Theresa May takes back control in Brexit talks

For months it has been claimed that Theresa May has been sidelining her Brexit department in talks with the EU. Now, the Prime Minister has confirmed that is exactly what she is doing. In a dull sounding written statement on the ‘machinery of government’ put out just hours before MPs head off on their summer holidays, the PM said that to ensure things are ‘organised in the most effective way’ as the countdown to Brexit gets closer, she will now ‘lead the negotiations with the European Union’; Dominic Raab, the PM said, will be ‘deputising’ on her behalf.

For Brexiteers, this news will go down badly. The Chequers paper – seen as too soft by some Tory MPs and Leave supporters – was the work of the Cabinet Office’s Europe Unit, led by Olly Robbins. So how has Robbins been rewarded for his Brexit plan trumping the rival blueprint put together by DExEU? According to the PM’s statement today, Robbins’ team will now ‘have overall responsibility for the preparation and conduct of the negotiations’.