Why has Brexit disappeared from the front pages of UK newspapers?

Analysis​:​ After the government was granted its Article 50 extension, the question of EU withdrawal seems to have slipped down the news agenda

Politics remains dominated by Britain’s departure from the bloc, even if it is indirectly (PA)

Amazingly, this weekend’s newspaper front pages have been – almost – a Brexit-free zone.

The only stories to deserve the “splash” slot appeared in Saturday’s Financial Times, which reported that Warren Buffett was preparing to invest in Britain despite Brexit; and in Saturday’s Independent, which covered the Labour row about an election leaflet which failed to make mention of a second referendum on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

So, does this mean that Brexit fatigue is setting in? Certainly the prime minister has sought to argue that the British people are “tired” of Brexit – or at least, as she put it in her address to the nation last month: “You are tired of the infighting, tired of the political games and the arcane procedural rows, tired of MPs talking about nothing else but Brexit when you have real concerns about our children’s schools, our National Health Service, knife crime.”

Of course that may all be true, although being tired of the process is not the same as being any less invested in its outcome. That is demonstrated by the simple fact that the country remains divided on the issue: even growing support for a second referendum does not necessarily mean an end to the Leave vs Remain debate.

Indeed, while a recent poll found that 45 per cent of respondents would vote to stay in the EU in the event of a Final Say vote, against 37 per cent who would vote to leave, it was notable that 18 per cent of people are still uncertain. That perhaps shows how complex the question remains – rather more complicated than many realised in 2016. Then again, a majority now wish there hadn’t been a referendum in the first place.

So why has Brexit largely disappeared from the front pages and the news bulletins in recent days?

Put simply, there has just not been a huge amount new to report since the UK was granted its most recent Article 50 extension. MPs have been away for the Easter recess and, while talks between the government and the Labour Party continue, little progress has been made. There has thus been opportunity to report on other important matters.

Indeed, the upcoming local government elections and the probable European elections are drawing the attention of politicians and journalists alike.

Even there, however, Brexit sets the context: it will – rightly or wrongly – dominate many voters’ decisions in the votes to come (especially if no Brexit deal is achieved before 23 May and the election of new MEPs must therefore proceed). The fact that we now have a new party named after Brexit speaks volumes.

So, even though Brexit may be less explicitly in the news just now, it is an ever-present consideration in almost all political journalism: and it is only a matter of time before it becomes, in and of itself, the main event once again.

An agreement between the Tories and Labour – or the breakdown of their talks – is likely to be the next key moment. And whether we like it or not, the issue remains something we all have to grapple with.