Tom Goodenough

John Bercow has grabbed the headlines this morning with his pronouncement on Donald Trump’s state visit. But was he right to voice his opinions about the President? No, says the Daily Telegraph which claims that Bercow was only speaking for one person when he said Trump would not be welcome addressing MPs in Westminster Hall: himself. Instead, Bercow would do well to delve into the history books and remember the actions of speaker William Lenthall who faced down Charles I with the words: 'I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as the House is pleased to direct me.' Yet instead of listening to his predecessor’s words of wisdom, Bercow has chosen to voice a ‘near hysterical rant’.

Now that the Supreme Court has ruled that Parliament must have its say on Brexit, it seems MPs are determined to make the most of it. After last week’s mammoth debate, today’s session on amendments to the Government’s White Paper will drag on until the early hours of tomorrow morning. It’s expected to finish up at around 1am – keeping Brexit aficionados, as well as MPs from all sides and the Government busy. But what will they be discussing? Here's the Spectator's guide to tonight's Brexit session: After Theresa May’s Commons statement on the European Council meeting, tonight’s Commons session will essentially split into two parts. The first, expected to last from 4.

Sir Ivan Rogers has earned himself a reputation as something of a Brexit bogeyman. Admittedly the UK’s former ambassador to the EU didn’t help matters with his pointed 1,400 resignation email in which he attacked the Prime Minister for her ‘muddled thinking’. That broadside was interpreted as a dyed-in-the-wool Europhile doing his best to be disruptive; it also resulted in the tabloids calling him ‘Ivan the terrible’. To make matters worse, Rogers - who has now retired from the civil service - was also fingered as the one to blame for David Cameron’s dismal deal he secured in the run-up to the referendum.

At last, says the Guardian, MPs will finally have a proper say today on Brexit. David Davis has said the debate comes down to a simple question: do we trust the people? But for the Guardian, it’s a mistake for MPs and peers not to try and ‘get in the way’ of pushing the triggering of Article 50 back beyond Theresa May’s ‘self-imposed deadline’ of the end of March. It’s clear that the outcome of last June’s referendum left Parliament reeling: ‘casually drafted regulations’ backed up the vote and ‘with no leave process mapped out, the Commons failed to muster the resolve to force its way into the process of departure’.

It's difficult to escape from Donald Trump’s interview with Michael Gove in the Times this morning. The president-elect’s view that he wants a quick trade deal with Britain is not only leading a number of newspaper front pages, it's also stirring up excitement in the editorials. Here's what the newspapers are saying: In its editorial, the Times says its interview with the ‘refreshingly candid’ president-elect should reassure us about the prospect of a Trump presidency. Take Syria, for instance: it’s true that Trump ‘clearly grasps’ the scale of the crisis there. It’s also ‘reassuring’ to hear Trump commit to a strong Nato. And the fact he wants early talks with Theresa May on Brexit is also a healthy sign.

Mark Carney made himself some enemies during the referendum. It wasn’t only his gloomy prophecies that caused trouble. His willingness to speak out in the first place was enough to anger those who thought he should keep shtum on a politically-loaded topic like Brexit. Today, though, we saw a different Carney. Gone was the gloominess, and in place of his warning that the referendum was ‘the most significant’ risk to Britain’s financial stability, came the verdict that Britain was largely out of that particular storm.

Sir Tim Barrow has been appointed as Britain’s ambassador to the EU. Yet still the row over his predecessor’s departure rages in today’s papers. Sir Ivan Rogers may well have thought that the country made a mistake in backing Brexit, says the Daily Telegraph, but it is ‘not his place to make that impression public in the way that he did’. There was ‘nothing even-handed about the way in which he left, according to the paper’s editorial, which hits out at Rogers’ apparent inability to deal with politicians not always taking on board his advice. But the Telegraph’s most stinging criticism for Rogers is the way in which this row ended up playing out in public.

Sir Ivan Rogers is stepping down from his role as the UK’s ambassador to the EU - but is his departure really such a great loss? In his explosive resignation email, Rogers urged his colleagues to challenge ‘muddled thinking’ and ‘speak truth to power’, in a parting shot at Theresa May. So is this evidence of a Brexit botch-up? Not so, says the Sun, who calls the departing diplomat ‘Ivan the terrible’ and says it won’t weep over his decision to quit. A quick glance at the ‘pathetic empty shell’ of David Cameron’s EU renegotiation deal is all you need to see as to why Roger’s resignation is no great loss, the paper says.

Leaving the EU was all about taking back control - and it’s time to do the same with Britain’s foreign aid budget, says the Daily Telegraph. It describes the target set by David Cameron for the UK to spend 0.7 per cent of its GDP on foreign aid as ‘ill-judged’. Making a comparison with the Brexit vote, it warns the Government to listen to voters' concerns about the levels of spending on aid projects, ‘given that the aid target is at least as unpopular with voters  as EU membership was’.