The book pricks the nose after about Cox

PARIS (Reuters) – The british pound is sharply reversed lower Tuesday against the us dollar and the euro in reaction to the comments of the attorney general of british Geoffrey Cox, whose legal opinion was seen as crucial before the vote that must take place this Tuesday in the House of commons on the Brexit.

Geoffrey Cox has judged that the assurances given by Europeans to the First minister Theresa May on the safeguard clause for ireland (“backstop”) did not rule out the legal risk of seeing the United Kingdom enclosed within a customs union after the Brexit.

The british pound erased its gains against the dollar after these remarks, to go back now more than 1% against the greenback and falling back on 1.30.

It has declined by more than 1% against the euro, at least at 86.50 pence.

“The sterling has nosedived in response to the release of Cox. His opinion was one that counted the most; now that he has clearly said that the recent agreement had no weight, the door is wide open to a fall of the pound against the dollar,” said Naeem Aslam, analyst markets at ThinkMarkets.

The british currency had reached 1,3288 dollar earlier in the morning, buoyed by hopes surrounding a possible green light from british parliament to the agreement laying down the terms and conditions of the Brexit.

Mps in the uk are called this Tuesday to vote for the second time on this agreement after overwhelmingly rejected on 15 January a first version of the text.

(Blandine Hénault, edited by Wilfrid Exbrayat)