Since David Davis backed down and agreed to Number 10’s backstop fudge, Downing Street has now conceded that ongoing payments to the EU are possible after the transition, should the backstop come into effect. How does this tally with May’s publicly declared red line of no vast sums going to Brussels after we leave?

Meanwhile, Alan Duncan has committed another howler just weeks after being hoaxed by the Kremlin. The man who somehow survived in the government despite calling Brexit a working class “tantrum“ has said there could be a second referendum:

“It would, I suppose, just be possible to ask the people in a referendum if they liked the exit deal or not.”

This is completely against government policy. What on earth is going on? This is a total mess.