British Pound Tumbles After Theresa May Sets Brexit Date

The British people voted in June to withdraw membership from the European Union - a process which has now been put into motion.

Following the Brexit vote, the British government needed to give formal and official notice, as detailed in Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, to the European Union that it will be leaving the organization.

According to the BBC, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said over the weekend that Article 50 will be triggered by the end of March 2017 and the UK will officially leave the European Union by summer 2019.

According to The Guardian, May defended the outcome of the Brexit vote, noting that leaving the European Union provides "the freedom to make our own decisions on a whole host of different matters, from how we label our food to the way in which we choose to control immigration."

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"It is not, therefore, a negotiation to establish a relationship anything like the one we have had for the last 40 years or more," the Prime Minister added. "So it is not going to be a Norway model. It's not going to be a Switzerland model. It is going to be an agreement between an independent, sovereign United Kingdom and the European Union."

May also promised to implement what she calls a "great repeal bill" which will overturn the 1972 European Communities Act which states that EU law can preside over British law. Once Brexit is official, the government will be free to change, amend or get rid of unwanted laws imposed by the European Union.

The British pound traded lower on the news and hit a new 2016 low against the Euro. The pound was also trading at $1.2878 US dollars, within striking distance of the post-Brexit lows of $1.2798.