What is Boris Johnson’s plan?

As Boris Johnson laid out his plan at political Cabinet on Thursday, it quickly became apparent how much of it was dependent on factors outside of his control. I write in The Sun this morning that he said that he still hoped that the EU would offer only the shortest of extensions, forcing parliament to get on with it. But he admitted that the EU was inclined to offer an extension to the end of January and that Emmanuel Macron was fighting a lonely battle against this. Earlier in the day, the Elysée had told Number 10 that the French President was too isolated on the issue in the EU to veto a longer extension. In a sign of how much he is relying on Macron, Boris Johnson then pleadingly recited the opening line of the carol ‘Oh come, oh come Emmanuel’.

One of Number 10’s hope is that EU leaders will see the opposition refusing both an election and to pass the withdrawal agreement as is and come round to Macron’s way of thinking: that there is little point in offering this country a three month extension as parliament will just waste the time.