NO-GO day was meant to be yesterday.

This was the moment at which the principal purpose of government was meant to shift to getting this country ready for leaving the EU, regardless of whether there was deal or not.

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The Department For Exiting The EU wanted November 30 but No10 argued that a more vague deadline of late November/ early December was better.

They thought that this would give more time to tell whether full-on “no-deal” preparation was necessary or not.

But now No 10 is indicating that it wants to hold off until after the meaningful vote in Parliament on December 11.

This is deeply irresponsible.

8 Theresa May admits the UK is ill-prepared for a no-deal Brexit Credit: Reuters

Those inside the machine estimate that it would take four months of intense preparations to get this country into a place where it could make no deal manageable.

So, by waiting until after the meaningful vote, the Government is denying itself valuable time.

I am told that new Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay, who will update Cabinet on no-deal preparedness on Tuesday, is frustrated at the foot- dragging by No 10. A growing number of other ministers share this concern.

Theresa May, of course doesn’t want no deal. She wants Parliament to approve the deal she has negotiated.

8 If the withdrawal agreement is defeated and nothing put in its place, this country leaves the EU without a deal Credit: Alamy

But, right now, it is hard to see how it passes.

The DUP have said they won’t vote for it, denying the Government its majority, and 64 Tory MPs have declared they will vote against it — ­suggesting the Government is on course for a heavy defeat.

“It is increasingly difficult to see what rescues this,” said one of those charged with getting it through.

Given that if the withdrawal agreement is defeated and nothing is put in its place then this country leaves the EU without a deal, it is foolish not to massively intensify planning for that outcome.

8 Theresa May hasn't given up on getting the withdrawal agreement through Parliament Credit: PA:Press Association

At every point since the ­referendum, the Government has put off crucial decisions on no-deal planning.

This has weakened the UK’s negotiating position and means the UK is now ill-prepared for what Mrs May admits is one of the three most likely outcomes.

The situation is so serious that one member of the Privy Council told me this week that the military should be drafted in to help.

This former Cabinet minister’s argument was that only the military had the logistical know-how to ensure that ­critical supplies make it all around the country in time.

8 Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay will update Cabinet on no-deal preparedness on Tuesday Credit: PA:Press Association

May still hasn’t given up on getting the withdrawal agreement through Parliament.

But there is little sign of a decisive shift in her favour.

Cabinet ministers are still talking in terms of the scale of defeat, rather than of victory.

The expectation among ­ministers is that if May loses the vote by 40 or less, she will seek clarification on the ­backstop and then try and bring it back to the Commons.

But, as one leading member of the Cabinet warns, May will have to move fast.

If she loses the meaningful vote she “could face the 48 letters and a vote of no confidence in short order”.



Renters beat the treasury

THE Housing Secretary, James Brokenshire, has scored a ­significant victory over the Chancellor.

Brokenshire wanted to reduce the maximum deposit that renters would have to pay from six weeks’ rent to five.

The idea was that this would be fairer on tenants who must find the money for the deposit up front. But Philip Hammond objected.

8 James Brokenshire wants to reduce the maximum deposit that renters have to pay Credit: PA:Press Association

The Chancellor wrote to Cabinet colleagues that “I cannot agree to the proposed concession to lower the deposit cap from six weeks’ rent to five weeks’ rent.

“Six weeks’ rent was already placing landlords at risk of uncovered loss for damage to property, as well as risk of loss of rent.

“This bill was always a high- risk measure. A cap of six weeks’ rent was already a major concession and I believe we have to hold the line at this level.”

However, Hammond’s objections have not carried the day. The Government will now back reducing the deposit cap to five weeks for all but the most expensive properties.

One of the Tories’ biggest problems is being seen as the landlords’ party. Hammond himself declares rental income of more than £10,000.

In 2010, the Tories were more popular than Labour among those who rented in the private sector.

But at the last election, ­Labour had a 23-point lead over the Tories among private renters.

The Tories won’t win these voters back by dragging their feet on measures that make life easier for tenants.



Labour plotting early election

SENIOR Labour figures are plotting a route to an early General Election that doesn’t involve having to get two thirds of the Commons to vote for it.

One close ally of Jeremy Corbyn in the Shadow Cabinet tells me that the plan would be to defeat the Government in a confidence motion if the ­Government loses the meaningful vote.

8 Jeremy Corbyn plotting a route to an early General Election and Labour win Credit: Reuters

The idea would be to persuade the DUP to join with Labour and the other opposition parties in voting against the Government. This would result in a narrow defeat for Theresa May.

At that point, the Fixed Term Parliament Act allows 14 days for the Commons to approve an alternative government.

In these circumstances, no government could be approved – the DUP wouldn’t actively put ­Corbyn into No 10 while no Tory leader could be elected in that time who would meet the DUP’s requirements on the backstop.

The result of all this would be that with ­Parliament deadlocked, there would have to be another General Election.

How realistic the Labour front bench consider this scenario is crucial. For there is mounting tension in the Shadow Cabinet about whether or not Labour should formally back a second referendum.

At the moment, Labour’s policy is to push for a General Election above all else.

But this week, John McDonnell – the Shadow Chancellor – admitted that securing a General Election was “very difficult” so the party may well back a second referendum instead.

Four Brexit scenarios revealed

TORY party donors have received a letter from party HQ defending the deal that Theresa May has ­negotiated.

Attached to the letter is a rather revealing document setting out why “the backstop is needed in all scenarios”.

8 Tory party donors have received letters defending Theresa May's Brexit deal Credit: Alamy

It lists four future scenarios for UK/EU relations – a Canada-style trade deal, EEA membership, a UK/EU customs union and the UK being in both the customs union and the single market.

Three of these four options would be deemed unacceptable by most Brexiteer MPs.

WHEN the then Culture Secretary Matt Hancock scrapped Leveson 2, the next stage of the inquiry into the Press, critics claimed that either Parliament or the courts would force him into a U-turn.

But the key votes in the Commons were won, and this week the courts rejected the appeal for a judicial review of the decision.

With Labour having gone cold on Section 40, which would have forced newspapers to sign up to a state regulator or pay both sides’ costs in disputes, the freedom of the Press remains.

The challenge now is never to allow it to be threatened in this way again.

The Sun Says FREEING ourselves from the clutches of the European Union should be a reason to celebrate. But nearly 900 days after that historic vote, we’re left with a stinker of a deal and a Government that has pursued a damage-limitation strategy from Day One.

It is a crying shame that nobody in Government has put their heart into a vision of a truly global Britain. The PM is in Buenos Aires rightly extolling our virtues to world leaders, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that her Cabinet are afraid that Britain cannot make it on its own. That weakness has been exploited time after time by EU negotiators.

If only they shared the faith of those who voted for a brighter future.

The scandalous lack of planning for a clean break, as James Forsyth makes clear on this very page, is a result of the Government only ever looking for pitfalls — rather than grabbing the opportunities that are so obviously out there for a reinvigorated Britain.

It’s not too late. If the PM loses the crunch vote in Parliament, we must step up preparations to leave without a deal by several notches.

And that might well see Brussels bureaucrats, for all their harsh words, coming back to the negotiating table.