17:54

The pound is losing ground on the foreign exchanges this afternoon amid signs that much of the progress made on Brexit this week looks destined to unravel.

Sterling briefly dropped below $1.30 against the dollar after Labour said it was disappointed Theresa May had not offered “real change or compromise” over her plan to leave the EU in talks with the opposition party.

The prime minister requesting an extension to the article 50 process this morning barely registered on the currency markets earlier today but signs of the EU’s reluctance to agree and France’s firm opposition appear to have dented the pound. Sterling is currently about 0.5% down against the dollar at $1.30, having been almost as high as $1.32 on Thursday morning. Against the euro, the pound has lost 0.4% on the day to trade at about €1.16.