Katy Balls

As Theresa May and her ministers spend their summer holiday trying to convince European leaders of the merits of her widely-panned Chequers Brexit blueprint, one of her departed ministers has cause for celebration. According to the latest ConservativeHome poll of Tory members, since resigning as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has become the favourite among party members to be the next leader. Supported by nearly a third of members, this is an impressive turnaround given that a month ago – when he was still in government – he was backed by only 8 per cent of members.   However, it's also not that surprising. As I said in the i paper last week, Johnson looks to be on course to turn Theresa May’s Brexit disaster into his big opportunity.

Labour's anti-Semitism row reached boiling point this week thanks to a leaked recording from a meeting of the party's National Executive Committee. In it, Corbyn ally Peter Willsman suggests that Jewish 'Trump fanatics' are behind 'duff' accusations of Labour anti-Semitism and warned that 'they can falsify social media very easily'. This comes at a particularly bad time for Jeremy Corbyn as Willsman is currently standing for re-election on to the NEC and is one of nine Momentum-backed candidates, known as the #JC9 (see Mr Steerpike's guide to the candidates here). Moderate Labour MPs – including deputy leader Tom Watson – have been quick to condemn the comments along with a number of pro-Corbyn pundits who have called on Willsman to resign.

The news that Labour Brexiteers Kate Hoey and Frank Field are both facing deselection threats for rebelling on a crunch Brexit vote has been met with notable silence from many Labour moderates. After the pair voted with the Tories on a crucial customs amendment which the government won by just five votes, they have both lost 'confidence' votes in their local parties. The no-confidence vote does not mean any imminent action but constituency party members could now seek a trigger ballot with the potential to deselect the sitting MP. Hoey and Field's sin isn't just that they broke with official Labour Brexit policy – there are plenty of Corbynistas who can be classed as eurosceptic.

Dominic Cummings has set the cat among the pigeons this afternoon by leaking a Parliamentary report into fake news ahead of its official publication on Sunday. The Vote Leave official alleges that the report 'knowingly/incompetently makes false claims' on supposed misuses of data during the referendum campaign. Expect further reaction to this over the weekend. However, the part of the blog that has got people talking in Westminster most avidly today relates to his comments on calls for a second referendum. Following increased chatter in recent weeks from Remain-ers over the need for a second vote on Brexit – whether on the terms of the final deal or leaving the EU full stop – Cummings has warned these campaigns to be careful what they wish for.

On Tuesday, the House will – finally – rise for the summer recess. Before we get there, and with MPs on a one-line-whip, Theresa May is decamping from SW1 and taking her Cabinet to Gateshead for an away day. As well as a Cabinet meeting in Gateshead, May will take part in a Q and A with staff at a local business. This is the first stop in a series of visits over the summer holidays in which May and her ministers will attempt to sell her Brexit vision at home and abroad. When I suggested May did this just last week by embarking on a town hall tour to sell her Brexit blueprint, it was met with a healthy dose of scepticism.

Michel Barnier's press conference responding to the UK government's Brexit white paper will have been music to the ears of 'no deal' Brexiteers. After Theresa May pushed her Cabinet and premiership to the point of near collapse with her Chequers proposals for a softer Brexit, the EU's Chief negotiator has today responded to her efforts with a heavy dose of scepticism. Barnier began by trying to play nice. He said he welcomed the development of the UK government's position – he understood that it was the result of a debate and, for some, that debate is still ongoing. He said that the proposals from May contained several things Brussels could get on board with and singled out security as one such.

As Dominic Raab headed to Brussels for his first meeting with Michel Barnier since his appointment as Brexit Secretary, all eyes were on the drama unfolding in Westminster. Theresa May's Chief Whip Julian Smith found himself in hot water over a pairing arrangement that went wrong in this week's crunch customs union vote. On Tuesday, Jo Swinson was quick to cry foul after the Liberal Democrat MP discovered that Brandon Lewis – Tory party chairman – voted with the government on two crunch amendments. The problem? As Swinson has just given birth, she was supposed to be on a pairing arrangement with Lewis which meant neither would vote – and it would thereby cancel out their absences. Initially both Lewis and Smith said it was an honest mistake and apologised to Swinson.

'I used to worry that something bad would happen, now I worry that something catastrophic will happen.' This is how a Cabinet minister sums up the new political crisis facing the Conservative party – and soon the country. Last night one such catastrophe was narrowly avoided. The government managed to defeat the Tory rebel amendment calling for a customs union if frictionless trade was not agreed by January. Had they lost it, Theresa May's Brexit strategy would be dead in the water and the Whips allege that a confidence vote would have been brought – and an early election loom. The reason May avoided this fate? Labour rebels came to her rescue.

