Pressure is mounting on Theresa May to release the full legal advice given to her over the Irish backstop. Senior Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash sums up the issue succinctly, drawing a parallel with his own battle as Shadow Attorney General in the 2000s with Tony Blair over the legal advice he had received on the Iraq War:

“The Attorney General’s advice on critical constitutional issues is for Parliament and the country, not just for the Government. As shadow Attorney General I successfully pressured Blair and the Attorney General to produce legal advice on the Iraq war and it should happen again.”

In 2007, Theresa May herself wrote to Gordon Brown with a dossier of 100 accusations of breaches of the ministerial code under Blair’s government, including this particular entry:

“It emerged in April 2005 that Mr Blair did not tell his Cabinet about crucial legal advice on Iraq. The Prime Minister was forced to disclose the thirteen-page memorandum he received from Lord Goldsmith on the legality of the war. It was never shown to Cabinet or MPs, as Mr Blair should have under the Ministerial Code.”

Constitutionally, the Brexit deal is going to be of greater lasting significance than the Iraq War. If May refuses to release the full legal advice she will be doing exactly what she castigated Blair and Brown for…