Definitely not shifting:
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2025 6:17 am
Mexican stand-off: My POLITICO colleagues Charlie Cooper and Annabelle Dickson report on a three-way stand-off between Downing Street, Brussels and parliament as Britain marches on towards October 31. With Boris sitting tight in No. 10, EU leaders are also refusing to budge and will wait to see how the U.K. parliament responds. “The problem with that approach is some of the key parliamentarians who will need to align to block no deal are also playing a wait-and-see game, wondering whether the EU or Johnson’s government might back down,” Charlie and Annabelle report. A former minister tells them: “There are a lot of people who are unlikely to do anything until we come back. The prime minister’s statement on the 3rd or 4th September will be pretty crucial to what people decide to do.” We only have five weeks to wait.
The Sun’s man in Brussels Nick Gutteridge says EU officials are not going to blink as Johnson runs down the clock to October 31. He reckons Brussels believes Johnson wants to phone number library turn October’s European Council into a mammoth all-night negotiation at which — Boris hopes — EU27 leaders will blink at the 11th hour. Instead they plan to turn the October 17 summit into a final no-deal preparation event with “a blitz on contingency measures” and “communiques bracing businesses and financial markets.” An EU source tells Gutteridge: “If we’re really in the deal-making business, this is not a thing you invent on a small piece of paper on the corner of a table at 3 a.m.” Brussels officials say the fortnight between the end of the Tory party conference on October 2 and the start of the October summit will therefore be the pivotal spell in deciding the final outcome.
Not waiting until September: People’s Vote campaigners will gather for a mass rally at Birmingham University this evening, with speakers including Labour MP Jess Phillips and former Tory Deputy PM Michael Heseltine. Somewhat unexpectedly, veteran football commentator Clive Tyldesley will compere the event. He’s the second football pundit to pop up at one of these anti-Brexit bashes recently — BBC presenter Gary Lineker spoke at one last year. Funny old game, as they say.
The Sun’s man in Brussels Nick Gutteridge says EU officials are not going to blink as Johnson runs down the clock to October 31. He reckons Brussels believes Johnson wants to phone number library turn October’s European Council into a mammoth all-night negotiation at which — Boris hopes — EU27 leaders will blink at the 11th hour. Instead they plan to turn the October 17 summit into a final no-deal preparation event with “a blitz on contingency measures” and “communiques bracing businesses and financial markets.” An EU source tells Gutteridge: “If we’re really in the deal-making business, this is not a thing you invent on a small piece of paper on the corner of a table at 3 a.m.” Brussels officials say the fortnight between the end of the Tory party conference on October 2 and the start of the October summit will therefore be the pivotal spell in deciding the final outcome.
Not waiting until September: People’s Vote campaigners will gather for a mass rally at Birmingham University this evening, with speakers including Labour MP Jess Phillips and former Tory Deputy PM Michael Heseltine. Somewhat unexpectedly, veteran football commentator Clive Tyldesley will compere the event. He’s the second football pundit to pop up at one of these anti-Brexit bashes recently — BBC presenter Gary Lineker spoke at one last year. Funny old game, as they say.