Michael Fallon has built up a reputation as a media ‘firefighter’ over the years – calming difficult situations – this morning he was the one dishing out the burns. First Alan Duncan was dismissed as a “junior minister”, more charitable than some of the other tributes he got in fairness, before Fallon went after Philip Hammond, saying he “probably deserves a rest”. Fallon hoping his vocal support for Boris will fasttrack him back to the Cabinet, some even think he could be in the frame for Foreign Secretary…

The bottom line is that all but the most hardcore of Tory Remainers would not vote against Boris in a confidence vote even if he pursued no deal. Senior Remainers Guido has spoken to still take the view that a Corbyn Government would be worse than No Deal, although Philip Hammond has gone so hardline that he’s even been expelling diehard Remainers from anti-No Deal Tory WhatsApp groups for publicly backing Boris. No sign of him following Fallon’s advice just yet…