Brexit delay 'an elephant trap that we can't escape'
Delaying Britain’s departure from the EU is an “elephant trap” that could kill off Brexit altogether, senior ministers warned last night. Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, John Penrose, the Northern Ireland minister, said an attempt to remove the option of a no-deal departure on March 29 “could torpedo Brexit completely” by leading to further temporary extensions that “would become permanent”. Meanwhile, Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, warned that it was “essential that we hold our nerve” as Theresa May seeks the concessions that could win Parliament’s support for her deal. The Telegraph understands that Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, and David Lidington, the Prime Minister’s de...
One of Labour's biggest private backers has donated to The Independent Group
One of Labour's biggest private backers has donated to the new breakaway grouping of MPs, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose. Sir David Garrard, a property tycoon who gave £1.5 million to the party under Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, was approached to fund The Independent Group, after abandoning Labour over Jeremy Corbyn's approach to anti-Semitism. He is the first major Labour funder to donate to the new grouping, to which eight of the party's MPs defected last week, along with three Conservatives who will sit alongside them in the Commons.
Tories are not party of 'purges and retribution' and should resist attempts to deselect MPs, Theresa May says
The Conservatives are not a party of "purges and retribution" and should resist any attempts to deselect MPs over their approach to Brexit, Theresa May has said. Addressing Tory activists yesterday, the Prime Minister said the party was a "broad church" and must remain united in order to stay in Government. Her intervention is likely to have been designed to help prevent further resignations by pro-Remain rebels after three quit last week, claiming that the party was facing "blatant entryism" by members of Ukip, the Eurosceptic party. In several cases local activists have called on their MPs to be de-selected. In a letter to The Sunday Telegraph, Philip Sagar, the chairman of Grantham and Stamford...
Theresa May warned by ministers she has five days to agree to Brexit delay or face mass revolt
Theresa May has been warned by ministers she has five days in which to announce she will delay Brexit or she will face a mass rebellion that risks collapsing the Government. Earlier this week Amber Rudd, Greg Clark, David Gauke and David Mundell effectively challenged the Prime Minister to sack them by vowing to support a backbench bid to take a no-deal divorce off the table. They warned Mrs May in a meeting in Downing Street as many as 22 members of the Government are prepared to vote for a backbench bill that would force her to request an extension of Article 50. The Telegraph has been told if the Prime Minister fails to seal a deal with the EU that she can put before Parliament on Monday or...
Corbyn told: change course before it’s too late for Labour Senior party figures warn leader over approach to antisemitism and new Brexit vote
Some of Labour’s most influential figures are urgently warning Jeremy Corbyn to change his approach to antisemitism, Brexit and factional infighting, as more senior politicians reveal they have already decided to quit the party. Figures across the party say that a major exodus of MPs, peers and councillors will be triggered over the next few weeks unless the demands for change are met, with some already poised to go.
One senior parliamentarian told the Observer: “I have decided that I am going to have to leave. For me, it’s just a question of when.” With the Labour leadership battling to contain a wider split after the resignation of nine MPs last week: • London mayor Sadiq Khan is warning that the party’s response to antisemitism has precipitated a “collapse in trust” between Labour and the Jewish community; • Tom Watson, the party’s deputy leader, and Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, are pushing Corbyn’s team to support a deal to secure a second referendum – with one of Britain’s biggest unions also backing the plan; • One of Labour’s biggest former donors, Sir David Garrard, told the Observer he has already funded the Independent Group (TIG) of 11 MPs who quit last week; • Senior figures are also calling for any attempts to trigger the reselection of MPs this year to be ruled out to help calm divisions.
A new Opinium poll for the Observer places TIG above the Lib Dems. It gives the Tories an eight-point lead, with the Conservatives on 40%, Labour on 32%, TIG on 6% and the Lib Dems on 5%. Ukip records 7% support. The Labour leadership is attempting to stem the crisis by promising to review its handling of antisemitism complaints after Luciana Berger quit, following vehement abuse. The leadership is also poised to back a plan by Labour backbenchers Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, which would see Theresa May’s Brexit deal voted through on the condition that it is put to a public vote. Watson and others see it as a way of uniting the party once Labour’s preferred Brexit deal has been blocked. The pressure on Corbyn to back a second referendum was increasing on Saturday night, as Tim Roache, general secretary of the Labour-affiliated GMB union, backed the Kyle-Wilson plan. “The clock is ticking and something needs to break the logjam in Westminster,” Roache said.
