Inside Politics: Boris Johnson sets scene for summer Brexit drama

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The end can come sooner than you think. English football legend Alan “Pards” Pardew – now managing Dutch side Den Haag – has been confronted by a bunch of angry fans demanding answers over his side’s very bad form. English political legend Alexander “Boris” Johnson is facing questions from a bunch of angry Europeans over his own side’s very bad form. The PM has threatened to walk away from trade talks as early as June. The whole Brexit thing could effectively be over before poor old Pards inevitably gets the sack at the end of the season. I’m Adam Forrest, and welcome to The Independent’s daily Inside Politics briefing.

Inside the bubble

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick on what to look out for today:

With parliament in recess, Brexit wars could instead be reignited with a Chatham House speech by Amelie de Montchalin, France’s Europe minister, who recently angered Boris Johnson by insisting the EU will not be “blackmailed” into a bad trade deal. However, all eyes will be on Bristol, where up to 25,000 – mainly young – people will gather to hear climate crusader Greta Thunberg address a climate school strike.

Daily briefing

DRAMA LAMA DING DONG: Boris Johnson loves an ambitious deadline. It’s the only way he gets any work done. His government has threatened to pull out of trade talks with the EU at the end of June unless there is a “broad outline” of a Canada-style deal. Ministers will then start preparing us all for a no-deal crash out onto World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms at the end of 2020. Michael Gove – setting out the government’s mandate – said: “We will not trade away our sovereignty.” With Labour and the Lib Dems making rather mild complaints, it was left to the SNP’s Pete Wishart to tell Gove how ridiculous it was. “What a load of bunkum, baloney and codswallop,” he fumed. “This is nothing other than a route-map to the cherished no-deal – the real ambition of these Brexit zealots.” EU sources told The Times there would be a “dramatic crisis” over the summer. One unnamed European ambassador said “there will be a lot of drama” around then, but suggested the possibility of an agreement would rumble on into the autumn.

GREEN LIGHT, RED MIDST: There was a bit of genuine drama at last night’s Labour leadership debate on Sky News (after what feels like several thousand tepid hustings since it began). The three rivals turned on each other over antisemitism. Keir Starmer claimed “Rebecca [Long-Bailey] didn’t speak out in the same way as I did” – before remembering his big slogan is “unity”. He quickly added that it “wasn’t right” to “try to score points now off each other”. Too late Keir! Points were about to be scored. Lisa Nandy said the other two faced a “serious question of judgement” on the issue. “We’ve given a green light to antisemites everywhere,” she added – before addressing Starmer. “If we do not acknowledge how badly the shadow cabinet as a whole got this wrong, we will not earn the trust of the Jewish community.” Starmer retorted: “Lisa, you were in the shadow cabinet when this issue came up as well.”

MY LITTLE RUNWAY: It looks very much like the planned expansion of Heathrow is doomed after Thursday’s landmark Court of Appeal decision. Judges ruled that the government’s case for a third runway did not take into account its commitment to the Paris Agreement on climate change – sparking whoops of joy among activists outside. “We won!” said an ecstatic London Mayor Sadiq Khan. “Huge!!!” tweeted long-time opponent Zac Goldsmith. Heathrow chief exec John Holland-Kaye vowed to take the matter to the Supreme Court, but transport secretary Grant Shapps made clear the government will not appeal. The precedent means dozens of infrastructure projects could now be in jeopardy. Has Chris Grayling accidentally changed the world? It was the transport secretary’s failure to take full account of the Paris Agreement that proved “legally fatal” to the government’s case.

BABY YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR: Former Tory ministers are the chattiest kind of Conservative these days. Caroline Noakes is feeling free enough to condemn the PM’s “ill-judged” remarks about Muslim women who wear the veil (the now-notorious “letterbox” comparison). In an interview with The House, Noakes also compared parliament to a “boys’ prep school ... where the inmates haven’t quite got to 13”. Speaking of which, Jacob Rees-Mogg has revealed his pre-pubescent love of flash motor cars. “We are the Lamborghini of governments, the Ferrari of governments … the Aston Martin of governments,” the Commons leader said about the Johnson administration’s staggering achievements – before boasting about owning an antique Bentley. “My 1936 Bentley takes so long to get to 60 miles per hour that it wouldn’t necessarily be the right comparison.”

RIDING TWO HORSES AT ONCE: Could it be Lee Cain – the No 10 comms director best known for dressing up as a chicken to taunt the Tories when he worked for the left-wing Mirror – doesn’t really believe in anything? Surely not. One of Cain’s former colleagues claimed he once applied for roles with both the ‘Leave’ and ‘Remain’ campaigns. The unnamed ex-pal told PR Week: “He told me: ‘I just want to get into politics … I’ve applied for head of broadcast for ‘Remain’ and head of broadcast for ‘Leave’. If this ever comes out I’ll be in a lot of trouble.’” Will Dominic Cummings demand ideological purity for now on? Will he even get much of a say in recruitment after the Andrew Sabisky eugenics debacle? The Tories have asked PR advisers Hanbury Strategy to look after the first stage of a new process to hire government special advisers. A website – spadjobs.uk – says the party is looking for “talented and experienced” professionals. Weirdos need not apply.

On the record

“They dinnae like it up ‘em.”

Michael Gove turns on the SNP during a rant against Scottish nationalism in the Commons.

From the Twitterati

“Michael Gove’s silver tongue can’t hide fact that Brexit zealots are firmly in control. We are heading for a No Deal Brexit with catastrophic results for business, rights & UK’s global influence.”

Green MP Caroline Lucas responds to the new June deadline…

“Absolutely smashing news to see in black and white that the Government will walk away from talks by June if progress not deemed sufficient … All starting to look a lot more like Brexit!”

…while the Brexit Party’s Rupert Lowe is delighted to be getting a hard-as-possible Brexit.

Essential reading

Mark Steel, The Independent: The only way this government can reduce homelessness is by classifying a park bench as a studio flat

Munira Wilson, The Independent: Heathrow expansion supporters will tell you this ruling is bad for our economy – don’t listen to them

Patrick Maguire, New Statesman: Corbynites in the shadow cabinet face a choice: sack themselves or be sacked

David Brooks, The New York Times: No, not Sanders, not ever

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