Politics Archives

Thursday

15 November 2018

Dangerous minds

There was no reason for Edward Drummond to believe this January day was going to be different to any other Whitehall working day. Having completed his civil service chores and visited the bank, he set off back to Downing Street where, as the prime minister’s private secretary, he had an apartment. He was passing a Charing Cross coffee shop when, without any warning, he felt a searing blow to his back and, according to a witness, his jacket burst into flames. The bang drew the attention of a quick-witted police officer, who dashed across the road as a man prepared to shoot at Mr Drummond again. But even with the assistance of passers-by, the officer struggled to disarm the shooter. He violently resisted and discharged a second shot, though this time without causing injury to anyone.

Wednesday

14 November 2018

Joanna Rossiter

MPs should not fall for the EU’s promises on the future relationship

A note leaked to the Times written by the EU's deputy chief negotiator shows that the EU has no intention of releasing the UK from the customs union if May's deal is signed. This attitude should come as little surprise to those close to the deal. Throughout the process, the EU have wished to hamper the UK's future trading relationships to ensure that Brexit does not set a precedent for other countries who might seek to leave. But, in spite of this leaked memo, the EU will not be admitting their intentions in public any time soon. Quite the opposite. The political agreement that will be published alongside the withdrawal agreement will be full of overblown promises about a tailor-made trade deal.

James Forsyth

May’s Brexit cabinet: the rows, the threats, the deal

Five hours of cabinet discussion produced several memorable moments. Esther McVey’s push for a formal vote, I understand, went on for several minutes and ended with Mark Sedwill, the new Cabinet Secretary, looking up the rules on procedure. Perhaps more worryingly for No. 10, both Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, and Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, urged Theresa May to go to Brussels and get more before putting the deal to Parliament. Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, was his usual colourful self. His argument was that this life raft, constructed of oil drums and a plastic sail, needed to make it out on to the open ocean. But when those in favour are calling it an ‘ugly sister’ deal you know there are going to be problems down the line.

Tom Goodenough

Michel Barnier hails the draft Brexit Withdrawal Agreement

‘White is the new green’, said Michel Barnier as he held the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement aloft at a press conference in Brussels tonight. The EU’s chief negotiator was referring to the chunks of text that had previously been coloured in where there had been disagreement. Not too long ago, the white sections were few and far between. Now, the colours are all gone and the mammoth 585 page proposed Brexit agreement is the result. A no deal Brexit has, for now at least, been avoided. We’re all familiar with the dire warnings of the cost to Britain of an acrimonious Brexit. These predictions are contentious but one thing is sure: on a personal level, no deal would have been a disaster for Barnier.

James Forsyth

Cabinet backs Theresa May’s Brexit deal – but only just

After a five-hour Cabinet meeting, Theresa May emerged from Number 10 to say that the Cabinet have decided to back the withdrawal agreement and the political declaration. She admitted that the debate had been ‘impassioned’, which is presumably code for an argument. I gather that about a third of the Cabinet spoke against her deal. The choices, she said, had been difficult, particularly when it came to Northern Ireland. Sajid Javid and Jeremy Hunt are understood to have spoken against it - to have the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary against you is quite something. May then immediately moved to frame the choice as between her deal, no deal and no Brexit. This is how Number 10 will try and sell this agreement over the next few weeks.

Theresa May

Full text: Theresa May’s Brexit Cabinet statement

The Cabinet has just had a long, detailed and impassioned debate on the draft Withdrawal Agreement and the Outline Political Declaration on our future relationship with the European Union. These documents were the result of thousands of hours of hard negotiation by UK officials, and many, many meetings, which I and other ministers held with our EU counterparts. I firmly believe that the draft Withdrawal Agreement was the best that could be negotiated, and it was for the Cabinet to decide whether to move on in the talks. The choices before us were difficult, particularly in relation to the Northern Ireland backstop.

Robert Jackman

Tony Blair exposes Labour’s Brexit cynicism

Tony Blair has urged Labour MPs to vote against Theresa May’s deal when it comes to the Commons. In a speech at the British Academy this afternoon, Blair described the deal as 'pointless' and added that it was 'gut-wrenching' that Labour was not doing more to get a second referendum. Blair’s views on Brexit aren’t much of a surprise. But it’s interesting to note the similarity for once between Blair’s position and the official Labour line: both are focused on voting down the deal in support of what they see as a bigger goal. Similar, that is, apart from one crucial detail: while Blair wants a second referendum, Jeremy Corbyn is manoeuvring for a general election.