Cabinet rifts over Brexit continue to get widespread coverage. The Sunday Telegraph says it understands that the Chancellor Philip Hammond and David Lidington, the prime minister's de facto deputy, are lobbying Theresa May to publicly pledge that she will not take the UK out of the European Union without a deal at the end of next month.
Sources have told the paper they are acting in a "pincer movement" with their cabinet colleagues Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark - who on Saturday claimed Brexiteers would be at fault for any delay because of their opposition to the current deal. But the Northern Ireland minister John Penrose tells the paper an attempt to remove the option of a no-deal departure "could torpedo Brexit completely". The former Brexit minister David Jones agrees, telling the Sunday Express it would be "the greatest folly possible". Senior Brexiteers are urging Mrs May to not panic, the Express adds on its front page. Read full article
Gordon Brown calls for MPs to vote to delay Brexit - for up to 12 months EXCLUSIVE: The former Labour PM wants to postpone Britain's jump from the EU and "avoid hurtling over a cliff edge" by gathering evidence from people across the country to tell if they want a second referendum on the move
A vicious cabinet war erupted last night over a plot by senior ministers to delay Brexit, as Theresa May looked certain to shelve plans for a Commons vote on her deal this week. Five cabinet colleagues rounded on Amber Rudd, calling for her to be sacked after she publicly threatened to defy the prime minister by voting to delay article 50. The work and pensions secretary was singled out by cabinet colleagues as the ringleader of a cross-party campaign to stop Brexit. She was accused of seeking to further her own leadership ambitions. The party was plunged into fresh bloodletting after May was warned she could be forced to quit within weeks should her Brexit deal go through. Rudd, with David Gauke, the justice secretary,…
Support for second referendum grows Labour and Tory ministers are said to be warming to the idea
A Labour MP has said that he is winning over Jeremy Corbyn’s team and Conservative cabinet ministers for his proposal to support Theresa May’s Brexit deal in exchange for a second referendum. Phil Wilson is tabling an amendment with fellow Labour MP Peter Kyle that backs the prime minister’s current deal so long as it is put to another referendum, pitting her plan against the option of remaining in the EU. The Sedgefield MP said that he had met shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer to discuss the deal last week and they were “very keen”. Labour’s leadership is under pressure from its membership over its failure to support a so-called People’s Vote and is desperate to stop more remainer MPs…
You cannot sack Brexit rebel ministers, Theresa May is warned
Theresa May is being warned by her team that she cannot sack ministers who vote this week to delay Brexit without causing a further rupture within her party. Close allies of the prime minister have concluded that so many government members are planning to back an amendment that could delay Brexit that firing them all is not a realistic option. Instead, she is being urged to either head off the row by promising a binding vote on delaying Brexit next month, or give way and allow her ministers permission to vote for the measure on Wednesday. It comes after three Tory MPs resigned from the party last week, partly in protest at May’s handling of Brexit, while a trio of cabinet ministers took the highly unusual step of publicly signalling they could vote to delay withdrawal from the EU.
The Meaningful Vote scheduled for Wednesday, has yet again been postponed.
Theresa May delays meaningful vote on final Brexit deal
MPs may have to wait until 12 March for a meaningful vote on the government’s final Brexit deal, Theresa May has said in an intervention that will deepen splits in her cabinet. The prime minister confirmed on Sunday that she would not hold the vote this week as she flew to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, where she is due to discuss Brexit on the margins of an EU summit with Arab leaders. It comes at the start of a critical week for May when many in the House of Commons had been expecting to vote on her deal. Without a reworked withdrawal agreement to bring back to MPs, she has promised to table an amendable motion, which will allow backbenchers another chance to try to block a no-deal Brexit.
Women's Six Nations: England score nine tries to beat Wales 51-12 in Cardiff England remain on course to win the Women's Six Nations Grand Slam after an emphatic nine-try victory over Wales.
