Thread by @JolyonMaugham

There is, so far as I can see, still one, and only one, way through for the Government to 31 October. If they can cause an r27 to veto the extension the statements to the court are fine and the PM gets to deliver his promise. THREAD

This way through involves them sending the letter, as they told the court. And it involves them frustrating the Benn Act as a matter of law but not in such a way as to breach the carefully crafted obligation they offered to the Court (see below).

We spotted this point late in the day and pushed the Court for an order in the terms of the below.

We were assisted in this regard by the rather helpful (from our perspective) statement a "senior Downing source" gave to @bbclaurak. We put this before the Court which, I believe, immediately appreciated the gap in the PM's proffered undertakings.

If (as I now expect) the Court orders that the PM not frustrate or thwart the terms of the Benn Act in the terms we have sought then (I believe) the Government is screwed. We will not be able to make good on whatever we might have promised eg Hungary and they will know it.

For the PM to ignore such an order would expose him to risk of criminal sanction - and render him the captive of eg Hungary. If he did not do whatever they asked they could threaten to release details of whatever he had offered and leave him facing criminal contempt proceedings.

You have to believe that even this (extraordinary) so-called Conservative Party would not want a leader who was not merely working with a foreign state but was its captive.

If we do not get the broader 'frustration' order there is a clear pathway to the Govt to No Deal. (Of course, whoever loses on Monday will then appeal to the Inner House on Tuesday and then the Supreme Court.)

In the final analysis, there are only two ways MPs can control whether we No Deal: (1) replace the PM (prospectmagazine.co.uk/content/upload…) or (2) enact legislation (waitingfortax.com/2019/10/02/how…).

It would be a shocking dereliction of duty to do neither: the hand of history is on their shoulder.