UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, is reportedly ready to defy no-deal law
And he is going to make that clear to European Commission president Juncker in their first face-to-face meeting later today. Multiple reports are saying that Johnson will reiterate that he wants to secure a deal by 18 October but failing which, he will reject any delay on offer and leave without a Brexit deal on 31 October instead.
The reports are saying that he is prepared to go to court to fight against legal challenges from his opponents on the matter. Also, according to a senior government official, Johnson will not write the letter to request an extension if a deal isn't reached before 18 October.
Meanwhile, Johnson himself said over the weekend that: "There's a very, very good conversation going on about how to address the issues of the Northern Irish border. A huge amount of progress is being made", in remarks to the Daily Mail.
He also made reference to the Incredible Hulk in one of those remarks: "Banner might be bound in manacles, but when provoked he would explode out of them".
It'll be interesting to see how all this plays out but it seems like he's continuing to draw a hard line ahead of his meeting today and before the European Council summit on 17-18 October. I would expect more "leaks" and "rumours" on this over the next few weeks as such.
For now, pound traders will only have a couple of details to chew on. The headline is the more relevant one playing out to start the new week and is precipitating some weakness in the currency as seen today.