Prop Sarah Bern and wing Jess Breach scored two tries each and flanker Marlie Packer crossed too as England claimed a bonus point after 26 minutes.
England's Catherine O'Donnell, Abbie Dow, Sarah Beckett and Katy Daley-McLean all scored in the second half.
Wales' first try of the 2019 Six Nations came from wing Jess Kavanagh and Cerys Hale added their second.
England are top of the table, having claimed five points against both Ireland and France in the first two rounds, and now prepare to host Italy, the only other unbeaten side in the competition, on 9 March.
Wales are fifth, after losing to France and drawing against Italy and travel to Scotland for the penultimate round of the tournament on 8 March.
Women's Six Nations: England score nine tries to beat Wales 51-12 in Cardiff England remain on course to win the Women's Six Nations Grand Slam after an emphatic nine-try victory over Wales.
Prop Sarah Bern and wing Jess Breach scored two tries each and flanker Marlie Packer crossed too as England claimed a bonus point after 26 minutes.
England's Catherine O'Donnell, Abbie Dow, Sarah Beckett and Katy Daley-McLean all scored in the second half.
Wales' first try of the 2019 Six Nations came from wing Jess Kavanagh and Cerys Hale added their second.
England are top of the table, having claimed five points against both Ireland and France in the first two rounds, and now prepare to host Italy, the only other unbeaten side in the competition, on 9 March.
Wales are fifth, after losing to France and drawing against Italy and travel to Scotland for the penultimate round of the tournament on 8 March.
I would be more impressed with the Rugby opinions if you were not both showing pictures of the French team. In France. In front of French flags. With French banners/adverts. Against Scotland.
Women's Six Nations: England score nine tries to beat Wales 51-12 in Cardiff England remain on course to win the Women's Six Nations Grand Slam after an emphatic nine-try victory over Wales.
Prop Sarah Bern and wing Jess Breach scored two tries each and flanker Marlie Packer crossed too as England claimed a bonus point after 26 minutes.
England's Catherine O'Donnell, Abbie Dow, Sarah Beckett and Katy Daley-McLean all scored in the second half.
Wales' first try of the 2019 Six Nations came from wing Jess Kavanagh and Cerys Hale added their second.
England are top of the table, having claimed five points against both Ireland and France in the first two rounds, and now prepare to host Italy, the only other unbeaten side in the competition, on 9 March.
Wales are fifth, after losing to France and drawing against Italy and travel to Scotland for the penultimate round of the tournament on 8 March.
I would be more impressed with the Rugby opinions if you were not both showing pictures of the French team. In France. In front of French flags. With French banners/adverts. Against Scotland.
As it happens I was merely quoting Mr Brexit ....but as you mentioned it
Brexit could be delayed until 2021, EU sources reveal
Brexit could be delayed until 2021 under plans being explored by the EU’s most senior officials, at a time of growing exasperation over Theresa May’s handling of the talks, the Guardian can reveal. A lengthy extension of the negotiating period is said by EU sources to be favoured by Donald Tusk, the European council president, should the Commons continue to reject May’s deal. Replacing the 21-month transition period with extra time as a member state would allow the UK and the EU to develop their plans for the future relationship with the aim of making the contentious Irish backstop redundant. The EU is determined to avoid offering a short extension only to have to revisit the issue in the summer when the government again fails to win round parliament. “If leaders see any purpose in extending, which is not a certainty given the situation in the UK, they will not do a rolling cliff-edge but go long to ensure a decent period to solve the outstanding issues or batten down the hatches,” one EU diplomat said.
With Brexit now just 32 days away, the Daily Telegraph says Downing Street officials have drawn up a series of options to try to avoid a Tory rebellion over the possibility of leaving without a deal - including a delay of up to two months. The Guardian goes further, suggesting Brexit could be postponed until 2021 under plans being examined by senior EU officials. The plan would allow time to solve the outstanding issues and make the Irish backstop redundant. The Times says some ministers are now privately pressing Mrs May to rule out a no-deal Brexit when she makes a Commons statement on Tuesday. If not, they say, she will face the likely success of an amendment put forward by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper, which would hand power to Parliament if there is no deal by 13 March.
