Meal with Ursula von der Leyen could be a brief one after Johnson resumed Brexit hostilities at PMQs
One sometimes wonders whether Boris Johnson is aware you can watch British television in Europe. For either the prime minister was setting himself up for one of the biggest climbdowns – even by his own standards – in modern political history or his dinner on Wednesday night with the EU commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is going to be one of the shortest on record. With awkward silences at that, as the EU appears in no mood to budge. Maybe Von der Leyen should rethink the menu and just go for chicken nuggets and chips so Boris can get an earlier flight home. Because at this rate a no-deal Brexit is looking a certainty.
The tone had been set right at the start of prime minister’s questions with Johnson’s reply to the Tory backbencher and longtime Brexiter Edward Leigh on the chances of a trade deal agreement. Boris didn’t even attempt to moderate his language. Not a word about how far both sides had come in the negotiation, just straight for the jugular about how the EU was trying to punish the UK and that if we didn’t get what we wanted on fishing rights, sovereignty and level playing fields then it could get stuffed. “We will prosper mightily” if we leave without a deal, he said. Leigh looked beside himself with pleasure. A further 2% fall in GDP was what he had always wanted. The orgasm that would make the four years of tantric Sexit that had preceded it worthwhile.
