One of the journalists favoured by Cummings as a route to getting his strategy out onto the front pages is James Forsyth, political editor of The Spectator. We know this because last year, on 7 October just before Johnson met Varadkar in Cheshire and conceded all, Cummings sent an 800 word text message to him with a defiant message that Britain would leave at the end of October without a deal and there would be no new concessions. It was, as we now know, a lot of hot air.
Last Thursday, ahead of next week's 'crunch' talks, the ever-gullible Forsyth had another article but in The Times. It provides a similar belligerent narrative said to be coming from No 10 - otherwise known as Cummings himself. Here is the message:
"Inside No 10, they now think there is only a 30 to 40 per cent chance that there will be an agreement. The sticking point isn’t fish — I’m told that there is a “deal to be done” there — but state aid, the question of how much freedom Britain should have to subsidise companies and industries."
It sets out how No 10 wants to 'invest' in industries of the future using public money to pick not just winning businesses but whole winning industries. Industries of the present will be abandoned - watch out Sunderland - and tax payers money pumped into Artificial Intelligence or other such futuristic stuff. Forsyth says:
"But the real sticking point isn’t about car manufacturing or other traditional industries, but technology. The Johnson government wants to use the power of the state to mould and develop what it sees as the industries of the future. One figure with intimate knowledge of the negotiations and how they link to domestic policy tells me 'state aid is critical if you are going to try and shape markets in technology'."
We can take it that the figure with intimate knowledge of the negotiations is Cummings.
Forsyth has been told that Britain wants to use state aid to build up its own technology sector because we need to "develop large technology companies at scale" and that requires state involvement. The government is said to be concerned that unless the UK can do that, it will end up a technological vassal — reliant on either the United States or China, both of whom are said to be unafraid to use the state to shape these markets.
This is all nonsense of course. The Tories have fought against state involvement for decades, It is a total reversal of Thatcherism and would never get past the parliamentary party, let alone the WTO. This is quite apart from deciding who is going to be picking these 'winners'? No, I am convinced it is a negotiating ploy designed to put pressure on the EU. But like last year it will fail.
Apparently those around the PM believe that "because the state has already prepared for no deal three times, it should be relatively well set for it." Remember this came last week on more or less the same day as the entire logistics industry sent a joint letter to Gove warning that neither government or industry was ready for a no deal Brexit.
It is all starting to play out exactly the same as last year. And note the reference to fish not being "a sticking point" meaning fishermen should prepare for yet another sell out.
The Mail on Sunday has a headline this morning claiming to be a quote from our chief negotiator David Frost that: 'This time, we won't blink'. Frost or The Mail clearly thought we did last year and don't worry - we will do exactly the same this this year. It is just a matter of time.
I think there will be some histrionics over the next couple of weeks - but both sides are very keen to avoid being seen as the ones breaking off the talks so I don't expect a walk out. I do expect some straight talking and some heated exchanges.
The EU is at another advantage over us on this score as on all the others. They didn't set the deadline, they haven't been talking up the 'benefits' of a no deal and they didn't refuse to extend the transition period. So, they don't actually need to walk out. They can see we are on a moving pavement with disaster waiting for us at the end.
We NEED to step off our own self-made travellator sooner rather than later. And we will.
When it comes it will be accompanied by a barrage of announcements from Johnson, Gove and Frost about what a success it has all been and all down to our firmness right up until the end. It will be another disaster appearing in the costume of success.
But it will be a short lived triumph.