"Delay Dismay" is the headline in the Sun, summing up its feelings on the matter. The paper says the last thing Mrs May needs is "cabinet rebellions, backbench grandstanding and a leadership beauty contest". 'Geographically vulnerable' The Times also claims it has seen leaked cabinet documents suggesting the government is considering setting up a hardship fund for families adversely affected by Brexit. The paper says a surge in unemployment is projected if that happens and the fund would be used to help those left impoverished. The paper reports that other plans include protections for parts of the country "geographically vulnerable to food shortages".
The former Labour cabinet minister Alan Johnson has told the Daily Mirror he is not sure he wants Jeremy Corbyn to be prime minister, although he does want his party in power. He admits to worries that Mr Corbyn is not up to the job, accusing him of a lack of leadership, and adding that he has to take some responsibility for the fact Labour is not wiping the floor with the Tories in the polls. But Mr Johnson says after 45 years in Labour he is not about to jump ship.
Comments
Delaying Britain’s departure from the EU is an “elephant trap” that could kill off Brexit altogether, senior ministers warned last night.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, John Penrose, the Northern Ireland minister, said an attempt to remove the option of a no-deal departure on March 29 “could torpedo Brexit completely” by leading to further temporary extensions that “would become permanent”.
Meanwhile, Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, warned that it was “essential that we hold our nerve” as Theresa May seeks the concessions that could win Parliament’s support for her deal.
The Telegraph understands that Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, and David Lidington, the Prime Minister’s de...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/23/brexit-delay-elephant-trap-cant-escape/
One of Labour's biggest private backers has donated to the new breakaway grouping of MPs, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.
Sir David Garrard, a property tycoon who gave £1.5 million to the party under Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband, was approached to fund The Independent Group, after abandoning Labour over Jeremy Corbyn's approach to anti-Semitism.
He is the first major Labour funder to donate to the new grouping, to which eight of the party's MPs defected last week, along with three Conservatives who will sit alongside them in the Commons.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/23/one-labours-biggest-private-backers-has-donated-independent/
The Conservatives are not a party of "purges and retribution" and should resist any attempts to deselect MPs over their approach to Brexit, Theresa May has said.
Addressing Tory activists yesterday, the Prime Minister said the party was a "broad church" and must remain united in order to stay in Government.
Her intervention is likely to have been designed to help prevent further resignations by pro-Remain rebels after three quit last week, claiming that the party was facing "blatant entryism" by members of Ukip, the Eurosceptic party.
In several cases local activists have called on their MPs to be de-selected.
In a letter to The Sunday Telegraph, Philip Sagar, the chairman of Grantham and Stamford...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/23/tories-not-party-purges-retribution-should-resist-attempts-deselect/
Theresa May has been warned by ministers she has five days in which to announce she will delay Brexit or she will face a mass rebellion that risks collapsing the Government.
Earlier this week Amber Rudd, Greg Clark, David Gauke and David Mundell effectively challenged the Prime Minister to sack them by vowing to support a backbench bid to take a no-deal divorce off the table.
They warned Mrs May in a meeting in Downing Street as many as 22 members of the Government are prepared to vote for a backbench bill that would force her to request an extension of Article 50.
The Telegraph has been told if the Prime Minister fails to seal a deal with the EU that she can put before Parliament on Monday or...
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/22/theresa-may-warned-ministers-has-five-days-agree-brexit-delay/
Senior party figures warn leader over approach to antisemitism and new Brexit vote
Some of Labour’s most influential figures are urgently warning Jeremy Corbyn to change his approach to antisemitism, Brexit and factional infighting, as more senior politicians reveal they have already decided to quit the party.
Figures across the party say that a major exodus of MPs, peers and councillors will be triggered over the next few weeks unless the demands for change are met, with some already poised to go.
One senior parliamentarian told the Observer: “I have decided that I am going to have to leave. For me, it’s just a question of when.”
With the Labour leadership battling to contain a wider split after the resignation of nine MPs last week:
• London mayor Sadiq Khan is warning that the party’s response to antisemitism has precipitated a “collapse in trust” between Labour and the Jewish community;
• Tom Watson, the party’s deputy leader, and Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, are pushing Corbyn’s team to support a deal to secure a second referendum – with one of Britain’s biggest unions also backing the plan;
• One of Labour’s biggest former donors, Sir David Garrard, told the Observer he has already funded the Independent Group (TIG) of 11 MPs who quit last week;
• Senior figures are also calling for any attempts to trigger the reselection of MPs this year to be ruled out to help calm divisions.
