Brexit

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Hammond undermines May over Brexit ‘no deal’

From our UK edition

Philip Hammond - No deal would be 'a very, very bad outcome' One day before Brexit negotiations get underway, Philip Hammond took to the Andrew Marr Show and announced that if the UK achieved no deal with the EU it would be a 'very very bad outcome'. This appears to be somewhat at odds with Theresa May's repeated assertion that 'no deal is better than a bad deal'... Marr: Do you think no deal is better than a bad deal? Hammond: Let me be clear that no deal would be a very, very bad outcome for Britain. But there is a possible worse outcome, and that is a deal that is deliberately structured to punish us.

Fraser Nelson

Why is Philip Hammond trying to destabilise his government’s Brexit talks?

From our UK edition

You can see why Theresa May locked her Chancellor up in a cupboard during the general election campaign. Not only was his credibility shot in his bungled Budget, where he seemed not to realise that his plan to raise National Insurance violated the manifesto upon which he was elected, but he’s now still seeking to undermine his colleagues on Brexit. The UK position is clear: yes, we’d like a good deal with the EU but if one is not forthcoming then we’d walk away and use the default World Trade Organisation rules. Hardly a leap into the unknown; the WTO rules govern the UK trade with our largest single partner, the United States. And the guidelines have already been guaranteed.

Saturday

Philip Sime

Pew poll shows most Europeans want to take back control from Brussels

From our UK edition

Many in Brussels are anxiously looking out for any sign of what has been termed 'Brexit contagion' – the idea that the Brits might encourage others towards leaving the EU. The findings of a major Pew survey of European opinion does not point to a rush towards the exit, but it certainly does flag up dissatisfaction with the EU and its handling of many of the most pressing issues facing the continent.  Take, for example, trade policy: should a country set its own alliances or leave it to the EU? This is, in effect, a question about the Customs Union – staying in this union is often taken to define 'soft Brexit'.

James Forsyth

Why an extended, Brexit transition is now on the cards

From our UK edition

The Brexit talks start on Monday. Theresa May hoped that they would be beginning with the UK government's hand strengthened by her enhanced majority. But, as I say in The Sun this morning, the opposite has happened. The indecisive election result means that there is again uncertainty about the government’s Brexit position. There is lots of talk about what Philip Hammond wants, and how he might seek to ‘soften’ Brexit. Leave supporting ministers are certainly anxious about what he’s up to. One fumes that if Hammond succeeds in watering down Brexit then he’ll cause ‘a schism in the Tory party’ and multiple Cabinet ministers will resign.

Thursday

Damian Thompson

Kissin in action

From our UK edition

Is Evgeny Kissin, born in Moscow in 1971, the most famous concert pianist in the world? Probably not, if you stretch the definition of ‘concert pianist’ to encompass the circus antics of Lang Lang, the 34-year-old Chinese virtuoso who — in the words of a lesser-known but outstandingly gifted colleague — ‘can play well but chooses not to’. But you could certainly argue that Kissin has been the world’s most enigmatic great pianist since the death of Sviatoslav Richter in 1997 – though, unlike the promiscuously gay Richter, his overwhelming concern with privacy does not conceal any exotic secrets. He has recently married for the first time, but chooses not to publicise the fact.

Fraser Nelson

Unemployment is at its lowest since 1975. Can someone tell the Tories?

From our UK edition

British government may not be strong and stable but the economy is still the most formidable job creating machine in Europe. And while it's certainly true that much of the rise in employment is down to immigration, British unemployment is also down – figures today show the lowest level since 1975. My old friend Simon Nixon writes in the Times today about Britain becoming the new basket case of Europe, and has been making similar noises since the Brexit vote. He may well he right, but so far this basket is carrying more jobs than at any time in history. Don't expect the Tories to make this point: they've been out to lunch since the Brexit vote, and barely mentioned the economy in the campaign.

Theo Hobson

Embracing liberal Christianity can lead the Lib Dems out of irrelevance

From our UK edition

In a sense it was the Liberal Democrats who did worst in this odd election. For the point of this party is to attract progressives who find Labour too dogmatic. And in the past two years Labour has been taken over by old-fashioned socialist dogma. It was the perfect opportunity to create a huge base of homeless New Labour voters. And then came Brexit, doubling this golden opportunity, for the Liberal Democrats were the main party of Brexit-scepticism. Why was the chance missed? Maybe English voters can only really believe in the two main parties, when it comes to governing. In fact, most of us find one of these parties only intermittently credible. So what’s the point of the Liberal Democrats? They must seek purpose and coherence in an idea, a cause.

