Brexit

Tuesday

Robert Jackman

Brexit Britain needs 21st century borders

Whatever form Brexit might take, the Government has been clear about its intentions to take the country global: the Prime Minister has promised that post-Brexit Britain will be an outward-looking country, trading and engaging with countries from across the world. But if Britain is to copy with the increase in trade and visitors (both of which are expected to double within the next thirty years), it will be necessary to revisit and revitalise the country’s border and customs infrastructure. The Home Office’s failure to meet its existing targets for clearing visitors (within 25 minutes for EEA passports, and 45 minutes for non-EEA visitors have been well-publicised) – how can the

Monday

Freddie Sayers

Theresa May’s deal would win a second referendum. Here’s why

One important piece of information missing during these dramatic Brexit manoeuvres is what the voters actually want. Rory Stewart, one of the only ministers doing a decent job of selling the Prime Minister’s plan, speculated that ‘80 per cent of the British public support this deal’ and was promptly forced to apologise. Meanwhile opponents of the deal point to polls taken since the details were revealed suggesting that as few as 19 per cent of the public support it. So what is the truth? I think Theresa May’s deal is fundamentally much more in line with public opinion than polls suggest and that it will become more evidently so over time. It

Johannes de Jong

Why Theresa May’s Brexit deal is bad news for Europeans

Theresa May’s current Brexit deal will tie the UK more closely to Brussels than if it had stayed in the EU. The agreement, which is supposed to take back control and restore British sovereignty, will actually have the opposite effect. This is bad news for Britain – and bad news, too, for Europeans like myself who are desperate to see the EU reformed for the better. Jo Johnson was right to claim, when he resigned as a minister, that the choice now facing the UK is between ‘vassalage’ and ‘chaos’. On both sides of the debate, among Brexit supporters and those who want Britain to remain in the EU, the

Isabel Hardman

No-confidence threat against May recedes – for a few days

Is Theresa May about to face a vote of no confidence in her leadership? The Prime Minister is acting as though nothing has changed, to coin a phrase, focusing on selling her Brexit plan to business leaders at the CBI, rather than getting too bogged down with the internal problems with her party. But those trying to organise the move against her had been making noises all day that they may have the requisite number of letters calling for such a vote by this evening. This doesn’t look like it’s going to be the case. Indeed, today a number of Brexiteers including Owen Paterson and Iain Duncan Smith have been

Steerpike

May’s Brexit deal: 40 rebuttals to Downing Street’s 40 rebuttals

Is a deal better than no deal? After Mr S attempted to answer that question over the weekend by publishing 40 horrors lurking in the small print of Theresa May’s Brexit deal, No. 10 got in touch with 40 rebuttals to Steerpike’s 40 horrors. Still with us? Well, episode three of this series is finally here. Mr S thanks 10 Downing Street for conceding many of the 40 points on the Withdrawal Agreement, and for engaging in all of them. In the spirit of friendly discussion, here are all 40 of Steerpike’s responses. ———————————————————————————– First, a note on ambiguity: In its rebuttals, No10 accepts ambiguity over how the document might

Ross Clark

Why do we care what the CBI thinks about May’s Brexit deal?

Big UK business is often guilty of short-termism and the CBI’s response to Theresa May’s draft withdrawal proposal is no exception. Large companies are backing May’s appalling deal with the EU because they are preoccupied with ensuring that next year’s results are no worse than the guidance they have given markets. The opportunities which could arise from a proper Brexit, in which Britain is allowed to do its own trade deals, set its own regulations and lower taxes and other barriers in order to suck in overseas investment, are too far over their horizon for them to see. How often have you heard the words drip from well-fed FTSE 100

Sunday

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows roundup: Theresa May’s Brexit warning