A new Opinium poll for the Observer places TIG above the Lib Dems. It gives the Tories an eight-point lead, with the Conservatives on 40%, Labour on 32%, TIG on 6% and the Lib Dems on 5%. Ukip records 7% support. The Labour leadership is attempting to stem the crisis by promising to review its handling of antisemitism complaints after Luciana Berger quit, following vehement abuse. The leadership is also poised to back a plan by Labour backbenchers Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, which would see Theresa May’s Brexit deal voted through on the condition that it is put to a public vote. Watson and others see it as a way of uniting the party once Labour’s preferred Brexit deal has been blocked.
The pressure on Corbyn to back a second referendum was increasing on Saturday night, as Tim Roache, general secretary of the Labour-affiliated GMB union, backed the Kyle-Wilson plan.
“The clock is ticking and something needs to break the logjam in Westminster,” Roache said.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/23/corbyn-told-change-course-before-its-too-late-for-labour-michael-savage
The Sunday Telegraph says it understands that the Chancellor Philip Hammond and David Lidington, the prime minister's de facto deputy, are lobbying Theresa May to publicly pledge that she will not take the UK out of the European Union without a deal at the end of next month.
Sources have told the paper they are acting in a "pincer movement" with their cabinet colleagues Amber Rudd, David Gauke and Greg Clark - who on Saturday claimed Brexiteers would be at fault for any delay because of their opposition to the current deal.
But the Northern Ireland minister John Penrose tells the paper an attempt to remove the option of a no-deal departure "could torpedo Brexit completely".
The former Brexit minister David Jones agrees, telling the Sunday Express it would be "the greatest folly possible". Senior Brexiteers are urging Mrs May to not panic, the Express adds on its front page.
Read full article
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs/the_papers
EXCLUSIVE: The former Labour PM wants to postpone Britain's jump from the EU and "avoid hurtling over a cliff edge" by gathering evidence from people across the country to tell if they want a second referendum on the move
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/gordon-brown-calls-mps-vote-14042810
EXCLUSIVE: The Independent Group's total number could rise to 35 if four more Tories and nine Labour MPs join them
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/nine-more-mps-set-quit-14043694
Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/wales-vs-england-six-nations-2019-player-ratings/
A vicious cabinet war erupted last night over a plot by senior ministers to delay Brexit, as Theresa May looked certain to shelve plans for a Commons vote on her deal this week.
Five cabinet colleagues rounded on Amber Rudd, calling for her to be sacked after she publicly threatened to defy the prime minister by voting to delay article 50. The work and pensions secretary was singled out by cabinet colleagues as the ringleader of a cross-party campaign to stop Brexit. She was accused of seeking to further her own leadership ambitions.
The party was plunged into fresh bloodletting after May was warned she could be forced to quit within weeks should her Brexit deal go through. Rudd, with David Gauke, the justice secretary,…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/theresa-may-funks-brexit-vote-as-cabinet-splits-z86q87txk
Labour and Tory ministers are said to be warming to the idea
A Labour MP has said that he is winning over Jeremy Corbyn’s team and Conservative cabinet ministers for his proposal to support Theresa May’s Brexit deal in exchange for a second referendum.
Phil Wilson is tabling an amendment with fellow Labour MP Peter Kyle that backs the prime minister’s current deal so long as it is put to another referendum, pitting her plan against the option of remaining in the EU.
The Sedgefield MP said that he had met shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer to discuss the deal last week and they were “very keen”.
Labour’s leadership is under pressure from its membership over its failure to support a so-called People’s Vote and is desperate to stop more remainer MPs…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/support-for-second-referendum-grows-7gnwpk90n
Theresa May is being warned by her team that she cannot sack ministers who vote this week to delay Brexit without causing a further rupture within her party.
