To Hell with Tusk

All he may have achieved is to make the No Deal that neither side of the negotiations wants marginally more likely.

The Moggcast. “The backstop has to go.” Rees-Mogg sets out his red lines.

He talks Brady, Norway, prorogation, and postponing Article 50, and explains why the ERG is “not a fourth party”. Plus: does the Queen listen to the Moggcast?

Stella Creasy & Debbie Abrahams: A referendum got us here. Now let a Citizens’ Assembly – and more direct democracy – take us forward.

We want to learn from what other Parliaments have done when faced with difficult choices. Such an assembly would report back within ten weeks.

Nick Boles: Like all revolutionaries, once-reasonable Brexiteers slide towards ever greater radicalism

Where Farage, Johnson and Paterson once praised the Norway option, it is now denounced as apostasy.

Daniel Hannan: What is driving this chaos? I’ll tell you. The EU is determined to punish us.

In English, Barnier said: “I’ll have done my job if, in the end, the deal is so tough on the British that they’d prefer to stay in the EU”.

No Deal can’t be “taken off the table”

The only way of ruling it out is to change the table itself: in other words, to abandon Brexit, or prepare to – as Remainers should admit.

Henry Newman: Norway Plus, Common Market 2.0. Call it whatever you like, it could basically leave us as a non-voting EU member

It amounts to wishful thinking, not a workable, sustainable answer. And it’s not as easy to implement as some of its advocates make out.

Next, watch pro-Remain and pro-Soft Brexit Ministers push for the postponement of Brexit

Today, May is swinging towards her Party’s leavers. The logic of the Chancellor’s position, and that of his allies, is to block her – or try to.

As matters stand, almost half of Party members line up behind No Deal, our snap survey finds

The closer the prospect of it gets, the more some people warm to it – as the BBC’s Question Time suggested this week.

Esther McVey: Now that May’s Brexit deal has been voted down, we need to win back trust. Here’s how.

We also need to examine a ‘no deal transition period’ – i.e: a payment for a period of time to enable both the UK and the EU to adjust to the changes ahead of us.

Decision time for Javid and Hunt?

Neither is at all likely indeed to succeed May if they nod reluctant assent to any scheme to sign up to the Customs Union – which might not succeed in any event.

Almost good enough isn’t good enough

Strangely but truly, the best way of helping the Prime Minister is to send her back to Brussels to win concessions on the backstop.

A fact amidst the rumours. The Prime Minister is failing to persuade most rebel Conservative MPs to switch and support her deal.

We count four so far from our list of 109 who have changed their minds – and all of them were only “probables”.

Nicky Morgan: Imperfect, certainly. But May’s plan avoids the twin perils of No Deal and No Brexit. The Commons should back it.

Supporting the deal would also prevent several other things – such as the possibibility of a truly socialist government taking over.

This rotting Cabinet

The conventional wisdom is: weak Prime Minister, strong Cabinet. But what we see is: weak Prime Minister, weak Cabinet.