Merkel will rescue the Prime Minister. Where have we heard that before?

The German Chancellor was stronger then than she is now. And there’s no guarantee that any compromise she might push would work.

Iain Dale: Let’s be frank. The entire commentariat class hasn’t a clue what will happen next.

Plus: May under fire at home and pressure abroad. And around tables at the heart of Westminster, Labour researchers huddle, as though ready for an election and power.

Nigel Wilcock: Councils need clarity on how they will be financed after 2020

More statutory activities are being forced on local authorities – without the extra money to pay for them.

WATCH: “There are a few but considerable outstanding issues in relation to the Irish backstop”, says May

There is “hard work ahead” and “there will be more difficult moments, but the Prime Minister claims she is “convinced we will secure a good deal”.

WATCH: Kamall – “At the end of the day we will reach a deal, because that’s what both sides want to see.”

The Leader of the ECR Group in the European Parliament, who is also the former leader of the Tory MEPs, is upbeat.

Fox. Go for the Export Dividend. “Based on a ten per cent uplift in exports, the budget deficit could reduce by some £20 billion.” His trade speech: full text.

He praises a new IEA analysis.

WATCH: May says that there has been “very good progress” since the meeting at Salzburg

“There is still the question of the Northern Irish backstop, but I believe everyone around the table wants to get a deal.”

Alex Morton: To restore purpose, legislate for England

It was once said that the secret of Thatcher’s success was moving steadily on multiple fronts so that her enemies did not know where to focus their attention.

WATCH: “Who would build it?” – Lewis challenges the Prime Minister over a hard border in Ireland

“The Irish certainly won’t. The British certainly won’t. So unless the EU Army plans to march in and build it, surely it can never happen?”

Andrew Gimson’s PMQs sketch: May is white with tiredness, but still functioning

She said the bare minimum on Brexit and Corbyn has no idea how to get anything more out of her.

Jobs, wages – and stubbornly buoyant Conservative poll ratings

Wages are growing at their fastest rate for ten years, and employment is at a near-record high. But qualifications are necessary…

Daniel Hannan: The proposed Brexit terms represent a deal worse than either staying or leaving.

Frankly, any outcome – no deal, Norway, Canada, even the risk of a second referendum – would be better than what is currently on the table.

John Penrose: Rebooting Capitalism 2) How to help give younger people a fair deal

In the second of three articles, the Weston-super-Mare MP sets out plans on tax, housing deficits and debt to help achieve inter-generational justice.

James Croft: It’s time to invest in the education of high-performing children – and those who have the potential to join them

We recommend the endowment of a independent research outfit similar to that what works to find how to improve the attainment of disadvantaged children.

Stewart Jackson: Mendacity, duplicity, subterfuge and misjudgement. How I saw an establishment coup wreck a clean Brexit.

Number Ten has been desperate from the start that we must remain in the Customs Union – and endure a kind of semi-skimmed faux Brexit.