Close allies of the prime minister have concluded that so many government members are planning to back an amendment that could delay Brexit that firing them all is not a realistic option. Instead, she is being urged to either head off the row by promising a binding vote on delaying Brexit next month, or give way and allow her ministers permission to vote for the measure on Wednesday.
It comes after three Tory MPs resigned from the party last week, partly in protest at May’s handling of Brexit, while a trio of cabinet ministers took the highly unusual step of publicly signalling they could vote to delay withdrawal from the EU.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/brexit/you-cannot-sack-brexit-rebel-ministers-theresa-may-is-warned/ar-BBU0eFX?ocid=spartanntp
Theresa May delays meaningful vote on final Brexit deal
MPs may have to wait until 12 March for a meaningful vote on the government’s final Brexit deal, Theresa May has said in an intervention that will deepen splits in her cabinet.
The prime minister confirmed on Sunday that she would not hold the vote this week as she flew to Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, where she is due to discuss Brexit on the margins of an EU summit with Arab leaders.
It comes at the start of a critical week for May when many in the House of Commons had been expecting to vote on her deal.
Without a reworked withdrawal agreement to bring back to MPs, she has promised to table an amendable motion, which will allow backbenchers another chance to try to block a no-deal Brexit.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/theresa-may-postpones-meaningful-vote-133108259.html
England remain on course to win the Women's Six Nations Grand Slam after an emphatic nine-try victory over Wales.
Prop Sarah Bern and wing Jess Breach scored two tries each and flanker Marlie Packer crossed too as England claimed a bonus point after 26 minutes.
England's Catherine O'Donnell, Abbie Dow, Sarah Beckett and Katy Daley-McLean all scored in the second half.
Wales' first try of the 2019 Six Nations came from wing Jess Kavanagh and Cerys Hale added their second.
England are top of the table, having claimed five points against both Ireland and France in the first two rounds, and now prepare to host Italy, the only other unbeaten side in the competition, on 9 March.
Wales are fifth, after losing to France and drawing against Italy and travel to Scotland for the penultimate round of the tournament on 8 March.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47349928
Brexit could be delayed until 2021 under plans being explored by the EU’s most senior officials, at a time of growing exasperation over Theresa May’s handling of the talks, the Guardian can reveal.
A lengthy extension of the negotiating period is said by EU sources to be favoured by Donald Tusk, the European council president, should the Commons continue to reject May’s deal.
Replacing the 21-month transition period with extra time as a member state would allow the UK and the EU to develop their plans for the future relationship with the aim of making the contentious Irish backstop redundant.
The EU is determined to avoid offering a short extension only to have to revisit the issue in the summer when the government again fails to win round parliament.
“If leaders see any purpose in extending, which is not a certainty given the situation in the UK, they will not do a rolling cliff-edge but go long to ensure a decent period to solve the outstanding issues or batten down the hatches,” one EU diplomat said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/brexit-could-be-delayed-until-2021-eu-sources-reveal/ar-BBU0WC0?ocid=spartanntp
The Guardian goes further, suggesting Brexit could be postponed until 2021 under plans being examined by senior EU officials. The plan would allow time to solve the outstanding issues and make the Irish backstop redundant.
The Times says some ministers are now privately pressing Mrs May to rule out a no-deal Brexit when she makes a Commons statement on Tuesday.
If not, they say, she will face the likely success of an amendment put forward by the Labour MP Yvette Cooper, which would hand power to Parliament if there is no deal by 13 March.
"Delay Dismay" is the headline in the Sun, summing up its feelings on the matter.
The paper says the last thing Mrs May needs is "cabinet rebellions, backbench grandstanding and a leadership beauty contest".
'Geographically vulnerable'
The Times also claims it has seen leaked cabinet documents suggesting the government is considering setting up a hardship fund for families adversely affected by Brexit.
The paper says a surge in unemployment is projected if that happens and the fund would be used to help those left impoverished. The paper reports that other plans include protections for parts of the country "geographically vulnerable to food shortages".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-47352429
He admits to worries that Mr Corbyn is not up to the job, accusing him of a lack of leadership, and adding that he has to take some responsibility for the fact Labour is not wiping the floor with the Tories in the polls.
But Mr Johnson says after 45 years in Labour he is not about to jump ship.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-47352429