Steerpike

When Gary Lineker isn’t talking about football there is another subject that he likes to bang on about: Brexit. Lineker has backed the 'People’s Vote' campaign and is calling for a second referendum. As the Chancellor Philip Hammond unveiled his Brexit forecasts this morning, Lineker was spurred into action on Twitter: The only problem? That is the message the Treasury was selling 2.5 years ago. Back in May 2016, the chancellor’s predecessor George Osborne warned that Brexit would tip Britain into a year-long recession and cause a ‘profound’ economic shock. We were also told by David Cameron that a vote to Leave would be the ‘self-destruct option’. Of course in the end that never happened.

Theresa May has managed to anger quite a few MPs in recent weeks with her withdrawal agreement, but none more so than the DUP, who are livid that it creates regulatory barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. And judging by the reaction of one DUP MP in the chamber today, it doesn't look to Mr S like the two parties are going to resolve their differences any time soon. When the DUP's Nigel Dodds asked Theresa May which parts of the backstop (in the words of the Chancellor) would be bad for the union and bad for the economy, he was not impressed that the Prime Minister thought he was talking about the European 'Union' rather than the UK. He was even less impressed though by her eventual answer that the backstop would stop the UK from striking trade deals in future.

Oh dear. Over the weekend No.10 came under much criticism after it emerged that John Hayes had been awarded an impromptu knighthood. Unkind souls were quick to suggest that the motivation for giving the long time Tory Eurosceptic the honour was less than pure. With the crunch Brexit deal vote coming up the track, Tory Brexiteers claimed this was part of a cynical attempt by Downing Street to win a vote in favour of May's deal. Alas, it seems that were these No.10's intentions, their efforts will go unrewarded. Hayes tells the Mail on Sunday that he has no plans to vote for May's deal: ‘As I’ve made very clear before my honour, I cannot support the deal as it now stands.’ So much for the chumocracy...

On Friday evening, Philip Hammond headed to DUP conference in a bid to win over Arlene Foster’s party after they went on strike over the Irish backstop. With Foster telling the BBC that the DUP’s confidence and supply agreement could be over permanently if Theresa May’s deal is voted through, the future does not look bright when it comes to Tory/DUP relations. But could a new leader change all that? In recent weeks DUP politicians have been keen to stress that their agreement is not with Theresa May specifically – but with the Conservative party as a whole. So, it was an interesting move by Boris Johnson to speak at the conference this weekend. Attendees at the events report of Boris-mania sweeping the venue.

Diane Abbott has a stark warning for those clamouring for a second referendum: be careful what you wish for. The Labour MP's warning won't go down well with those from the 'People's Vote' campaign, who desperately need the support of the Labour party if their wish is to come true. On Nick Robinson's podcast, Abbott was asked what would happen if another vote took place. Here's what she said: 'My view is that if we had a second referendum tomorrow, Leave would win again. And not only would Leave win again, but Leave voters would say: what didn't you understand about Leave the first time?' Mr S thinks Abbott is talking sense...

Theresa May is in the Commons attempting to convince MPs to back her Brexit plan. But it isn't going well. Iain Duncan Smith was particularly critical of the PM's backstop blueprint, telling May that while he appreciated her efforts it wasn't good enough. Here's what he said: 'For all of the effort and work, the reality is that this is not the withdrawal agreement, and the withdrawal agreement will make it very clear that, should we struggle with a negotiation for a free trade arrangement and not complete that process, we will fall into the Northern Ireland backstop as it exists at the moment. And that will mean we are bound by those restrictions which force Northern Ireland through a separate arrangement.

One of the least popular MPs in the Conservative Party at the moment has to be Michael Gove. As the attempt to oust the PM gained pace late last week, Gove disappeared for the day, annoying those who wished him to remain loyal to May, and then refused to resign, annoying those who wished to see her go. In short, angering everybody, and pleasing no one. Such unpopularity would undoubtably cause a bout of introspection in the environment secretary, which may explain why he took a quiz today to determine which character from the popular TV show Game of Thrones was his 'soulmate'. Less clear is why he shared the result on social media: https://twitter.