Lloyd Evans

Corbyn exposed the flaw in May’s Brexit plan at PMQs

Today’s choice for ‘A Book At Bedtime’ is the government’s draft Brexit deal. At daybreak the masterpiece was being referred to as a 500-page tome but its estimated length has now risen to 540 pp. That explains why the PM looked so calm and unruffled and at PMQs. No MP is going to risk brain damage by working through this Proustian monster. Even the wonkiest wonk in Westminster won’t read it all, and May stands to profit from her colleagues’ ignorance of the fine print. Roger Gale, who once held the demanding role of children’s TV producer, spoke up for every workshy lazybones in parliament. He asked the PM to release ‘details’ (i.e.

Alex Massie

A bad Brexit deal was inevitable

Well, what did you expect? I appreciate this is a question the Brexiteers are manifestly incapable of answering but that says more about their preconceived notions of what Brexit could reasonably deliver. It is a reflection, too, of the manner in which there have always been two different kinds of Brexit. There has been the Brexit of dreams and the Brexit of reality. The Brexit of psychology and the Brexit of technical policy detail. There has always been an obvious tension, to put it mildly, between these two positions and it is not anyone else’s fault that in pursuit of their dreams the diehard Brexiteers decided the detail could all be arranged to Britain’s supreme satisfaction and everyone else would fall into line.

Katy Balls

PMQs: MPs give Theresa May a taste of things to come

Today's PMQs ought to have been the calm before the storm. With Theresa May unable to reveal details of the proposed Brexit deal to MPs until her Cabinet signs it off – with a crunch meeting at 2pm – the specifics are not known. However, thanks to a series of leaks from the Brussels side and the European Research Group quickly seeing red it proved to be rather tense affair. As ever, Jeremy Corbyn failed to land a killer blow on the Prime Minister despite the rather wide goal posts. The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford had one of his more effective outings – using one question to ask why Scotland won't get the same benefits as Northern Ireland when it comes to single market access.

Charles Moore

Theresa May’s Brexit is a mess. But will Tory MPs dare move against her?

It’s time for Bond — Basildon Bond,’ is the joke among pro-Leave MPs as Theresa May serves up her mess of pottage as Brexit. Market research, however, shows the joke does not work on MPs under 40 because they do not know what Basildon Bond is. So perhaps I should explain to the hip Spectator crowd that Basildon Bond remains the commonest brand of quality paper on which to write letters. There need to be 48 such letters sent to Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, to provoke a vote of confidence in Mrs May among Conservative MPs. There are certainly far more than 48 who do not, in fact, have confidence in her. It does not automatically follow, needless to say, that they will say so when asked.

Steerpike

George Osborne takes revenge

To the surprise of some Brexiteers, today's front pages have been broadly sympathetic to Theresa May and her troubled deal. In fact, it's today's Evening Standard which appears to play to the Brexiteer cause most strongly. The paper's editor George Osborne – May's old nemesis – has tweeted out the front page which reads 'EU takes back control': https://twitter.com/George_Osborne/status/1062667935225970688 Does anyone else get the impression he is enjoying this? Less impressed was prisons minister Rory Stewart, who picked up the front page on Politics Live, and angrily told the panel: ‘This is really crazy stuff here. This is really crazy, really crazy. Because he’s taking unbelievable risk here.

David Davis

Why the Cabinet must reject Theresa May’s Brexit deal

Let’s be clear. If the Cabinet supports the Prime Minister’s proposed deal today, and they somehow manage to whip Parliament into allowing it to proceed, then a whole raft of irreversible consequences will flow from it. This will begin the breakup of the United Kingdom, not just isolating Northern Ireland, but also undermining the Unionist cause in Scotland. The so called backstop will not actually be a backstop at all but a foundation for EU ambition to constrain our opportunities and limit our competitiveness. In Brussels they admit this privately. This deal will contrive to make the Customs Union inescapable forever and effectively trap the UK to perpetual domination from Brussels.

