Big decisions have to be made, but the key architects of Vote Leave will not be around to deal with the consequences
A hard rain has fallen in Downing Street, and the superforecaster forgot his umbrella. Above and beyond the guilty pleasure we all take from such political pantomime, Dominic Cummings’ departure has implications for how we are governed. The prime minister will have to make a big decision on our relationship with the European Union in the next few weeks, so will the changes in No 10 make a difference when it comes to Brexit?
There is, in fact, very little room for manoeuvre – no time to negotiate anything substantially different to the deal already under discussion. Being more ambitious, for instance on security cooperation, would mean the UK and EU signing a “mixed agreement” which, in turn, would require individual ratification by national and regional parliaments in member states. The European commission has reportedly been telling member states that there is simply not enough time for this.
