British Prime Minister Theresa May has given the strongest indication yet that she will seek to rely on votes from opposition Labour MPs to win majority support for her unpopular Brexit deal.
May on Sunday evening sent a conciliatory three-page letter to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in response to his offer last week to help secure “a sensible agreement” on Brexit. May’s letter outlined areas for further negotiation between the government and Labour, and suggested the two sides meet again to discuss the way forward “as soon as possible”.
It comes as the U.K. Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay prepares to meet with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, on Monday. The U.K. is seeking to secure some much-needed last-minute concessions from Brussels in order to win parliamentary backing for May’s preferred withdrawal agreement.
Concerns are growing that May will hold a second parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal as close as possible to the UK’s official date of exit from the European Union on March 29. This could force British parliamentarians to support her deal or risk the more unpopular option of crashing out of the EU without any deal at all.
Sterling ticked down amid the continued uncertainty. It was trading at $1.29355 at 07:30 GMT before dropping to $1.29133 at 08:00.
Meanwhile, more than $2bn has been yanked from funds that invest in U.K. companies in just eight weeks as the political and economic fallout from Britain’s departure from the EU continues to batter investor confidence.
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