The government suffered a defeat in the Commons this evening. The good news for Theresa May is that it wasn't the one No 10 were so worried about. Although Philip Lee's amendment for European medicines regulatory network partnership succeeded, the Tory rebel amendment calling for the government to join a customs union if it does not agree a free-trade deal with the EU was narrowly defeated, at 307 to 301. This means the government can breathe a little easier for now. They can still claim to agitated Brexiteers that they are negotiating a deal which would allow them to strike international trade deals.

When Theresa May tried to get her Cabinet to agree on a unified Brexit position at Chequers earlier this month, the hope was that this would mark a new chapter of party unity that would allow the Prime Minister to get on with delivering Brexit. Yet a week or so later, the Conservative party is more divided than ever. After May finally showed her hand on Brexit, she has seen frontbench resignations, blue-on-blue warfare, a growing Eurosceptic rebellion and calls for a second referendum. This afternoon things came to a head in the Chamber. Despite calls from May over the weekend for Tory MPs not to frustrate the Customs Bill, No 10 were forced to cave to pressure and accepted four amendments to the legislation.

Will Theresa May make it to the summer recess? It's just over a week until Parliament breaks up for the long summer break yet the obstacles the Prime Minister must overcome before then are rapidly increasing in size. After May finally showed her Brexit hand, she has seen a growing Eurosceptic rebellion which shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. Over the weekend, her former minister Steve Baker accused No 10 of being part of a secret plot to render the Brexit department a 'Potemkin structure to [distract from] what the Cabinet Office Europe unit was doing for the prime minister'. Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg offered a memorable soundbite – telling the Sunday Politics that May was a 'Remainer who has remained a Remainer'.

Oh dear. After some incendiary comments earlier in the week, Donald Trump has delivered a sucker punch towards Theresa May and her Brexit plan. As the Prime Minister pulled out all the stops for the US President with a black tie dinner at Blenheim Palace, the Sun published its front page – in which Trump declares that May has 'ruined' Brexit and the US/UK deal is off. https://twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1017522456523956224 The US president goes on to add insult to injury by saying May's rival Boris Johnson would make a great Prime Minister. As for that deal, he says: 'If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the UK, so it will probably kill the deal.' Trump's bad manners have made Theresa May's bad week even worse.

Dominic Raab's Commons debut as Brexit Secretary didn't go exactly as he would have hoped. He was greeted with louder heckles than normal from the Opposition owing to the fact that the Brexit white paper had not been given to MPs prior to the statement. Despite this, Raab put in a solid performance as he tried to show it was business as usual despite a turbulent week for the government which saw David Davis and Boris Johnson quit the frontbench – and a Eurosceptic rebellion brewing. The publication of the White Paper is unlikely to calm nerves. The issues that are set to stoke the most interest include the fact the government is now seeking 'association agreement' – something they appeared to previously dismiss.

It's day four of the Brexiteer rebellion and Theresa May appears to have shored up her position... for now. The eurosceptics who take the greatest issue with her Chequers blue print – thought to be around 70 Tory MPs – don't think they have the numbers as of yet to win a no confidence and, they say, this isn't even their preferred option. What they want is for the Prime Minister to change course – but No 10 insist that they won't budge. Unless she does, Guerrilla tactics have been threatened – so get ready for more resignations. However, as I say in today's i paper, the biggest problem from May's current predicament is that even if things go to plan, the end goal looks verging on impossible.

Theresa May had nearly got to the end of the working day with no resignations. Alas, it wasn't to be. Two Tory vice-chairs – Ben Bradley and Maria Caulfield – have handed in their respective resignations over the Prime Minister's Chequers proposals. What will worry No 10 is not that they now need to find a Tory vice-chair for young people and another for women - that will be possible and they may well come with fewer issues than these two. Instead, what will ring alarm bells is that neither can be described as an ardent Brexiteer. Bradley was a Remain-er in the EU referendum but represents a Leave seat. In contrast, Caulfield is a Brexiteer who represents a Remain constituency.

Theresa May's mini emergency reshuffle is complete. After David Davis and Boris Johnson resigned over the Prime Minister's Brexit position, No 10 appointed Dominic Raab Brexit Secretary and moved Jeremy Hunt from Health to the Foreign Office. Now Matt Hancock – the Culture Secretary – has been appointed Health Secretary. This is a big promotion for Hancock who up until recently had been banished to the junior ministerial ranks. As George Osborne's former Chief of Staff, Hancock had been regarded with suspicion by May's No 10. When May's reshuffle earlier this year hit difficulties – with ministers refusing to move – Hancock was reluctantly granted a return to the frontbench. The fact that he has now received a second promotion suggests two things.