The pound plunged to a new 31-year low against the dollar this morning as Theresa May pushed towards a "Hard Brexit ".
Sterling fell 0.5% to just $1.276 - its lowest level since 1985 and beating a string of other 30-year lows since the Brexit vote.
Just days before the EU referendum the pound was worth more than $1.50 but it plummeted to $1.32 overnight when Brexit became clear.
Since then it has struggled to recover and has now dropped further. The currency was also down 0.2% against the Euro at 1.14.
She said her “hard Brexit ” strategy will not involve an economic “trade-off” with Brussels to allow the free movement of people from Europe to continue.
It means Britain will almost certainly be forced out of the lucrative single market when we exit the EU in 2019.
Mrs May said: “We have voted to leave the European Union and become a fully independent, sovereign country. We will do what independent, sovereign countries do – decide for ourselves how we control immigration.”
Chancellor Philip Hammond added to the woes yesterday when he warned Brexit would be a "rollercoaster" ride.
“We have to expect a period when confidence will go up and down – perhaps on a bit of a rollercoaster – until we get to a final agreement, where businesses and consumers can understand what the future relationship between Britain and the European Union will be,” he said.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com and City Index, said: "The Tory Party conference is turning into a sell for the pound as foreign exchange traders get spooked by May's apparent sanguine attitude to leaving the single market."
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