Katy Balls

Thanks to a weekend of nationwide jubilation over Prince Harry's marriage to Meghan Markle, politics has – for once - taken a backseat. However, there's one story in the Sunday Times that is still likely to cause mild alarm: 'Tory MPs prepare for snap autumn election as Theresa May hit by Brexit deadlock'. The paper reports that Conservative MPs have privately started to get ready for a snap general election. It's not that they fear Theresa May is about to go on a walking holiday and get over-excited about some better-than-expected polling. Instead, these Tories fear that the Brexit deadlock will soon become 'insurmountable for the prime minister'. This isn't the first time this month such a point has been made.

How long can John Bercow hang on for as Speaker of the House of Commons? In recent months, he has come under pressure to resign his position amid allegations from former parliamentary staff that he bullied them. Adding to that, today Bercow has found himself the centre of a fresh row over his alleged behaviour. The Telegraph reports that Bercow called Andrea Leadsom – the Leader of the House – 'a stupid woman'. Curiously, Bercow has not issued a clear denial – instead the Speaker's office has acknowledged that 'strong and differing views were expressed' in the House of Commons: 'Wednesday was an unusual and controversial day in how business was handled in the House by the government and some strong and differing views were expressed on all sides on the subject.

Ahead of the local elections – and the predictions of a bloodbath for the Conservatives – it seemed a safe bet that on the night the official Tory MP WhatsApp message group would be filled with complaints about bad results – possibly bad leadership – and a number of Conservative MPs warning emotional colleagues to hold it together and get behind Theresa May. Instead, the problem was of another variety: 'where's my graphic?' Tory MPs used the thread to complain not about their leader but the fact the 'Tory held' or 'Tory win' Twitter banners weren't ready in time to share. As Theresa May goes into the weekend, her position looks safe.

Theresa May will be wishing Amber Rudd was still Home Secretary tonight following a fiery meeting of her Brexit inner cabinet on the issue of the customs union. The Prime Minister convened a three hour long meeting of her senior ministers in a bid to finally thrash out a plan for a post-Brexit customs arrangement to put to Brussels. However, things did not go quite to plan – with a decision delayed after a number of ministers raising serious concerns with No 10's favoured option. The most revealing aspect of the meeting relates to the customs partnership that Downing Street wants to push. This hybrid customs model would in theory keep trade flowing freely by having the UK collect tariffs on the EU’s behalf.

Sajid Javid has only been Home Secretary for seven hours but already he appears to have settled into the role with gusto. In his first appearance at the despatch box as Home Secrtary, Javid was greeted with cheers from the Tory benches before warning Diane Abbott – his opposite number – that she did not have a 'monopoly' on anger over the Windrush debacle. Javid also made sure to put some clear blue water between himself and his predecessor's predecessor – one Theresa May. Asked by Labour's Stephen Doughty whether about the net deportations target, Javid said he was not currently aware of any cases of wrongful deportation – before adding that he will not be using the term 'hostile environment' as it does 'not represent our values'.

Amber Rudd has had a torrid few weeks thanks to the Windrush scandal and her department's failure to get a grip on the issue. Matters weren't helped on Wednesday when Rudd told the Home Affairs select committee that her department doesn't 'have targets for removals’ of illegal immigrants – only to have to today admit that ‘the immigration arm of the Home Office has been using local targets for internal performance management’. Now it looks as though Rudd has risked the wrath of both No 10 and the Brexiteers. Speaking at today's Press Gallery Lunch, Rudd was asked whether the UK would stay in the customs union after all. Her reply: 'I won’t be drawn on that – we still have some cabinet discussions to have.

The Home Secretary cut a solemn figure in the Commons today as she attempted to clear up the Windrush immigration mess. After a weekend of torrid headlines and claims the Home Office knew of the problem long before they acted, Amber Rudd tried to make amends. Rudd apologised again before attempting to spread the blame – claiming the current situation (by which Caribbean migrants who came to the UK between 1948 and 1973 have wrongly been threatened with deportation) was the result of successive governments introducing measures to combat illegal immigration. She acknowledged the 'unintended and devastating' impact these errors had had on the families and promised speedy compensation.

The government ends what has been a truly dismal week with a row over whether or not Theresa May supported 'go home' vans and reports that Amber Rudd privately boasted to the prime minister that she would give immigration officials greater 'teeth' to accelerate the UK’s deportation programme. There is much frustration in No 10 over how this week has played out. Despite winning all Commons votes on Syria and the much-anticipated Commonwealth celebrations, what was supposed to fly the flag for global Britain has manifested into a row over hostile environments and anti-immigration rhetoric with the Windrush scandal.

And we're back to Brexit with a bump. After a brief pause in the negotiations and legislation, the government has this afternoon been defeated on a customs union amendment in the Lords. The defeat was by no means minor either – peers voted by 348 to 225 in favour of a plan requiring ministers to report on steps to negotiate a continued EU-UK customs union. This in itself isn't catastrophic for Theresa May. When the bill returns to the Commons it will most likely be thrown out – and besides it only binds the government to report on the steps being taken to negotiate a customs union so there is wriggle room regardless. However, the scale of the defeat points to a bigger problem with the government's strategy.

The government is currently busying itself trying to win retrospective Commons votes on Theresa May's Syria intervention and clearing up the Home Office's Windrush mess. But should they have time for some morning reading, today's Resolution Foundation research on millenials' property prospects ought to give cause for alarm. The think tank predicts that one in three millennials will never own their own home. Instead, they will have to live – and potentially raise families – in privately rented accommodation throughout their lives. And that's before we get to what happens when they stop working and rely on a pension. What's more, half of current UK 20-35-year-olds are expected to be renting in their 40s. This has big implications for the Conservative party.

The government has won the first of two expected retrospective votes on Theresa May decision to join French and American allies in targeted military strikes in Syria, she did so without seeking Parliamentary approval. MPs debated Alison McGoverns emergency debate late into the evening – with the SNP calling a vote on the motion that the House has 'considered the current situation in Syria and the UK government approach'. Labour – minus Dennis Skinner – abstained and the government won at 314 ayes to 26 noes It now looks as though a more testing vote looms. Jeremy Corbyn has won approval for an emergency debate on a motion reaffirming the convention that Parliament should have to approve military interventions.

After Theresa May's Cabinet agreed on the 'need to take action' in Syria, it seems a matter of when, not if, military strikes against the Assad regime take place. But the strikes won't be the end of the matter politically. Labour have been quick to stir up trouble, with Jeremy Corbyn describing the government as 'waiting for instructions' from Donald Trump. The British government is also struggling to keep up with a Russian propaganda barrage.