Ed West

The future belongs to the Left

From our UK edition

When I was in my early 20s and quite conservative I assumed I was just an anomaly, someone who develops these traits earlier than normal, and conservatism was like baldness or impotence or the other bad things that get you in middle age; most of my friends and contemporaries would catch up at some point, because these things just develop at different speeds. Now in my late 30s I realise it's worse than that and almost none of my friends and acquaintances are going to become more conservative; if anything, they've become more left-wing than they were 20 years ago, as the barometer of what is progressive and therefore acceptable has shifted. Many of them would have been among the 40 per cent of the population who voted for Corbyn last week, and the 50 per cent aged 35-44.

Martin Vander Weyer

Let’s have a dose of business sense in Downing Street before it’s too late

From our UK edition

Take no notice of the resilience of the FTSE100 index, which, having reached record pre-election highs, shed barely 100 points at its opening last Friday and recovered most of them by Monday. Dominated by multinational companies, it is being sustained by global market sentiment and the relative weakness of the pound, which makes our blue chips look good value; it is not offering a signal that investors think all is well. But do take notice of the Institute of Directors, speaking largely for mid-sized businesses, when it says that confidence among its members has crashed since polling day: from 34 per cent optimistic vs 37 per cent gloomy last month, to 20 per cent upbeat against 57 per cent ‘quite or very pessimistic’ now.

Hugo Rifkind

The Conservatives’ real problem? It’s that the electorate now sees them as reckless

From our UK edition

The opposition wants to raze your house to the ground. No, bear with me. Analogy. They say they’ll pull it down, and build a new one with, I don’t know, walls of gold, and hot and cold running unicorns. ‘You can’t trust them,’ says the government, ‘because they want to knock your house down!’ And normally, normally, this would be quite an effective message. Only this time it is delivered from inside the cab of a JCB by a government that also wants to knock down your house, and has already demolished your garden wall. ‘Honk honk!’ they’re going, on that pull-down-horn thing, with eyes gleaming like those of actual maniacs. ‘Those guys are crazy!’ they’re saying, with foam frothing from their own lips.

Julie Burchill

Alt-hate

From our UK edition

At the start of the year, a Facebook friend messaged me, telling me that she and a chum had been asked to leave their north London book group (how I hugged myself on reading those words!): she for posting a link on Facebook to a Spectator piece by me — pleasingly and rather reasonably headlined ‘The Brexit divide wasn’t between young and old but Ponces and Non-Ponces’; her friend for liking it. I was naturally fascinated, my curiosity driven by righteous indignation and unrighteous glee. I asked for more information and Judith — my penpal’s suitably heroic name —wrote back: ‘The last line from the email of the man who runs the book group was “I am therefore asking you to resign from the group.

Wednesday

Isabel Hardman

What next for Labour moderates?

From our UK edition

Normally after an election, the leader of the party that came second comes to the first meeting of their parliamentary party and promises an inquiry into what went wrong. As Katy reported from the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting last night, no such thing happened when Jeremy Corbyn spoke to MPs. He received a standing ovation from all but two members, and the tone of the meeting was very much about how well Labour had done.  This is the dominant narrative: that Labour basically won the election by gaining seats, and the Tories lost it even though they remain the largest party. Politically, of course, Theresa May has lost: it was her decision to call an election and her campaign that cost the Tories seats.

Ross Clark

Philip Hammond’s Brexit plan is the worst of all worlds

From our UK edition

Had last week’s expected landslide actually occurred Philip Hammond would by now be working on his memoirs. Instead, he is still in his job and demonstrating why, according to rumours, Theresa May might have liked to have removed him from the Treasury. He has reportedly demanded that May’s policy on Brexit be watered down so that Britain remains in the customs union but not the single market. Staying in the Customs Union would be the quickest way to keep the DUP happy as it would make certain that the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic remains open. But in all other respects it is the wrong way round. If Britain were to remain partially connected to EU institutions it would be far better were it to stay in the single market and outside the customs union.

