Grasping this nettle will involve appointing someone prepared to be considerably less popular with sections of the gallery than was their predecessor.
As long as their activists call them “colonialists” and candidates glorify the IRA, the idea is as convincing as a Hannukah greeting from Jeremy Corbyn.
Their negotiating stance is often very aggressive and unyielding. They will seek to cause maximum damage at a critical time.
It’s only Day Three – but Brussels is angling for a Britain with “the rights of Canada and the obligations of Norway”. Will there be a Managed No Deal instead?
A WTO exit at the end of 2020 is not the probable outcome – but the risk does look under-priced.
Ulster’s major parties are failing to adapt to a changing electoral landscape, creating an opportunity for a new, more practical politics.
Also: Spotlight on the literal handful of MPs providing Stormont’s entire opposition; and Scottish Tories offer a budget deal to the SNP.
The Prime Minister pledged to defend those who defended us. I believe him.
Also: Scottish Conservative leadership candidates set out how they’ll take the fight to the SNP; Jack says no referendum re-run in Sturgeon’s lifetime.
Setting aside the Ulster-specific sections, the proposals for reviving Stormont pledges frictionless trade with the mainland and a commitment on legacy prosecutions.
Leaving the EU will see new opportunities and challenges for the United Kingdom as a whole – and the Party needs to fight back in Scotland.
The DUP and UUP are struggling adapt to the Province’s changing political circumstances, and the Alliance are the main beneficiaries.
One has to pinch oneself to remember that as recently as last July May was Prime Minister, Hammond Chancellor of the Exchequer and Gauke Lord Chancellor.
Don’t expect Downing Street to bother too much about what MPs or the media think as it prepares to shake up government and Whitehall.
There will be some bruised personalities on the backbenches who will need careful managing over the next few months, and I hear that Spencer is already on the job.