"One of the options being considered by the Johnson campaign is to send MPs (members of parliament) away in late October to give them less chance to, in some way, block a no-deal Brexit," said Sam Coates, Sky's deputy political editor.

Sterling fell below $1.24 for the first time since April 2017 on the news.

Sky cited campaign sources as saying that Johnson is looking at scheduling a Queen's Speech - the government's legislative plans - to mark the start of a new parliamentary session in early November.

As parliament is prorogued for between one and two weeks ahead of a Queen's Speech, that would mean that lawmakers would in effect "be unavailable to stop a no-deal Brexit immediately before October 31", Sky said.