Pound tumbles against euro again as British ministers quit over Brexit deal

The Local

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15 November 2018
15:25 CET

Brexit

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The Local

[email protected]
@thelocalspain

15 November 2018
15:25 CET

The pound has dropped once again as several British government ministers resigned on Thursday morning in opposition to the Brexit withdrawal agreement, spelling bad news and more insecurity for British pensioners throughout Europe.

The pound saw its biggest drop in 17 months 0.5 per cent to below €1.14 as several top level British ministers quit their posts in protest over the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Among them were Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey.

“Brexit worries are sending shock waves through the currency markets,” Credit Agricole SA head of Group-of-10 currency strategy Valentin Marinov told Bloomberg. The pound is lower but “it seems that uncertainty could push it lower still.”

Naturally this latest fall — one of several since the result of the Brexit referendum was first announced back in 2016 — will leave British pensioners living in Europe who depend on a UK pension for their livelihoods once again worrying whether it will recover its losses.

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Before the referendum the pound was valued at almost €1.40 however after the vote the pound fell to €1.19.

A few months after the referendum, in October 2016, the pound was worth as little as €1.13 against the euro after suffering a dramatic collapse.

The drops were largely as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the effects of Brexit on the UK economy and fears that leaving the EU could leave Britain's trading position in a disastrous situation.

In the intervening months and years there have been reports of the sinking pound leaving British pensioners in France suffering hard from the squeeze.

British pensioners have told The Local how much the weakening pound had changed their lives.

“We are really struggling at the moment and it has made us very sad and angry, just for the sake of a political spat between friends. I shall never understand the mess that the referendum had caused,” Lynda Adcock who is in her 60s and living in Brittany previously told The Local.

“The exchange rate means that we have to think about if we can put the heating on, what we eat and it has generally made a huge impact on our daily life. We always pay our bills first and keep a roof over our heads. That is what is important.”

While there have been moments of optimism which have seen the pound stabilise since the referendum result, including on Wednesday when the Brexit withdrawal agreement was approved by the British government, it seems like the currency is set for more tumultuous times ahead.

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