Theresa May – Brexit will be harder without me The Prime Minister joined Sophy Ridge this morning to discuss the result of the government’s draft withdrawal agreement with the European Union, which was released on Wednesday. The controversial 585 page document has already seen several resignations, with other ministers thought to be considering their positions. There has also been considerable discontent on the Conservative backbenches, with the influential European Research Group now calling for a vote of no confidence in May’s leadership. In response, May told Ridge that her critics needed to get their priorities straight: TM: A change of leadership at this point isn’t going to make the negotiations

Saturday

James Forsyth

Why Theresa May should say she’ll go once her Brexit deal is passed

Right now, Theresa May’s Brexit deal isn’t passing the House of Commons. I argue in The Sun this morning, that Theresa May needs something to change the dynamic. What would do that? Well, if May said she would stand down once the withdrawal agreement was through, that would change things. It would separate off the question of how May has handled the Brexit negotiations so far, from the issue of what parliament should do now. If May pre-announced her departure, it would enable MPs to vote for the deal without that being an endorsement of her handling of Brexit or an invitation for her to go and negotiate the next

Friday

Ross Clark

Only a ‘people’s vote’ can save the Tories now

Brexit is, as we know, the most important issue facing the government and the country. Except it isn’t. For the Conservatives there is an even more pressing matter: how to prevent a socialist government. Yesterday, the pound plunged after ministerial resignations following Theresa May’s deal with EU negotiators. But were investors spooked by the thought of a ‘no deal’ Brexit or by the possibility of a government collapse, general election and Corbyn in Number 10? Who knows? One thing is for certain: the very worst outcome for markets would be a combination of the two, a Red Brexit. At least the EU would temper Corbyn’s ambition to turn Britain into

Katy Balls

No. 10 manage to find a Brexiteer for Brexit Secretary

Thirty-two hours after Dominic Raab resigned as Brexit Secretary, Theresa May has managed to find a Brexiteer who is willing to take on the troubled brief. Steve Barclay – the MP for North East Cambridgeshire – is the new Brexit Secretary. He has been promoted from minister of state at the Department of Health and Social Care. It’s certainly quite a leap and Barclay is the most low profile MP to take on the brief yet. However, the scope of the job has also been reduced. Barclay’s role is to concentrate on domestic preparedness rather than the final stages of the EU negotiation. The expectation is that that part of

The Spectator

Reshuffle as it happens: Steve Barclay appointed Brexit secretary

After yesterday’s round of resignations, Theresa May has started announcing the replacements for her top team. Here are the PM’s choices so far: Amber Rudd is the new DWP secretary Steve Barclay, formerly health minister, is the new Brexit secretary Stephen Hammond appointed health minister Kwasi Kwarteng appointed new junior Brexit minister John Penrose appointed to Northern Ireland office Stay tuned on Coffee House for all the latest on the reshuffle

Brendan O’Neill

Stopping Brexit means stopping democracy

I always shudder when I hear people say, ‘Let’s stop Brexit’. They say it so casually, so cavalierly. It rolls off the tongue as if it were no big deal. They seem utterly unmoved by what ‘stopping Brexit’ would entail and the consequences it would have. It would mean blocking the largest act of democracy in the history of this nation. And its consequences would be to sow mass doubt in Britain’s democratic institutions and bring about an exodus of ordinary people from public life. ‘What’s the point in voting’, they would ask, ‘when they just ignore us?’. We have to get real. Stopping Brexit means stopping democracy. If we

James Forsyth

Michael Gove will not resign from DEFRA

Michael Gove is staying as DEFRA Secretary. Yesterday, Theresa May offered him the job of Brexit Secretary. Gove said that he could only do that job if he was given the opportunity to pursue his own course. May said that she wanted the Brexit Secretary to stay on the exact same course she had plotted. So, Gove turned down the job. May, though, asked him to stay as DEFRA Secretary and Gove has now decided to do so. So, why is he staying? Well, I understand that he didn’t see what would be achieved by going. It might doom this deal, but there would be nothing to put in its

