Brexit

It always amazes me that people think it is normal and acceptable to have hate-crime legislation. To have laws which allow for the harsher punishment of people who entertain prejudiced thoughts while committing an offence. To have it written into the actual statute books that the man who punches a Buddhist because he hates Buddhism can be punished more severely than the man who punches a Buddhist because he hates that individual Buddhist for some reason. When are we going to twig that this represents the punishment of thought, of ideology, of belief (warped belief, but still)? I don’t like that Britain has become a country in which people, especially the political class, think it is okay for the state to punish individuals for what they think.

In the Prime Minister's statement to the House, Theresa May did her best to insist that despite an impasse in the Brexit negotiations it was business as normal. However, for all May's claims that the differences between the UK and the EU were solvable, the hostile questions that followed from MPs showed just how hard it would be to get any deal through Parliament. Jeremy Corbyn's attempts to say that the government's 'Groundhog Day' Brexit plans would fail Labour's six Brexit tests were met with laughter and derision. The Leader of the Opposition's shouty performance gave the beleaguered Prime Minister little reason for worry. However, the questions from the backbenchers did.

Sunday night was when the deal on the Irish backstop was meant to be done. But, as I say in The Sun this morning, this now seems unlikely to happen. The UK  and the EU are just too far apart on too many issues. There are two big issues at play. One, whether there should be a UK-wide backstop or one for Great Britain and another for Northern Ireland. I am told that at Thursday’s meeting of the inner Cabinet, ministers were told that the EU has not yet agreed to a UK-wide customs backstop. The second question is whether the backstop should be time limited. One member of the inner Cabinet who attended its discussion on Thursday night tells me that the meeting ‘didn’t really settle anything’. I am told that ‘The PM chaired as opposed to opined’.

The threat that the DUP might vote against the Budget if it isn’t happy with where the Irish border backstop is after the October European Council all fits with their effort to persuade Number 10 that they really are serious. As I say in tomorrow's Spectator, some in government believe that, ultimately, May is going to have to call the DUP’s bluff on extra regulatory checks in the Irish Sea. They argue that the DUP will never risk putting Jeremy Corbyn, a man who favours a united Ireland and was deeply sympathetic to the IRA, in Downing Street.

David Davis has caused a stir this afternoon after he sent a letter to Tory MPs claiming the Conservatives 'will lose the next election' if Theresa May continues with Chequers. The former Brexit Secretary claims the consequences will be 'dire'. Although Mr S suspects this is not what No 10 would have had in mind for the first day back after the recess, Downing Street can take heart that Davis's rhetoric appears to have actually softened slightly. Back in June, Davis warned the Brexit inner Cabinet that if Britain is under the backstop at the time of the next election not only would the Tories suffer defeat – it would be a landslide 1997-style defeat. Next thing you know, Theresa May's Brexit plans will mean a hung Parliament...

Anyone who has followed the news over the past 18 months could be forgiven for thinking that, in our ongoing debate around Brexit, Dover is the only port currently operating within the UK. Its fate, it seems – and by implication, the fate of our other ports – is tied so closely to the outcome of our negotiations that if the right deal isn’t struck, every port in the country will become inert, with roads throughout the UK gridlocked with queues of lorries. Perhaps there's something symbolic in this focus on Dover, our closest connection to the continent and, for many people, their route of holiday travel to Europe. But while Dover is an important gateway, there is much more to British ports.

It's safe to say that Jacob Rees-Mogg isn't keen on the Prime Minister's Chequers plan. But Rees-Mogg has still stopped short of calling for Theresa May to go.  Some other Brexit supporters don't agree and think it is time for Tory Brexiteers to call an end to May's time in office. One such activist made their feelings knows at a 'Leave means Leave' rally on the fringes of Tory conference this evening: Rees-Mogg: 'This is exactly what the Prime Minister said she would not do at Lancaster House.' Heckler: 'Sack the woman!' RM: 'No, no.' Heckler: 'Sack her now – get your letter in.' RM: 'Certainly not! But thank you – I always like a bit of robust heckling, it is very British.' Mr S is sure that the Prime Minister is grateful for Rees-Mogg's support...

The Conservative conference has only just begun and already blue-on-blue warfare has broken out on the main stage. Although No. 10 had been nervous that Boris Johnson’s popularity at the annual event could usurp Theresa May’s, there is little sign of Johnson-mania in the conference hall. Lord (Digby) Jones – the ex-CBI chief and Brexiteer – used his turn on the stage to lay into the former foreign secretary. He said that Boris Johnson’s ‘f--- business’ jibe ‘showed him up for the irrelevant and offensive person he really is’. In response, attendees in the hall applauded while the Cabinet – including one Theresa May – looked on awkwardly.