Could Brexit scupper the G7?

The long-anticipated G7 meeting in Cornwall has got off to a rocky start today, as it transpired that the US had lodged a ‘demarché’ – a diplomatic ultimatum – with David Frost, earlier in the week, over the UK’s position on the Northern Ireland Protocol. Could tensions spill over? James Forsyth points out that the US side clearly did not want this to become public knowledge:

‘In the reaction from the US side this morning, they are clearly trying to walk this to a more moderate position.’

On the podcast, we also discuss Matt Hancock’s evidence to MPs today, and the ramifications of the Dominic Cummings hearing from a few weeks ago. Katy Balls argues that Hancock’s position is, right now, in fact very secure:

‘The fact that Dominic Cummings has gone so strongly for Matt Hancock, when Dominic Cummings has also gone strongly for Boris Johnson, just means that if anything, were No 10 to take action against Matt Hancock, it would suggest Dominic Cummings might have a point about Boris Johnson… As someone put it to me, in No 10 at the moment, it’s very much ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’, which is how they summed up the mood of the building at the moment.’