Steerpike

Watch: Theresa May taken to task on LBC phone in

Theresa May has just been doing her best to sell her Brexit plan to voters. But the Prime Minister’s pitch didn’t go down well with those calling into LBC. The PM’s first call came from a Tory councillor who urged her to stand down and let someone else negotiate with the European Union. And she finished off her half-hour stint by being compared to Neville Chamberlain: ‘Do you consider yourself the modern day Chamberlain, who also went to Europe and negotiated with a foreign power and came back as having appeased that foreign power and not having stood up for our country?’ Mr S. thinks it is safe to say

Thursday

Jo Johnson

Diary – 15 November 2018

Jacob Rees-Mogg observed that my resignation last week was ‘the “Emperor’s New Clothes” moment in the Brexit process’. If this is right, that makes me the child, too young to understand the importance of maintaining pretences, who blurts out before the embarrassed townsfolk that the emperor is naked. I’ve been surprised by the noisy reaction to my departure from the middle ranks of the government. The video I made in my office setting out my reasons for going had two million views in two days. Maybe this is an example of Orwell’s dictum that in a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. The deceit is that

The Spectator

Portrait of the Week – 15 November 2018

Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, defended a 500-page technical draft of the agreement on withdrawal from the European Union. She met immediate opposition from the Democratic Unionists, from Jacob Rees-Mogg and from Boris Johnson. Mr Johnson’s brother Jo (a Remainer) had earlier resigned as a minister, calling Mrs May’s handling of Brexit a ‘failure of British statecraft on a scale unseen since the Suez crisis’. The BBC reported that several cabinet ministers had expressed doubts about her Chequers plan back in July. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, insisted that Brexit could not be stopped, but Keir Starmer, Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, said the option of a new referendum was

Harry Curtis

Which MPs backed May’s Brexit deal and who has vowed to vote it down?

Theresa May spent three hours on her feet in the Commons defending her Brexit deal. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister’s perseverance did little to persuade her parliamentary colleagues to back her plan. It was an hour before any Tory MPs publicly supported the PM. A total of 135 MPs spoke during the debate – and only 15 came out in favour, compared to the 109 MPs who vowed to vote the plan down when it comes before Parliament. The debate, where May spent as much time turning to her own benches as to the opposition, confirmed what we already knew. The chances of this deal making it through the Commons in a few

Suella Braverman

Suella Braverman: Why I had to resign

Dear Prime Minister, This is very difficult letter to write. One which I never expected to compose. It has been an immense honour to support you in delivering the historic opportunity of leaving the EU as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union. It has, in many ways, been a dream job which I have enjoyed tremendously. However, despite my strenuous attempts, I now find myself unable to sincerely support the deal agreed yesterday by Cabinet. It is therefore with deep regret that I tender my resignation. My reasons are simple. Firstly, the proposed Northern Ireland Backstop is not Brexit. It is not

Theresa May

Full text: Theresa May defends her Brexit deal

Serving in high office is an honour and privilege. It is also a heavy responsibility. That is true at any time – but especially when the stakes are so high. And negotiating the UK’s withdrawal from the EU after 40 years, and building from the ground-up a new and enduring relationship for the good of our children and grandchildren is a matter of the highest consequence. It touches almost every area of our national life: our whole economy and virtually every job; the livelihoods of our fellow citizens; our integrity as a United Kingdom of four nations; our safety and security – all of these are at stake. My approach throughout has

Alex Massie

The Tories deserve a lengthy spell in opposition

Brexit has many theme tunes but the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is as good as any. If only the Brexiteers could understand this; if only they could grasp that compromise means exactly that. But, consumed by their own monomania, they cannot for they are blind to everything except their own convictions.  Jacob Rees-Mogg, a man evidently guilty of believing too much in his own fan mail, sonorously declares it is time for Theresa May to go. Nick Timothy, a courtier whose chutzpah has few equals in recent British political history, decries what he terms the Prime Minister’s “capitulation” to Brussels or, as some of us