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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
, 7 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
NEW: A divide is starting to open up among cabinet ministers and advisers at the top of government over whether Boris Johnson could get away with a Brexit delay beyond October 31

Some are privately suggesting the PM could survive an extension

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ca…
Govt starting to fall into three groups

First: the October 31ers

— Brexiters like Raab, Vote Leave aides
— they want to "go straight through" the Benn law/fight in courts even if it means being ousted
— say Farage will smash PM at election if he delays

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ca…
Second group: the delayers

— those who prefer extension to no deal and for whom abiding by the law and being seen to be a responsible govt is paramount
— eg Buckland
— but an Oct 31er says govt could weather resignations if they refused to delay

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ca…
Third group: pragmatists... who govt sources claim are increasing in numbers and influence

— they believe Johnson could survive extending after exhausting all other possibilities
— argue this is preferable to being ousted and Corbyn/caretaker becoming PM

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ca…
Minister: “Unlike with Theresa May, no one could seriously believe that Boris hadn’t done his utmost to get Brexit done. Everyone would know it was Corbyn and Bercow who had blocked Brexit. The public would not forgive the opposition for being responsible for another delay."
Obviously PM and the people who run No10 are in the first group, and there is no sign of them wavering

But some ministers doubt whether Johnson would really want to be forced from office

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ca…
Oh and in today's CCHQ lines to take MPs were told to say they were "determined" to deliver Brexit by Oct 31

"This is the first time I have seen anything that isn’t categorical about October 31"

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/ca…
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More from @alexwickham see all

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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
NEW: A rift has opened up at the top of Boris Johnson’s govt between advisers loyal to Dom Cummings and other senior Johnson allies

— “parallel government” run by Eddie Lister
— top team split on aggressive media strategy
— election campaign power grab

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/do…
Key dividing line between the Vote Leave faction which sees leaving the EU as the end goal and is willing to achieve it by any means necessary, and a group of advisers led by Lister who see Johnson’s administration as a long-term project beyond Brexit

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/do…
A Tory election campaign against the Brexit Party would have to harden its position on any future deal, offering a reduced Brexit bill and rejecting ECJ involvement on citizens’ rights, as well as no compromise on the backstop, government official said buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/do…
Read 5 tweets
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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
Baroness Hale mocking Boris Johnson over his “girly swots” gaffe this morning
People at the top of government astonished at Baroness Hale today

Govt source: "The independence of the judiciary and their slideshow choices is not something we can question."

Second govt source: "This shows a clear lack of judgment. Remind me what her job title is again?"
And another...

Third govt source gets in touch: “You wouldn't get Supreme Court Justices in the US publicly bragging about defeating the executive and mocking the President. But apparently our system is above board and theirs is somehow something to be feared.”
Read 3 tweets
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Alex Wickham
@alexwickham
NEW: Boris Johnson's senior aides have ordered Tory MPs to call the EU 'crazy' if it rejects their new Brexit proposals

Internal memo sent tonight reveals how the govt plans to blame Brussels for 'ending negotiations' if talks break down

Read it here: buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/eu…
Here is the blame game memo

— if Brussels refuses to negotiate on Northern Ireland customs, No10 will say the EU is "crazy" and has made a deal "impossible"
— it would be the EU that "ends negotiations" if this happens, Boris Johnson's aides claim

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/eu…
The memo from Boris Johnson's senior aides tonight also differs from their public line that this is their take-it-or-leave-it final offer

"We are obviously happy to negotiate details," it says

buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/eu…
Read 4 tweets

Related threads

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David Carretta
@davcarretta
#Brexit: la Corte suprema britannica dichiara illegale la sospensione del Parlamento decisa da Boris Johnson.

Boom. Boom. Boom.
#Brexit: il Parlamento non è stato sospeso, conclude la Corte suprema britannica.

Decisione annullata. La prorogation era un "pezzo di carta bianco".

E viva lo Stato di diritto.
#Brexit: decisione presa all’unanimità dalla Corte Suprema.

Sentenza dal contenuto devastante.

Di fatto una decisione della regina illegale per colpa del primo ministro.

La questione delle dimissioni di Boris Johnson per ragioni costituzionali sarà posta.
Read 5 tweets
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katya adler
@BBCkatyaadler
In the often divisive Brexit world of ‘them and us’ it’s easy to forget that, beyond Brexit, EU leaders still see the UK as a close partner and ally. Today’s messages of congratulation to Boris Johnson from across Europe were a timely reminder.. /1
Whatever happens with Brexit, France, Germany, Poland et al still very much hope to work closely with the UK on international issues like Russia sanctions, Iran and human rights protection BUT /2
EU leaders’ welcoming tone does not signal a willingness to accept whatever Prime Minister Johnson might demand in terms of changes to the Brexit deal. He’s right when he says a no deal Brexit is bad for Brussels but he overestimates EU wiggle room /3
Read 8 tweets
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Karol Cummins
@karolcummins
‼️Boris Johnson is Britain's Donald Trump

– Complete with Breitbart's Bannon and Russia Cover-Up

BORIS JOHNSON
MAIN MEGA THREAD

#Brexit #VoteLeave #BorisJohnson

H/T @paulhanley12
bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
Boris Johnson is/was advised by Steve BANNON – Trump’s campaign manager & VP of the notorious, now-shuttered electioneering firm Cambridge Analytica, which he co-founded in 2014 w/ hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, who also backed the Breitbart sites.
bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
📌Johnson and Bannon became friends when Johnson was still Foreign Secretary and Bannon was still in the White House in early 2017.

📌They have been in contact ever since and the fruits of this friendship have been evident for some time

bylinetimes.com/2019/06/12/bor…
Read 93 tweets
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Nick Vucic
@npv708
Brexit, but in gifs.

#Brexit
The Leave Campaign prior to the referendum:
The Remain Campaign prior to the referendum:
Read 125 tweets
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Richard Broughton
@Richard_Ampere
Thread: How are UK online news outlets covering #Brexit in 2018? An analysis, with data and charts!

Part 2: **Cabinet vs Shadow Cabinet**

#Labour #Conservatives

Again, usual spiel on being conducted in personal capacity
I’ll start off with saying that this really isn’t looking great for the Shadow Cabinet… So for the faint of heart or easily enraged, look away now. 1/
Across ~2000 news headlines on #Brexit since Jan 18, there were 463 references to Conservative Cabinet ministers, and just 48 for their Shadow counterparts.

In other words, 91% of news headline references to Cabinet-level MPs were to Government politicians. 2/
Read 19 tweets
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Pete North
@PeteNorth303
1. Boris Johnson is right about one thing. #Brexit does need saving. From people like him. On present trajectory there is virtually no change of it no being a disaster purely because the complexity is beyond the abilities of this administration.
2. There is only so much planning you can do when you don;t know what the administrative system looks like. And Theresa May honestly has no clue what our customs regime will be. The systems won't be in place nor will they be able to handle the volumes of declarations.
3. The closer we get to exit day the more panicked the government gets, caught like a rabbit in headlights, unable to make a decision when the worst possible thing to do is to make no decision at all. And that is the problem here.
Read 10 tweets

Trending hashtags

#CrossTheFloor #Brextremists #financial #Brexit #TX03 #TeamPatriot #MainThread #Brexit2016Election #brexit #MV2 #projectfear #EUref #StopBrexit #RevokeArticle50Petition #PAM #BorisonBrexit #Cash #BorisJohnson #Democracy #Leave #Article50 #Tax #Parliament #NoDeal #economic
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