Diary – 9 May 2019

Multiple copies of a Labour leaflet for the European elections are being shared on messaging apps by horrified activists. Not only does the draft leaflet omit mention of a second referendum, it seems to suggest Labour’s MEP candidates will ‘do a Brexit deal with Europe’ while actually being members of the European Parliament. The leaflet causes a furore among the candidates, is disavowed by Labour HQ as a ‘draft’, and the whole caravan of Brexit chaos lurches forward to its next absurdity.

Game of Thrones means Monday mornings are the new Sunday nights in our household. The battle of Winterfell is as thrilling as it is absurd. If you have seen ballistae on the battlefield, and know they can hit dragons, why deploy trebuchets? Why send the Dothraki, the best cavalry in the world, to attack infantry who cannot be spooked? A week later, when all the plotlines have fallen apart, a Starbucks cup turns up in shot. Maybe Weiss and Benioff, the showrunners, have never read The Defence of Duffer’s Drift. Or maybe sensing they were coming towards the end, and would be minted for life, they lost all focus and belief in their original narrative. If so, maybe they were taking lessons from Theresa May.

This is book launch week. I promised my editors at Allen Lane I would stick to the big themes of Clear Bright Future and avoid trench warfare over Brexit. So I end up on Sky in trench warfare over Brexit with Isabel Oakeshott. She is chipper because Nigel Farage’s new party is on 25 per cent. I am also chipper because, despite my public disagreement with the ‘get Brexit over with’ wing of Corbynism, the bigger picture is becoming clear. If the Conservatives go into any election facing something called the Brexit Party, having delivered a deal that prevents Britain doing independent trade deals, I cannot see them winning it.