A protest calling to stop Brexit was held in London on October 20, 2018.
Technical talks on Britain's departure from the European Union are ongoing and Brexit minister Dominic Raab will head to Brussels as soon as is necessary, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokeswoman said on Friday.
"Technical talks have carried on between officials this week as has been the case all the way through negotiations, but I don't have a specific time or framework date as to when the minister will return, but as soon as is necessary," she told reporters.
The British pound laboured near seven-week lows against the dollar on Friday and three-week lows versus the euro, as doubt grows about whether the UK and the European Union can clinch a Brexit deal.Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on Friday that Brexit talks were on hold because Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet was not close enough to agreement on how to proceed for the negotiations to restart.The report sent sterling to a day's low of $1.2805 before the pound recovered to trade flat at $1.2820. That leaves the pound close to seven-week lows hit on Thursday of $1.2795.The British currency was largely unchanged versus the euro, at 88.76 pence per euro, after earlier weakening to a three-week low.Asian stocks hit 20-month lows, S&P futures slide as investors flee risk"GBP remains in its usual state of flummox as the Brexit impasse continues, with politics at home the biggest stumbling block. Until this is resolved, we expect GBP/USD to trade below $1.30," said Viraj Patel, a currencies analyst at ING.With Brexit dominating the news agenda, Britain's economic fortunes have taken a backseat.Next week, the Bank of England is expected to leave interest rates unchanged and stress that while there are some signs of rising wage and price pressures, it will not be ready to tighten policy until there is clarity on Brexit."Fears of a no-deal Brexit and the wider risk-off market move have seen the (UK interest rate) curve flatten. Next week's BoE policy statement is likely to restate the need for higher rates and we see scope for a steeper front end to money markets," Societe Generale analysts said in a note to clients. 
Sterling stuck at seven-week lows as Brexit uncertainty mounts
Britain's opposition Labour Party challenged Prime Minister Theresa May's government on Thursday to deliver immediately on its promise that nearly a decade of public spending cuts is coming to an end.Finance minister Philip Hammond will announce his annual budget next week, armed with better than expected public finances but needing to balance any largesse with caution over the huge uncertainty posed by Brexit.Labour's finance policy chief John McDonnell said Hammond must also flesh out a promise May has made to bring an end to austerity after eight years of public spending cuts designed to shrink Britain's budget deficit."This budget will show us whether she is true to her word or not," McDonnell said. "We need decisive action to end and reverse austerity, not some vague promises for the future and a few financial conjuring tricks."Brexit, Italy, and trade tensions weigh on German economyResponding to McDonnell's speech, Treasury minister Liz Truss defended her party's track record on the economy and said the government was working to grow the economy so more money was available for public services.May told her party's annual conference this month that "a decade after the financial crash, people need to know that the austerity it led to is over and that their hard work has paid off."Britain's budget deficit has been cut from nearly 10 percent of gross domestic product in 2009/10 to under 2 percent in the last financial year.EU ready to call Brexit summit when conditions metMcDonnell's speech was accompanied by a dossier outlining Labour research into the extent and impact of spending cuts on areas such as health, education and local services. It said 30 billion pounds of new funding was needed to stop planned cuts, and nearly 80 billion to reverse cuts since 2010."What we've done in the dossier is to try and get Theresa May and Philip Hammond to focus on the impact of austerity," he said. "We will seek to ensure not just that we end austerity, but actually reverse much of what's been done."UK PM May's Brexit transition plan could last for years
UK Labour presses PM May to deliver 'end of austerity' claim