Theresa May is expected to ask parliament today for another two weeks 'grace' to allow her to continue pressing for changes to the Irish backstop (HERE). She might as well ask for another two decades and it still wouldn't be enough. What a strange woman she is. On the one hand she refuses to ask for an Article 50 extension as a way of concentrating minds but on the other, she doesn't expect MPs to do the same. And amazingly, they probably won't.
The latest Brexit Secretary, Stephen Barclay, met Barnier for the first time last night and the two had dinner together. Earlier at a press conference in Luxembourg with Xavier Bettel, Barnier reiterated for what seemed like the thousandth time that the Withdrawal Agreement will not be reopened. I assume he told Barclay the same thing to his face - spelled out slowly and one-word-at-a-time as if addressing a simpleton.
Barnier said pointedly (HERE) “We’re waiting for clarity and movement from the United Kingdom,”
We learn from Sky News (HERE) that the deputy PM, David Liddington met the former president of the council, Herman Von Rompuy for a private dinner recently. He was the man once described by Farage as having the charisma of a damp rag (HERE). Now we are asking him to help 'influence' things. How the mighty are fallen, but never mind just get a wet cloth - and a former one at that.
This article (HERE) in The Guardian looks at the way Brexit is seen on the continent. It does not make happy reading. Brexit is a national embarrassment that can only end in humiliation. We can leave and damage ourselves or return to the fold with our tail between our legs. Either way no foreigner will ever look at us in the same way again.
What we are witnessing is a once solid, pragmatic country descending into surreal tragedy and farce. It is Monty Python meets Brian Rix in a comedy remake of Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome.
To top it all off, Reuters report a claim by The Sun that Mrs May intends to resign in the summer (HERE), presumably after Brexit happens. If she does it will have echoes of Cameron. Set the nation on a course for disaster and then immediately resign to let someone else take most of the blame for the ensuing chaos.
This is what passes for leadership in the modern Conservative party.
