Uk politics

With the government on the brink of a full blown crisis, there was speculation that Theresa May would use today’s Brexit statement to the House to turn her ire on Brussels. In the end it wasn’t to be and the Prime Minister adopted a conciliatory tone – praising both sides – as she did her best to insist that it was business as normal. After Dominic Raab’s fruitless trip to Brussels marked an impasse in the Brexit negotiations, the Prime Minister insisted that she did not believe the UK and the EU were actually so ‘far apart’ on the remaining issues. She told the House that with the negotiations had stalled over

No one has their finger on the pulse in the House of Commons like the government’s chief whip. To make sure every bill gets through parliament unscathed, the whip has to understand exactly how every MP in the party plans to vote, what they’re thinking about the government – and work out how they can get rebellious MPs to change their minds. But it looks like Theresa May’s chief whip Julian Smith has drawn up the drawbridge tonight. The man in charge of relations with backbenchers might just have had enough of talking with his own MPs. The government enforcer posted this picture (without caption) on social media at 9

Sunday night was when the deal on the Irish backstop was meant to be done. But, as I say in The Sun this morning, this now seems unlikely to happen. The UK  and the EU are just too far apart on too many issues. There are two big issues at play. One, whether there should be a UK-wide backstop or one for Great Britain and another for Northern Ireland. I am told that at Thursday’s meeting of the inner Cabinet, ministers were told that the EU has not yet agreed to a UK-wide customs backstop. The second question is whether the backstop should be time limited. One member of the

With Theresa May’s Brexit proposals looking increasingly difficult to get through Parliament, the so-called ‘People’s Vote’ campaign has stepped up its efforts to bring about a second referendum… sorry, ‘vote on the final deal’. The campaign group runs on the idea that the facts have changed so it’s only fair that there’s another vote. In that vein, they have released a new advert packed with on-message celebrities. https://twitter.com/peoplesvote_uk/status/1049985514324066304 Among those proclaiming the benefits of a second referendum are people’s champion Gary Lineker, thespian Dominic West and Steve Coogan. In it, blogger and writer Scarlett Curtis declares ‘this is not what we voted for’. Only while Mr S suspects that Scarlett

Nicola Sturgeon’s indication that SNP MPs will back a second vote on Brexit might be clever politics but it is likely to stir up further animosity among English voters towards the Scots. Consider the Future of England survey, which shows that 88 per cent of English Leave voters (and 52 per cent of all English voters) would accept the break-up of the UK so long as England leaves the EU. Some might suggest that the poll is further evidence of the Little Englander mentality that will ineluctably drive the Scots to secede from the Union. But does it instead reveal something else? Perhaps, it would seem, English voters are getting as tired