“I’m sure this is more about manoeuvring and leadership”. He also says he wants to study the Northern Ireland protocol.
Losing both them and the DUP will send a very strong signal to every Conservative MP about its implications for the Union.
They should first seek to persuade May not to press for a decision, since there will have been no opportunity for full timely study of the text.
They mustn’t let Downing Street bounce them into agreeing a 500-plus page deal that they won’t have had time to study properly.
We have occasionally seen precipitous falls in Cabinet members’ scores. Vertiginous rises are rarer. Indeed, it is hard to think of a jump quite like it.
Davidson and Mundell are right to be concerned that a differential Brexit deal for one part of the UK could put rocket boosters under SNP demands for similar treatment.
Also: Scottish Conservatives keep up the pressure over fishing and the backstop; Plaid set out new front bench; and Bradley empowers Northern Irish civil service.
It isn’t just pro-Brexit MPs who should be watching the Prime Minister carefully. It’s pro-Union ones: in other words, all of them.
The key question now for Conservative MPs is whether they can support the UK being trapped in a customs union – and the dismemberment of the Union itself.
For all the talk of May being pushed towards a Canada-type deal, there is currently no majority around the top table for any Chequers alternative.
The Foreign Secretary’s score is up by 20 points. Grayling now brings up the rear – and Bradley is in the red.
This is collective punishment for the new Brexit policy. P.S: when ratings fall in this way, place in the table scarcely matters.
Meanwhile, Williamson and Johnson’s approval ratings are in the doldrums.
Also: Welsh Tories criticise Jones’ delayed departure; Welsh Labour row over voting reform continues; Trimble attacks ‘scaremongering’ over Ulster; and more.
Truss moves up into the middle of the table, Williamson drops towards the floor, and Gauke slumps into the red over Warboys.