Bit of a bad hair day for Arlene this morning, she had dinner with Boris last night. Looks like it was a good one…

DUP leader Arlene Foster has taken the unusual step of putting out a formal statement rebutting The Times story this morning which claimed that the DUP are “edg[ing] towards customs union”. Foster attacks it as “inaccurate” and “no doubt designed to undermine efforts to get the necessary changes to the Withdrawal Agreement”.

She dismisses the story “as an attempt to cause division”, adding that “such tactics are not new to us and as in the past will not succeed”. Robust…

Today’s power look of choice in Westminster is a striking red jacket coupled with a circular necklace, as modelled by both Andrea Leadsom and Arlene Foster this morning. The fierce red jacket and shiny round necklace combo help project tenacity, authority, and fearlessness for any aspiring powerbroker to face down the Prime Minister or Speaker of their choice. Results may vary…

While the country anxiously waits for the result of tonight’s confidence vote, it is worth remembering that the problems of May’s deal, and particularly the backstop, have not gone away. However, Brexiteers hoped to do just that with the launch of a new 59-page report this morning, complete with 6 annexes including a fully drafted alternative Irish backstop protocol, by “Brexiteers’ Brain” Shanker Singham, lawyer Robert MacLean and Dutch customs expert Hans Maessen. It is not a wishlist, it is a fully legally operable text…

Also on hand to launch the report were former Brexit Secretary David Davis, former Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara, and crucially, DUP leader Arlene Foster. The bottom line is that even if May survives tonight’s vote, she has no majority in Parliament without the DUP’s support. If the Government are going to get their deal through they need to start listening to alternative proposals instead of just sticking their fingers in their ears…