Politics

The British government is preparing to lodge a formal complaint with Spain over Gibraltar. Spanish military aircraft have twice flown over the Rock in the past ten days: once on 27 September, reportedly while a commercial British Airways flight was taxiing on the local airport’s runway, and then again on 30 September. These flyovers (thought to have been by Spanish Air Force cargo aircraft) might seem harmless – but the British government disagrees. The timing of the flyovers couldn’t be worse. They come shortly after the latest round of talks in Brussels between Spain, Gibraltar, the UK and EU about the Rock’s post-Brexit status. Of central importance to these negotiations

When is the best time to hit the front of a Tory leadership contest? In the final chain of the final furlong after coming up unseen on the rails, obviously. As charismatic front-runners from Michael Heseltine to Michael Portillo have found out, Conservative leadership battles are brutal for the established heir apparent. There is something about the Tory tribe, or perhaps the Tory disposition, which creates a mania for dragging them down. It’s far safer to do a John Major and be christened as the best ‘Stop X’ or least-unpalatable-option candidate at the last by the party establishment. So congratulations to James Cleverly for gaining momentum so deep into the current

Michel Barnier was interviewed on prime time television on Thursday night and not once in his 45 minutes of conversation did he mention the name Emmanuel Macron. There was an indirect reference to the president of the Republic, when Barnier described himself as the ‘anti-Jupiter’ Prime Minister. ‘Jupiter’ was one of the nicknames bestowed on Macron when he came to power in 2017 – and the world, albeit briefly, was fooled into thinking this was a man of rare talent. The French media appear to be taking their lead from Barnier. There was scant coverage of the president’s visit to Berlin on Wednesday when he spoke at a Global Dialogue