Theresa May had a monumental day yesterday. After dissolving parliament at Buckingham Palace, she returned to Downing Street where she took to a podium and launched a blistering attack against Brussels, accusing European politicians and officials of deliberately seeking to sway the result of the snap election she has called on June 8, claiming that some were keen for Brexit to fail. “Britain’s negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press, the European Commission’s negotiating stance has hardened, threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials," she said. "All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election."

Her loaded speech came a week after details of a supposedly disastrous dinner with the E.U.'s Brexit negotiators were leaked, alleging that Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, had testily informed the prime minister that the the European Union was not, in fact, a golf club. Speaking in a press conference yesterday, Michael Barnier, also at the dinner—he bonded personally with May over their mutual passion for "rambling and hiking in the mountains"—stressed that Brexit will be painful. "Those who pretend, or who did pretend that you can leave the European Union and there will be no consequences simply aren’t telling the truth," he said.

In this short election cycle, May's team have left nothing to chance: their strategy is minutely managed by Sir Lynton Crosby, the architect of David Cameron's 2015 win. This amping-up of anti-E.U. rhetoric, therefore, is less a passionate response to supposed E.U. attacks, and more a tactical, double-edged shot at both UKIP and Labour. As Nigel Farage's ex-party continues to shed voters, May is soaking up the eurosceptics. And, simultaneously, by forming an E.U.-shaped scapegoat, she is trying to entice new voters with her repeated call for strong and stable leadership in the face of adversity. "This is straightforward, crude electioneering by the prime minister, putting the Tory party’s interests before the national interest,” said Labour MP Chuka Umunna. “By picking a needless fight with our European partners in this way, the prime minister is making a good deal with Brussels less likely, and a chaotic Brexit with no agreement at all more likely.” If Labour are desperately trying to steer the national narrative away from Brexit, May and her team are consistently dragging it back to the center. Rising tensions with Europe, and leaked reports of the Downing Street dinner might ostensibly seem negative but, a combination of well-practiced spin and a struggling opposition, means they have probably set Team Theresa in good stead, after all.

Tory poser

The Tory party launched their campaign poster yesterday, depicting Jeremy Corbyn's head pasted over the image of a bomb accompanied by the slogan, “No bombs for our army, one big bombshell for your family." In celebration, Brexit secretary David Davis posed dutifully for the cameras, striking a powerful stance, arms ever-so-slightly outstretched, eyes slanted into a powerful, affirmative squint. Almost immediately, a team of dutiful picture editors got to work, slicing Corbyn's floating face out with a deft click of a photoshop cursor, leaving Davis, glowering into the camera, standing solo in front of the cropped phrase: "Hell for your ****family," emblazoned above his head.

Changing guards at Buckingham Palace

When an unusual meeting was called overnight in Buckingham Palace, a sense of unease rippled across the Royal quarters. Were the Queen's corgis in ill-health? Had Prince Harry hit the headlines again? No. The dogs are as buoyant as ever, and Harry is still happy with Meghan Markle. The gathering was to announce that Prince Philip, the Queen's 95 year-old husband, will be retiring from public engagements in the autumn of this year. “The Duke of Edinburgh is patron, president or a member of over 780 organizations, with which he will continue to be associated, although he will no longer play an active role by attending engagements," said the Palace.