Mr Cox also added: “This parliament should have the courage to face the electorate. But it won’t because so many of them are about preventing us leaving the European Union. All we need is a one-line bill… fixing the date of the general election.” As a result, pound traders are jittery on the prospect of an early general election, further exacerbating the UK’s political uncertainties ahead of the October 31 Brexit deadline.
In UK economic news, today saw the release of August’s BBA mortgage approvals, which improved by 3.2 percent. However, with political developments in the spotlight, this did little to boost the pound.
Richard Pike, Marketing Director at Phoebus Software, commented: “As parliament gets underway again today it remains to be seen whether activities in Westminster will see people apply the brakes to any housing plans, which could affect the numbers down the line.”
Meanwhile, the US dollar edged higher against the European currency today on increased safe-haven demand, following President Donald Trump’s criticism of China’s trade practices at yesterday’s UN summit.
Mr Trump said: “Not only has China declined to adopt promised reforms, it has embraced an economic model dependent on massive market barriers, heavy state subsidies, currency manipulation… and the theft of intellectual property and also trade secrets on a grand scale.”
Today saw the publication of August’s US new home sales figure, which rose unexpectedly from 0.666 million to 0.713 million, providing further uplift for the “greenback”.
The GBP/USD exchange rate could continue to remain subdued if the Conservative government continues to push for an early general election.