Big crack in the united front
The pound is higher on reports that Dutch and Spanish finance minister have agreed to work together to push for a Brexit deal that keeps Britain as close to the EU as possible, according to Bloomberg, who cites a person familiar.
This is a big deal.
Yes, there are 25 other countries in the EU who have been united against Britain and trying to drive a hard bargain. But Spain, for instance, isn't a big competitor with Britain in financial services so they might be happy to keep tighter ties rather than risk the tourism trade.
Britain has long hoped to implement some kind of divide-and-conquer strategy while Germany has emphasized maintaining a united front.
