A series of entirely reasonable tweets from Conor Burns’ Twitter account asking Michel Barnier for some detail on the Brexit bill were apparently sent by a hacker.

The ‘hacker’ was right…

If you believed Fleet Street’s finest over the last few weeks, Theresa May’s “no deal is better than a bad deal” rhetoric is dead. Several of the Remain media’s wisest minds were writing this as recently as yesterday…

Sky News, 21 June: “One former minister told Sky News that ‘no deal is now dead’… Number 10 has toned down its language on the issue since the election.”

James Kirkup, 23 August: “Theresa May’s ‘no deal’ bravado is a thing of the past… May has come a long way from the days of ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’.”

The Scotsman, 28 August: “Mrs May and her Cabinet have softened their stance… distancing themselves from her rhetoric that ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’.”

George Parker, FT, 29 August: “The British prime minister’s ‘hard Brexit’ rhetoric and threat to leave the EU without a deal died in June.”

David Allen Green, FT, 29 August: “Remember the “no deal is better than a bad deal” swaggering? What a reversal.”

In Japan today the travelling Lobby asked May if she still thought no deal is better than a bad deal. She replied:

“Yes.”

Doh!

Obviously the government would prefer a good deal with the EU, however it has to be prepared to walk away in the event of a punishing offer from Brussels. To not be prepared to walk away from a bad deal is to be prepared to accept any deal offered. This was always the case, it remains the case, it is just common sense for the negotiations, despite what Remain publications have wrongly been telling their readers this past month. Some Brexit reporting from supposedly respectable remainstream journalists is just fantasy…

After a drubbing online yesterday, which was duly followed-up by the national press, day two dawns at Activate HQ, the nerve centre of the new ‘Tory Momentum’. The group’s donation page reveals it has so far raised less than £10, bankrolled by the generous backers ‘Theresa May is wildly incompetent’, ‘Harold Shipman’ and ‘Jimmy Savile’. Now then…

H/T @bengartside

The Guardian continued its alt-reality Brexit coverage yesterday with a report claiming “Brexit campaigners” are using the “ECJ backlash” to “rally support for Rees-Mogg”. This backlash exists only in the fantasies of its author. So far most Brexiters are broadly on board with the government’s proposals on the ECJ. Rees-Mogg has given his tacit support. So the story makes no sense.

It was fashionable during silly season for bored journalists to write “Moggmentum” stories about Rees-Mogg becoming Tory leader. He is now second favourite with the bookies to replace Theresa May. If you think it’s going to happen bet here and Guido will happily take your money.

Rees-Mogg becoming leader would be more of an upset than Corbyn winning the Labour leadership. It is almost impossible under the Tory leadership election system – MPs select two candidates for the membership to choose from, Rees-Mogg will not be one of them. Jacob is a likeable man and a true Brexit believer, he’d make a good minister or select committee chairman but he is also a social conservative worth nine figures and not a potential Tory leader who could win an election. The “Ready for Mogg” campaign which lefties are taking seriously is a wheeze, he is a popular, amusing character who Tory kids like to share memes about, not someone who is going to galvanise the nation’s youth. Moggmentum isn’t real, it only serves to give lefty journalists ammunition to make the Tories look silly…

A group of young Conservatives have taken it upon themselves to set up a ‘Tory Momentum’, using the name ‘Activate’. Apparently it’s an “independent national grassroots campaign organisation that seeks to actively engage young people in right of centre politics.” It needs work…

The name is already the subject of mickey taking on Twitter. If you are going to set up a political campaign, you should probably make sure opponents cannot mock it simply by adding two letters.

For some reason the logo uses the square root symbol. No idea why, maybe there is some hidden code in the square root of eight. Or is it just because of all the mathematical symbols that one is coolest?

The Twitter handle, “@Activate_uk_net“, has two underscores in it. Not exactly catchy. And why is a group trying to appeal to young people using the word “net“. It’s not 1995…

The chaps behind Activate look exactly as you might expect. Most of these cool kids are wearing suits and ties in their photos, though some are really letting their hair down with an open collar tie-less look. There is one guy in a bow tie.

How accessible is Activate? You have to be a Tory member to join, so not very. Then you pay a fee of between £5 and £500, for which you don’t seem to get much more than an invitation to a private online forum.

Look at the state of this tweet. Why have they hashtagged “meme” and “retweet“? Makes you think the whole thing is a parody, though you can tell by the amount of effort that’s gone into their “constitution” that they are serious.

They have no upcoming events and nothing in their online shop. Apart from that it looks great…

UPDATE: Activate have changed their Twitter handle from @Activate_UK_Net to @ActivateBritain after we criticised their multiple underscores.

As Guido reported on Wednesday morning, the government’s proposals on ending the jurisdiction of the ECJ broadly have the support of Tory Brexiteers. Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of Leave MPs who tends to be more sceptical of the government, says: “The clear principle is one I am very happy with… The ECJ goes from being the supreme court of the United Kingdom to being another foreign court and that is a really important change”. The European Research Group of Brexiteer Tory MPs said last night: “The ERG welcomes the Government’s position papers… it is undeniable that the UK will no longer be subject to the jurisdiction of the ECJ, enabling our Supreme Court to be the final court of appeal”.

Suella Fernandes, chairman of the ERG, notes we need a bespoke mechanism rather than to simply join the EFTA court:

“The EFTA Court option probably would not suit the Prime Minister’s requirement of ending the jurisdiction of the ECJ as it follows ECJ precedent. Whatever model emerges will be unique, reflecting our new and wide-ranging relationship with the EU, commanding the confidence of both sides, outside ECJ supremacy”

We wrote on Wednesday that the government was not looking to join the EFTA court but rather copy aspects of it. This means a bespoke system. It remains to be seen exactly what the new mechanism will look like and whether it will meet Leavers’ wishes on sovereignty. To do that it needs to make sure we are not staying in the ECJ by the back door. As they are pointing out over on BrexitCentral, a merely technical exit isn’t good enough. One to watch, though Tory Brexiteers are encouraged by what they have seen…