Brexit

Why would French government officials brief that they think it most likely Britain will leave the European Union without a deal? Boris Johnson hasn’t even made it as far as his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, and is only just being welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. So why brief that out now, before the leaders have even spoken? The comments appear to be part of the briefing war between European leaders and the British government, with neither side wanting to take the blame for any fallout from a no-deal Brexit. As I explained yesterday, the EU wants to paint Johnson as being set on taking Britain out without

The heightened rhetoric of the past few days, from talk of collaborators, saboteurs and government of national unity, prompt me to set out what I believe are today’s risks, from one who voted to Remain in the EU, but has accepted the result and voted accordingly in Parliament to leave with a deal ever since. Let me deal with the balance of risks as I see them, saying clearly that this is my opinion, and that there are others contrary to mine. But I’m telling you what I think and why. Firstly, no deal is economically damaging to the U.K. The publication in the Sunday Times of the Government’s own

‘Poetry makes nothing happen,’ a famous poet once said. But Mr S is still disappointed to hear that the nation’s official poet won’t be penning some lines to mark Britain’s departure from the EU. Poet Laureate Simon Armitage said he has ‘no plans’ to commemorate Brexit day on 31 October. Whatever does he do for his annual stipend of £5,750 and the traditional 600-odd bottles of sherry he gets as payment? Then again, maybe Leavers should breathe a sigh of relief that Armitage has chosen to deny us a Brexit-themed ballad. Before his appointment as Poet Laureate in May this year, Armitage put together a so-called ‘film poem’ for Sky Arts in celebration of the

On the surface, Jeremy Corbyn’s pitch to become caretaker prime minister of a government of national unity after overthrowing Boris Johnson looks like a messy failure. The Liberal Democrats have said they won’t back him, two of the Tories who he wrote to have backed away too, and the Independent Group for Change (which he didn’t write to) have said this evening that they will ‘not support nor facilitate any government led by Jeremy Corbyn’. Instead, everyone is talking about the possibility of a government led by Ken Clarke. The former Tory chancellor today said he wouldn’t object to taking over if it was ‘the only way’ to stop a

Before Boris Johnson became Prime Minister there was widespread expectation that his government would be chaotic. It was thought that he would be good at articulating the broad sweep of government policy, but that his administration would quickly sink into turmoil. In the event, the opposite has happened. Three weeks on, the government appears to be running with almost military precision. Preparations for no-deal Brexit seem to be well under control, to the alarm of Philip Hammond, who had thought the task impossible. Yet the Prime Minister himself seems to have gone underground. He is not on holiday — his government is working all hours. But he has not been