The pound fell sharply on Tuesday against the main currencies, after having already suffered on Monday and while trade negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union on a post-Brexit trade agreement are at an impasse.

Around 11:10 GMT (13:10 in Paris), the pound lost 0.88% against the greenback at 1.3050 dollar, a few minutes after falling to 1.3022, a level more seen in almost a month.

Against the euro, it fell by 0.72% to 90.41 pence per euro.

The day before, it had already lost 0.85% and 0.68% against both currencies.

"It seems that Brexit is slipping while the director of legal services of the British government has resigned due to disagreements with Boris Johnson," said Sebastien Clements, an analyst for OFX, citing a report from the Financial Times.

According to the daily, Jonathan Jones made the decision to leave because of the government's desire to revise the part of the Brexit agreement dedicated to Ireland and concluded last year.

This text that Boris Johnson wants to revise aims to guarantee the absence of a physical border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, a member of the EU, and to avoid the resurgence of tensions in this region, bloodied by three decades of "Troubles" until the signing of the peace agreement of Good Friday in 1998.

The possibility of modifying this text has made the Europeans and their chief negotiator Michel Barnier jump, for whom "everything that has been signed in the past must be respected".

- Until October 15 -

The dialogue between the two sides has also become tense in recent days, putting pressure on the British currency, whose price follows the evolution of forecasts on the chances of a trade agreement.

Hours before Michel Barnier arrived in London for talks set to begin at 12:30 GMT and continue until Thursday, British negotiator David Frost called on the EU to "be more realistic about the UK's status as an independent country".

"We can no longer afford to rehash the same things" after "six months of dialogue," he said in a statement.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that without a compromise between now and the European summit on 15 October, he will be satisfied with a "no deal" despite the risks of economic damage in times of historic crisis due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

According to him, the United Kingdom has to gain by entering into bilateral trade agreements and to review some of its legislation to its advantage without the directives of Brussels.

A no-deal Brexit would mean that trade transactions between the UK and the EU would be governed by WTO rules at the end of the transition period that ends at the end of December.

This would mean tariffs on many products, potentially very costly for many sectors, as many industry and business representatives are concerned about.

"Operators probably continue to be very sensitive to anything that could jeopardise a deal and leave the UK facing a global pandemic, high unemployment and a lack of (access to) the single market at the same time," explained Craig Erlam, analyst for Oanda.