Katy Balls

After months of coronavirus leading the news agenda, Brexit is back. The Prime Minister has overnight promised to quit the trade talks in five weeks if no agreement is in place. Meanwhile, figures in Brussels are voicing disbelief at reports the UK government is drawing up legislation that will override the withdrawal agreement's Northern Ireland protocol. Boris Johnson has said there needs to be an agreement by the European Council on 15 October – otherwise, it would not be possible to bring any such agreement into force before the end of the year and therefore little point in continuing discussions: If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on.

When Boris Johnson addressed MPs on Wednesday, the hope in government was that the Prime Minister's multiple appearances would rally the troops. First at PMQs, then before the 2019 intake, before addressing the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers. With MPs returning from the summer holidays fed up after a string of policy U-turns and constituent complaints, many needed a jolt of optimism ahead of a tricky few months.  His appearance at Prime Minister's Questions did the opposite. 'He was all over the place,' sighs one veteran MP. Several Tory MPs privately complain that it was discourteous of Johnson to turn up at the despatch box having not done his homework.

Another day, another story mooting a new tax rise. Today the Sun reports the Chancellor is considering a rise in National Insurance contributions for the self-employed. Like other tax rises floated in recent days – from fuel duty to corporation tax to capital gains tax – it has quickly met opposition from members of the Tory party whether it be No.10, rival ministers or the parliamentary party. With Rishi Sunak looking ahead to the Autumn Budget, no proposals are definite. However, the backlash over every measure that's been floated points to a problem coming up the track: no unifying Conservative economic principle. Long gone are the days of David Cameron and George Osborne's long term economic plan.

Despite Boris Johnson's call for Brexit negotiations to speed up, the seventh round of talks has today ended with little progress. Neither side is bothering to suggest the latest round was particularly productive. Instead, the comments today from Michel Barnier and the UK's lead negotiator David Frost were focussed on attributing blame for the current deadlock. Barnier said that, if anything, the talks had at times 'felt as if we were going backwards more than forwards'. His outlook for a potential deal is gloomy – suggesting it seems 'unlikely'.

When Boris Johnson tried to call a general election in September last year, everyone around him assumed that Jeremy Corbyn would agree. When this didn’t happen, Johnson found himself out of ideas. Dominic Cummings’s plan was to keep calling for an election, keep holding votes and hope the resolve among opposition parties would break. The Prime Minister decided to get a second opinion. He wanted someone who knew parliament and its dark arts, and could advise him how to fight and win its battles. He summoned Gavin Williamson. On being presented with the plan, the former chief whip gave a long pause. ‘It’s a preposterous plan,’ he finally replied. ‘And that’s exactly why you should do it.’ It worked.