Sterling slips to a seven-week low against the euro, weakened by uncertainty over when the formal mechanism for Britain’s departure from the European Union would be triggered, as well as a run of weak UK data.
The British parliament’s upper house will today try to force the government to give lawmakers a greater say over the terms of Brexit, when they vote on the wording of legislation that gives Prime Minister Theresa May the right to trigger Brexit talks.
The vote will also demand that both houses of parliament be asked to approve any decision to leave the bloc without a deal if talks fail.
But regardless of the outcome, May’s Brexit bill will then be passed back to lawmakers in the lower house for approval, because last week it was amended to add a condition on protecting the rights of EU citizens in Britain.
It will then be passed back and forth until both houses agree on the final wording of the bill – a process that has no time limit, but will not begin until March 13.
Markets want to see the triggering of Article 50 sooner rather than later, because then they get clarity over uncertainty.
Against the dollar, sterling fell 1 percent to $1.2184, close to a seven-week low, with the greenback boosted by revised expectations for when U.S. interest rates will rise. Investors are now pricing in an 87 percent chance rates will rise in March.