Sterling recovers mildly today as UK Prime Minister Theresa May starts her quick EU tour. May will meet Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and then European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, to seek last minute changes to the Brexit agreement, to get it through her own parliament. May will meet Tusk and Juncker at 1600GMT.
Andrea Leadsom, leader of Commons, said in a radio interview that “the EU is always in a position where it negotiates at the last possible moment.” And she emphasized that “if we want to avoid a no-deal Brexit next March we need to go back to the drawing board to ensure that the UK parliament has that democratic capability that it is demanding.”
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said the the wording of the withdrawal agreement would not change “at all”. But he hoped that EU could provide the assurance May needs regarding the backstop. But at the same time, he added that “we are now actively, not only preparing for that, but taking actions to ensure that if necessary we will be ready on March 29 for Britain to leave the EU without a deal.”
