With key Brexit legislation currently in the Commons, Newington's Jess McVay looks at the state of the negotiations.
This week’s Commons debate on the EU Withdrawal Bill saw the Government forced to make a significant concession to pro-EU MPs by allowing a Parliamentary vote on any exit deal agreed with Brussels. Some of the MPs in question - fifteen of whom are Conservatives - have also threatened to rebel over attempts to fix the date of exit, which former Chancellor Ken Clarke MP claims would be "ridiculous and unnecessary" and potentially "harmful".
These developments have dominated column inches, with The Daily Telegraph causing controversy by using the portraits of the fifteen Tory MPs on its front page splash under the headline "Brexit Mutineers". The row continued as MPs took to Twitter to voice their upset, with Anna Soubry MP accusing the coverage in the broadsheet as akin to "bullying". Politicians publicly squabbling over the outcome of Brexit highlights further turmoil within Government, and once again undermines the Prime Minister’s authority.
While the political implications in Westminster are significant, what does this mean for the bigger picture of Brexit?
Division and conflict at home is seemingly causing paralysis at a European level. With the Prime Minister negotiating both in the Commons and in Europe, talks with Brussels are ostensibly stuck. The resolution on the cost of the Brexit bill and the subsequent move onto talks about trade and transition planned for October, then December, is now expected to take place around March 2018. And there is real risk that the talks will fall apart without a new divorce offer from the UK in the next two weeks.
Meanwhile, businesses and the public are yet to receive any meaningful assurances. Despite reports of an offer made to bankers, financiers and regulators on a special post-Brexit travel scheme, the drop in the pound over the weekend suggests there is more to be done to convince investors. Equally, concerned Europeans continue to protest outside Parliament, calling for clarity on their right to remain post-Brexit, and the National Farmers’ Union reports of fruit left to rot in fields across the UK due to a lack of EU migrants working on farms.
It is clear that the Government needs to tackle some of the fundamental choices that surround Brexit.
Yet doing so might prove difficult for the Prime Minister - who must balance delivering for the Eurosceptics while appeasing the Remain rebels in her party. Amidst all the chaos, one thing is clear: the bureaucratic process of delivering Brexit is proving to be a great distraction from domestic policy – and continues to damage the image of the Conservative Party as a party of Government.
