A crucial week awaits with important Brexit votes

Today's Highlights

• Jeremy Hunt insists that the Brexit meaningful vote will go ahead tomorrow

• EU trying to push the UK to make up its mind

• Data releases include German industrial production, trade balance; US retail sales and business inventories

Current Market Overview

Jeremy Hunt insists that the Brexit meaningful vote will go ahead tomorrow

A crucial week awaits with important Brexit votes. As it stands, Theresa May has failed to secure the needed changes to Irish backstop. EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, threw out a package of “concessions” over the weekend, that was rejected bluntly by the UK government. UK Foreign Minister, Jeremy Hunt, insisted that the meaningful vote on the Brexit deal will still go ahead tomorrow.  However, the Sunday Times predicted that May will lose by 230 votes again, the same margin of defeat as in January for effective the same deal in the Commons.

Hunt has now turned to Brexiteer Tories and threatened that to vote down the deal would jeopardise Brexit altogether. He said, “If you want to stop Brexit you only need to do three things: kill this deal, get an extension, and then have a second referendum. Within three weeks those people could have two of those three things … and quite possibly the third one could be on the way.”

EU trying to push the UK to make up its mind

The EU is trying to push the UK to make up its mind clearly, rather than getting an extension with no purpose. France’s EU affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau said “More time, to do what? We’ve had two years … If there’s nothing new, more time will not do anything other than usher in more uncertainty, and uncertainty just creates anxiety… It’s not time that we need, but a decision.”

In short, there will be another parliamentary vote on the Brexit deal tomorrow. If defeated, a vote on no-deal Brexit will then be held on Wednesday 13th to see if there is explicit consent on this path. If not, there will be another vote on extending Article 50 on Thursday 14th.

Data-wise, we have German industrial production, trade balance; US retail sales and business inventories.