Pound slides as Boris Johnson pledges fresh Brexit negotiations

Boris Johnson on Monday pledged to "go the extra thousand miles" to seek an exit deal with the European Union, even as government preparations for a no-deal Brexit sent the pound to fresh lows.

Speaking on a visit to Scotland, the new Prime Minister said the old withdrawal agreement that had been draw up by Theresa May and EU leaders, only to then be repeatedly shot down by lawmakers in Westminster, was "dead".

Meanwhile, the government said it was "turbo-charging" plans for a no-deal Brexit, panicking investors and sending the pound sterling to its lowest level in over two years, with the currency down 0.8% against the dollar at under $1.23 in afternoon trading.

However, Johnson said he was confident that a new deal could be negotiated and that it was merely "responsible for any government to prepare for no deal if we absolutely have to".

"My approach is to be very outward-going, I don't want the UK to be aloof or hanging back, I want us to engage to hold out the hand, to go the extra thousand miles, and what we want to do is make it absolutely clear that the backstop is no good, it's dead, it's got to go. The withdrawal agreement is dead, it's got to go. But there is scope for us to do a new deal," said Johnson.

The former Foreign Secretary's optimism may be misplaced, however, as the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has stressed that removing the backstop guarantee is unacceptable, while EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has told Johnson that the EU’s position would not change and that the existing deal is the best option on the table.

However, Juncker has left the door open to the possibility of renegotiating elements of May's deal.