Pound LIVE: GBP SLIPS against euro as Boris claims May on verge of Brexit 'SURRENDER'

Brexit has remained the key influencer on the exchange rate, with the pairing suffering after Boris Johnson claimed Theresa May is “on the verge of total surrender” to Brussels.

The former Foreign Secretary called on the Cabinet to abandon Mrs May’s Brexit plans in a scathing attack on the Prime Minister as EU divorce talks continue to drag.

Speaking in his weekly column in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson demanded a sabotage of Brexit plans to stop the UK becoming “a colony” of the EU.

Referring to the Government’s proposals, he argued: “No member of the Government, let alone the Cabinet, could conceivably support them, or so you would have thought.

“Yet the awful truth is that even if the Cabinet mutinies, as they ought, it will make little difference.”

The negative Brexit news comes as the pound tumbled to trade at €1.142 against the euro just before 9:00 GMT, according to data from Bloomberg.

This is below previous closing levels of €1.144 and highs of €1.150 seen briefly last week.

The highs seen last week pushed the pound euro exchange rate to a six-month high.

The stern words from Mr Johnson comes just days after his brother Jo Johnson stood down as transport minister, claiming Mrs May’s Brexit proposal was a “failure of British statecraft on a scale unseen since the Suez crisis”.

Meawhile, the weekend also saw Brussels reject a proposal for an “independent mechanism” to allow Britain to exit any post-Brexit temporary customs arrangement.

Brexiteers are consequently increasing concerned the UK could become trapped in a customs union with the EU following Brexit, leaving it unable to sign major new trade deals or deviate from Brussels in key areas.

It has also since emerged that Mrs May has been forced to shelve plans today for an emergency cabinet meeting to approve a Brexit deal.

Cabinet ministers had been told to “clear their diaries” for an “approve the deal” meeting, according to The Independent, but this meeting has since been pushed back.

The source told the publication: “The cabinet will meet as normal on Tuesday, but I can’t say if it going to be a Brexit cabinet or not, because the negotiations are ongoing.”

It raises further fears of a no-deal Brexit as the deadline to leave the EU in March 2019 draws nearer.

The Irish border has been the main row erupting as both sides struggle to reach a deal, with disagreements on how trade and free movement of goods will work.

source: express.co.uk