James Forsyth

Now that ‘sufficient progress’ has been achieved, attention shifts to the coming Cabinet discussion on what kind of trade deal the UK wants with the EU. I report in my Sun column this morning that the inner Brexit Cabinet were meant to meet on Monday afternoon, but that has now been postponed by a week.

‘Sufficient progress’. Those words that Number 10 has been desperate to hear for months have now passed Jean-Claude Juncker’s lips. After Monday’s epic false start, the government will just be relieved to have got there. If they had failed to secure ‘sufficient progress’ by Christmas it would have been hugely destabilising, both economically and politically.

Theresa May’s Brexit challenge is truly Herculean. Every time she believes she has done enough to finally move the Brexit process on, she is told that there is something else she must do. And each time, her tasks become more difficult. The problem is compounded by the fact that May is weakening her own hand.

Remarkably, Theresa May made it through PMQs today pretty much unscathed. I cannot, though, report that this was because she launched a brilliant counter-attack or came with a way to break through the current Brexit impasse. Rather it was because Jeremy Corbyn’s questions lacked forensic precision. One suspects that if Robin Cook had been at

Jean-Claude Juncker and Theresa May have just emerged from their lunch. But there is no white smoke over Brussels this evening. Juncker said that it was ‘not possible to reach complete agreement’. So, there’ll be no recommendation of ‘sufficient progress’ today. However, Juncker declared that he was still confident that the UK and the EU can

Theresa May is not one of those politicians who enjoys lengthy conversation over lunch. But her lunch on Monday with Jean-Claude Juncker on Monday will be one of the most important lunches in recent British history, I say in The Sun this morning. Earlier in the week, there was a growing confidence in Whitehall that

How will the Tory party remember 2017? Will it be the year it lost its majority, alienated key sections of the electorate and paved the way for a Jeremy Corbyn premiership? Or the year when uncertainty about Britain’s future relationship with the European Union peaked, when debt finally began to fall and the Tory party

Today was a reminder of the lost art of how to construct a series of questions at PMQs. Emily Thornberry started off by asking Damian Green if he was prepared to be held to the same standard as he held government ministers when he was in opposition. Sensing a bear trap, a clearly wary Green

‘It’ll be curtains for the process’ if the Brexit talks don’t move on to trade and transition in December, according to one of those familiar with the UK government’s negotiating strategy. In Downing Street, there is a feeling that Theresa May has twice made significant compromises—in the Florence speech and the enhanced financial offer the

In the Budget debate today, Michael Fallon made his first intervention since resigning from the government over misconduct allegations. Fallon’s contribution was broadly loyal to the government, taking the fight to Labour in his typical style. But he said he’d seek an opportunity in the near-future to talk, with greater freedom than collective responsibility had

Angela Merkel’s declaration that new elections would be better than a minority government suggests Germany will be heading back to the polls soon. Though, it should be noted that the decision on whether to call fresh election is technically the German president’s, not Merkel’s. The so-called Jamaica coalition, bringing together Merkel’s CDU, the CSU, the

Three events in the next four weeks will determine Theresa May’s future as Prime Minister, I say in The Sun today. If May goes 0 for 3 on the Budget, the Damian Green inquiry and the EU Council then she’ll truly be on the skids. But if the Budget doesn’t unravel, Damian Green is cleared

The Times‘ Matt Chorley has succeeded in getting everyone talking with his story about Michael Gove supposedly using cabinet meeting to audition for the role of chancellor. Gove reportedly talked about ‘the obscure Markets in Financial Instruments Directives’ two weeks ago and has cabinet sources complaining that at this week’s meeting he used ‘lots of

In the last few weeks, we have got used to Jeremy Corbyn getting the better of Theresa May at PMQs. But today, May had the upper hand in their exchanges. Now, this isn’t because the political weather has suddenly changed—May has lost two Cabinet Ministers already this month and a third, who happens to be

Another week, another Cabinet resignation. Now, as I say in The Sun this morning, there are those saying that Theresa May is just being unlucky right now. As Downing Street aides point out, few would have predicted a few weeks ago that Westminster was going to be engulfed in a sex scandal or that Priti

Boris Johnson made a mistake when he said that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been training journalists in Iran. He and the Foreign Office should have moved to clear up the error far faster and far more comprehensively than they did. But some of Boris Johnson’s critics are risking turning themselves into Tehran’s unwitting helpers. Take, for