Steerpike

Listen: Labour adviser damns Corbyn with faint praise

If Theresa May's deal collapses today, the country could well be heading for another general election (sorry Brenda). So it will no doubt reassure readers that there is a competent opposition ready to take over if she goes. Or maybe not. The former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake, who has been advising Labour and Jeremy Corbyn in preparation for them taking power, was on 5 live this morning, and was rather damning in his faint praise of the leader. Asked if Jeremy Corbyn was ready to be Prime Minister, the former civil servant replied: 'They're on their way, they're not there, and they would say the same, in terms of, there's more work to be done.' Isn't that a bit worrying, 5 Live's Emma Barnett asked?

Steerpike

DUP: our deal is with the Conservatives, not Theresa May

It's not been a great start for the Prime Minister this morning, as the ERG and DUP have loudly voiced their concerns about her proposed Brexit deal, before she presents it to her Cabinet later today. The PM will not be reassured by an interview with DUP spokesman, Sammy Wilson, this morning though. The unionist was first asked about what he thought about the government's proposals. If May was hoping the DUP would wait to see the detail before passing judgement, she will be disappointed with Wilson's reply: 'I suspect once we get into the detail, we'll find that that the headlines are only half the story and the detail makes this picture even worse.

Katy Balls

Brussels ‘leverage’ leak makes life even more difficult for Theresa May

It's crunch day – yes, really this time – for Theresa May. After spending the evening in one-on-one meetings with a select few cabinet ministers, this afternoon the Prime Minister will chair a special cabinet meeting – where she will seek approval for her proposed deal. The devil will be in the detail – but for some the detail is neither here nor there with the European Research Group quick to see red ahead of reading the document. Last night, Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested on Newsnight that he could be forced to withdraw his support for the Prime Minister. Not helping matters is a Brussels leak that makes its ways into the Times and FT. Brussels negotiator Sabine Weyand has told EU ambassadors that the 'temporary' backstop may not be so temporary.

Steerpike

Jacob Rees-Mogg considers writing a letter

Oh dear. The bulk of MPs haven't even see Theresa May's proposed deal yet but already suspicion is growing that it's a stinker. In that vein, Jacob Rees-Mogg appeared on Newsnight on Tuesday evening where – in a significant change in tone – he appeared to suggest he could write a letter of 'no confidence' to 1922 chair Graham Brady in the near future if the rumours are correct. The arch-Brexiteer who has previously said the policy – not May – ought to change, said there would come a time when he can't support her because she’s so tied to Brexit policy: https://twitter.com/BBCNewsnight/status/1062478026376527872 Watch this space.

Tuesday

13 November 2018

Robert Peston

Here’s what Theresa May has just agreed on Northern Ireland. And no, the DUP won’t like it

On the controversial - some would say "life or death" - question of how to keep open the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the backstop, this is what I am told has been agreed. It is what's described in Brussels as the "swimming pool" approach - in other words it has a shallow end and a deep end, when it comes to measures aimed at making sure trade is completely frictionless between NI and the ROI, and fairly frictionless between Great Britain and the EU27. GB would be in the shallow end, NI in the deep. Or to be more precise, the whole of the UK would stay in the customs union if a long-term trading relationship between the UK and EU isn't negotiated and implemented by the end of 2020 - which no one (with the possible exception of the PM) expects it to be.

James Forsyth

Theresa May’s uphill struggle to sell her Brexit deal

Right now, the government can’t try and sell the Brexit agreement as Theresa May is currently engaged in the delicate task of trying to persuade Cabinet Ministers—several of whom will have deep doubts about it—to back it. But Boris Johnson, the ERG and the DUP are trying to fill the vacuum this silence from the government is creating. They are trying to define the deal before May has even sold the Cabinet on it. Now, their critics will be quick to point out that they haven’t actually read it. However, the broad contours of this deal are relatively well established. The problem for May is that this focus on the broad outline of the deal makes it harder for her to emphasise the progress she has made.

James Kirkup

Why MPs should back Theresa May’s Brexit deal | 13 November 2018

Many things about the politics of Brexit are mystifying. Some are minor puzzles: Why don’t people read the documents they say they’re angry about, for instance? And some are major enigmas: Why don’t politicians talk about the economic and social problems that drove the Leave vote instead of fixating on misunderstood abstractions like sovereignty? Yet here we are, staggering into the 'endgame' of the most consequential negotiations in our postwar history and the debate has come down to a pair of Old Etonians talking about vassalage. I wonder how many people of Sunderland thought that’s what they were voting for in June 2016.