May backtracks on Hard Brexit stance
British prime minister Theresa May has cooled talk of a Hard Brexit after her comments on Sunday sent the pound falling to a ten-week low against the euro on Monday.
May took aim at media outlets in the United Kingdom for twisting her words, following the 1.2% fall in sterling against the Eurozone currency. It also fell over 1% against the dollar.
In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, May said the UK could not expect to retain "bits" of EU membership, which many haven taken to signal an admittance of the likelihood of a clean break from the bloc following last year's referendum.
She denied those assertions however when speaking to the Charity Commission on Sunday, in a scathing criticism of the media.
"I'm tempted to say that the people who are getting it wrong are those who print things saying I'm talking about a hard Brexit, (that) it is absolutely inevitable there's a hard Brexit," the prime minister said.
"I don't accept the terms hard and soft Brexit," she continued. "What we're doing is (that we are) going to get an ambitious, good, best possible deal for the United Kingdom in terms of ... trading with and operating within the single European market."
The UK government has been criticised for apparently not having a clear and cohesive strategy for approaching formal negotiations with the other 28 nations in the bloc, which are due to begin in March of this year.
Meanwhile, chancellor Philip Hammond has initiated informal talks with other European finance ministers, perhaps showing signs of desperation on the government's part as they risk losing access to the free market.
Hammond is scheduled to meet with German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble in Berlin on Tuesday, after a meeting with Irish finance minister Michael Noonan on Monday.