The pound dropped to its lowest level since October amid market fears that Theresa May is leading Britain to an uncertain future outside the single market, forcing the prime minister to deny the UK was heading for a “hard Brexit”.
Mrs May instead accused the media of inflaming fears Britain will crash out of the EU without a deal to stay in Europe’s common market and causing Monday’s sharp fall in sterling against both the dollar and the euro.
The prime minister insisted she would seek an “ambitious” trade deal with the EU, after markets were unsettled by her comments Sunday that the UK would not try to keep “bits of membership” of the EU — widely interpreted by investors as a reference to Britain’s inclusion in the single market.