transport minister Jo Johnson on Friday, who voted to remain in the EU, saying he could not support the deal and called for another referendum. Meanwhile, Tory Brexiteer Steve Baker and Sammy Wilson, Brexit spokesman for the DUP – whose party’s support Theresa May relies on for key Commons votes – have written a joint article in the Sunday Telegraph warning they are prepared to vote down any deal over proposals to manage the Irish border issue.
This all means that Theresa May has been forced to abandon plans for an emergency cabinet meeting to approve a Brexit deal this week. The meeting had been slated for Monday but this fierce resistance in her cabinet and in Brussels has threatened to derail the path to an agreement making it increasingly unlikely that a special EU summit to sign it off can be held in November, as hoped – Not good news for sterling bulls.
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