Polls, Brexit postponed – and the slump of the Conservative vote

We seem to be heading back towards where British politics was between 2005 and 2015: in other words, towards more of a three or four or perhaps more party system.

Profile: Amber Rudd – moderation-preaching, whip-defying, No Deal-opposing. And sought by leadership contenders for support.

She is one of the few Cabinet members who does not give the impression of having had her personality flattened by the sacrifices demanded by a ministerial career.

Iain Dale: Why I believe that the October deadline leaves no time for a second referendum

Plus: I’m still backing Brexit. The Independent Group’s Tory targets. And: it’s a disgrace that public money is being spent on the European elections.

Trick or treat? The Halloween extension.

At first glance, it looks like just about the worst timetable for achieving Brexit – which must now be seriously in doubt.

Antoinette Sandbach: Duplicitous and disloyal. That’s the Britain that those who praise a Perfidious Albion would bring into being.

Even the image depletes our stock of goodwill – both among our EU neighbours and among potential trade partners elsewhere.

Screwing Scruton

His sacking is more evidence, were it needed, of the tensions that tear at the Tory coalition – and threaten to render it unsustainable.

Garvan Walshe: How Netanyahu, the great survivor, can scrape four more years in power

It would be a hazardous balancing act, but he has a slight edge over his opponents.

The ERG. Will it escape Tory gravity, and soar to another planet? Or sink back into Celestial Body Conservative?

It has grown from a group small enough to meet for breakfasts to one large enough to have its own whipping. That last feature is unsustainable.

Robert Halfon: Labour, Corbyn – Kim Jong-un, for that matter. I’ll talk to anyone, anywhere to ensure that Brexit takes place.

We can choose either to vote idealistically or for the least worst option, given the current political realities. Politics must be the art of the possible.

Priti Patel: It’s time to stand up for Britain, spurn this dire deal – and trust our members

Capitulation to Brussels by the Government is causing huge damage to our grassroots and damaging our local election prospects.

The Cabinet must tell May to go

No way forward is without risk at this stage. But the least hazardous course is for the Party to step out soon with a new leader.

David Willetts: There are ways for Conservatives to win over younger voters – but they aren’t easy

Onward’s excellent report poses some tough questions and choices. The dilemma which the 2017 election manifesto tried to confront has not gone away.

Be cautious when a watchdog bites its rivals

Fleet Street, normally a justified sceptic of men from the ministry controlling what people publish, is an enthusiast of regulating social media giants.

Nicky Morgan: Our One Nation group of MPs is fighting back against an attempt to hijack the Conservative Party

We are not a party within a party. We simply want to remind our fellow citizens that there are Conservative MPs who want to heal, not perpetuate, divisions.

James Kanagasooriam: The left-right age gap is even worse for the Conservatives than you think

It’s also more pronounced than for Leave-Remain. We are about to see a disproportionately Tory cohort succeeded by a disproportionately Labour one.