Tom Goodenough

Theresa May would be wise to listen to David Cameron

From our UK edition

Theresa May has few friends at the moment. But while her Christmas card list might be dwindling, her tally of critics is growing rapidly. Yesterday, John Major urged the Prime Minister to ditch a deal with the DUP or risk jeopardising the peace process in Northern Ireland. Now, David Cameron has waded in, calling for the PM to adopt a ‘softer’ approach to Brexit in the wake of last week’s election disaster. The former PM also said that his successor should change tack and ‘listen to other parties’ on the best way of leaving the EU. So, just another ex-Tory leader with too much time on their hands determined to take up the role of a backseat driver?

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

What is Labour’s policy on Brexit? We’re still no closer to knowing

From our UK edition

What is Labour’s policy on Brexit? No one has ever really known the answer to this question, and it doesn’t seem to be any closer to being resolved now that the election is out of the way, either. Sir Keir Starmer yesterday attacked the government for ‘simply sweeping options off the table before they even started with the negotiations’, including saying Britain will not seek to be a member of the Single Market. But Jeremy Corbyn has said in the past few days that Brexit ‘absolutely’ means leaving the single market - a stance echoed by John McDonnell.

Tom Goodenough

Michael Gove signals a shift on the government’s Brexit stance

From our UK edition

Is Brexit going soft? In the aftermath of the election, some are worried that might be the case. While others are hopeful that a hard Brexit (i.e. leaving the single market) is now off the table. Michael Gove’s interview on Today was a reassurance that whatever type of Brexit Britain does end up with, a consensus is being sought out. Gove made it clear that the majority of Brits, by voting for Labour and the Tories (82.4 per cent backed the parties last week), opted to vote for parties committed to Brexit. This is a sensible rebuke to those trying to read into voters’ lukewarm enthusiasm for Theresa May a sign that people are changing their minds about leaving the EU.

Monday

Fraser Nelson

George Bridges resigns as Brexit minister – has the unravelling begun?

From our UK edition

The reshuffle might be over, but the government is still changing shape. It has emerged that George Bridges has quit as a Brexit minister. He was highly rated by David Davis, his erstwhile boss, and had established himself as one of the most able ministers in the government – precisely the sort of person they can’t really afford to lose at this time. So why has he walked out now? We are only given a diplomatic answer: he’d been contemplating moving on for some time, and it seemed like a good time. If this rationale sounds familiar it’s precisely the formula that Katie Perrior deployed when she quit as Theresa May’s communications chief after just nine months in the job.

Sunday

Philip Sime

Is the UK heading for a soft Brexit? The German press now thinks so

From our UK edition

Senior figures in Europe have spent the last few days pondering how Theresa May’s bungled election gamble will affect the upcoming Brexit negotiations. To the surprise of many, May, who campaigned to remain in the EU, had apparently set the UK on course for a hard Brexit, which involved leaving the single market behind. There was also the famous line that: 'No deal is better than a bad deal'. Now though, May’s botched election leaves a question mark over her Brexit strategy. These shifting political sands have not gone unnoticed on the continent, where politicians and bureaucrats are sharpening their pencils ahead of the start of Brexit negotiations.

Friday

Brendan O’Neill

Jeremy Corbyn’s unlikely fans show he is no revolutionary

From our UK edition

So now we know: Jeremy Corbyn is a counterrevolutionary. The man who fancies himself as the secret Red of British politics, surrounding himself with trustafarian Trotskyists and the kind of public-school radical who gets a hammer-and-sickle tattoo just to irritate his parents, is now being talked up as a potential saviour of the establishment from Brexit. From Guardian scribes to actual EU commissioners, the great and good want Corbyn to save their hides from that raucous revolt of last June. You couldn’t make it up: Jez the tamer of the agitating masses. No sooner had those exit polls revealed that May was struggling and Corbyn was rising than the EU-pining lobby was saying: ‘Jez we can stop Brexit!

Matthew Lynn

The chances of a catastrophic Brexit have just dramatically increased

From our UK edition

Sterling plunges on the currency markets. Middle Eastern oil money flees London. A Prime Minister resigns in mysterious circumstances, and a government clings on to a vanishing majority. Sound familiar? In fact, it is a description of the run up to the sterling crisis of 1976, which forced the Labour Government to crawl to the IMF for an emergency bail-out, rather than 2017. But the parallels are spooky. As a catastrophic election result for the Conservative party is digested, sterling is already sinking like a stone. No one has any real idea who will be PM in a few months, whether there will be another election, or who might win it if another vote is held. We are not about to quite repeat the traumatic experience of 1976.