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Tuesday 04 December 2018 5:36 pm  |  Updated:  Monday 03 June 2019 2:48 am

Pound falls after government loses contempt vote

By: James Warrington

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Sterling fell today after Theresa May's government was found in contempt of parliament for failing to publish Brexit legal papers.

The pound had climbed back from fresh lows earlier in the day after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) suggested the UK could change its mind about Brexit by unilaterally withdrawing Article 50.

But the contempt vote sent sterling down against the dollar to $1.267, its lowest level since June 2017.

The House of Commons supported a motion demanding full disclosure of the legal advice given to the government surrounding Theresa May's Brexit deal by 311 votes to 293.

The Prime Minister's embarrassing defeat dealt a blow to sterling, which had ticked up following the statement from EU Advocate General Campos Sanchez-Bordona.

"Sterling’s aggressive appreciation to this news continues to highlight how explosively volatile and extremely sensitive the currency has become to Brexit headlines," said Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM.

 

 

 

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